Goalie Signs 15-Year Deal

Rick DiPietro re-signed with the New York Islanders on Tuesday, agreeing to a record 15-year deal that will pay the No. 1 goalie $67.5 million.

The deal will keep DiPietro in the fold until 2021, when he would be nearly 40.

The deal is the longest in NHL history.

DiPietro is one week shy of his 25th birthday. He will be paid $4.5 million each season until 2021, totaling $67.5 million.

DiPietro’s landmark deal topped the one given to teammate Alexei Yashin in 2001, a 10-year, $87.5 million contract.

It saddled New York with a player who is nearly impossible to move and takes up a big chunk of the team’s $44 million maximum payroll.

“We have to do it together,” said Yashin, one of several Islanders at the news conference. “The contract is the contract, and we have to keep focus on the game now.”

The contract is guaranteed. DiPietro will be paid in full should he retire because of injury; if he ends his career otherwise before the deal expires, he would forfeit the remaining dollars.

Individual tickets for the Kings’ regular-season games will go on sale Saturday at 9 a.m. Single-game tickets, ranging from $26.50 to $120.50, will be available at the Staples Center Box Office.

Tickets can also be purchased through TicketMaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by telephone at (213) 365-3600 starting at 10 a.m.

Individual tickets for the Jan. 20 game between the Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes, when Luc Robitaille’s number will be retired, will not go on sale Saturday.

-- Chris Foster

The Edmonton Oilers re-signed winger Joffrey Lupul to a contract worth about $6.9 million over three years.

The restricted free agent was acquired in the Chris Pronger deal with the Ducks earlier this summer.

Free-agent center Ryan Kesler signed a one-year offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Vancouver Canucks can either match the Flyers’ offer or take a second-round pick from the Flyers next year.

Boston Bruins forward Tom Fitzgerald, a veteran of 17 NHL seasons and seven teams, announced his retirement.

TENNIS

Moya Is a Winner at the BCR Open

Carlos Moya beat Luis Horna to advance to the second round of the BCR Open Romania at Bucharest.

The third-seeded Spaniard won, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 7-5, on clay.

Second-seeded Florent Serra had an easier task, moving past Juan-Martin Aranguren, 6-1, 6-0.

Defending champion Lindsay Davenport beat Galina Voskoboeva, 7-5, 6-1, in her opening match at the Wismilak International in Bali, Indonesia.

Third-seeded Marcos Baghdatis rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the last set to beat Denis Gremelmayr, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5), in the first round of the China Open at Beijing.

Russia selected Mikhail Youzhny, Nikolai Davydenko, Marat Safin and Dmitri Tursunov to face the United States in next weekend’s Davis Cup semifinal at Moscow.

BASKETBALL

Kukoc Said He’ll Probably Retire

NBA veteran Toni Kukoc, 38, probably will retire after failing to interest the Milwaukee Bucks or Chicago Bulls to sign him.

“It looks like I’m done,” Kukoc told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “There are teams that want me, but I don’t want to go far from home.”

Kukoc lives in Highland Park, Ill., and the Bulls and Bucks are the two closest teams. Kukoc has played 13 seasons in the NBA.

The Miami Heat waived veteran reserve guard Derek Anderson, 32, meaning the defending NBA champions will not be bringing their entire roster from last season into this year’s camp.

Dave Cowens has joined the Detroit Pistons as an assistant coach, leaving his job as coach and general manager of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky.

Cowens’ last NBA coaching job was with the Golden State Warriors from 2000 to ’02. Cowens also served as a player-coach for the 1978-79 Boston Celtics and rejoined the NBA coaching ranks in 1997 with the Charlotte Hornets.

Sue Bird led all scorers with 20 points and Candace Parker had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the two-time defending champion United States to a 119-72 victory over China on the opening day of the Women’s World Basketball Championship at Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Earlier, Brazil’s government suspended a regulation and allowed the Lithuanian basketball team to enter the country even though the players weren’t inoculated for yellow fever.

MISCELLANY

FIFA Vice President Is Target of Probe

Soccer’s governing body will look into alleged illegal ticket sales of nearly $1 million during the World Cup by Jack Warner, one of its senior officials.

According to reports in Britain’s Daily Mail, FIFA vice president Warner of Trinidad and Tobago was involved in the sale of thousands of World Cup tickets on the black market, including to 900 England fans.

The Daily Mail reported it had obtained confidential reports produced by auditors Ernst & Young for FIFA revealing that Warner made at least $933,000 trading in World Cup tickets.

The U.S. women’s soccer team will play Mexico tonight in a friendly at Rochester, N.Y.

Under a new campus policy at Boston University, anyone caught swearing or taunting the opposing players with racist or sexist chants during games face ejection, and repeated offenders could even be banned.

Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said the new rule followed a stream of complaints about students’ behavior at hockey games, particularly their swearing.

Asafa Powell withdrew from the 100 meters at this weekend’s World Cup in Greece so he can race in Japan next week.

NASCAR suspended Kevin Grubb indefinitely because he refused to submit to a random drug test after the Busch Series race at Richmond International Speedway.