Flurry of action ahead of NHL deadline
NEW YORK, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- It was a busy day in the NHL Monday as teams swapped and signed players ahead of the trade deadline but stopped short of blockbuster moves.
The Los Angeles Kings got power forward Dustin Penner from the Edmonton Oilers for defensive prospect Colten Teubert and a first-round pick in this year's draft and a conditional third-round pick in 2012. Penner, 28, has 21 goals and 39 points for the Oilers this season.
The Kings also signed 29-year-old right wing Justin Williams to a four-year contract extension through the 2014-15 season. The deal is worth a reported $14.6 million. He's second on the club with 49 points (20 goals, 29 assists) in 62 games.
Penner, who has a Stanley Cup under his belt and is signed through next season, has 126 goals and 238 points in 405 career games with Anaheim and the Oilers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs traded center John Mitchell to the New York Rangers for a seventh-round draft pick in 2012. Mitchell is out with a knee injury and has registered just three points in 23 games after producing 55 points in 159 games the past three seasons.
The Detroit Red Wings signed goaltender Jimmy Howard to a two-year contract extension Monday for $4.5 million, the Detroit Free Press reported. Howard, 26, has posted a 30-12-3 record with a 2.79 goals-against average and .908 save percentage this season. He would have become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Chicago beefed up its defense by getting Chris Campoli from Ottawa for journeyman forward Ryan Potulny and a conditional second-round pick. Campoli, 26, has three goals and 11 assists in 58 games for the Senators this season. He has 32 goals and 96 assists in 378 career games.
Potulny has spent most of this season in the minors but has 22 goals and 49 points in 119 career games with Chicago, Edmonton and Philadelphia.
Carolina acquired veteran defenseman Bryan Allen from Florida in exchange for forward Sergei Samsonov.
Ottawa extended the contract of defenseman Chris Phillips for three years, through the 2013-14 season for a reported $9.25 million.
Atlanta picked up forward Rob Schremp off waivers from the New York Islanders.
The Washington Capitals got defenseman Dennis Wideman from Florida in exchange for forward prospect Jake Hauswirth and a third-round pick in the 2011 draft.
Buffalo gave up a second-round 2011 draft pick for forward Brad Boyes from the St. Louis Blues.
Spurs' Parker injured, out 2-4 weeks
SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker will miss 2-4 weeks with a strained calf muscle, the team said Monday.
Parker, who is averaging 17.1 points, 6.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 59 games this season, was hurt in the second quarter of the Spurs' 95-88 win over Memphis Sunday.
The injury was revealed after a magnetic resonance imaging exam, team officials said.
The Spurs boast the NBA's best record at 49-10, six games better than second-place Boston and Dallas.
Parker won't accompany the team on its road trip this week to Memphis and Cleveland and will instead start a rehabilitation program in San Antonio.
Beckett diagnosed with mild concussion
FORT MYERS, Fla., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett suffered a mild concussion in a freak batting practice accident, Manager Tito Francona said Monday.
Beckett was in the outfield shagging fly balls at the team's Fort Myers, Fla., spring training complex when he was hit in the left temple by a batted ball hit by a coaching staff assistant, The Boston Globe reported.
The two-time all-star pitcher and 2003 World Series MVP left the field under his own power but was jolted by the blow, MLB.com reported. Beckett fell to one knee and was covering his head with his hand as he left the field.
"He's exhibiting symptoms of mild concussion. He's got a headache. He's been evaluated already," Francona told the Globe. "We'll get somebody to look at him tonight and then when he comes in tomorrow we'll check on him again to see what level, if any, of a workout he can do or should do. We'll go from there."
Iran hints Oly boycott over '2012' logo
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Iran's National Olympic Committee hinted Monday it could boycott the London Summer Olympics because its official logo looks like the word "Zion."
The Iranian group contended in a letter to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge that the jagged, abstract representation of the numerals 2012 was "racist" because it resembled the biblical term for Jerusalem, the BBC reported.
Bahram Afsharzadeh, the secretary-general of Iran's Olympic committee, also urged other Muslim states to oppose the logo.
"There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the games, especially Iran which abides by commitment to the values and principles," Afsharzadeh wrote.
"The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else," a statement from the IOC countered.
The BBC reported London Organizing Committee members expressed surprise that the Iranian complaint comes nearly four years after the logo was unveiled.
