In brief: Sabres’ Briere will test free-agency waters

Co-captain Daniel Briere has broken off negotiations with the Buffalo Sabres, deciding to test the NHL free agent market when it opens Sunday.

“We’ve made the decision to go to July 1 and sit down and seek all options at that point,” Briere’s agent Pat Brisson told the Associated Press on Friday.

The decision, which came a day after Briere traveled to Los Angeles to meet with Brisson, will make the player one of the most sought-after free agents.

He’s expected to attract offers above $6 million, coming off a career-high season in which he finished 10th in the NHL with 95 points (32 goals, 63 assists).

But Brisson didn’t rule out the possibility of Briere re-signing with Buffalo.

“We haven’t closed the door on Buffalo at all,” he said. “There’s no animosity; there’s a lot of respect there.”

The Sabres declined comment.

Buffalo stands to lose both co-captains this off-season, with Chris Drury also eligible to become a free agent Sunday.

“The NHL salary cap will rise to $50.3 million per team next season, an increase of $6.3 million from last season, the league and players’ union announced.

It’s the second increase under the collective bargaining agreement that ended the yearlong lockout in 2005.

The key issue in the lockout that forced the cancellation of the 2004-05 season was the owners’ insistence to include a salary cap and the players’ association’s unwillingness to accept it. The union finally gave in, and has had a financial windfall.

Teams don’t have to spend up to the ceiling, but each club’s payroll must be at least $34.3 million. The range from top to bottom is always $16 million

“The Florida Panthers signed center Jozef Stumpel to a two-year contract extension.

“Defenseman Jaroslav Modry and left wing Jeff Giuliano re-signed with the Los Angeles Kings, agreeing to one-year contracts.

Miscellany

Alinghi takes lead

In Valencia, Spain, America’s Cup challenger New Zealand lost two tests at sea.

First it could not control its own sails. Then it was defeated by defending champion Alinghi.

The Swiss took a 3-2 lead with a 19-second victory in the fifth race of the best-of-9 series after a meltdown by the Kiwis on the second leg.

A spinnaker was blown to pieces. Its replacement sail went out of control and flapped from the mast top. The third sail twisted around itself and was unusable.

“I sympathize with those guys,” Alinghi midbowman Curtis Blewett said. “A tear in the spinnaker is acceptable. But a poor recovery and just making a spectacle of it is not.”

“Wladimir Sidorenko of Ukraine kept his WBA bantamweight title and remained undefeated, knocking out Jerome Arnould of France in the seventh round in Marseille, France.

Sidorenko won every round and floored Arnould in the fifth and seventh. The Frenchman could not get up from the second knockdown, leaving him with his third defeat in 18 fights.

“Jack Poole, chairman of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games Organizing Committee, will have surgery in early July to treat a pancreatic tumor.

Poole is expected to make a full recovery given the tumor’s location, early stage of development and his excellent physical condition, VANOC said in a statement this week.