John Saunders, one of the familiar on-air faces of ESPN for nearly 30 years, has died. He was 61.

Saunders hosted studio and play-by-play programming. He covered college football, basketball and the NHL for the network, in addition to anchoring SportsCenter. He was also host of The Sports Reporters.

Born in Canada, Saunders was an all-star defenseman in the junior hockey leagues of Montreal. He played at Western Michigan and Ryerson Polytechnical in Toronto before becoming one of the most prominent broadcasters of his time.

A Wayne Gretzky rookie card sold for a hockey card record of $465,000 on Thursday night in Atlantic City.

The bidder, who requested anonymity, paid more than four times the value of the same 1979 O-Pee-Chee Gretzky gem mint card. When the card sold in 2011 for $94,000, it was then the record.

A 21-year-old Buffalo woman has sued Sabres forward Evander Kane, saying he seriously injured her in the hotel room where he lives.

Documents filed July 1 in Erie County State Supreme Court on behalf of Rachel Kuechle say Kane met her in a bar, invited her to what he said was a party and then attacked her, causing cuts and bleeding that required multiple surgeries.

Kane's actions are described as "unwanted, unconsented to, violent and offensive in nature physical battery," according to court papers.