NHL

As if NHL star Jack Johnson hasn't had enough drama over the past year -- now, officials say he was a pawn in a Ponzi scheme allegedly run by a former NFL star ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported, ex-Miami Dolphins cornerback Will Allen has been accused of stealing millions of dollars from investors who thought they were funding his business of loaning money to pro athletes.

Now, according to docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... officials say one of the athletes he told people he was loaning cash to was Johnson ... who had reportedly gone broke after his parents allegedly spent his fortune.

Johnson's story made national headlines -- since he had made more than $18 million in his NHL career at that point.

According to court docs, Allen and his business partner told investors they were gathering cash to make a $5.65 million loan to Johnson ... who is currently in the middle of a $30 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

But officials say Allen and his partner lied to his investors -- because the loan to Johnson was only for $3.4 million ... and instead, they used the rest of the money to shower themselves in riches.

Allen and his partner have been charged with fraud.

The Stanley Cup will never make it rain -- ever -- because the most famous trophy in pro sports is NOT ALLOWED inside strip clubs anymore ... this according to the Cup's official NHL guardian.

TMZ Sports spoke with Mike Bolt -- who was appointed to be official "Keeper of the Cup" back in 2000 -- and the guy says Stanley's days of chillin' with adult entertainers ended in 1994.

So why the rule? According to legend ... the NHL put its foot down after Mark Messier brought it to Scores in NYC after winning the Cup ... and exposed it to some naughty behavior.

"Those days are over," Bolt told us when asked specifically about the policy regarding strip clubs.

And while Bolt didn't exactly confirm or deny the rumors surrounding Messier -- he notes that the '94 Rangers were the last team to celebrate without the "every player gets a day with the cup" policy.

found a nice quiet place to curl up with her book Tuesday night ... the NY Rangers game ... where the actress took in several pages without anyone bothering her.

While the Rangers fell to the Kings 4-2, SJP was burying her nose in a book called "Astonish Me" by Maggie Shipstead.

The book is about a Soviet ballet star who defects to the United States in 1975 ... and clearly Parker found it more riveting than watching a bunch of Slovakian hockey stars slapping pucks at each other for 60 minutes.

Hockey Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick says he desperately wanted to be on "Dancing with the Stars" -- but was forced to turn down the gig because of a major political conflict.

Unclear when Roenick was approached by the ABC show -- but the ex-Philadelphia Flyers superstar says he woulda DOMINATED in the ball room ... telling TMZ Sports, "I woulda been awesome."

Roenick clearly LOVES to get down -- and famously busted out his moves on the ice during his playing days.

BTW -- there's more in the clip ... including an update on one of his most famous beefs. Check out the clip ... Roenick's one of the nicest guys around.

It looks like an engagement ring ... she's flaunting it like an engagement ring ... but the rock on Erin Andrews' finger is NOT an engagement ring.

Andrews has been dating L.A. Kings superstar Jarret Stoll for a while ... after she posted a pic with that huge diamond before last night's "Dancing with the Stars" premiere, there was buzz that he finally popped the question.

Turns out ... the ring wasn't from Stoll -- it was from wardrobe ... specifically so Erin would look "blinged out" for the big show.

But the ring was no cheap prop -- according to E!, it was a special asscher-cut diamond ring that weighed in at 2.01 carats with 22 baguette diamonds and 88 other microset diamonds.

Nashville Predators star Mike Ribeiro is being sued by his former nanny -- who claims the NHL star assaulted her back in 2012 ... but Ribeiro says she's making the whole thing up.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Ribeiro's accuser doesn't go into detail about the alleged incident ... only claiming she suffered unspecified injuries at the hands of the 35-year-old All-Star.

The woman also claims ... after the alleged incident, Mike's wife verbally attacked her. She's suing both Mike and his wife for more than $1 MILLION.

But the Riberios say the whole thing is BS -- with their lawyer telling TMZ Sports, "My clients strongly deny these allegations."

Hockey superstar Alex Ovechkin says when it comes to Vladimir Putin, a lot of people have the wrong idea -- because the President of Russia is really a "nice guy."

The Russian-born Washington Capitals superstar was hanging out in L.A. yesterday when we asked if Putin's as intimidating in person as he appears on TV.

One of the NHL teams hit by the mumps outbreak is north of the border right now ... potentially exposing opponents to the virus -- but Canadian health officials are pretty damn laid back about the risk.

As we previously reported -- players from the Anaheim Ducks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, NY Rangers, and NJ Devils ... have come down with mumps in recent weeks. The Ducks played Tuesday night in Toronto ... and are taking on the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night.

TMZ Sports spoke to the Montreal Dept. of Public Health, and shockingly ... officials say they haven't reached out to their hometown team, or any visiting teams to discuss preventing the spread of the virus.

Health officials in Winnipeg -- where the Jets are getting ready for a road trip to play the Wild -- gave us a similar response.

