In brief: Ducks will show off Cup during London games
The Anaheim Ducks will take the Stanley Cup back to its birthplace when they open the NHL’s 90th season and begin defense of their first championship in London against the rival Los Angeles Kings.
The two-game series highlights the 2007-08 schedule, released by the league from New York on Wednesday.
Anaheim will show off the Cup in England on Sept. 29-30. The oldest trophy in North American sports was purchased at the Regent Street shop of silversmith G. R. Collis & Co. 115 years ago. The matchup will be the first regular-season NHL games played in Europe.
“Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky agreed to a five-year extension with the Kings.
“Former Detroit Red Wings coach Jimmy Skinner, who led a team starring Hall of Famers Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay to the Stanley Cup in 1955, died. He was 90.
College sports
Ex-player convicted
One former Michigan football player has been convicted and another has been cleared of charges stemming from an attack on a fellow student.
Christian Richards, of Pacoima, Calif., was found guilty Tuesday of aggravated assault and assault and battery, while Carson Butler, of Detroit, was cleared.
“David Hart Jr., Florida State’s athletic director since 1995, won’t have his contract renewed when it expires in 18 months.
Tennis
Open payouts soar
The men’s and women’s singles champions will get a record $1.4 million apiece at this year’s U.S. Open and the total prize money will top $19 million for the first time.
The overall payout of $19.6 million is $1 million more than in 2006, the largest single-year jump in U.S. Open history, the U.S. Tennis Association announced from White Plains, N.Y.
Miscellany
Love, Moore honored
Basketball players Kevin Love, who will attend UCLA, and Connecticut recruit Maya Moore were honored in Los Angeles as national high school athletes of the year.
Love averaged 33.6 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three blocks last season, helping Lake Oswego (Ore.) High to its third consecutive state title-game appearance.
Moore led Collins Hill High in Suwanee, Ga., to an undefeated season and its third consecutive Georgia Class 5A state championship.
“Two of 12 new Beijing Olympic venues have been completed and could be handed over to officials as early as next week.
“Rugby union and racquetball were added to the list of sports that will be played in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
“The amateur boxing world championships in Chicago will begin four days later than scheduled because of “various, unavoidable reasons.” The event is set to begin Oct. 23 and finish Nov. 3, the International Amateur Boxing Association said.