Flyers Reportedly Will Trade Lindros to Rangers Today

Adeal that would send Eric Lindros to the New York Rangers could be finalized today if his father, Carl, agrees to the trade, two sources close to the negotiations told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

The New York Daily News and the Record of Hackensack, N.J., reported that the Philadelphia Flyers conditionally agreed to trade the restricted free agent to the Rangers for forward Jan Hlavac, defenseman Kim Johnsson, forward Pavel Brendl and a middle-round draft pick.

Flyer General Manager Bob Clarke said he hadn’t spoken to Ranger General Manager Glen Sather on Tuesday. Sather is out of town and isn’t expected back in New York until today.

Eric Lindros sat out the last NHL season after rejecting an $8.5-million qualifying offer from the Flyers. He refused to return to the team because of a contentious relationship with Clarke.

Lindros, 28, hasn’t played since a check from Scott Stevens of New Jersey in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals gave him his sixth concussion 14 months ago.

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Goaltender Mike Dunham of the Nashville Predators was added to the roster of the U.S. men’s hockey team for the Salt Lake City Olympic Games.

He’s the 15th player but the first goalie. A native of Johnson City, N.Y., he has compiled a 69-83-17 record and 2.67 goals-against average in 185 games spanning five NHL seasons.

He is among the players invited to an orientation camp Sept. 4-7 at Colorado Springs, Colo.

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The Colorado Avalanche will retire Ray Bourque’s No. 77, the second NHL team to retire the uniform number of the top-scoring defenseman. The Boston Bruins, with whom Bourque played from 1979 to 2000 before finishing his career with Colorado, will also retire his number.

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Pittsburgh Penguin right wing Alexei Kovalev won his arbitration hearing and was awarded a two-year, $8.85-million contract. Kovalev, 28, had career-bests of 44 goals and 51 assists last season. . . . Forward Ilya Kovalchuk, the NHL’s top draft pick, signed a three-year contract with the Atlanta Thrashers for $1.13 million a season, the maximum allowed under the league’s rookie salary cap, and will be eligible for $8 million in incentive bonuses.. . . Jacques Laperriere and Kelly Miller, an assistant with the Mighty Ducks last season, were hired as assistant coaches by the New York Islanders.

Tennis

Top-seeded Jennifer Capriati got a big scare from Daniela Hantuchova, a teenager from Slovakia, before prevailing, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, in the second round of the Rogers AT&T; Cup at Toronto.

Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman, Thomas Johansson and Thomas Enqvist advanced to the second round of the RCA Championships at Indianapolis.

Bjorkman, who is unseeded, defeated Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (10), 7-5; Johansson, seeded ninth, beat Israel’s Harel Levy, 6-3, 6-3. Enqvist, seeded eighth, beat Germany’s Alexander Popp, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4.

As Bjorkman started his match shortly before noon, the temperature was 80 and the humidity was 42%.

“Today was beautiful weather. It was just like a good summer day in Sweden,” he said.

In other first-round matches, second-seeded Marat Safin of Russia beat Brazil’s Andre Sa, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and fourth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia lost to Max Mirnyi of Belarus, 6-3, 6-3.

Wild-card entry Robby Ginepri, the youngest player in the singles draw at 18 and the ATP’s lowest-ranked player at No. 359, defeated Karim Alami of Morocco, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

Greg Rusedski of Britain, seeded 12th, reached the second round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Washington by defeating Marcus Hipfl of Austria, 6-1, 7-6 (2).

Defending champion Alex Corretja of Spain advanced to the third round with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Nicolas Massu of Chile.

Swimming

Kalyn Keller and Fran Crippen won their first national swimming titles with victories in the 800-meter freestyle on the opening day of the U.S. Championships at Clovis, Calif.

Keller, a 16-year-old whose brother also is on the U.S. team, was timed in 8 minutes 37.14 seconds. Olympic gold medalist Brooke Bennett, whose up-and-down season has been caused by illnesses, finished 11th.

In the men’s race, the 17-year-old Crippen broke away from Chris Thompson and Chad Carvin over the final 200 meters to win in 7:59.86.

Jurisprudence

U.S. District Judge David Martin ordered Brown University to pay more than $1 million in legal fees in a case that accused the Ivy League school of discriminating against female athletes. A group of female athletes sued the Ivy League school in 1992 after Brown decided to discontinue four sports from its varsity programs. A settlement was reached in 1998, but the issue of how much the university would be required to pay in legal fees was not settled.

Carlton Haselrig, a troubled former offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets, has been jailed on a bench warrant at Greensburg, Pa., accused of driving under a suspended license.

Mark Gastineau, a former Jet defensive lineman who has had repeated run-ins with the law, was arrested Monday night in Sedona, Ariz., after he was stopped for speeding. A warrant check showed Gastineau, 44, had an outstanding felony warrant for possession of narcotics equipment. Gastineau was released last month from the Rikers Island (N.Y.) penitentiary, where he spent 11 months for violating his probation on a 1998 conviction of assaulting his wife.

Miscellany

Glen Rice’s formal introduction as a Houston Rocket was postponed while team doctors reviewed his medical records.

Rocket spokesman Tim Frank said physicians were taking longer than expected to examine results of Rice’s physical.

Rice repeatedly missed practice time last season with the New York Knicks because of a foot injury, and he told a Houston TV station Monday that he still has some pain “but I think I can play through it.”

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Greg LeMond issued an apology to fellow U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong, claiming his critical remarks on Armstrong’s association with an Italian doctor were taken out of context. LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, told a London newspaper earlier this month that he was unhappy about Armstrong’s association with Michele Ferrari, who has been linked to drug use in sports.

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Venezuela scored a historic 2-0 triumph over visiting Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier at Maracaibo, diminishing its opponent’s chances to advance to the 2002 tournament. It was Venezuela’s first victory over Uruguay in 17 World Cup qualifying, Copa America and friendly matches. . . . Marcelo Salas scored one goal in each half to salvage a hard-fought 2-2 draw for Chile in its World Cup qualifier against Bolivia at Santiago, Chile.