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VANCOUVER (AP) -- Though the head of Russia's pro hockey league shares NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's concerns about committing to the Olympics, Alexander Medvedev said on Thursday that it "would be crazy" for the NHL not to have its players at the Sochi Games in 2014.

Medvedev, president of the Kontinental Hockey League, said the popularity of the men's hockey competition at the Vancouver Games -- based on global TV ratings -- shows that having the world's top players competing at the Olympics is the best way to promote the sport.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Major League Baseball is planning to begin blood testing of minor league players for the banned substance human growth hormone (HGH) later this year, anti-doping sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Major League Baseball (MLB) said it was consulting experts on the issue "concerning immediate steps for our minor league drug program" but a source familiar with the plans said he understood the tests would definitely be implemented.

Vancouver (AFP) - Canadian forward Ryan Getzlaf was cleared to play in the Olympic Winter Games on Monday after recovering from a sprained left ankle he suffered in a National Hockey League game, Hockey Canada announced.

Getzlaf scored two goals and added two assists Sunday for the Anaheim Ducks in a 7-3 NHL victory over Edmonton in the final game before the league's two-week shutdown for the Vancouver Games.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Players from the NHL, whose testing procedures have been berated by doping agencies in the past, will be subject to the same drugs controls as every other athlete, the Vancouver Games doping lab chief said on Tuesday.

The NHL's drug-testing program is considered the weakest among North America's big four professional sports leagues and it has previously been criticized by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

In a country where putting on skates and hitting the rink is a natural thing, it seemed like a perfect marriage to include the most loved and popular sport in Canada — hockey — with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay worked together to develop the CHL Olympic Torch Relay Promo Night program.