Jersey

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

In an annual rite known as Upfront Week, NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, and the CW just presented their lineups for the 2012-13 TV season to advertisers in New York. The ceremonies took place in some of the city's most august concert Halls (Carnegie, Avery Fisher, Radio City Music) over four days. The broadcast companies introduced only 20 new series for the fall (down from 27 last season). NBC led the pack with six new shows. Fox and the CW had half that many. Like it or not, an awful lot of familiar faces will be returning in the fall.

Pam Chandler decided to accompany her husband, Bob, to the extraordinary auction of an Ocean City, N.J., mansion Saturday to keep him from "going overboard. " But an hour after she toured the 7,000-square-foot Victorian-style house on the Great Bay, she was the one prodding him to stay in the frenzied bidding on the breezy bayside veranda. The Chandlers, who live in Rumson, Monmouth County, with their three children, won the auction, ultimately paying $3.9 million for a property that was listed at about $6.5 million two years ago. It is assessed at $5 million.

ATLANTIC CITY — The stabbing deaths of two Canadian tourists outside a casino hotel left tourism officials stunned and dismayed Monday, casting a shadow over the formal opening on Memorial Day weekend of the newest gambling palace and tripping up a $30 million-a-year campaign to rebrand and revive the sagging resort town. The two victims, women ages 80 and 47, were stabbed and killed during a robbery Monday morning outside Bally's Atlantic City casino hotel, just steps from where a police officer was sitting in a patrol car. Police declined to provide the names of the victims, or precisely where they were from, pending notification of family.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Luxury appointments abound in the 7,000-square-foot, 12-year-old Victorian-style mansion overlooking Great Bay, such as a marble fireplace that once graced a Biddle estate mansion, a crystal chandelier that at the touch of a button lowers from the 30-foot foyer ceiling for cleaning, and boat slips big enough to berth a pair of yachts. A "smart house" system controls window treatments, lighting, heating, air-conditioning, and music. Slate-covered turrets, little secret gardens, and gingerbread-laden porches make the exterior look more like Cape May than Ocean City.

Whitman's now the governor Of the Garden State. She promised to cut taxes, And that was just great. "Small cuts won't be enough," she said. "Only 30 percent will get us ahead. " CHORUS Now it's shift, shift, shift Give the state a lift. Let the counties do the job. The voters won't be miffed. SECOND VERSE Cut the taxes, yes indeed. Cut the grants the counties need. If they raise taxes, that's a shame, Just so they don't have me to blame.

Who is the player of the year in girls' basketball? Who is the coach of the year? Find out in Saturday's Inquirer. The season-ending package on girls' basketball will include the all-South Jersey first, second and third teams as well as features on the player and coach of the year.

Governor Bret Schundler (R.) Jon Corzine (D.) Freeholder (Contested races only.) Burlington County Dawn Marie Addiego (R.) Aubrey Fenton (R.) Camden County Lou Johnston (R.) Christine Thomas (R.) Gloucester County Jonathan Mangel (R.) Philip Tartaglione (R.)

Who could blame Brett Hull for hating Philadelphia? Really, who could? With Keith Acton in his Hull's face, the Flyers held him scoreless last night, and - indignity of indignities - someone stole his jersey right out of the visitors' locker room. This wasn't just any jersey; oh no. This was the jersey Hull wore when he scored his 50th goal in his 50th game last week, a jersey that is probably hanging in somebody's recreation room. Hull wouldn't talk about the theft - or the game, for that matter - brushing off reporters as he left the Spectrum after the Blues' 5-1 loss to the Flyers.

