In brief: NHL, officials union reach 4-year deal

Hockey: The NHL and the officials’ union have reached a tentative deal on a new collective bargaining agreement just days before the opening of hockey’s regular season.

The deal struck Monday is a four-year agreement and is subject to ratification by members of the NHL Officials’ Association and the league’s board of governors. Both sides declined comment until the contract is ratified.

Referees and linesmen worked the entire NHL preseason schedule without a contract.

• Rangers agree to terms with Fedotenko: Free-agent forward Ruslan Fedotenko agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract with the New York Rangers.

The 31-year-old left wing had one goal and six assists in five games with New York during the preseason, leading his new club in points.

Fedotenko has won Stanley Cup titles with Tampa Bay, under current Rangers coach John Tortorella, and Pittsburgh. He will be looking to impart that winning experience onto the Rangers, who missed the playoffs last season and have reached the second round only twice in five years.

Fedotenko played in Pittsburgh last season, his ninth in the NHL. He had 11 goals and 30 points in 80 games. He also has been with the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Islanders.

Pearl NCAA violation reported by UWM

Miscellany: Wisconsin- Milwaukee reported an NCAA violation in 2004 after Bruce Pearl invited a recruit to a party at his Milwaukee home while he was coach there.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee associate athletic director of communications Kevin O’Connor said the university reported to the NCAA that Pearl had invited a recruit to attend his daughter’s graduation party at his home, though he did not name the recruit involved.

ESPN, which first reported the story, identified the recruit as Mike Schachtner, who would go on to play at Green Bay and now plays professionally in Romania.

• U.S. beats France at volleyball worlds: The United States opened the third round of the men’s volleyball world championships with a 3-0 win over France in Rome.

Clayton Stanley led the Olympic champions with 14 points, 4 blocks and 4 aces – while Sean Rooney and David Lee added 11 points each.

U.S. coach Alan Knipe called his squad’s attack and block percentage “almost perfect.”

• Soccer, cricket to WADA: cocaine bans don’t work: The players unions representing footballers and cricketers in England have called for recreational drugs to be removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.

Rather than punishing athletes who test positive for cocaine and marijuana during in-competition testing with a two-year ban for a first offense, the groups said the focus should be on rehabilitation.