Kings assistant coach Mark Hardy has been arrested and charged with sexual assault according to a report by the New York Daily News. In a sick twist, the young woman that Hardy allegedly assaulted was one of his relatives.

Hardy, 51, was arrested at the famed Mayflower Hotel, steps from the White House. Metropolitan Police Dept. spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said police were called to the Connecticut Ave. hotel just after 1 a.m.

Multiple news outlets reported the complainant was a female relative of Hardy’s. Hardy made an initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court late yesterday.

Authorities initially had charged him with misdemeanor sexual assault but prosecutors in Washington later discussed plans to raise the charge to a felony.

What is wrong with people?

In honor of the Phillies fan who was Tasered on Monday night, I found this YouTube top 10 clip of fans getting pummeled by players, coaches and security personnel.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I cracked up during that entire clip, up until the “Malice at the Palace.” Scared kids consoling each other just isn’t fun, folks.

How about that soccer player who went “Crouching Tiger” on that one fan? A.w.e.s.o.m.e.

Washington Capitals’ forward Eric Belanger took a high stick straight to the kisser on Friday night during his team’s 6-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens. It’s a motivational moment where we can all realize that we needn’t dress up and put gel in our hair when hitting the town during a hot weekend night. Instead, we should roll up our sleeves and attempt to beat the living daylights out of someone twice our size — that behemoth at the bar making nice with the girl you’ve had your eyes on since you stepped through the door. It’s your time time shine: You pound your Jameson like it’s the sweet water that it is, dropping a creased dollar into the acorn glass for the tip, and then sidling up next to your oblivious opponent who’s now whispering weightless compliments into your lady’s ear. You throw a haymaker, but it’s caught, not by your opponent, but by some invisible grip from the ether. You turn around — it’s the bouncer. Your plan is imploding, and you hope to be simply shown the door. But in an instant of improbable misfortune, the bouncer shows extra remorse for the brute, and allows him one free punch. You close your eyes, and somehow conjure a hint of bravery, whether from the slug of Jameson or legitimate adrenaline, you don’t know. The punch comes, and it’s with a force so miserable and heart-breaking you wouldn’t mind giving up the ghost right then and there. On the wavy and sweat-soaked floor, you turn to your side. A tooth — a molar you think — is lying at your feet. You’ve been cold-clocked, humiliated, but it was worth it. You tried. A qualified victory you’ll call it…

But in all seriousness, this is like icky gross! You’re telling me that once you lose a tooth as an adult it doesn’t grow back? Nooo! You’d have to get a fixed bridge or a dental implant or something? Forget that. I’ll never play hockey.

I’m starting to feel like a select group of NHL players are getting paid under the table to get into fights. Don’t we get a new one every couple of days? Still, who cares? l never tire of them, and their presence on the Internet will only help the sport, I assume.

On a side note, this is how I like my hockey fights. Nothing is dragged out — it’s just short and sweet.

Bill Simmons is calling this the hockey fight of the year. To me, this is one of those scenes that makes the sport so strange…

I know most hockey fans enjoy this, but I’d rather see these guys use that pent up anger and energy and make a play that actually impacts the game. A situation where two guys grab the other by the jersey and throw 50 right hooks doesn’t seem like it should take place in a professional sport, save for boxing or MMA.

Check out James Wisniewski’s hit on Brent Seabrook in a recent Ducks-Blackhawks game:

I’ve watched the video several times now and I still can’t tell if Seabrook was selling the hit or not. If he was, give the man an Oscar because that was some fine acting.

As the Buffalo Sabres visited the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, Team USA/Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller got a strong ovation (along with chants of U-S-A, U-S-A) while Canadian/Penguin Sidney Crosby drew boos from the crowed when the jumbotron showed footage of his gold-medal winning goal.

Miller’s ovation is at the start of the video, while Crosby is introduced at around the 1:10 mark. Pittsburgh won, 3-2, but Miller didn’t play.

An impressive run for the USA hockey team fell short at this year’s Winter Olympics, as the Americans lost to Canada 3-2 in overtime in Sunday’s gold medal round. Sidney Crosby beat Ryan Miller 7:40 into overtime to allow the Canadians to become the first host nation in 30 years to win the gold medal in men’s hockey.

The win certainly didn’t come easy for Canada, however, which led 2-1 for most of the game.

After pulling goalie Ryan Miller late in the third period, Jamie Langenbrunner redirected a Patrick Kane wrister off Roberto Luongo’s body and Zach Parise gathered up the rebound and snuck it past Luongo to tie the game with just 24.4 seconds remaining. But after seizing the momentum thanks to the thrilling goal, USA couldn’t get the job done in overtime and the heavily favored Canadians (who were 1/2 to win the tournament at the start of the Winter Games) seized the gold.

Even though they lost, USA’s push for the gold was arguably the most exciting part of the Winter Olympics. It would have been nice to see them go undefeated and complete the underdog story, but there’s no shame in beating Canada once and nearly knocking them off on their home ice in the finals. Gold would have been fine, but there’s a lot of pride for USA in taking home the silver.

Down 3-0 to the Red Wings at the start of the second period, the Kings magically rallied to tie the score. With 2:21 left to play, the Kings’ Michal Handzus suddenly knocked in his second goal of the game to help the team win their ninth straight — a franchise record.

From ESPN.com:

Alexander Frolov, Handzus and Ryan Smyth scored in the second period, and Jonathan Quick made 20 saves in his NHL-leading 34th victory. The Kings surpassed the Second Six franchise’s eight-game winning streaks established by Wayne Gretzky’s 1991-92 team and the 1972-73 squad.

Los Angeles needed just two shootout victories to establish this mark with a roster that’s only now discovering what it can do. After a midseason swoon that dropped them from first place in the Western Conference to the middle of the pack, the Kings have moved back up to third with their 11th victory in 12 games.

“We have a lot of confidence right now, and we know that if we stick to our game, most nights we will be successful,” said Handzus, who also had an assist to give him six points in the last two games. “We knew we didn’t play well in the first period. … We decided not to try and hit a home run. We just wanted to try and score the first goal and go from there. It’s great, and a great comeback for us.”

I was at this game and it was one of the most exciting turnarounds I’ve ever seen. The Staples Center was absolutely lifeless for the first period, stunned by the Red Wings’ instantaneous three goals. Truth be told, since the Kings were coming off a hard-fought victory against the Ducks just last night, I expected them to lose. The team just looked drained, so I resigned myself to leaving after the second period if they hadn’t scored. To everyone’s surprise, they beat the talented Red Wings, simply by turning up the intensity.