Mike Sutton and Steve Pontrello scored four goals apiece and Pat McMenamin recorded a hat trick, powering third-seeded St. Augustine past No. 6 seed Bergen Catholic, 14-4, Thursday in an NJSIAA State Non-Public A boys' lacrosse quarterfinal. The Hermits move on to a Saturday semifinal at No. 2 seed Delbarton. State Group 2. Dylan Shulte (3 goals, 7 assists) sparked a second-half surge that carried fourth-seeded Seneca over No. 5 seed Sparta, 12-8. State Non-Public B. Tyler Graham had two goals, Jake Turner chipped in a pair of assists, and goalie Kyle Nunan stopped a dozen shots, but fifth-seeded Gloucester Catholic fell, 10-6, in a quarterfinal at No. 4 Oratory Prep.

Mariah Hans scorched a one-out triple in the bottom of the seventh inning to break up a no-hitter and bring home pinch-runner Candice Smith, as third-seeded Haddon Heights edged No. 6 seed West Deptford, 1-0, on Thursday in an NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 softball quarterfinal. It was the Garnets' second consecutive walk-off win of the tournament, coming after Tuesday's 5-4 defeat of Collingswood. Shayla Sweeney limited the Eagles to three singles and one walk to earn the win. West Deptford's Sydney Ponto took the loss, despite striking out 10 and allowing just one hit and three walks.

Both teams had already gone their separate ways. For the Moorestown girls' lacrosse team, it was another win in a flawless season. A 19-8 triumph over rival Shawnee in the South Jersey Group 3 title game. Another milestone, but not exactly something on the minds of the team's seniors immediately after Thursday's win. One group hug wasn't enough. Neither was a second, lengthier embrace. The 10 seniors decided to walk to the center of the field, lie down, and spend a couple of minutes pondering where the last four years have gone.

Highlights of Thursday's contests can be found at: www.philly.com/rally Baseball SOUTH JERSEY NON-PUBLIC B FIRST ROUND Moorestown Friends 9, Doane Academy 2 BURLINGTON COUNTY FREEDOM Palmyra 12, Maple Shade 1 CAPE-ATLANTIC LEAGUE AMERICAN Absegami 2, St. Augustine 0 CAPE-ATLANTIC LEAGUE NATIONAL Cedar Creek 10, Bridgeton 0 St. Joseph 7, Ocean City 6...

   The ShopRite LPGA Classic will begin next Friday over the Bay Course of what is now called the Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway Township, N.J. A field of 144 players will compete for $1.5 million in prize money, with $225,000 going to the winner at the end of the three-day, 54-hole event.    The field includes 47 of the top 50 money-winners on the LPGA Tour. That counts all eight of the tour's 2012 tournament winners, including three-time champion Yani Tseng, the world's top-ranked player.

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER A South Jersey man, who has implicated himself in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz, was arrested Thursday in New York by law enforcement authorities after he reportedly confessed to the child's killing. Pedro Hernandez, said to be in his 50s, has lived in Maple Shade, Burlington County, with his family for several years. According to the New York Times, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Hernandez admitted that he strangled the boy, wrapped his body in a bag, and took the bag about a block and a half away, where he left it out in the open amid other trash.

A California man was arrested after authorities in South Jersey seized a shipment of high-grade marijuana with an estimated street value of $1 million. Fifteen boxes of pot, weighing a total of about 250 pounds, were in a cargo container sent from California to a Delran public storage facility last week, and Thomas Arnold, 55, of Santa Barbara, was arrested last Wednesday, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office and Delran Police announced Tuesday. Arnold, accused of arranging the shipment, was sent to Burlington County Jail on charges of drug possession and possession with intent to distribute.

St. Mary School in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, will remain closed the rest of the week after a number of students either fainted, became dizzy or complained of feeling ill during a school assembly on Monday. Patricia Mancuso, the school principal, and the Rev. Cadmus D. Mazzarella, pastor of Our Lady of Peace Church, the sponsoring parish for the elementary school, notified parents of the closing. Originally, school officials announced this morning that the elementary school on Carroll Avenue in the township's Williamstown section would be closed for the day. However, diocesan officials announced in the afternoon that the school of 600 students would remain closed.