HOCKEY

CHELIOS RETURNS AS CAPTAIN OF OLYMPIC SQUAD Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios will captain the American hockey team at the Turin Olympics, the third straight Winter Games he has been accorded the honor.

The 44-year-old Chelios will be the oldest American hockey player to compete in an Olympics, USA Hockey said yesterday.

Chelios and fellow 2006 Olympian Keith Tkachuk are the only two American hockey players to make four Olympic squads (1984, 1998, 2002, 2006). Chelios led the U.S. to a silver medal at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City and was captain at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan. Chelios’s NHL career spans 22 years and features two Stanley Cups – Montreal in 1986 and Detroit in 2002. He has won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman three times.

ISLANDERS’ COLLEY TO HAVE SURGERY FOR BROKEN NECK Islanders center Kevin Colley broke his neck after a headfirst crash into the boards and will undergo surgery today. The Islanders would not say yesterday whether the injury will end his season or threaten his career. For now, the 27-year-old player is out indefinitely.

Colley broke the fifth cervical vertebrae in his neck during a 5-3 victory over Washington on Tuesday night when he slammed his head while entangled with Capitals defenseman Jamie Heward. There is no paralysis.The surgery will repair and stabilize his spine. He was transferred yesterday from North Shore University Hospital on Long Island to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.

Colley has no points and 52 penalty minutes in 16 NHL games, all this season with the Islanders.

FOOTBALL

JAGUARS HIRE TICE AS ASSISTANT COACH Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio hired close friend, one-time teammate, and former Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice as an assistant head coach yesterday. Del Rio also promoted Andy Heck to offensive line coach, replacing fired coach Paul Boudreau. Heck spent the last two years as Boudreau’s assistant.

Del Rio said Tice will work on the offensive side of the ball.Tice was 33-34 after four seasons in Minnesota, and his final year was an embarrassing one. He was fined $100,000 by the league for scalping his Super Bowl tickets, and the team was involved in a scandalous boat party that resulted in charges against four players. He was fired January 1 after the Vikings finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Tice, a tight end, and Del Rio, a linebacker, played together with the Vikings in the early 1990s.

BASKETBALL

76ERS SEND HUNTER TO HORNETS FOR DRAFT PICKS The Philadelphia 76ers traded center Steven Hunter to the New Orleans Hornets yesterday for two second-round draft picks. It’s the Hornets’ second trade in a 24-hour span in an attempt to reinforce their front line following the dismissal of forward Chris Andersen last week for violating the NBA’s drug policy.

Hunter, a 7-footer, is averaging 4.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 35 games with the 76ers this season. A first-round pick by Orlando in 2001, he played three seasons with the Magic and one with Phoenix before signing with Philadelphia as a free agent before this season.

The Hornets are giving up their 2006 and 2007 second-round picks and will also receive cash considerations from Philadelphia. To replace Hunter, the Sixers signed journeyman Zendon Hamilton to a 10-day contract. Hamilton, who has played for seven teams in his six seasons, averaged 2.3 points in 11 games this season with the Cavaliers, who signed him to a pair of 10-day contracts. He averaged 3.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 34 games for Philadelphia in 2003-04.

SOCCER

WORLD CUP ADDS 140,000 TICKETS There will be 140,00 more World Cup tickets available for fans than originally planned.Capacity at some of the 12 World Cup stadiums has been increased, leading to a total of 3.07 million tickets, organizers said yesterday. Of the 2.6 million tickets already sold, 70% have been distributed through public sales. Horst Schmidt, a vice president of the organizing committee,said 1.1 million tickets have been sold worldwide through the official Web site.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

SYRACUSE EDGES RUTGERS ON OVERTIME BUZZER BEATER Terrence Roberts hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer in overtime to give Syracuse an 86-84 victory over Rutgers last night, snapping the Orange’s four-game losing streak. It was only Roberts’s fifth 3-point attempt of the season and ruined a banner night for a guy who thrives from long range. Quincy Douby, the Big East’s leading scorer, had career highs of 41 points and nine 3-pointers for Rutgers.

Syracuse (16-6, 4-4 Big East) was 4-4 in January, finishing the month with four straight losses, and February didn’t seem to be starting out too well when Anthony Farmer hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Scarlet Knights (13-8, 3-5) an 84-83 lead with just 7.8 seconds left in the extra period.

– Associated Press