NEWARK, N.J. — As the NHL grapples with the disputed effects of head injuries in hockey, Ben Lovejoy made what can be considered a positive contribution last month, becoming the first active NHL player to pledge to donate his brain to CTE research. With his announcement, made by the Concussion Legacy Foundation on Dec. 7, the 33-year-old Devils defenseman joined the more than 2,500 former athletes and military veterans who have pledged to donate their brains to the Boston University CTE Resear

Europe loves soccer, Canada loves ice hockey, the U.S. loves American football and for whatever reason, India and Australia really love cricket — it’s the same old song. Health concerns and MIA Russians aside, the next 16 days of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics will mark a rare time when the world is watching the same sporting spectacle. But not all Olympic sports are created equal.

I want you to picture a sports reporter in your head.

Andrew Politi wasn’t surrounded by family and friends with cameras poised for the moment the phone rang. The Long Valley native was at his house by himself when he got the call from the Boston Red Sox on June 6, letting him know that he was their 15th-round pick (No. 460 overall). Politi preferred it that way. “I didn’t want to be with anyone at the time,” the 22-year-old said. "It’s kinda stressful." Once the highly anticipated call came, family and friends came by to congratulate Politi on

NEW YORK — At the end of spring training this year, John Gibbons said outfielder Teoscar Hernandez couldn’t do anything more to strengthen his case for a spot on Toronto’s 25-man roster. Since being called up April 13, the Cotui, Dominican Republic, native proved the Blue Jays manager wrong. Hernandez is boasting a .375 batting average, highlighted by a four-hit night against the Royals Wednesday that included a homer, his first career triple, and four RBIs. The breakout performance follows a h

The Penn men’s basketball team gave fans two reasons to smile Wednesday night — a 105-52 win over Delaware State to begin the team’s nine-game home stretch and free cheesesteaks in a team promotion for scoring more than 100 points. Penn also surpassed 100 points in a 101-96, four-overtime victory over Monmouth on Nov. 26. The last time the Quakers scored 100 at the Palestra was Jan. 16, 2006, in a 105-73 win over Lafayette. Penn’s cheesesteak promotion with nearby Abner’s began in the 1990s bu

One of Canada's most decorated Olympians, Wickenheiser became the first member of the Canadian Women's Ice Hockey team to donate her brain to CTE research through the Concussion Legacy Foundation. The 39-year-old Saskatchewan native, who is currently in PyeongChang as a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, joins over 2,800 former athletes and military veterans who pledged to donate their brains to the foundation's research. “As I transition to being an ambassador for hockey in my retirement

The CFL may have set a record Friday for the most activity by any professional sports league in a single day. To say a lot happened would be an understatement. There were flipped trades, acquisitions, retirements and drug charges. Here's everything you need to know about Feb. 2, 2018, the day the CFL went wild. Early on Friday, the Tiger-Cats acquired defensive end Charleston Hughes from the Calgary Stampeders. Hamilton then flipped the four-time CFL All-Star to the Saskatchewan Roughriders h

That's the mantra Erica Wiebe repeats to herself before stepping onto the mat for a match. It's proved to be effective so far. Wiebe successfully defended her Commonwealth Games Women's Freestyle 76kg wrestling title Wednesday, defeating opponents from Sierra Leone and England before putting away Nigeria's Blessing Onyebouchi in the final. Making her international debut in 2014, the Stittsville, Ont., native was enjoying the best season of her career when she won captured Commonwealth Games go

Da'kquan Davis (above) has become a standout in his freshman year at Arcadia. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL) When Arcadia head coach Justin Scott recruited Da’Kquan Davis out of Roman Catholic High School, he knew the Philly native would come to campus ready to play as a freshman. What he didn’t expect was Davis’ ability to run a team, or that he would do it so soon. Coming out of the Philly Catholic League after playing an integral part in two PCL and state championships, it was clear that Davis

