Briefs | Canucks lose goaltender Roberto Luongo to fractured rib

NHL

Canucks lose Luongo to rib fracture: Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo will miss at least the next two games after suffering a hairline fracture in one of his ribs.

Luongo isn't sure how long he'll be out, but expects to be back much quicker than the 24 games it took him to recover from a groin injury last year. Luongo will skip today's game in Los Angeles and Friday's contest at Anaheim. His status for Sunday's game with visiting Colorado will depend on how he feels.

Islanders' Weight back after bout with swine flu: Center Doug Weight returned to the Islanders lineup after a bout with the swine flu forced the New York captain to miss three games.

Capitals' Laing has swine flu: The Washington Capitals say left wing Quintin Laing has the swine flu, making him at least the third NHL player to be diagnosed with the illness this week.

Ducks sign Calder: Left wing Kyle Calder has signed a one-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks, who released him late in training camp.

Rangers' Gaborik to sit out: Star right wing Marian Gaborik was ruled out of the New York Rangers' game against the New York Islanders because of an undisclosed injury suffered earlier this week.

Tennis

Injury ends Safina's season, hold on No. 1 ranking: Dinara Safina finished the best year of her career with tears in her eyes as a serious back injury ended her season and her hold on the No. 1 ranking she owned for much of 2009.

Safina lasted just 13 minutes in her first round-robin match of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, before calling it quits while serving at 1-1 against Jelena Jankovic.

Her withdrawal meant she lost the year-end No. 1 ranking to Serena Williams, a sour ending to a season that saw her become firmly established as one of the sport's stars.

Youzhny, Safin advance at St. Petersburg Open: Former champions Mikhail Youzhny and Marat Safin advanced to the second round of the St. Petersburg Open with straight-sets victories. Youzhny, the 2004 winner, beat Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2, while Safin, who won consecutive titles in 2000 and 2001, ousted Richard Gasquet of France 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

WADA chief wants ATP to explain Agassi drug case: The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency wants tennis authorities to shed light on Andre Agassi's admission that he used a banned drug and escaped a suspension by blaming his positive test on a spiked drink. WADA leader John Fahey said he was disappointed by the revelations in Agassi's upcoming autobiography that he used crystal methamphetamine in 1997 and lied to ATP tour officials to avoid a ban.

College basketball

Stanford suspends Green: Stanford guard Jeremy Green has been suspended indefinitely by coach Johnny Dawkins for a violation of team rules. This is another big blow for the Cardinal, which lost top recruit Andy Brown to a season-ending knee injury on the second day of practice.

Soccer

FC Dallas fires GM Hitchcock: FC Dallas has fired general manager Michael Hitchcock, who ran the front office for the past four years.

Arsenal, Chelsea reach quarterfinals: Arsenal and Chelsea overcame English Premier League opponents to reach the League Cup quarterfinals, with the Gunners beating Liverpool 2-1 and the Blues routing Bolton 4-0.

Horse racing

Undefeated Zenyatta likely to run in BC Classic: Zenyatta will put her 13-0 record on the line when she runs in the Breeders' Cup, most likely against the boys in the $5 million Classic.

A total of 166 horses, including 37 from Europe, were pre-entered for the $25.5 million, 14-race Breeders' Cup world championships at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., on Nov. 6-7. That's down from last year's record of 180 horses.

Zenyatta was pre-entered in both the Classic, along with Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and Belmont and Travers winner Summer Bird, and the $2 million Ladies' Classic.

Swimming

Phelps leads U.S. team into duel against Europe: Michael Phelps will lead the U.S. against a team of European swimmers at Duel in the Pool, likely the last major international meet for high-tech bodysuits. USA Swimming announced a 36-person team to face a combined squad from Britain, Germany and Italy at Manchester, England, on Dec. 18-19. The Americans won the last three Duels, all against Australia.

Golf

Whan hired as new LPGA commissioner: The LPGA Tour picked Michael Whan as its new commissioner, turning to a former marketing executive in golf and hockey equipment to rebuild the tour's relationships with sponsors. The 44-year-old Whan previously worked for TaylorMade Golf and Wilson Sporting Goods and most recently was president of Mission-Itech Hockey.

Baseball

Jury awards $850,000 in aluminum bat lawsuit: A jury in Helena, Mont., found that the maker of Louisville Slugger baseball bats failed to adequately warn about the dangers the product can pose, awarding a family $850,000 for the 2003 death of their son in a baseball game.

The family of Brandon Patch argued that aluminum baseball bats are dangerous because they cause the baseball to travel at a greater speed.

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