I am using 12.17 on Windows 8.1 and had been having the same crashing problem recently. I was able to stop the crashing by typing "opera:config" into the address bar, searching for "SSL" and checking "Enable SSL v3", then searching for "TLS" and unchecking "Enable TLS v1.1" and "Enable TLS v1.2".

I have had the same problem with ESPN.com over the last few days. Also using 12.17. I've tried different settings for cookies, browser identification, etc, but nothing has worked.