National briefs: Hurricanes make trade

Associated Press

RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes traded five veteran players and stockpiled draft picks in a flurry of deals before the NHL deadline.

With general manager Jim Rutherford admitting finances forced the team to "try and cut our losses," the Hurricanes on Wednesday dealt defenseman Joe Corvo to the Washington Capitals, forward Stephane Yelle and prospect Harrison Reed to the Colorado Avalanche and defenseman Andrew Alberts to the Vancouver Canucks.

"It's a tough day. You don't ever want to be a seller," Rutherford said. "When you're a seller, the year's not going the way you expected it to go, whether it's from a financial point of view or a performance point of view. Usually, they go hand in hand."

- NEW YORK — So much for another big hockey boost. The NHL trade deadline came and went with a thud instead of a bang.

Not that anyone expected Wednesday's deadline to come anywhere close to the excitement of Canada's Olympic gold medal win over the United States three days earlier, but it didn't even generate the buzz of previous trading days that created the wow factor.

It did, however, produce a couple of records.There were a deadline-high 31 deals, mostly of the smaller variety, involving a record 55 players and 25 draft picks completed before the cutoff Wednesday. But big-name players such as Toronto's Tomas Kaberle, Carolina forward Ray Whitney, and New York Islanders goalies Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron stayed with their clubs that are on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

BASEBALL

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton says he probably won't return to the field until next week because of a bruised left shoulder.Hamilton was hurt a week ago diving for a pop-up during spring training.

- TUCSON, Ariz. — Outfielder Justin Upton and the Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to a $51.25 million, six-year contract.

- GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Aaron Harang was selected by Reds manager Dusty Baker to be Cincinnati's Opening Day starter for a team record-tying fifth straight season.

- PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran talked to federal investigators last week about a Canadian doctor accused of selling an unapproved drug and said he recommended the physician to teammate Jose Reyes.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

COMMERCE, Texas — Campus police say a college football coach in Texas is backing players who removed every campus newspaper because they contained an article about teammates getting arrested on drug charges.

The incident happened at Texas A&M-Commerce, a Division II school. The coach is Guy Morriss, who also coached at Kentucky and Baylor.

No one has been arrested over the removal of 2,000 copies of The East Texan on Feb. 25. Police say the newspapers, which are distributed free, were worth about $1,000.

NFL

CHARLOTTE — The Carolina Panthers made it clear Wednesday they didn't want to lose upstart quarterback Matt Moore, giving the restricted free agent the highest possible tender.

Ahead of his anticipated competition with Jake Delhomme for the starting job, the Panthers offered Moore a one-year deal worth $3.043 million. That means another team would have to surrender first- and third-round draft picks to Carolina to sign him.

The Panthers also placed the first- and third-round tender of $3.268 million on starting outside linebacker Thomas Davis. They decided to use just the second-round tender of $1.759 million on starting cornerback Richard Marshall.

Tight end Jeff King ($1.759 million) and defensive tackle Louis Leonard ($1.684 million) also received second-round tenders, while reserve linebacker James Anderson ($1.176 million) and defensive tackle Tank Tyler ($1.101 million) were given third-round tenders.

Kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd, safety Quinton Teal and tackle Rob Petitti were among Carolina's restricted free agents not offered deals.

- INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning has spent 12 seasons being a pain in the neck of NFL opponents. Now the four-time league MVP is trying to alleviate the pain in his own neck.

The Indianapolis Colts announced Wednesday that Manning had surgery in Chicago to fix a pinched nerve, a procedure that is not expected to interrupt Manning's offseason workouts or his availability for next season.