Blackhawks opt for Marty Turco in goal instead of Antti Niemi

The Chicago Blackhawks agreed to a one-year deal with Marty Turco on Monday, settling on a veteran goaltender to replace Stanley Cup hero Antti Niemi.

General Manager Stan Bowman said the team expects “immediate” contributions from the 34-year-old Turco, who played nine seasons with the Dallas Stars. He is a three-time All Star. Terms were not disclosed.

The 26-year-old Niemi helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup this past season after earning $826,875 as a rookie. He was awarded a $2.75-million salary for next season by an arbitrator last week, putting the Blackhawks in a tough spot.

Bowman declined to say whether the team could have squeezed Niemi’s award under the NHL’s salary cap, set at $59.4 million next season. “The salary cap has been talked about too much,” Bowman said.

Bowman said he made several attempts to sign Niemi to a multiyear contract before the goalie’s case went to arbitration.

Niemi, a Finn who signed with the Blackhawks in May 2008, becomes an unrestricted free agent. He played all but one period of the Blackhawks’ postseason run to the championship, going 16-6 with a 2.63 goals-against average, .910 save percentage and two shutouts.

Niemi is the eighth player to leave the Blackhawks since the team won its first Stanley Cup in 49 years, joining Andrew Ladd, Ben Eager, Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Adam Burish, Colin Fraser and Kris Versteeg.

In his NHL career, Turco is 262-154-63 in 509 regular-season games with a 2.31 goals-against average and 40 shutouts. Last season, he went 22-20-11 with a 2.72 GAA, .913 save percentage and four shutouts.

The 5-foot-11 native of Sault Ste-Marie, Ontario, who turns 35 this month, is 21-26 with a 2.17 goals-against average in 47 playoffs games.

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Days after trading James Wisniewski to the New York Islanders, the Ducks signed 6-foot-6 defenseman Andy Sutton to a two-year contract that will pay him $2 million this season and $2.25 million in 2011-12.

Sutton, 35, appeared in 72 games with the New York Islanders and Ottawa senators last season, collecting five goals and 13 points. He finished the regular season ranked second among all NHL players with 204 blocked shots and eighth among NHL defensemen with 197 hits.

After losing Scott Niedermayer to retirement, the Ducks also were looking for a defenseman who could play a lot of minutes, and Sutton averaged 23:01 minutes of ice time during the 2010 playoffs with the Senators and played 20-or-more minutes 45 times during the regular season.

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The Buffalo Sabres waived left wing Tim Kennedy four days after he was awarded a one-year, $1-million contract in arbitration.

MOTOR RACING

Helio Castroneves was fined $60,000 and put on probation for the rest of the season after making contact with race officials following the July 25 race at Edmonton, Canada. IndyCar officials met the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner to discuss his actions and issue the penalties.

Castroneves was black-flagged for blocking Penske Racing teammate Will Power on the final restart. Castroneves crossed the finish line first, but Scott Dixon was awarded the win after the penalty was enforced, dropping Castroneves to 10th.

An irate Castroneves was penalized for refusing to follow the direction of officials and unsportsmanlike conduct when he engaged in physical contact with two officials on pit lane after the conclusion of the race.

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NASCAR team owner Jack Roush’s condition has been upgraded to fair as he recovers from last week’s plane crash in Wisconsin. The 68-year-old Roush is at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. His team said he would remain there indefinitely to treat facial injuries.

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Ferrari will face motor sport’s world governing body in a disciplinary hearing in September after it was found guilty of breaking team order rules at last month’s German Grand Prix.

FIA said the World Motor Sport Council hearing will be chaired by Nick Craw, its deputy president for sport, in Paris on Sept. 8.

Ferrari has already been fined $100,000 after Brazilian driver Felipe Massa appeared to let teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain pass him to win the race on July 25.

The WMSC has the power to exclude Ferrari from the championship, although that is highly unlikely.

Massa led for 49 of 67 laps before he was passed by Alonso following Ferrari radio messages.

ETC.

Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany expects the conference to hold a championship game next season, when Nebraska joins and brings the league to 12 teams. He also says teams will likely play nine conference games instead of eight in the future to help preserve rivalries.

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Kentucky junior guard Darnell Dodson will not play for the Wildcats this season, according to Coach John Calipari. Calipari posted a message on his Facebook page saying Dodson remains academically eligible, and can return to practice with the team “if he meets our standards.”

Dodson played in 35 games, starting seven as a sophomore last year, and led the team with 50 three-pointers while averaging 6.0 points in 14.5 minutes.

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Oklahoma State junior defensive end Jamie Blatnick has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after a fight with a former Cowboys offensive lineman at a Stillwater bar. Police say witnesses told them Blatnick started the fight early Saturday by hitting Stephen Denning in the face with a beer bottle. Police say Denning was treated at a local hospital for a fractured orbital socket.

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Ben Curtis and Boo Weekley are going to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits despite falling from the top 100 in the world ranking.

The PGA of America changed its criteria last year to require that members of the most recent Ryder Cup team stay within the top 100. Officials offered special invitations to Curtis, Weekley and others to fill its 156-man field for the Aug. 12-15 tournament in Sheboygan, Wis.

The PGA Championship gave exemptions to everyone in the top 100 in Monday’s ranking who were not already eligible. It also invited three players outside the top 100 — Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain, Simon Khan of England and Seung-Yul Noh of South Korea.

U.S. Ryder Cup player Justin Leonard fell to No. 101 but earned his spot through a PGA points list, which is money earned on the PGA Tour since the PGA Championship last year.

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Defender Rafael Marquez has signed with Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls, two days after he was released by Barcelona.

The 31-year-old Mexican national team captain joins former Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry on the Red Bulls. Henry made his MLS debut Saturday at Houston.

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Don Garber signed a four-year contract as Major League Soccer commissioner running through 2013. He has been the commissioner since 1999.

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Ivory Coast has given up hope of keeping Sven-Goran Eriksson as coach, and the country’s football federation president says a replacement will be announced by next week. Sory Diabate says the federation wanted Eriksson to continue even after an unsuccessful World Cup campaign, but that financial negotiations to renew his contract broke down.

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The Paraguayan soccer star who was shot in the head at point-blank range in a Mexico City bar in January has told a judge he has almost no memory of what happened.

Salvador Cabanas gave his deposition in the presence of Paraguayan and Mexican justice officials, judge Pedro Mayor Martinez said.

“Cabanas doesn’t know why he was attacked, his memories are vague and he can’t remember faces,” Mayor Martinez said. “He’s lucid. But his short-term memory is limited and there is not much we can do about it.”

Cabanas was playing for the Mexico City club America when he was shot Jan. 25. He was supposed to play for his country at the World Cup.

The alleged shooter, Jose Balderas Garza, remains at large. But an alleged accomplice, Francsico Barreto, told police the shooting took place just before dawn in a bathroom after an argument in which Balderas questioned Cabanas’ scoring ability. Balderas was identified by a surveillance camera in the bar.

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Vuvuzelas will be silenced at the world basketball championships.

Basketball’s governing body said Monday the horns that provided an earsplitting buzz at soccer’s World Cup soccer games will be banned from its tournament. The organizers say the vuvuzelas could harm fans’ hearing if used indoors.