Kings sign Jonathan Bernier to two-year, $2.5-million contract extension

The Kings signed goaltender Jonathan Bernier to a two-year, $2.5-million contract extension Monday, one day after they announced he will begin the season as the backup to Jonathan Quick.

Bernier, 22, has a year left on his entry-level contract. The new deal will start with the 2011-12 season, when he will earn $975,000. He will earn $1.525 million in 2012-13. The average annual value for calculating the salary cap hit is $1.25 million.

The Kings also put goaltender Erik Ersberg and left wing Richard Clune on waivers. Other teams have until 9 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday to claim them. Forward John Zeiler, who was placed on waivers last week, cleared and was assigned to Manchester (N.H.) of the American Hockey League.

The Ducks assigned left wing Josh Green and center Maxime Macenauer to their top affiliate, Syracuse of the AHL. They have 26 players on their roster, including three who are injured.

— Helene Elliott

COLLEGES

The University of Southern California shut out the University of South Carolina in the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices let stand a trademark ruling holding that the interlocking letters “SC” are the registered mark of the sports teams based in Los Angeles. The high court turned down an appeal from USC in Columbia, S.C., which since 1997 has sought to register its own “SC” logo for the sale of sports merchandise.

“We are pleased the Supreme Court did the right thing and ended this after 13 years,” said Michael Adler, a Los Angeles lawyer for USC. “We’d rather beat them on the football field than fight them in litigation, but if they won this, they could have used this [logo] on any merchandise.”

--David Savage

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Michigan State football Coach Mark Dantonio was released from a hospital after treatment for a blood clot that was discovered less than two weeks after surgery following a mild heart attack.

Dantonio was admitted last Thursday with a blood clot in a leg and missed the Spartans’ 34-24 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday. He has missed two games following the heart attack Sept. 19.

A routine postoperative exam revealed the blood clot, which is common after a variety of surgical procedures.

Michigan State plays at Michigan this weekend in a matchup of unbeaten teams. A school spokesman said shortly after Dantonio’s release that his role this week was still to be determined.

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

Kevin O’Connor, Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s associate athletic director of communications, 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.

Pearl’s recruiting practices are part of an NCAA investigation into Tennessee’s athletic department. Pearl acknowledged giving misleading information when asked by NCAA officials about a photo of him and prospect Aaron Craft taken when the recruit was a high school junior.

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ETC.

The United States opened the third round of the volleyball world championships in Rome with a 3-0 win over France.

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

Two-time defending world champion Brazil had to rally from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Czech Republic, 3-2, winning the tiebreaker, 15-8. Also, fourth-ranked Serbia beat Argentina, 3-1, and Bulgaria defeated Spain 3-1.

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Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Cammalleri has been suspended for the season opener for slashing the ankle of a New York Islanders prospect during an exhibition game.

The league said that Cammalleri will miss Thursday’s game at Toronto and forfeit more than $32,000 in salary. He was ejected from Saturday’s game after committing the penalty on Nino Niederreiter in the second period.

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FIFA suspended Nigerian soccer’s governing body for government interference, almost certainly preventing the country from taking part in qualifying for the African Cup of Nations this weekend.

Several developments led to the suspension, including court actions against elected members of the Nigerian Football Federation executive committee, the federation’s general secretary stepping down on orders from the government-run National Sports Commission, and the decision of the sports minister to start the Nigerian league without relegation from the previous season.

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David Hartmire, one of four local swimmers who is attempting four consecutive channel crossings from points in the South Bay to Catalina Island, jumped in the water at just after noon Monday and, as of the late evening, was just a few miles from reaching Catalina Island. The one-way distance of about 20 miles is a daunting one when considering this season’s unusually cold temperatures, but Hartmire, 49, of Newhall, was reportedly doing fine.

The next swimmer in this relay is Michael Vovk, 43, of Castaic, who will swim back to the South Bay. This swim, an effort to raise money for charity, is expected to finish at noon Wednesday.

-- Baxter Holmes