Decision on Avery is expected today

December 5, 2008

Sean Avery wasn't in a yapping mood yesterday. Hockey's ultimate instigator surged past camera crews and reporters, choosing to save his comments this time for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman during a three-hour disciplinary hearing in New York. The Dallas Stars forward was suspended indefinitely Tuesday, hours after he used a crude expression to describe former girlfriends now dating others while speaking to reporters. The NHL said it will announce the length of Avery's suspension today. "[Avery] was remorseful in what he did. It's about all you can do," said Stars general manager Brett Hull. Although this is Avery's first suspension in his seven-season NHL career, he often has courted controversy with his comments or unorthodox behavior on the ice. Even after he serves whatever suspension Bettman levies, there is no guarantee Avery will be welcomed back into the dressing room he joined this season, Hull said . . . Hard-hitting Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta is out indefinitely after being placed on injured reserve because of a head and neck injury. Kaleta, who ranks second on the team with 49 hits, was hurt in a 3-2 loss at Montreal last weekend . . . Justin Williams, who tore his Achilles' tendon in September, was activated by Carolina and played in a loss to Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes placed defenseman Dennis Seidenberg on injured reserve with a leg injury . . . Blue Jackets winger Raffi Torres is to have arthroscopic knee surgery today and will be out 2-4 weeks.

Changing her tactics off the tee on the more forgiving Champions course at LPGA International, Michelle Wie hit driver on all but two holes and ran off four straight late birdies for a 7-under-par 65 that put her in a tie for the lead with Shiho Oyama after the second of five rounds at Qualifying School in Daytona Beach, Fla. Oyama shot 70 on the Legends course and joined Wie at 10-under 134. The top 20 players after the 90-hole tournament earn their LPGA Tour cards for next season. Through two rounds, Wie was eight shots clear of the cutoff . . . Marshfield's Geoff Sisk shot a 7-under 65 and is tied with seven for fourth place at 10-under 134, two shots behind leader James Nitties (63), after the second round of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament in La Quinta, Calif. . . . Paul Sheehan birdied the 18th hole to finish the first round with a 6-under 66 for a share of the lead at the storm-delayed Australian PGA Championship in Coolum. Sheehan and Tim Wilkinson, who completed his first round before a thunderstorm hit the Hyatt Regency resort course, have a one-stroke lead over four players . . . Henrik Stenson tied the course record at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa, by shooting a 9-under 63 for a five-shot lead over Rory Sabbatini after one round at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong said he's happy to let Alberto Contador be Astana's team leader. Armstrong, 37, who's returning to cycling after a three-year retirement, said 2007 Tour champion Contador is the world's top rider at the moment and deserves to be the leader. The decision will be up to Astana team director Johan Bruyneel. Armstrong will be "monitored closely" when he returns to the world's top cycling race, French government officials said. In September, France's anti-doping agency challenged Armstrong to have his urine samples from the 1999 Tour de France tested retroactively. L'Equipe reported in 2005 that six of his urine samples from the 1999 race showed traces of erythropoietin, a drug that boosts red blood cells. Armstrong told The New York Times that the samples had been compromised and didn't provide meaningful results when retested three years ago - when he was cleared of any wrongdoing by independent investigators.

Saying racing costs too much amid the global fiscal crisis, Honda decided to pull out of Formula One. Japan's second-largest automaker may put the team up for sale, Honda's president, Takeo Fukui, said today. The company said it has no plans to continue as a supplier of engines for Formula One cars. The pullout by one of the world's biggest car manufacturers is expected to send shockwaves through F1, which could start the season with only 18 cars on the grid . . . Petty Enterprises is in discussions to merge its storied franchise with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, according to the Associated Press. Multiple people familiar with the talks told the AP that the teams were discussing a deal that would merge Petty's famed No. 43 Dodge (ridden by Bobby Labonte) with GEM to become a four-car operation. They requested anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing . . . Philadelphia 76ers leading scorer Elton Brand will miss tonight's game at Detroit with a strained right hamstring . . . A WNBA lottery and dispersal draft for Houston Comets players will be held Monday, a week after the league announced the franchise will shut down . . . Former Manchester United and Ireland soccer star Roy Keane resigned as manager of Premier League club Sunderland.