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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

The Wire

By: On 2

10/02/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

"ö Oklahoma City will be the home of the Edmonton Oilers' now-dormant American Hockey League franchise. The Oilers will let their affiliation agreement with an AHL team in Springfield, Mass., expire at the end of this season.

The team, which will play at the downtown Cox Convention Center, does not yet have a nickname.

"ö Kobe Bryant isn't sure if he'll play in this weekend's NBA all-star game in Dallas because of his sore left ankle.

Bryant missed his second consecutive game Monday night against San Antonio, which the Lakers won 101-89.

The Lakers training staff would like Bryant to rest through All-Star weekend, capped by Sunday's game. Bryant said he couldn't commit either way. "I don't know what it's going to look like on Sunday. I'm not clairvoyant," he said, laughing.

"ö Rory McIlroy has stretched ligaments in his lower back, although it is not expected to affect his play or keep him from the Match Play Championship next week in Arizona.

McIlroy, the seventh-ranked player in the world, was third at Abu Dhabi and tied for sixth last week in Dubai.

"ö The Atlanta Thrashers traded a former franchise cornerstone for the second time in less than a week on Tuesday night, sending goalie Kari Lehtonen to the Dallas Stars.

The Thrashers received defenceman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft.

Atlanta traded leading scorer and team captain Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey on Thursday for three players and a first-round pick.

"ö The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has suspended Val-d'Or Foreurs defenceman Marco Scandella 15 games for hitting an opponent in the head.

Scandella was banned for hitting Rimouski Oceanic forward Alexandre Durette during a game last Wednesday. Scandella had been on indefinite suspension since the incident.

Scandella was considered one of Canada's top defencemen at this year's world junior hockey championship.

"ö Marian Gaborik limped off the ice Tuesday after the New York Rangers' leading scorer was cut on the right knee by the ice skate of goalie Henrik Lundqvist in a collision during practice. The Slovak right-winger, who has a team-high 35 goals and 69 points, fell to the ice and stayed down for a few moments. He received stitches but didn't require X-rays.

-- From the news services

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 10, 2010 C2

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