IN BRIEF

NHL

Red Wings, Blackhawks to play at Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field is going to be the frozen confines on New Year's Day 2009 when the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings meet the Chicago Blackhawks outdoors in the home park of the Chicago Cubs.

It will be the NHL's second Winter Classic. On Jan. 1 in Buffalo, N.Y., Pittsburgh beat Buffalo 2-1 before a crowd of 71,217.

The game will be televised nationally on NBC. It will mark the third regular-season outdoor game in NHL history. Edmonton hosted Montreal on Nov. 22, 2003.

Also: Terry Murray has been hired as the new coach of the Los Angeles Kings.

A team spokesman said Murray will be introduced today at a news conference.

Murray coached Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup Finals 11 years ago. He has been an assistant coach with the Flyers since the 2003-04 season.

Murray will succeed Marc Crawford, who was fired June 10 after two years on the job.

The Atlanta Thrashers have agreed to terms with goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who was an restricted free agent. Terms of the deal were not announced.

Center Shawn Horcoff signed a six-year, $33 million contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers.

FOOTBALL

Papa to replace Gumbel on NFL Network games

Bob Papa, the radio play-by-play voice of the New York Giants for the past 13 seasons, will replace Bryant Gumbel as the announcer for the NFL Network's eight Thursday night games.

Papa will team with Cris Collinsworth to do the games, which had been handled by Gumbel for the first two seasons of live games on the NFL's television outlet.

Papa, who will continue his duties with the Giants, will make his debut with Collinsworth on Nov. 6, when Cleveland hosts Denver.

Also: The Baltimore Ravens have agreed in principle to a five-year deal with first-round draft pick Joe Flacco on a contract with a maximum value of $30 million that includes $8.75 million in guaranteed money for the quarterback.

Drafted 18th overall out of Delaware, Flacco is slated to vie for the starting job with Troy Smith and Kyle Boller.

Former Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder, 68, issued a statement through the university's sports information office confirming that he has cancer, though he wasn't specific about the kind or severity.

MISCELLANEOUS

U.S. women's soccer star Wambach breaks leg

On a night when the U.S. women's soccer team should have been eyeing the Olympics, it was dealt a crushing blow to its gold medal hopes when Abby Wambach broke her left leg.

Wambach, the team's leading scorer, was carted off the field after a violent collision in the first half of a 1-0 win over Brazil in San Diego. Wambach is expected to be out for 12 weeks and will miss the Olympics, which start in three weeks.

Wambach fractured both her tibia and fibula, and she will have surgery today to have a titanium rod inserted into her leg.

Also: Four-time defending champion Roger Federer and Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal lead the men's field for the U.S. Open.

Former U.S. Open champions Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin also will be in the field for the Aug. 25 to Sept. 7 tournament in New York.

Nadal has a chance to become the fifth man to win the final three majors of the year.

Rod Laver did it in his Grand Slam years of 1962 and 1969, Don Budge won a slam in 1938 and Tony Trabert won just the three in 1955.

Florida State junior Buster Posey won USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award, becoming just the second catcher to be honored as the nation's top amateur player.

Posey, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, led the NCAA in batting average (.472), on-base percentage (.572) and slugging percentage (.908). He also led Florida State with six saves.

He was the fifth overall pick by the San Francisco Giants in the June draft.

Quarterback Matt Barkley, headed to Southern California in 2009, and middle distance runner Chanelle Price, a Tennessee recruit, were honored as national high school athletes of the year.

Barkley, a senior-to-be at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Calif., is the second football player to win since the honor went national in 2003, joining Greg Paulus in 2005.

Price, who wrapped up her career at Easton (Pa.) Area High, is the first female track and field winner since sprinter Allyson Felix in 2003.

James Toney stopped Hasim Rahman in the third round in Temecula, Calif., after Rahman told the ringside doctor he could not continue because of a cut over his left eye.

Rahman was cut after colliding heads with Toney, and referee Ray Corona ended the rematch of former heavyweight champions at Rahman's request.

Kilderry and Dixie Chatter scored narrow victories in the split divisions of the Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds on the opening day at Del Mar.

Kilderry won the $86,300 first division by a nose over Moral Compass, and Dixie Chatter prevailed by a half-length over Mr Keppel in the $86,800 second division.

Jack Swarbrick, a lawyer who helped draw numerous sporting events to Indianapolis, including the 2012 Super Bowl, is the new athletic director at Notre Dame.

Swarbrick succeeds Kevin White, who left the school May 31 to become the athletic director at Duke.

Former Arizona basketball recruit Brandon Jennings has agreed to play professionally in Italy, signing with Virtus Roma.