Blake signs one-year deal with the Sharks

Rob Blake is a former King again. And this time, he’s joining a Pacific Division rival.

Blake signed a one-year, $5-million deal with the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, club officials confirmed.

The Kings were looking at retaining the longtime defenseman, who was brought back two seasons ago to plug a hole in the defense and serve as a mentor for youngster Jack Johnson.

Blake, 38, served as the team’s captain last season. He had nine goals and 22 assists in 71 games.

Blake has been with the Kings for 14 of his 18 NHL seasons.

A six-time All-Star, he also played four-plus seasons with the Colorado Avalanche and won a Stanley Cup there in 2001.

-- Eric Stephens

Just as the New York Rangers ushered in the Markus Naslund era on Broadway, they turned out the lights on the Jaromir Jagr show.

Naslund, the longtime Vancouver Canucks captain, agreed to terms with New York on a two-year deal worth $8 million.

Rangers General Manager Glen Sather believes Jagr might be heading to Russia for a lucrative deal.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a seven-year, $35 million contract.

PRO BASKETBALL

Arenas, Wizards agree to $111-million deal

Gilbert Arenas has agreed to re-sign with the Washington Wizards for $111 million over six years, essentially taking millions less so that his team could have more financial flexibility.

Arenas told the Washington Times and Washington Post that he was offered a maximum deal of about $127 million.

“[The Wizards] offered me the max, and I’m basically giving back $16 million,” Arenas told the Washington Times from China, where is traveling as part of promotional tour for a shoe company.

“This is in line with what I’ve been saying the whole time. You see players take max deals and they financially bind their teams. I don’t wanna be one of those players and three years down the road your team is strapped and can’t do anything about it.”

Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets reached a contract agreement that could keep the All-Star point guard with the team for at least the next four seasons.

Lance Young, Paul’s agent, said Paul agreed to a three-year extension with a player’s option for a fourth year.

The total value of the deal is $68 million.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR impounds car belonging to Truex Jr.

Martin Truex Jr., vying to get into NASCAR’s Chase for the championship, started the weekend with a significant setback.

Truex’s Chevrolet failed inspection before practice for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, prompting NASCAR officials to impound the car and sending Truex’s crew scrambling to get the backup ready.

Truex’s car failed to fit NASCAR’s roof template.

New England Patriots receiver Randy Moss became the latest athlete to cross into NASCAR when he announced he has purchased 50% of Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, a fledgling Truck Series team racing this season without sponsorship.

MISCELLANY

Montgomery pleads guilty in heroin case

Former track star Tim Montgomery, once dubbed “the world’s fastest man,” pleaded guilty to distributing heroin, averting a trial set for next week.

He appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Va., answering “Yes, sir,” as District Judge Jerome B. Friedman asked if he understood his plea to federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of more than 100 grams of heroin.

He faces a minimum of five years in prison on the heroin charges at his sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 10.

He also faces up to a $2-million fine and at least four years of supervised release.

Montgomery, 33, was sentenced in May to nearly four years in prison for his role in a New York-based check-kiting conspiracy.

Steve Marino shot a five-under-par 65 for a one-shot lead in the first round of the AT&T; National at Bethesda, Md.

Marino, who grew up a half-hour away in Fairfax, Va., birdied three of his opening four holes, never had a par putt longer than five feet and finished his round with an eight-foot birdie to be in the lead after any round for only the second time in his career.

Jeff Overton and Frank Lickliter were among those at 66.

Gymnast Morgan Hamm, who was selected for his third Olympic team last month, received a warning for getting a prescribed anti-inflammatory shot without the proper clearance from anti-doping authorities. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Hamm tested positive May 24 at the U.S. gymnastics championships for a glucocorticosteroid.

Georgia defensive end Michael Lemon was suspended from the team after he was charged with punching a student and breaking his eye socket in Athens, Ga.

Lemon, a sophomore third-stringer, was charged with misdemeanor battery and felony aggravated battery for allegedly hitting DeMarius Jackson. He was released on $2,500 bond.