When Dominic Moore took a year away from the NHL, he did so with little to no fanfare. Moores wife Katie was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in April 2012 and died Jan. 7, 2013, at the age of 32. The lockout had just ended, and his mind wasnt on hockey. There was no formal announcement, just the eventual realization that the free-agent centre wouldnt be playing. "It was a very difficult decision to decide to take some time away from the game," he said in an interview last week. "At the same time it was the right decision. I didnt want to do anything where I wasnt going to be able to give it my full attention or focus." Fast-forward six months and Moore is ready to resume his career after signing a one-year, US$1-million deal with the New York Rangers. Moore hopes he can re-establish himself as an NHL regular and also use that stage to promote the Katie Moore Foundation and other charitable efforts. "I think Dom is a 100-per-center. If he does something, hes a 100-per-cent committed. I dont think he wouldve been a 100 per cent committed to playing hockey at that time," former Tampa Bay Lightning teammate and friend Marty St. Louis said in an interview Monday. "Im so glad that hes back playing next year." Moore, who has been able to work out and train aggressively in recent months, could fill a third- or fourth-line role with the Rangers, but he could have greater impact off the ice. And thats before the 2013-14 season even begins. Moore is hosting the second "Smashfest Charity Ping-Pong Challenge" July 25 in Toronto to raise money for the Katie Moore Foundation and some brain-injury and concussion-research groups. St. Louis, Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks, Joel Ward of the Washington Capitals, George Parros of the Montreal Canadiens and David Clarkson of the Toronto Maple Leafs are among the current players set to take part, in addition to former players like Eric Lindros, Mathieu Schneider and Kevin Weekes. Its a ping-pong event because, Moore said, theres a table in every NHL locker-room and its a major part of NHL players culture. Several players from the Toronto area and beyond will be there because thats what a fraternity like this does. "The support through the hockey world is great," Moore said. "Situations like this come up, you see how people come together to support each other, and Im grateful for that." When Moore first got involved in charitable endeavours, it was with the hope of raising money and awareness for concussion research. His brother Steves career ended after he suffered a concussion and neck injury when Todd Bertuzzi violently attacked him from behind in 2004. "The concussion stuff is obvious -- were hockey players," Moore said. "Obviously thats an important issue for the hockey world." Over the past five months, the Thornhill native has tried to jump-start the Katie Moore Foundation for a very specific cause. Katie died of fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma after a nine-month battle. "Its geared towards rare cancers," Moore said. "Obviously theres a lot of money thats been thrown around for cancer research and whatnot, but most of it goes to the big ones: breast cancer and lung cancer and things like that. There are a lot of people out there that are suffering from another rare disease. There a ton of these different less-common diseases that are not getting the attention or funding that maybe they could or should. Thats the intention behind what were doing." The focus of the Katie Moore Foundation is funding primarily non-traditional cancer-research projects in the Boston area, where Dominic and Katie met while at Harvard University. Itll be roughly nine months from the time Moore decided to take the lockout-shortened season off until he plays another game for the Rangers, the team that drafted him and gave him his NHL start. "The Rangers for a variety of reasons were my first choice. Im glad that came to fruition," Moore said. "It feels like coming home for me given thats where I started my career, and I always felt New York had a special place for me." That hes playing anywhere in the NHL next season is special for those in hockey who know Moore and tried to help however possible in the past year or so. "I love the way he plays the game, and I love what hes done away from the game," St. Louis said. "What hes gone through, to come back from that, playing hockey at the highest level again, Im looking forward to watching him play again." Cheap MLB Jerseys . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. https://www.cheapnfljerseysjustwholesale.com/ . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Wholesale NFL Jerseys USA . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. China NFL Jerseys . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. STORRS, Conn. -- Northeastern hadnt beaten UConn since the year before Jim Calhoun left the Boston-based Huskies to coach the ones at Connecticut.That changed Monday night.T.J. Williams scored 20 points and Northeastern won 64-61, dropping UConn to 0-2 for the first time in 48 years.Its pretty big for the school and its pretty big for our team this year, Williams said. Its really huge. It really hasnt sunk in yet, but it feels great; it feels wonderful.Donnell Gresham Jr. added 13 points for Northeastern (2-0) and Alex Murphy had nine points and 15 rebounds.Terry Larrier scored 17 points and Jalen Adams had 15 for UConn.The UConn Huskies had a chance to tie the game at the end when freshman Alterique Gilbert stole a cross-court pass from Murphy as Northeastern was trying to run out the clock. But his 3-pointer hit the rim just before the buzzer.I made one of the dumbest plays of my basketball career, said Murphy, a graduate transfer who played at both Duke and Florida. It got picked off but Donnell (Gresham) was there to defend the shot, so thank God for him.Northeastern led most of the way and was up 35-31 at halftime.UConn went on a 9-1 run to open the second half to take a four-point lead, but Northeastern responded with a 10-2 run of its own.A fast-break dunk by Murphy gave Northeastern its largest lead of the second half at 61-54 with just under 4 minutes left.Larriers off-balance runner in the lane had cut the lead to three points with 1:07 left and the Huskies forced a turnover to get the ball back. But Larrier missed two 3-pointers before Gilberts play at the end.Northeastern shot just 36 percent from the floor, but held UConn to 39 percent and outrebounded Connecticut 47-38, including 17-13 on the offensive boards.This is a dark time, UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. I know that. I understand the expectations of everybody here, in this room and at UConn. I feel embarrassed right now. But when I feel embarrassed, I know Im going to geet through it and this team is going to get through it.ddddddddddddIG PICTUREUConn began the season ranked 18th in the nation and fell out of the rankings on Monday after losing its opener to Wagner , the teams first season-opening loss in 17 years. The Huskies are now 0-2 for the first time since the 1968-69 season, a year they started 0-10.Northeastern: Northeastern last beat UConn in 1985, a 90-73 victory for Calhouns team. The Hall-of-Fame coach won 248 games at Northeastern before guiding UConn to 625 wins and three national titles. Northeastern had lost eight straight in the series and 22 of the last 23 matchups between the schools. The Boston-based Huskies are now 5-35 against their namesakes.STAT OF THE NIGHTUConn made just 5 of 21 shots from 3-point range after going 6 for 19 from behind the arc against Wagner. Guards Rodney Purvis and Gilbert combined to go 2 for 11.BLOCK PARTYUConns 7-foot center Amida Brimah blocked eight shots, giving him 289 for his career. That is third in school history behind Emeka Okafor (441) and Hasheem Thabeet (417).INJURYUConn freshman guard Christian Vital, who had five points in the Huskies opener, was forced to sit out the game against Northeastern with back issues.UP NEXTUConn: The Connecticut Huskies head west and then head further west. UConn plays its first road game against Loyola Marymount in Kevin Ollies hometown of Los Angeles before traveling to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, where Oklahoma State will be the opening round opponent on Nov. 21.Northeastern: The Boston-based Huskies face Boston University for the second time in three games on Friday. Northeastern won the season-opening matchup at home 87-77. The second game comes as part of the Steve Wright Classic. That tournament, being hosted by BU also will include games against LIU Brooklyn and Maine. ' ' '