DALLAS — Whenever Sean Avery is ready to return to the NHL, it won’t be with the Dallas Stars.
The combative forward was eligible to return from a six-game suspension Sunday, but the Stars instead announced Avery will not rejoin the team — ever.
“You have to do what’s right for both parties, and that’s what we’re really trying to do,” co-general manager Brett Hull said.
Avery was only 23 games into a four-year, $15.5 million deal when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman suspended him for a crude remark about ex-girlfriends dating other hockey players. Simmering tension between Avery and his teammates and his coach boiled over in the aftermath, with the dressing room united in its stance against him ever wearing a Stars sweater again.
Details of Avery’s departure still must be worked out. He could be traded, sent to the minors or bought out next summer.
Avery is at an undisclosed location seeking treatment through a program set up by the NHL players association.
• San Jose Sharks center Jeremy Roenick could be out for three weeks after injuring his shoulder.
Roenick was hurt in the first period of the Sharks’ 2-0 victory over Anaheim on Thursday night, crashing against the boards on a hit by defenseman Brett Festerling.
• The Stars acquired center Brian Sutherby from the Anaheim Ducks for center David McIntyre and a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2010.
Chinese add to gymnastics haul
MADRID, Spain — Cheng Fei won her second gold medal at the World Cup Final, capping a spectacular year for China’s gymnasts.
Cheng, already a winner on vault, took the floor exercise title, giving China five of the 10 gold medals at the two-day event. Feng Zhe, who wasn’t even part of China’s men’s team at the Beijing Olympics, tied France’s Yann Cucherat for the parallel bars title.
Davis wins 1,000-meter race
NAGANO, Japan — Shani Davis of the United States set a rink record in the 1,000 meters to win his second title at the distance in two days at a World Cup speedskating meet.
South Korea’s Lee Kyou-hyuk won the men’s 500. China’s Yu Jing won the women’s 500, and Canada’s Christine Nesbitt won the women’s 1,000.
Footnotes.
Alexsandr Zubkov of Russia won a four-man bobsled race in Igls, Austria, edging Steven Holcomb of the U.S. for his first World Cup victory of the season.
• Natalie Geisenberger of Germany won her first luge World Cup race in Winterberg, Germany, and ended teammate Tatjana Huef- ner‘s nine-race winning streak.
• Ola Vigen Hattestad of Norway and Petra Majdic of Slovenia won their second straight cross country World Cup sprint races in Davos, Switzerland.
• Russia won both the men’s and women’s season-opening relay races in the biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria.
• Rhino Page and Jodi Woessner won Professional Bowlers Association titles at the Shark Championship in Baltimore.
The Associated Press