Mumps -- a painful swelling of the salivary glands -- spreads fairly easily from coughing, sneezing or kissing ... and enters the body through the eyes, nose, or mouth.

NHL star Slava Voynov's wife pleaded with prosecutors to drop the felony domestic violence case against him because if people like Ray Rice didn't go to jail ... Slava shouldn't either.

TMZ Sports obtained a letter sent by Slava's wife, Marta Varlamova, to the L.A. County District Attorney in November ... and in it she takes all the blame for the argument which she says started during a party at a friend's house where she was drinking -- but continued when they got home.

She claims Voynov was trying to go to sleep, but she kept pressing the issue and got physical ... squeezing his shoulders and yelling, "No, I want to talk more." Marta says he only pushed her when she refused to get out of his face. That's when -- as we've previously reported -- she claims she turned and smashed her head into a flat screen TV in their bedroom.

In the letter, she describes how profusely she was bleeding and says, "I started yelling because it hurt quite a bit and I was very worried about whether I was going to need stitches and worried about how it would look." She says they decided to go to the ER around 11:30 PM.

Marta, whose first language is Russian ... claims she repeatedly told a police officer Slava did not try to kill her, and she was not afraid of him. As we've told you ... she and Slava believe the officer did not understand her because her English is so poor.

In fact, during a hearing Monday ... police testified the she had said Voynov punched, kicked and choked her. So, it appears there was a communication gap ... or someone's lying.

Marta ends the letter by pointing out she's "heard about other athletes on the news" who did things that Slava didn't ... yet they were not charged. She's clearly referring to Ray Rice ... who got a pretrial intervention program instead of being prosecuted for punching his then-fiancee.

Despite her objection ... Voynov has been charged with felony domestic violence.

A children's hospital in Pittsburgh is dealing with a possible outbreak of the mumps ... which might have been caused by an NHL player who paid a visit recently to cheer up some sick kids.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are dealing with a mumps outbreak that has hit the NHL -- star player Sidney Crosby has it and winger Beau Bennett has shown symptoms and is being tested.

That would be bad enough, but Bennett was one of the players who visited the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh last week ... so now the hospital is taking all sorts of precautions.

A rep for the hospital tells TMZ Sports they are in the process of ID'ing who came in contact with Bennett so they can start administering vaccines ... and will even place some kids in isolation, if need be just to be safe.

The Los Angeles Kings were hit with a $100,000 fine by the NHL for letting suspended defenseman Slava Voynov practice with the team, one day after he pled not guilty to domestic violence charges.

According to a statement released by the NHL, the Kings violated the terms of Voynov's suspension by allowing him to skate Tuesday during a club practice. The statement read, "Such activity is in direct contravention of the terms of the suspension ... which permit Mr. Voynov to use club facilities and work with team personnel, but prohibit his participation in any team-related functions or activities."

We reached out to the team for comment on the fine ... so far, no word back.

As TMZ Sports previously reported, the 24-year-old was arrested on October 20 after allegedly beating up his wife -- causing injuries to her eyebrow, cheek and neck.

NHL legend Gordie Howe has suffered a major stroke ... and is currently being treated in the intensive care unit at a hospital in Lubbock, TX ... this according to his son.

The 86-year-old Hall of Famer has been experiencing ministrokes for the past several months ... and had been recovering from a more serious stroke he suffered on October 26th.

Howe had regained movement in his right side and seemed to be doing better when this latest stroke occurred.

How's children told the Detroit Free Press they were traveling to TX to be with their father.

10:00 AM PDT -- As expected, Voynov pled not guilty. According to court docs, Voynov and his wife have been living together since the incident, though she did not show up with him. He's due back in court on December 15.

L.A. Kings star Slava Voynov just arrived to a L.A. courthouse where he's scheduled to be arraigned on a felony domestic violence charge stemming from an alleged altercation with his wife.

Voynov was silent on his way into the courtroom ... but he's expected to plead not guilty to the charge.

As we previously reported, the 24-year-old was arrested on October 20th after allegedly beating his wife so badly, she was hospitalized with injuries to her eyebrow, cheek and neck. Sources tell us she required several stitches to close facial wounds.

There's a heavy police presence at the St. Louis Blues hockey game Tuesday night -- with officials making sure fans feel safe amid the insanity in neighboring Ferguson ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We spoke with staffers at the Scottrade Center -- who tell us there is "about double" the amount of security at the arena ... most of which are off-duty cops privately hired to work the event.

It's the first major sporting event in the area since the grand jury in the Mike Brown case announced it would not be indicting Officer Darren Wilson.

FYI -- there are roughly 2,200 National Guard troops in Ferguson to help maintain the peace.

Don't forget, there were clashes outside of the St. Louis Cardinals games back in October when protesters and Cards fans faced off over the issue.