NHL

The Washington Commanders are getting a taste of playoff hockey in the nation's capital -- and beer -- 'cause backup quarterback Sam Hartman drained a cold one in the middle of the Capitals' matchup against the Montreal Canadians ... while Jayden Daniels played cheerleader!!

Washington's quarterback room of Daniels, Hartman and Marcus Mariota -- as well as some members of the offensive line -- were on glass to watch Washington take a 2-0 lead in the series on Wednesday ... and while there was plenty of action on the ice, they also provided some entertainment.

The group was a hit among the fans ... especially after Hartman crushed a beer to rile up the crowd. Hartman joked in an Instagram Story that six years of college had helped prepare him for the moment.

Capitals fans looking for a few more carbs to fuel their fandom during Washington's upcoming postseason run are in luck ... the team just revealed it's offering its supporters a massive pretzel during games -- that's Alex Ovechkin-themed!!

"The Great 8 Pretzel" is making its debut this month at Capital One Arena ... as Washington's NHL squad gets set to face the Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Aramark Sports + Entertainment -- which is providing the grub to the arena -- says it's made with homemade dough ... and will come with two sides -- an Old Bay crab dip as well as a spicy cheese dip.

Logan Couture -- one of the best hockey players to wear a San Jose Sharks uniform -- is set to announce his playing days are over later today at a news conference ... all stemming from a painful pelvic injury.

The news, first reported by the Daily Faceoff, comes as the 36-year-old has missed every game this season -- while playing only six games last year.

While his hockey career is over, don't call it a retirement. Couture will reportedly be placed on the long-term injured reserve.

Brooke Hogan has officially shut the door on Orlando living … selling off her place and turning her focus to building her dream family home on a whole new spread, on the Florida coastline, TMZ has learned.

Real estate sources tell TMZ Brooke offloaded her 4-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom Orlando pad at the end of '24 for just over $1 mil -- a spot she and now-hubby Steven Oleksy scooped up back in 2022 to finally live under one roof after doing the long distance thing -- with him in Michigan, and her in Nashville, Tennessee.

At the time, kids weren’t on their radar -- but plans changed fast. Brooke’s since welcomed twins, and now she’s all about giving them a childhood by the water, just like hers was.

Ray Shero -- current front office advisor to the Minnesota Wild and longtime NHL executive -- passed away Tuesday night at the age of 62.

The Wild shared the news Wednesday morning ... saying, "Our hearts go out to his family and friends and the countless people he impacted in the hockey community throughout his successful career."

The cause of death is not currently known.

Prosecutors working the criminal case surrounding the deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau are asking a judge to rule the brothers' BAC levels inadmissible as evidence.

Officials at the Salem County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey filed court documents on Wednesday ... arguing the Gaudreau bros' intoxication measurements should not be presented to the jury -- stating they're "irrelevant" to the charges levied against the Gaudreau's alleged killer, Sean Higgins.

The authorities stated in the docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, "Multiple witness accounts show that it was the defendant's actions and his actions alone that caused the collision that led to Matthew and John Gaudreau’s deaths."

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent some love to Alex Ovechkin on Monday ... after the hockey superstar broke Wayne Gretzky's longstanding all-time NHL goal record!

"I congratulate you on your outstanding record. You have surpassed legendary masters in the number of goals scored in National Hockey League regular-season games," Putin said of the Moscow-born athlete in a statement released by the Kremlin.

Putin described the historic accomplishment as "not only your personal success, but also a real celebration for fans in Russia and abroad."

Alexander Ovechkin has proven he's "The Greatest One" ... at least at goal scoring that is -- 'cause he just passed Wayne Gretzky for the most goals scored in NHL history.

The Washington Capitals star broke the record mere moments ago in Long Island, New York ... scoring a second period goal against the Islanders.

Check out the clip ... Ovi slaps the puck right by All-Star goalie Ilya Sorokin for number 895 -- and the crowd goes wild jumping and screaming while Ovechkin slides on his belly across the ice like a penguin in celebration.

