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          Cross Checks Blog

          NHL players react to Ottawa shootings

          • ESPN.com staff
          Oct 22, 2014, 06:20 PM ET

          A Canadian soldier standing guard at a war memorial in Ottawa was shot to death Wednesday, and gunfire then erupted inside Parliament, authorities said.

          One gunman was killed, and police said they were searching for as many as two others in what Gilles Michaud, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, called a "dynamic, unfolding situation."

          The Ottawa police, via its official Twitter account, warned the public to stay away from that area while it investigated.

          The Maple Leafs were on lockdown earlier Wednesday at the team's hotel in downtown Ottawa, a team representative confirmed to ESPN.com. A team spokesman said the Maple Leafs were scheduled to leave Ottawa later in the afternoon as their game against the Senators was postponed.

          Pittsburgh will play both national anthems before Wednesday night's Flyers-Penguins game, and Anaheim will have a moment of silence before its game against Buffalo.

          Players throughout the league used social media to react to the day's events.