PHILADELPHIA -- The success the Pittsburgh Penguins have enjoyed over the past two seasons have seen them booed by opposing fans in every arena they've traveled to. Though on Sunday, as their best-of-seven first round series shifted to Philadelphia, those in attendance didn't need any new reason to jeer. Yet it's how the Penguins have been successful that is now the envy of the other 30 NHL clubs, and what teams have tried to copy in an attempt to catch up to and dethrone the Penguins. When th

The Indiana Fever may have beaten the Liberty for the first time this season on Thursday at the Garden, but the biggest statement of the game came before the opening tip. The Liberty and the Fever, along with the Phoenix Mercury, were hit with hefty fines by the WNBA for wearing all-black warm-up T-shirts in the wake of the recent police shootings of black men across the country — Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, to name two — and a sniper’s assassination of five Dallas cops.

Canadian athletes in Pyeongchang may be able to sing their national anthem with reverberations of inclusion when they take the Olympic podium. The Senate approved a change to the English-language version of "O Canada" to make the anthem gender neutral. The legislation needs only formal royal assent to officially become law. "In all of us command" will replace "in all thy sons command" in the second line of the anthem. There have been 12 bills introduced to strip "O Canada" of its gender refer

BROOKLYN--The same history that some hold against the Raptors is what laid the foundation for this year's regular season triumphs. After losing in the Eastern Conferene Finals to the LeBron James-led Cavaliers the past two years in the playoffs, the Raptors are back to where they were prior to those last two seasons--among the top teams in the East. Only this time around, they're second to none. SIGN UP for a free 30-day trial of DAZN and watch the Joshua - Parker heavyweight title fight LIVE

In the last few weeks, thousands of athletes from around the world have been traveling down to the Gold Coast for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, recalibrating their brains and bodies to the Australian climate and time zone. But not Hilary Caldwell. Canada’s veteran Olympic swimmer has been in Oz for months now, escaping from her country's frigid winter to live down under during Australia’s summer. A White Rock, B.C., native, Caldwell said the timing made sense to have her best prepared for the co

They've been ice-cold this season, exemplified by a 10-game losing streak strung out from November to early December that landed the Flyers at the bottom of Metropolitan Division standings. And they've been en fuego --the proof being the Flyers 10-0-2 stretch in February that fueled their climb from the bottom of the division standings to the top. Depending on which Flyers team shows up, things can swing greatly, and there doesn’t seem to be an in between. “We knew we were gonna have to fight

PHILADELPHIA -- Jeff Petry didn't push for the top defenseman spot on the Canadiens depth chart but the role suits him well just the same. Montreal had a cut-and-dry No. 1 defenseman in Shea Weber, but when the Sicamous native was shut down out with a left foot injury Dec. 19, Montreal turned to the next man up. Nearly two months and 21 games later, Petry has risen to the occasion and is on pace to set new career highs in points, goals and assists. With 25 points on the season, he needs four m

Jaroslav Halak's teammates tapped their gloves to his helmet as the Islanders started toward their locker room with heads hanging low Monday night. New York skated off the Barclays Center ice with one point when it needed two, suffering a painful loss that featured the same issues the team has been plagued with nearly all season. The Isles lost their one-goal lead with 43 seconds left in regulation and lost in overtime, 5-4, to the Predators. For the eighth time this season, Halak faced 40 or

The Nets guard went off for seven threes and 24 points in the opening seven minutes against Toronto. At one point, Russell had scored as many points as the Raptors' entire team. After being outscored in the first two quarters, the Raptors woke up in the third, blowing past Brooklyn by a combined 59-35 in the final half of the game and taking a 116-102 victory. Toronto was a different team on the court in the second half, particularly defensively. "It's something called hard play," Dwane Casey

The Kryptonite Cavaliers come back to Toronto with history on their side but a different Raptors team awaits inside Air Canada Centre. Toronto has its shot at redemption beginning Tuesday night when its third consecutive postseason meeting against Cleveland begins. The LeBron James-led Cavs took the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals 4-2 before against Toronto and then completed a four-game sweep in the semifinals in 2017. If any Raptors team has a shot at overcoming what has been their Achilles h