The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes seemed to briefly forget they were playing a hockey game on Wednesday ... 'cause they were using their fists more than their sticks at the Lenovo Center!!

There were three fights in the third period of the contest ... with the final brawl in the trilogy -- which involved Washington center Connor McMichael and Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield -- taking the violence to another level.

It grew intense early as both players' helmets came off in the scrap – but Chatfield wasn't content with just throwing punches.

Brooke Hogan's husband is standing up for his better half -- seemingly lashing out at Linda and Hulk Hogan despite not using either of their names.

Steven Oleksy -- a former professional hockey player -- took to social media Saturday to defend his wife from numerous attacks on her character ... dropping a lengthy social media post in her defense.

It's a long message ... and, we highly recommend reading it all yourself -- but, basically, Steven says he can no longer stand by while his wife faces vicious attacks from Linda.

Wayne Gretzky is suing his former business partner ... alleging the woman filed a meritless lawsuit against him in 2022 just to score a quick payday off him.

The NHL legend filed the suit in Los Angeles County this week -- some three years after Veera Mahajan sued him for his alleged role in the demise of a weight loss gum business called "OMG."

In her '22 lawsuit, Mahajan said she invested in the co. after Gretzky had claimed he lost 35 pounds in a few weeks from chewing on the product. She claimed Wayne later admitted that he lied about the weight loss -- and it tanked the biz. She sued for fraud and was seeking unspecified damages.

Andy Isaac -- a popular Detroit sports fan -- has passed away after a nearly two-decade battle with cancer.

The announcement was made to his X account Thursday morning ... with his loved ones saying, "Andy passed away peacefully this morning beside his loving family. We thank you all for your support and love over the years."

The news comes on the heels of Isaac announcing he was entering hospice care, as his battle with the disease "has finally taken its toll on me, it has finally stripped me of my quality of life."

An NHL referee paid the price for being in the wrong place at the wrong time ... he was blasted in the balls with a puck, but thankfully, the family jewels are still intact!

The cringe-inducing moment happened during the Vancouver Canucks-Utah Hockey Club game on Sunday at the Delta Center. Official Justin Kea was on the ice, doing his job.

Unfortunately, Kea inadvertently got in the way when Hockey Club forward Alexander Kerfoot attempted to get the puck down the ice and away from Canucks' Conor Garland.

The moment was captured on the broadcast ... Kerfoot turned around and fired the puck, not realizing Kea was right in his path ... and BOOM!

Justin Bieber wasn't afraid to play dirty during a charity hockey game, getting in a scrap with former NHL star Jeremy Roenick ... but there's no bad blood.

On Sunday, Bieber was participating in the Skate For L.A. Strong event at Crypto.com Arena ... and the game hilariously took a turn when Biebs and Roenick duked it out in the rink.

Check out the video ... JB flips Roenick's jersey over the ex-NHLer's head and playfully fakes to uppercut his chin. Fortunately, this was all in good fun, because Bieber definitely has control!

Team USA and Canada might have been locked in a heated battle Thursday night in Boston ... but both sides came together to pay their respects to the late Johnny Gaudreau, with the late hockey star's wife saying she got "emotional" hearing the chants.

The moment went down during the second period of action in the 4 Nations Championship match at the TD Garden in Beantown, with fans chanting "Johnny Hockey" in honor of the former Columbus Blue Jacket.

Gaudreau's wife, Meredith, responded to the chants with a post on X, saying, "Kept thinking about how I can't wait to show these videos to our kids one day."

Justin Trudeau broke out a big ol' jug of salt and poured it all over the United States' wounds on Thursday night ... dancing on the American hockey team's grave after it lost a heartbreaker to Canada.

In the deciding game of the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, Connor McDavid scored an overtime goal to give the Canadians the championship trophy over USA ... and not long after, Trudeau took to his X page to gloat about the win.

Making reference to Donald Trump's various threats of annexing Canada ... Trudeau smugly wrote, "You can’t take our country -- and you can’t take our game."