AREA

AREA
Christian to startin All-Star Game
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown SteelHounds captain Jeff Christian has been voted to start the Central Hockey League All-Star Game that will be played on Jan. 18 in Hidalgo, Texas.
Christian shares the CHL goals lead with 25 and will be making his first CHL All-Star appearance.
Wichita center Joe Blaznek, tied for the CHL lead with 25 goals and ranking first in both power play (15) and game winning (7) goals, led all Northern Conference vote getters by being named on 64.3 percent of all Northern Conference ballots.
For the Northern Conference, Christian and Blaznek will be joined up front by Colorado right winger Greg Pankewicz.
Memphis defenseman Derek Landmesser and Colorado rearguard Brad Williamson will start on defense . Colorado's Paulo Colaiacovo earns the start in the Northern Conference goal, leading the circuit with 15 wins while ranking third (2.48) in goals against average.
Leading all balloting was Amarillo center Derek Hahn, atop the CHL with 48 points and appearing on 85.2 percent of all Southern Conference ballots to earn starting honors for his second consecutive All-Star Game.
Joining Hahn as Southern Conference starting forwards are Daymen Bencharski of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and Jeff Bes of the Laredo Bucks. The defensive pairing for the Southern Conference starters features Corpus Christi's Bernie John and Laredo's Serge Dube.
Odessa goaltender Mike Gorman gets the nod in net for the Southern Conference, making his third All-Star appearance and second as a starter. Gorman shares the CHL lead with a 2.32 goals against average and ranks first with a .932 save percentage.
Fletcher faces Gators
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Bradley Fletcher (Liberty High) is a member of the University of Iowa (7-4) football team that will play the University of Florida (8-3) in Monday's Outback Bowl at Tampa, Fla.
The game will start at 11 a.m. (ESPN) and have a $2.85 million pay-out.
Fletcher (6-2, 195), the son of Vicki and Carl Fletcher, is a red-shirt freshman defensive back whose jersey number is No. 29.
While at Liberty, Bradley was a first-team All-Ohio selection as a senior under coach Jeff Whitaker.
REGION
Blue Jackets sign Verot
COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets signed left wing Darcy Verot to a one-year contract on Friday and assigned him to Syracuse of the AHL. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Verot, 29, spent last season with Portland of the AHL, where he had one assist in 36 games. The Radville, Saskatchewan, native has two assists in 37 career NHL games, all with the Washington Capitals during the 2003-04 season.
The 6-foot, 199-pound forward signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2000 as an undrafted free agent. Verot has 29 goals and 48 assists in 321 career AHL games.
NATION
Lakers' Bryantsuspended
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was suspended for two games without pay Friday for elbowing Mike Miller of the Memphis Grizzlies in the throat.
Bryant was called for a flagrant foul for elbowing Miller with 8:24 remaining in the fourth quarter in Wednesday night's 100-99 overtime loss to the Grizzlies. He is scheduled to serve his suspension Sunday, when the Lakers host Utah, and Tuesday, when Los Angeles plays at the Jazz.
"Very surprised. Shocked, actually. Very, very surprised," Bryant said after practice Friday. "Angry and frustrated. I've been hit with a couple of flagrant fouls already this year. I've been hit with a clothesline and no suspensions come of that. And I get two games for this?"
Canada defeatsUSA, 4-2
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Caroline Ouellette scored two goals to help Canada beat the United States 4-2 on Friday night for its eighth victory in nine games in the 10 pre-Olympic series between the women's hockey powers.
Ouellette, a former Minnesota Duluth player, scored on Canada's first shot of the game and again in the second period before a crowd of 8,109 at the Xcel Energy Center.
Gillian Apps and Meghan Agosta also scored for Canada, and Kim St. Pierre made 14 saves. University of Minnesota star Natalie Darwitz, playing just a few miles from her hometown of Eagan, and former Duluth player Jenny Potter scored for the Americans.
CANADA
Sale, Pelletier exchange vows
BANFF, Alberta -- Olympic pairs figure skating champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were married in front of 100 guests during a private ceremony Friday.
"Today's ceremony was all I could have imagined and more," Sale said.
Sale, 28, from Red Deer, Alberta, and Pelletier, 31, of Sayabec, Quebec, began skating together in 1998. They won the world championship in 2001 in Vancouver.
Vindicator staff/wire reports