NHL owners unanimously approve labor deal

NEW YORK (AP) — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman felt all the anger directed toward him as the lockout dragged on and threatened to wipe out the entire hockey season.So when he stood on a podium bearing the league shield on Wednesday and announced that the owners unanimously approved the labor deal reached over the weekend with the players' association, he also took the time to mend badly damaged fences."To...

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NHL players to begin voting Thursday

NEW YORK (AP) — NHL players will have 36 hours from Thursday night until Saturday morning to vote on the new labor deal that would end the four-month lockout.The players' association announced that electronic voting will begin Thursday at 8 p.m. EST and will last until Saturday at 8 a.m. The union said it will announce the result after voting is finished.If a majority of the more than 700 players...

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Sabres G Miller calls NHL lockout 'waste of time'

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — After rejoining his Buffalo Sabres teammates on the ice for the first time in some nine months, goalie Ryan Miller had a few lingering frustrations to get off his chest regarding the NHL lockout."The best thing to do is acknowledge that it was stupid," Miller said Friday, before turning his attention to Sabres fans. "I appreciate their patience. I know it's a hard situation....

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Armstrong to break silence in Oprah interview

(Reuters) - Lance Armstrong will break his silence about his lifetime ban from cycling and the doping charges made against him in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey next week, the television presenter announced on Tuesday.The interview, to be broadcast on the Oprah Winfrey Network on January 17, will be the first the American cyclist has conducted since receiving his ban and being stripped...

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Oprah Winfrey to interview Lance Armstrong for 'Oprah's Next Chapter'

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Lance Armstrong has agreed to a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey where he will address allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career. According to a release posted on Winfrey's website on Tuesday, it's the first interview with Armstrong since his athletic career crumbled under the weight of a massive report by USADA detailing allegations...

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Tuesday's Sports in Brief

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Robert Griffin III is having surgery Wednesday on a torn ligament in his right knee - and to see if there's a second ligament that also needs to be repaired.Baylor coach Art Briles confirmed to USA Today and The Associated Press on Tuesday night that the Washington Redskins rookie has a torn lateral collateral ligament. He said the surgery also will determine whether Griffin has...

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No full talks in NHL labor fight

 Any momentum gained from a long night of negotiations between the NHL and the players' association seemed to have been lost Thursday when the sides remained mostly apart.A meeting that Commissioner Gary Bettman said would begin at 10 a.m. EST didn't start until several hours later, and then ended quickly.That one hour of talks centered on the reporting of hockey-related revenues by teams, and...

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Little talking or movement in NHL labor fight

 If there is going to be a hockey season, the NHL and the players' association can't afford many more days like this.A long night of bargaining Wednesday that stretched into the early morning hours didn't end well and likely kept the sides apart for most of the day Thursday. No new full-scale negotiations took place, and outside of a few relatively brief, small sessions on specific topics, it...

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NHL-League and union resume separate mediation sessions

Jan 4 (Reuters) - The National Hockey League (NHL) and the union representing its locked-out players met separately with a U.S. federal mediator on Friday with a week to go before the deadline to reach a deal and salvage a shortened season.The two sides met with a mediator in New York but there has been no decision on whether the league and union would hold face-to-face negotiations on Friday, according...

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