Fast Break

Hockey

Isles, DiPietro sign record deal

Rick DiPietro re-signed with the New York Islanders on Tuesday, agreeing to a record 15-year deal that will pay the No. 1 goalie $67.5 million.

The Islanders scheduled an afternoon news conference to officially announce the contract that would keep DiPietro in the fold until 2021, when he would be nearly 40.

The deal, first reported by Newsday, is the longest in NHL history, topping the 10-year, $87.5 million contract the Islanders gave enigmatic center Alexei Yashin in 2001.

That was one of the contracts that sent NHL salaries soaring and led to the salary cap in the collective bargaining agreement that ended the lockout last year. It also saddled New York with a player who is nearly impossible to move and who takes up a big chunk of the team’s $44 million maximum payroll.

Rodeo

Cheney’s Gray closer to NFR

Cheney bareback rider Ryan Gray received a boost in his bid to quality for a second straight National Finals Rodeo by winning his specialty at the Lewiston Roundup last weekend.

Gray earned $5,239 for his 85-point ride. Gray, who won at Walla Walla a week earlier, moved from 16th place to 14th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association standings.

The top 15 qualify for the NFR.

Outdoors

Hunting section coming Thursday

A special tabloid section previewing the 2006 hunting seasons in Idaho and Washington will be published Thursday in The Spokesman-Review.

The reports cover the latest on big game, upland birds and waterfowl.

Junior hockey

Chiefs extend Arena lease

The Spokane Public Facilities District board voted to extend the Spokane Chiefs lease agreement through May 2021.

“The Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena enjoys one of the best prime-tenant partnerships in the country with the Spokane Chiefs Hockey Club,” said Arena general manager Kevin Twohig.

The new lease is a 10-year extension to the original lease that was set to expire in 2011.