AROUND THE NHL

Philadelphia Flyer General Manager Bobby Clarke said he regrets signing an affidavit in support of an admitted wife-beater.

Clarke signed an affidavit July 11 in support of lower bail for New Jersey businessman Robert Stevenson. The affidavit offered Stevenson a job and a place to stay until his trial.

“With hindsight, it was a dumb thing to do. I wasn’t knowing at the time I signed it there was going to be this big thing,” Clarke told The Associated Press. “I was certainly not supporting somebody who beat up on his wife.”

Stevenson had been set for a bail reduction hearing this week when he pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated assault and bail-jumping for beating his wife in 1997 and fleeing. Melody Stevenson, who has since reconciled with him, suffered a fractured skull, four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a concussion.

As part of the plea agreement, charges of attempted murder were dropped, though bail remained at $1 million. Stevenson faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 18.

In the affidavit, Clarke said he and Stevenson had been friends for more than 10 years.

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ABC Sports will add a fifth regular-season game to its NHL coverage next season, hoping to benefit from interest that produced the highest Stanley Cup ratings in two decades.

The league and network also agreed to air each of the five telecasts during the regular season on Saturdays. Last season, some games were shown on Saturday, others Sunday.

The full NHL television schedule for ABC and the ESPN networks will be released next week.

ABC wants to boost its regular-season ratings, which averaged a 1.3, down from Fox’s 1.4 a year ago and about 30 percent off what Fox got in 1996.

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The Minnesota Wild signed free agents Antti Laaksonen and Mike Matteucci on Thursday. . . . The Columbus Blue Jackets signed free-agent center Serge Aubin.