New Jersey Defenseman Stevens Calling It Quits

New Jersey’s Scott Stevens announced his retirement Tuesday after more than two decades in the NHL, saying a year off showed him that he could live without hockey.

“I think the game is more mental than physical. You have to be in tremendous shape, but you have to want to do it in your head,” the 41-year-old defenseman said. “At this point in my career I didn’t think I could put the mental parts there every day, and that’s a big part of playing this game.”

Stevens, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2000 as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs, is expected to stay with the team in some capacity. Stevens said he would consider helping out Devil Coach Larry Robinson if asked.

Stevens, an unrestricted free agent, sat out the last 44 games of the most recent NHL season, 2003-04, after sustaining a head injury against Pittsburgh on Jan. 7, 2004.

Stevens had 196 goals, 712 assists and 2,785 penalty minutes in 1,635 regular-season games with Washington, St. Louis and New Jersey. He had 26 goals and 92 assists in 233 playoff games.

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The Kings signed forward Anze Kopitar to a multiyear entry-level contract. The two-way deal pays him $765,000 a season if he makes the Kings and $62,500 if he plays at minor league Manchester, N.H. It also includes an $85,000 signing bonus.

Kopitar, the 11th player selected in the August draft, is a 6-foot-2, 212-pound forward, who had 21 goals and 49 points for Sodertalje in the Swedish Junior League last season. He will play for the Kings against the Mighty Ducks, San Jose and Phoenix in a four-team rookie tournament that begins today in San Jose. Kopitar, 18, is expected to return to Sweden to play for Sodertalje this season.

The Kings open training camp next Tuesday.

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Auto Racing

NASCAR released the 2006 Nextel Cup Series schedule, a 36-race slate that is virtually identical to this season’s.

The only changes are two race date swaps.

Richmond International Raceway’s spring race will move to May 6, and Darlington Raceway’s race will follow on May 13. Also, Kansas Speedway’s 2006 event will switch weekends with Talladega Superspeedway.

The Kansas race will be Oct. 1, and Talladega will be run Oct. 8.

Next season will begin with the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 19, at Daytona International Speedway and end with the Ford 400 on Sunday, Nov. 19, at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

There also will again be two non-points events: the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona on Feb. 11 and the All-Star Challenge on May 20 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Also, the two 150-mile qualifying races for the Daytona 500 will be held on Feb. 16.

The 26-race regular season will end at Richmond on Sept. 9.

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Jurisprudence

Central Michigan running backs Jerry Seymour and Spencer Lewis were indicted on charges of second-degree murder in the slaying of Demarcus Graham, who died July 14, 2004, after being beaten outside a bar.

James Edward Cooper Jr., a senior defensive tackle, was charged with two counts of perjury, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of accessory after the fact.

Cora Lee Hawkins, a sophomore from Detroit, was charged with one count of perjury.

Seymour was indefinitely suspended from the team April 1, two days after he was charged with criminal contempt over accusations that he lied to the grand jury. Seymour pleaded no contest and later served 30 days in jail.

Chippewa Coach Brian Kelly said that Cooper and Lewis have been indefinitely suspended, and that Seymour’s suspension remained in effect.

Michael Swift, a former Carolina Panther cornerback injured on a play that ended his NFL career, should receive workers’ compensation payments totaling about $167,440, the state Court of Appeals in Raleigh, N.C., ruled.

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College Sports

Tulane athletic teams displaced from the New Orleans campus by Hurricane Katrina will be based this fall at five universities.

The Green Wave student-athletes will live and attend classes at schools in Texas and Louisiana. The teams will stay together and play under the Tulane banner.

Tulane’s football team, which has been working out at Southern Methodist in Dallas, is moving this week to Louisiana Tech in Ruston, about 230 miles north of New Orleans. The players will enroll in classes there that begin next week.

The men’s basketball team, along with the volleyball, swimming and diving and women’s soccer teams, will be at Texas A&M; in College Station.

The women’s basketball team and the baseball team will go to Texas Tech.

Rice will play host to the tennis teams, and SMU will be the temporary home for the golf teams.

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Miscellany

North Carolina swingman Marcus Ginyard had surgery on his broken left wrist but is expected to be able to play when practice begins in October, Coach Roy Williams said.

Lastings Milledge hit two home runs and Brant Ust drove in four runs with a homer and a two-run single in the United States’ 11-1 victory over Spain in baseball’s World Cup at Amsterdam.

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Passings

Adrian Karsten, a former college football reporter for ESPN, was found dead at his home in Brooklyn, Wis., on Friday, just before he was scheduled to report to federal prison to serve an 11-month sentence for tax evasion.

Investigators said there was no indication of foul play. Karsten was 45.

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Mike Penner is on vacation.