Larry Brown Sports

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand is the latest athlete to come up with an idea to raise money for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The family of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who was one of three people killed in the blast, said Martin loved the Bruins. A photo of Martin in Bruins gear at TD Garden began circulating the internet after word of his tragic death became official.

According to the Boston Bruins’ official Twitter account, Marchand has decided to raffle off a suite to the team’s first playoff home game, with the proceeds going to the Richard family. The bidding is currently underway on the Bruins raffle website.

“Our whole team saw the photos of Martin at our game from last Thursday and learned that he and his family are big fans of ours,” Marchand said. “This is just one small gesture which I hope can help the Richard family during this incredibly sad time for them.”

Marchand is one of many athletes who have tried to do their part to help the healing process for the victims, their loved ones and the people who were affected by the event. New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola has already pledged money to relief funds for each pass he catches and drops next season. Hopefully the great ideas for raising money keep rolling in.

The New Jersey Devils appeared to be a safe bet to reach the Eastern Conference playoffs prior to their current losing streak. The Devils have lost 10 straight. Their last win came on March 23, and it was a milestone win for future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur as it was his 666th career victory.

Uh oh. As you have probably heard, 666 is a number that has historically been associated with the Antichrist or the Devil. Brodeur has started every game in net since his 666th career victory, which came against the Florida Panthers, and the Devils have not won one a single of them. Guess how many games they have remaining? Six. Guess how many points they are trailing the 8th-seeded New York Rangers by in the standings? Six.

If you believe in curses and hexes, New Jersey’s current situation is right up your alley. Brodeur himself even acknowledged it, although in a very conservative manner.

“Now, it looks like that, huh?” Brodeur said after Monday night’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, via Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record. “We’ve got to find something. We’ve got to break through that curse, I guess.”

For the most part, New Jersey’s defense has been fine. The Devils have held opponents to three or fewer goals in eight of their last 10 losses. They have allowed an average of only 20.2 shots per game during the disappointing stretch. As Puck Daddy pointed out, the team has also had to deal with untimely injuries to Ilya Kovalchuk and Dainius Zubrus. That being said, Brodeur’s brother did tell him he should retire after win No. 666.

“I never really thought about numbers after I passed (the record),” Brodeur joked last March when he was 16 wins from 666. “My brother said you’ve got try to get to 666 because that’s the number of the Devil. It would be a short season, though, if I have to stop (at 666).”

If the Devils are unable to win any of their six remaining games, Brodeur might have an opportunity to call it a career at 666 wins. Devils fans are hoping that is not the case.

Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle is known for having a pretty good sense of humor. The 26-year-old was supposedly at the center of the whole championship belt thing the Coyotes have going on with their player of the game this year. Like most others, Yandle was not in a very jolly mood on Monday following the Boston Marathon bombings.

As you can see from the photo above that Hockey Lifestyle passed along, Yandle paid tribute to the city of Boston on Monday night by writing “pray for Boston” across the bottom of each side of his skate. It was a similar gesture to the one we saw from Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Ben Revere, who wrote the same words across his glove.

Yandle is a native of Massachusetts and has Boston listed as his hometown on most of his online profiles. Almost the entire nation is feeling the sting of the cowardly terrorist attack, but those with ties to Boston can’t help but feel it a little bit more.

H/T SI Hot Clicks

The Boston Bruins’ home game against the Ottawa Senators has been postponed in light of the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday.

The NHL said in a statement:

The game will be rescheduled. The date and time will be announced at a later date.

The National Hockey League wishes to express its sympathy to all affected by the tragic events that took place in Boston earlier this afternoon.

ESPN’s Joe McDonald says Boston Bruins players were told not to speak with the media.

Cancelling the game was the only option during such a troubling time. Boston PD was advising residents to stay at home.

Google has created a person finder for anyone looking to get in touch with someone involved in the Boston Marathon. This link at the marathon’s website has an athlete tracker.

To locate family members, this is the number: 617-635-4500. Tips on the matter should be called into 800-494-tips.

Buffalo Sabres center Steve Ott is known for doing some pretty strange things, and he added to that reputation on Thursday night. Before a face-off against the Montreal Canadiens, Ott tried to lick Montreal’s Jeff Halpern’s visor.

Is that his idea of trying to gain an advantage? If I was Halpern, it would probably work. It’s one thing for a guy to try to get in your head by talking trash or jabbing at you, but that’s just plain creepy.

As Puck Daddy pointed out, there was also an incident a while back when Ott blew a kiss at Dion Phaneuf as he was heading to the penalty box. Ott and Halpern did play together for two seasons with the Dallas Stars, so perhaps this is some sort of inside joke between the two that we don’t understand. That’s probably for the best.

Hockey skates can be some of the most dangerous pieces of equipment in sports, and unfortunately we are reminded of that several times throughout the course of a season. The latest victim of a hockey skate injury was Eric Wellwood of the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms, who actually somehow cut his own leg with his skate.

The end result, as you can see, was frightening. According to the Glens Falls Post Star, Wellwood fell into the boards in front of the penalty box on his own and somehow clipped himself with his own skate during a second period penalty kill against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He immediately skated over to the bench, and one player said his skate was filled with blood. The photo above that teammate Danny Syvret shared on Sunday seems to confirm that.

“I don’t think anyone really saw it,” head coach Terry Murray said. “It was away from the play. In conversation, everyone figures it was an accident that happened to himself. The play was already in the offensive zone and this happened in the neutral zone, so we’re not sure exactly what took place.”

Wellwood reportedly underwent surgery to repair the vascular damage caused by the injury and is scheduled to go under the knife again to repair the tendons. He is likely to miss the remainder of the season.

It doesn’t matter how many scars we see like this and this that are a result of skate-related injuries — they never get easier to look at.

H/T Puck Daddy

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Zach Redmond is lucky to be alive, and he now has a massive scar to remind him of that on a daily basis. In February, Redmond had his femoral artery slashed by a skate during practice and underwent three-hour emergency surgery. The injury occurred during a practice drill in front of the net, and blood reportedly pooled onto the ice as trainers tended to the 24-year-old.

As you might expect, the laceration required a lot of stitches and staples to close. CBS Sports’ Mitch Peacock shared a photo of Redmonds scar on Friday, and it helps give us an idea of just how horrifying the injury must have been.

A massive scar like this might look a bit more alarming since it’s on a player’s head, but Redmond’s injury was no less dangerous. We’re glad to see he has recovered nicely and was able to avoid any serious long-term damage.

H/T Deadspin