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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Some members of the U.S. hockey team heading to the Sochi Games this week- end will be carrying some high-tech gear with them that will be kept under wraps. Socks. Very high-tech, performance socks. During the last couple years there's been a growing trend among NHL players trying to protect their lower legs from skate blades. Several manufacturers produce these high- tech socks using a variety of material — including Kevlar and copper — to save calf muscles, Achilles tendons and a player's feet. Detroit equipment manager Paul Boyer has many of his players wearing the socks, and among the Red Wings head- ing to Sochi include goalie Jimmy Howard playing for the Americans, Henrik Zetterberg with Sweden and Pavel Dat- syuk with the Russians. ''I've got guys jumping into them because of the safety factor,'' Boyer said. ''If a guy is wearing them and a skate goes across his calf or Achilles tendon, they're going to be protected. If there's enough pressure per square inch, the socks can be cut. But a guy will probably have only a mark instead of a cut.'' Jason McMaster, equipment manager for the Winnipeg Jets, is even more succinct: ''It's the difference between a player missing little to no games to missing a large portion of the season.'' Socks became an issue in recent years with companies switching from knit to thin performance material. McMas- ter wrote in an email to The Associated Press that equip- ment managers feel the old knit socks helped protect against such nicks and slices. Four of the Jets will be playing in Sochi: Olli Jokinen (Finland), Ondrej Pavalec and Michael Frolik (Czech Republic) and American Blake Wheeler. McMaster has packed four pairs of each player's favorite cut-resistant socks with their equipment for the Olympics. ''I would like to see every player wear cut resistant socks,'' McMaster said. ''Anything to keep the players healthy is very important us. The socks may not stop all injuries, but if you can minimize the severity of an injury you have helped keep the player on the ice.'' Getting players to try the high-tech socks has been chal- lenging. By the time players reach the NHL or Olympic level, they're used to the equipment they've been wearing for years and don't want to change. Material strong enough to fend off a skate blade also tends to build up heat inside the sock making for a comfort issue. Sabres coach Ted Nolan, also coaching the Latvian National Team, said some players didn't even wear socks back in the day. His son, Los Angeles Kings center Jordan Nolan, does wear cut-resistant socks. ''Skates are pretty sharp,'' Nolan said. When Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson had his left Achilles tendon sliced by Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke's left skate Feb. 13, 2013, players went to equipment man- agers asking for a sock to protect themselves. There are still some holdouts. Buffalo defenseman Hen- rik Tallinder, who will be playing for Sweden, doesn't wear the cut-resistant socks but is open to a change. ''If you see how Karlsson got cut, I have a hard time see- ing him not getting cut with a non-cut sock, you know what I mean,'' Tallinder said. His Buffalo teammate Zemgus Girgensons (ZEHM- guhz GEER-gehn-suhns) wears them after being handed a pair when he joined Rochester in the AHL after being draft- ed in 2012. He once tested the socks to check how well they protect against sharp objects, and he finally punched through the material because he said he couldn't tell a dif- ference from his old socks either from the look or feel. ''With a lot of pressure you can cut it,'' Girgensons said. ''But it's like armor.'' Tehama Tracker 1B Wednesday February 5, 2014 Sports AP photo Manny Pacquiao, left of the Philippines, and Tim Bradley pose at a news conference to promote their upcoming WBO welterweight championship boxing rematch in Beverly Hills on Tuesday. Report in Dolphins bully scandal expected soon Today's schedule WRESTLING Shasta at Red Bluff, 6 p.m. Corning at Anderson, 6 p.m. NBA Toronto at Sacramento, 7 p.m. NHL Dallas at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Sports on TV MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 4 p.m. ESPN2 — Boston College at Vir- ginia ESPNU — Oklahoma at West Virginia 6 p.m. ESPN2 — Stanford at California ESPNU — Louisville at Houston 8 p.m. ESPNU — Wyoming at New Mexi- co NBA BASKETBALL 5 p.m. ESPN — Portland at New York 7:30 p.m. ESPN — Miami at L.A. Clippers NHL HOCKEY 4:30 p.m. NBCSN — Pittsburgh at Buffalo MIAMI (AP) — The NFL's report in the Miami Dol- phins harassment case is expected to be released soon, shedding further light on the much-scrutinized, troubled relationship between offensive linemen Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito. The report will likely address whether the Dolphins organization was at fault for the locker-room culture that led Martin to leave the team last October. He later said he was harassed daily by teammates, including Incognito, and alleged that their racial, aggressive and sexually charged comments played a role in his departure. Incognito's Dolphins suspension was lifted Tuesday, but Miami officials say that was an administrative move agreed to by all parties some time ago, and had nothing to do with any new developments in the league investigation. Last week, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said he has an idea of what will be in the league's report, and indicat- ed he doesn't expect any new revelations. He said he's proud of the way the people running the franchise responded to the scandal. Martin has said he tried to be friends with Incognito. The two players traded more a thousand text messages in a year's span, and the teasing and vulgar banter went both ways, with references to sex, drugs, violence and bawdy behavior, often in a jocular tone. The back-and-forth continued last week. In his first interview since the scandal broke, Martin told NBC per- sistent vulgar language around the team made him feel trapped. Incognito's attorney Mark Schamel responded with a statement saying Martin was ''hiding behind false allegations'' rather than dealing with ''his poor on-field performance