Red Wings’ Yzerman Sidelined Until January

Detroit Red Wing captain Steve Yzerman will have knee surgery in early August and is expected to sit out the first two months of next season. The 37-year-old center helped Detroit win the Stanley Cup despite an injured right knee.

He decided not to have reconstructive surgery and instead will have a realignment next month in London, Ontario. He is not expected to be able to play until January.

Yzerman had 13 goals and 35 assists in only 52 games last season, but he led the Red Wings with 17 assists and 23 points during the playoffs. He has 658 goals and 1,004 assists in 19 NHL seasons, all with Detroit.

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Defenseman Robert Svehla ended his 35-day retirement and agreed to a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who acquired his rights in a trade with Florida.

The Panthers received restricted free agent defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich, an All-Star in 2000. The 33-year-old Svehla agreed to a one-year deal with options for two additional years.

Svehla, who announced his retirement June 12 following a contract dispute, has played his entire eight-year career with the Panthers.

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Marc Bergevin rejoined the Pittsburgh Penguins on after spending last season with St. Louis. The 36-year-old defenseman had three assists in 30 games last season for the Blues after appearing in 36 games for Pittsburgh in 2000-01. He has played for seven teams in 18 NHL seasons.

Tennis

Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden has pulled out of next week’s Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA because of an injured knee, according to his management agency. Johansson, who won his first Grand Slam title in January in Melbourne, has not won a tournament since.

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Gustavo Kuerten lost in the second round of the Mercedes Cup to Germany’s Lars Burgsmueller, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (4), at Stuttgart, Germany. Kuerten, seeded No. 2, had to play twice on Thursday, after three days of rain at the start of the tournament forced organizers to crowd 14 matches into one day.

In the morning, Kuerten defeated Stefan Koubek, 6-3, 6-3, in a match that had been postponed twice. Top-seeded Jiri Novak, a Czech who was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, had to play only once and eased into the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Fernando Meligeni, another Brazilian.

No. 3 Guillermo Canas of Argentina defeated Felix Mantilla of Spain, 6-4, 6-3, and No. 4 Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco beat Johan Settergren of Sweden, 6-4, 6-2. Mikhail Youzhny, a 20-year-old Russian, defeated Hicham Arazi of Morocco, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, then beat sixth-seeded Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, 6-2, 6-4. Seventh-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany lost to Alberto Martin of Spain, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3.

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Defending champion Carlos Moya advanced to the quarterfinals of the Croatia Open with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Oliver Gross at Umag. Fourth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic and qualifiers David Ferrer and Victor Hanescu also advanced to the quarterfinals.... Defending champion Alex Corretja lost to unseeded Christophe Rochus, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the second round of the clay-court $381,000 Energis Open at Amersfoort, Netherlands.

Pro Football

Attorneys for Korey Stringer’s widow are not entitled to access to other Minnesota Vikings’ players medical records unless the players consent because the records are protected by doctor-patient confidentiality, a judge ruled.

The attorneys had asked Hennepin County District Judge Gary Larson to order the Vikings to turn over medical records of players who had suffered heat-related illnesses during the past 40 years so they could use them in their wrongful death lawsuit against the team and other defendants.

Stringer’s widow, Kelci, is seeking $100 million in damages.

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Second-round draft pick Antwaan Randle El, the former Indiana quarterback who is being converted into a wide receiver, agreed to a $2.29-million, four-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers .... The Oakland Raiders signed first-round draft pick Napoleon Harris, a linebacker from Northwestern, to a six-year, $7-million contract, his agent said.

Golf

Tripp Isenhour, Shaun Micheel, Paul Claxton, Joe Ogilvie and David Morland IV each shot seven-under-par 65s and shared the first-round lead in the B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y.

Jay Haas, one of the top name players in the tournament, quit after teeing off on No. 15 because of apparent kidney stones. He was treated at a hospital and released Thursday night.

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In the U.S. Amateur Public Links championship at Washington Township, Mich., Jay Choi of Cerritos lost in the third round to Chris Stroud of Groves, Texas, 4 and 2. Henry Liaw of Rowland Heights lost in the second round to John Finnin of Crete, Ill., 1-up. Choi defeated Gabe Alcala of Bastrop, Texas, in the second round, 4 and 3.

Pro Basketball

Free-agent guard Larry Hughes signed a three-year contract with Washington, choosing the Wizards over several other NBA teams. Hughes will have an opening salary of $4.5 million

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USC forward Sam Clancy, Philadelphia’s second-round pick in the NBA draft, signed with the 76ers.

Miscellany

Chris Thompson of Roseburg, Ore. won the men’s 800-meter freestyle in a meet-record 8:00.82 in the Janet Evans Invitational swim meet at USC. Thompson, 23, swam the final lap in 57.51 seconds to edge little-known 17-year-old South Korean Sung Mo Cho. Cho led by more than a second after 500 meters and still held the lead after 700 meters but finished second in 8:01.40.

Hayley Peirsol, 16, a senior at Newport Harbor High, cruised to victory in the women’s 800 in 8:39.75. Adrienne Binder of Santa Barbara was second in 8:45.79.

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The U.S. Equestrian team’s selection trials for the World Equestrian Games are Saturday and Sunday at the Del Mar Horsepark. Reserved seats are $30, general admission $15.