Sports Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

HOCKEY
LOCKED OUT PLAYERS HEAD FOR EUROPE
With an NHL lockout in place, more than 150 players have signed to play in European leagues. Most of the players have lockout clauses that allow them to return to the NHL if and when the labor impasse ends. For now, European teams are taking advantage.
Marcus Naslund, Daniel Sedin, and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, along with Niklas Sundstrom (Montreal), Pierre Hedin (Toronto), and Peter Forsberg (Colorado) have all signed with the Swedish club Modo.
The Czech league has signed 47 NHL players: Jaromir Jagr of the Rangers and Tomas Kaberle of Toronto skate for Kladno; Martin Rucinsky of Vancouver is with Litvinov; Ziggy Palffy of the Los Angeles Kings is with Slavia Prague; Radek Bonk of Montreal is with Trinec; and Patrick Elias of the Devils is with Znojmesti Orli.
The Russian league has 33 NHL players. Besides Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers, there’s Andrei Markov of Montreal and Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit (Dynamo Moscow); Sergei Gonchar of Boston (Met. Magnitogorsk); and Garth Snow of the Islanders (SKA St. Petersburg.)
The Swedish league signed 30 players, while the Finnish and Slovakian leagues signed nine NHL players apiece. Joe Thornton of Boston and Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets headline the Swiss league, skating for Davos. Leagues in Austria, France, Italy, and Germany also signed a few NHL players.
BASEBALL
GIANTS SECURE BONDS FOR NEXT TWO YEARS
The San Francisco Giants decided yesterday to drop their right to void the final year of Barry Bonds’s contract.
Under the $90 million, five-year contract agreed to in January 2002, San Francisco could have voided the 2006 season if Bonds failed to reach 500 plate appearances next year or 1,500 combined from 2003 to 2005, including at least 400 next season.
But with Bonds as dominant as ever, the Giants decided to keep the 40-year-old outfielder for two more seasons. Bonds, who needs 55 homers to pass Hank Aaron’s record of 755, will make $20 million in 2005 and $18 million in 2006, with $5 million of each year’s salary deferred at 3.5% and paid from 2007 to 2011.
Bonds has been pushing for this change all year, saying he might retire after the 2005 season if the team didn’t commit to keeping him through the end of his contract.
ANGELS’ KENNEDY DONE FOR SEASON
Anaheim Angels second baseman Adam Kennedy is out for the rest of the season because of torn cartilage in his right knee, hindering the team’s playoff hopes.
Kennedy, one of the few Angels regulars who had not been sidelined by a serious injury this year, hurt himself in the fifth inning of Monday night’s 5-2 win over Seattle while trying to make a difficult play on a grounder up the middle by Ichiro Suzuki.An MRI yesterday revealed a torn MCL and ACL. If he requires surgery, his rehabilitation could extend into spring training.
Kennedy was the MVP of the 2002 AL championship series with three home runs in the clinching game against Minnesota. He batted .278 in 144 games this season with 48 RBI and 10 home runs.
BASKETBALL
JAZZ TO RETIRE STOCKTON’S NUMBER
The Utah Jazz announced yesterday that they will retire John Stockton’s no. 12 in November, a move that has been inevitable since Stockton ended his 19-year career when he retired last summer.
The Jazz are running out of ways to honor Stockton, the NBA’s career leader in assists and steals. The street East of the arena was renamed John Stockton Way shortly after his retirement. A sculpture of Stockton will also stand outside the arena.
Stockton appeared in 1,504 of a possible 1,526 games as he played until age 41. His 15,806 career assists are nearly a third more than Magic Johnson’s 10,141. His 3,265 steals are 432 more than Michael Jordan, who is second in that category.
It’s the sixth number retired by the Jazz, who have also honored former coach Frank Layden with no. 1 and former players Pete Maravich (no. 7), Darrell Griffith (No. 35), Mark Eaton (no. 53) and Jeff Hornacek (no. 14).
– Associated Press