In Brief

HOCKEY

Canada dumps United States
in world junior semifinals

Mark Visentin made 22 saves, and Canada beat the defending champion United States 4-1 in the semifinals of the World Junior Hockey Championships on Monday night in Buffalo, N.Y.

Curtis Hamilton, Quinton Howden, Ryan Johansen and Zack Kassian scored for Canada, which plays Russia on Wednesday in the tournament's gold medal game. Russia beat Sweden 4-3 in a shootout, with Denis Golubev scoring the deciding goal.

Team USA, which includes Las Vegan Jason Zucker, will face Sweden for the bronze, seeking its first medal on home soil. The tournament has been staged four previous times in the United States.

Last year, the U.S. upended Canada in overtime to win the title

Canada is looking for its 16th gold medal since the tournament began in 1977 and will make its 10th straight appearance in the title game.

Also: The Philadelphia Flyers waived goaltender Michael Leighton, general manager Paul Holmgren announced. The move means Philadelphia, tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with Pittsburgh, will go with Brian Boucher and Sergei Bobrovsky the rest of the way.

Leighton, who helped lead Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup Finals last June, underwent back surgery in October and had only played in one game this season, a 7-4 win over the Kings in Los Angeles last week.

The Winter Classic's television ratings were up from last year, even though it was postponed because of rain.

The start of the NHL's New Year's Day game was delayed from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST Saturday.

The move to prime time meant more people were watching TV at that hour. But it also made for more competition, not to mention the confusion of viewers who might not have known the game was on.

The Washington Capitals' 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins outdoors at the Steelers' Heinz Field earned a 2.3 rating and 4 share on NBC. That's a 10 percent increase from a 2.1/4 for last year's overtime game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins at Fenway Park.

MISCELLANEOUS

Isner quickly tops Mahut, lifts
U.S. past France in Hopman Cup

No marathon tennis match this time. John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6 (5) at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, in the first meeting between the two since their 11-hour epic at Wimbledon.

Isner overcame Mahut in 90 minutes to give the U.S. an insurmountable 2-0 lead over France in the team tournament that serves as a tuneup for the Australian Open.

The match lasted 9½ hours and 161 games less than their previous record-breaking encounter.

Later, Isner teamed up with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to secure a 3-0 victory for the United States, beating Mahut and Kristina Mladenovic 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 in mixed doubles.

On the women's side, seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin beat Sesil Karantatcheva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3 as Belgium took a 2-0 lead in the Hopman Cup.

Also: David Beckham is still waiting for the Los Angeles Galaxy to approve a loan to a European club, with Tottenham of the English Premier League among the clubs eager to sign the former England captain.

Beckham announced two weeks ago that he needed to keep playing during the winter to stay in contention for an England national team recall.

But the Major League Soccer club said Beckham wouldn't be allowed to go to Europe during the offseason, and it expected him and the rest of the team back at the end of January for the season opener on March 15.

The Galaxy's reluctance comes after Beckham injured an Achilles' tendon last March while playing in the offseason for AC Milan. He missed the first six months of the Galaxy season.

Satellite radio provider Sirius XM Radio Inc. announced an exclusive, multi-year U.S. broadcasting deal with Manchester United, the soccer team that has won 18 English Premier League titles.

Under the agreement, New York-based Sirius XM becomes the first U.S. broadcaster to air the club's matches. The company will broadcast Manchester United games live. Subscribers will be able to hear the official Manchester United club broadcast.

Jeff Jagodzinski was fired as coach of the Omaha Nighthawks. The United Football League, the majority owner of the Omaha franchise, announced that Jagodzinski was dismissed because the team's performance did not match the off-field success of the first-year franchise.

The Nighthawks sold out all four of their home games at 24,000-seat Rosenblatt Stadium.

The team finished 3-5 in the five-team league after losing its last four games.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz stretched his lead in the Dakar Rally, winning the second stage in northern Argentina despite being barely able to see for about seven miles because of windshield wiper problems.