Associated Press
NEW YORK — The financial losses are starting to pile up as a result of the NHL lockout.
And on Tuesday, the league made that public.
In speaking to reporters after talks finished up for the day between the NHL and the NHLPA, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly estimated that the league has lost $100 million in revenues from the canceled preseason.
“Today,” he said, “was not overly encouraging.”
And though they can pick up at any time, for the moment, there are no further talks scheduled. That only further increases speculation that regular-season games could be lost, with an announcement sometime this week. The season was slated to begin Oct. 11.
“We are closer by definition (to canceling regular season games),” Daly said. “We are focused on minimizing the damage.”
• TORONTO — Wayne Gretzky thinks the league’s lockout will end before the showcase Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I believe in my heart, maybe because I’m such a big hockey fan, that they will be playing by Jan. 1,” Gretzky said during a question and answer period at a panel discussion on personal finance.
Detroit and Toronto are scheduled to play outdoors at Michigan Stadium to kick off the new year.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 1 Alabama has lost wide receiver DeAndrew White and running back Dee Hart for the season.
Coach Nick Saban said Monday that both will have to undergo knee surgery after injuries sustained during the Mississippi game.
• COLUMBUS, Ohio — Coach Urban Meyer says he believes Ohio State has sent a tape to the Big Ten office which appears to show a Michigan State player gouging at the eyes of Buckeyes defensive lineman Johnathan Hankins.
The short clip appears to show the Spartans’ Jack Allen or a teammate trying to thrust a gloved hand inside Hankins’ facemask. At the same time, Hankins is trying to get his fingers inside Allen’s facemask.
• COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former Ohio State football star Jim Stillwagon is suspected of shooting at a pickup truck on a highway ramp and later striking the driver with a handgun, causing it to fire a bullet that grazed the man’s head, after a road rage incident that spanned about 14 miles, police said.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
DURHAM — Duke men’s and women’s basketball teams are trading in their paper playbooks for iPads.
The school says it’s the nation’s first college basketball program to use the Apple gadgets for everything from scouting reports to practice and game video.
Men’s associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski says Duke is always trying to equip its players and staff with top-of-the-line resources. Women’s coach Joanne P. McCallie says the iPads “can help us get better and more efficient in all areas.”
Each iPad will be loaded with practice schedules, weekly plans, scouting reports, stats and videos. They will have tracking software installed so they can be erased if they are stolen or lost. The iPads will belong to university but the players may buy them at market price upon graduation.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia point guard Jontel Evans will be sidelined for about six weeks after having surgery on his right foot.
The 5-11 senior from Hampton suffered a stress fracture in workouts last week. He had the surgery Tuesday. Evans started all 32 games last season as the Cavaliers reached the NCAA Tournament.
MITT & NFL
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets owner Woody Johnson says, if asked to choose, that Mitt Romney winning the presidential election in November is a bigger priority than his NFL team having a winning season.
Johnson, wearing a Jets green tie, tells Bloomberg on that “I think you always have to put country first,” when asked what is more important to him. Johnson has publicly backed the Republican presidential candidate, and says in the interview that it’s “very, very important” for Americans and “our kids and grandkids” to have Romney win the election.”
NASCAR
PHOENIX — The most popular motorsports series in Mexico will make its U.S. debut next season at Phoenix International Raceway.
The NASCAR Toyota Series will run at Phoenix on March 1 in conjunction with the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and K&N West Series. The race will be the 2013 season opener for the series, which runs Mexican V8 stock cars.
INDIANS’ APATHY
CLEVELAND — Outspoken closer Chris Perez thinks the Indians need a more intense manager and better players.
Perez said Tuesday that Cleveland’s second-half collapse was embarrassing and the laid-back approach of former manager Manny Acta didn’t help.
“August wasn’t baseball, it was pathetic — in all aspects,” Perez said about Cleveland’s 5-24 slide that came after losing nine of its last 12 games in July.
Acta was fired Thursday and replaced by bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr.
on an interim basis.
“I’m not saying that a change earlier would have done anything,” Perez said. “But sometimes we pressed the panic button. Why? A lot of things left you kind of scratching your head.”