and myriad other issues.'' The NFL report will come from New York attorney Ted Wells three months after he was retained by the NFL to investigate the case, which inspired a national debate about hazing and workplace bullying. Wells will determine the role of coach Joe Philbin, his staff and Miami management in the case. One issue is whether anyone on the coaching staff ordered Incognito to toughen up Martin, who became a starter as a rookie in 2012 but played poorly at times. Martin has said people in the organization knew he was unhappy about comments teammates made to him, but he didn't talk to Philbin about it. The 6-foot-5, 312-pound Martin abruptly left the team Oct. 28. He was briefly hospitalized and then joined his family in California and underwent counseling for emo- tional issues. Incognito was suspended Nov. 3 and sat out the final eight games. Both players have said they want to play in 2014, but it likely won't be with the Dolphins. Incognito becomes a free agent this winter and will probably sign with another team, and Dolphins are expected to trade or release Mar- tin, who has two years remaining on his contract. Teammates said the two linemen seemed to be good friends, despite their contrasting backgrounds. Martin, 24, was a classics major at Stanford, while Incognito, 30, was kicked off his team at Nebraska and went on to develop a reputation as one of the NFL's dirtiest players known for out-of-bounds behavior. Incognito has said he regrets racist and profane lan- guage he used with Martin, but said it stemmed from a cul- ture of locker-room ''brotherhood,'' not bullying. Incogni- to is white and Martin is black. Teammates both black and white have said Incognito is not a racist, and they've been more supportive of the vet- eran guard than they have of Martin. In November there were reports that Ross might clean house after the season. But Philbin was retained to return for a third season in 2014, and most of his staff remains, including offensive line coach Jim Turner, who worked most closely with Incognito and Martin. General manager Jeff Ireland left the Dolphins in Janu- ary after six seasons because of the team's mediocre results, and because he clashed with Philbin over person- nel decisions. Pacquiao, Bradley both seek redemption in rematch BEVERLY HILLS (AP) — Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley intend to leave no doubt this time. Nearly two years after Bradley beat the Filipino congressman in a hotly dis- puted split decision, the welterweights both seemed uncommonly confident Tuesday as they began promotional work for their April 12 rematch. That's because each man is still unshakably certain he won their first meeting. ''I want to maintain my name at the top and prove I can still fight,'' Pac- quiao said. ''My career is not done yet.'' The June 2012 decision was sav- aged by fans, media and even Bob Arum, both fighters' promoter. They all believed Pacquiao's power and combinations had beaten Bradley's elusiveness and tactical approach. Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) still feels wronged by the reactions to the biggest win of his life, ranging from catcalls on the street to death threats in the mail. ''With all the controversy, this fight is about redemption,'' Bradley said. ''I want to redeem what I didn't get, which is the credit. It's important for me to make the win decisive in the peo- ple's eyes this time. I've already got a win. This is so I can walk down the street and nobody says, 'Hey, you did- n't win that fight, man.' That hurts me.'' Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KOs) and trainer Freddie Roach both believe Pacquiao won essentially every round in the first bout. But the Pacman still wants to prove he's back on top of his game by avenging the loss that snapped his 15-fight winning streak. ''I'm not angry anymore,'' Pacquiao said. ''I was surprised by the decision, but I'm the kind of person that I respect the decision of the judges.'' But did Pacquiao agree that Bradley gave him ''a boxing lesson,'' in the infamous words of judge Duane Ford? ''I think I gave him a boxing lesson, and the judges gave him that,'' Pac- quiao said with a smile. Pacquiao and Bradley will meet again for the WBO 147-pound title at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Bradley is opening camp in his native Palm Springs area on Monday, while Pacquiao will train in the Philippines before moving back to Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in Hollywood in March. ''To be honest, I wasn't as motivat- ed when I was training for our first fight,'' Pacquiao said. ''I guess I didn't take him seriously enough.'' The split decision was so reviled that the WBO hired five independent judges to re-score the bout on video, and all five favored Pacquiao. The WBO didn't overturn the result, but asked for a rematch — and after both fighters boosted their careers with vic- tories last year, they were ready to do it again. Pacquiao was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez a few months after the Bradley bout, and he took nearly a year off before returning to dominate Brandon Rios in Macau. Bradley watched both fights, but wasn't impressed. ''He still has all the skill sets,'' Bradley said. ''I just feel like that killer instinct is gone.'' Bradley turned himself into one of boxing's biggest names in 2013 with a sensational brawl against Ruslan Provodnikov and a classy decision win over Marquez. Bradley acknowledges being a bit star-struck before he got in the ring with Pacquiao, but he was surprised how easily he could handle the man who was on top of the sport at the time. Bradley feels he won the first fight, but believes he can win the rematch clear- ly enough for everybody to see. ''I know what to expect this time,'' Bradley said. ''It's like when you learn to ride a bike. The second time is easi- er.'' U.S. hockey team sports high-tech socks AP file photo Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito (68) and tackle Jonathan Martin (71) look over plays dur- ing an NFL preseason football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Miami Gardens, Fla. in August. AP photo CEO Mark Cleveland models a pair of protective hockey socks in January in Cool Springs, Tenn.