NHL

– Flyers F Simon Gagne (hernia/abdominals) is scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday and will be out six-to-eight weeks. Gagne has two hernias, but he initially looked into ways he might be able to play through the injury. Gagne has been forced to miss a significant amount of time in two of his last three seasons.

– Speaking of the Flyers, they are again scouting F Peter Forsberg for a possible NHL return. The team is sending a scout to Europe, where he will join scouts from the Avalanche, Canadiens and Capitals. Stay tuned.

– Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has filed a grievance against Sharks F Dany Heatley over his $4M bonus. Heatley received a $4M bonus this season as part of his contract, but even before the bonus was paid, Heatley demanded that the Senators trade him. Ottawa tried to put together a trade before they were due to pay the bonus and they did manage to negotiate a trade with Edmonton before the deadline. However, Heatley didn’t want to play for the Oilers either, and he exercised his no-trade clause to prevent the deal. As a result, Ottawa was responsible for Heatley’s $4M bonus. The Senators were finally able to trade Heatley to San Jose before the start of the season, but Melnyk was furious about having to pay Heatley the bonus.

– Capitals F Alex Ovechkin (upper body) is week-to-week.

– Ducks D James Wisniewski has been suspended for two games by the NHL for punching Coyotes F Shane Doan during Anaheim’s 3-2 shootout loss to Phoenix on October 31. Doan will be eligible to return to the Ducks in time for their rematch against the Coyotes on Saturday.

NBA

– Grizzlies F Rudy Gay will not sign a contract extension with the Grizzlies yet. Negotiations have broken off and it’s highly likely that Gay will become an RFA next summer. Austin said, “We’ve agreed to not agree. It will not happen. We looked at different ways we might try to get something done and we weren’t able to agree.” Gay is now playing for a contract.

– Lakers F Pau Gasol (torn hamstring) is out indefinitely.

– Nets G Devin Harris (hamstring) is out indefinitely.

MLB

– According to MLB.com, the Rangers are entertaining the possibility of bringing back OF Milton Bradley. Bradley was with the team in 2008 when he had a .321 average and led the American League in OPS. He’s got two more years and about $20M left on his deal with the Cubs but they want to unload Bradley. Stay tuned.

– SI reports that the Braves are now in on 21-year-old LHP Aroldis Chapman. They join the Orioles, Red Sox, White Sox, Cubs, Tigers, Mariners, Yankees, Athletics, Giants and Cardinals.

TNA

– Sting is not expected to return to TNA action soon. Word going around is that he won’t return until several months into 2010.

– TNA President Dixie Carter announced via her twitter account that Knockouts champion ODB has signed a “new multiyear deal” with the promotion.

UFC

– Paul Heyman has written a blog detailing the recent health issues of UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who had to pull out of a title defense later this month due to illness.

“It was about three and a half weeks ago, when I was on the phone with Brock, and he sounded just so tired. I asked him if this training camp was harder than the others. He shocked me with his answer. ‘I’m just exhausted,’ he admitted, ‘I train, I come home, and I crash. I’m going to take a day or two off and just try to shake this thing.’ That was hint number one. Something was wrong.

“About a week later, Brock told me he was behind in his training camp. ‘I’m still going to beat Shane Carwin’s ass,” Brock said ‘then let’s go ice fishing or something. Whatever I have, it’s throwing me off my game.’??Uh oh. Hint number two. NOTHING throws Brock Lesnar off his game. Not injury, as I’ve seen him work through those. Not personal turmoil. I’ve seen his home life get turned upside down. He works through that as well.”

Heyman says Brock Lesnar has a great responsibility to compete at the highest level and simply cannot fight without proper training.

“He really had no choice. He’s worked so hard, for so long, to find his passion in life. And now that he’s found it, he’s not going to half-ass a fight, whether Shane Carwin is the man to take the title from Brock, or whether Brock could whip Shane Carwin’s ass even if he’s battling pneumonia, swine flu, diarrhea, gonorrhea, syphilis, and sickle cell. The point is that Brock Lesnar could not train properly for a fight that would most likely be purchased by upwards of 1,000,000 people. More people are expected to pay to see Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin on pay per view than this year’s WWE Wrestlemania. Just think about the responsibility of being that main event fighter.”

Heyman rejects any claims that Lesnar is full of himself and reveals that the champ passed on what could have been an epic movie role.

“As for being spoiled by success, that’s LOL-funny. Brock has turned down movie roles, including an easy generous payday to do a fight scene with Dwayne “Don’t Call Me Rock” Johnson. He’s not looking for prime time exposure except when he steps into the Octagon and defends his title.”

WWE

– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here’s what JR said about:

Ric Flair: “Ric Flair called me Saturday as I was pulling into Owen Field in Norman about two hours before the Sooner game. Ric is staying very busy and the state lottery, promotional endorsement that he’s doing may be growing to other states outside the old, Mid Atlantic Territory area. Ric told me he was working out twice a day, when he could, in preparation for the upcoming Australian tour on which he’s booked. After talking to ‘Naitch’ it’s obvious to me that he still has the passion and the fire to perform inside a wrestling ring which should come really as no shock or surprise and I don’t think that his passion to perform will ever wane. Mother Nature might cause Ric more ‘female problems’ but Ric’s will to compete and perform can’t be deterred.”

Steve Austin: “Steve Austin called me Sunday afternoon during the Packers-Vikings game and most of our discussion centered on football and how I was doing battling my ‘little friend’ Bells palsy #3. Steve is preparing to head up to Vancouver to film another action/adventure movie that is going to be largely done outdoors in the beautiful terrain of Vancouver, British Columbia. The Texas Rattlesnake expects to encounter plenty of ‘weather’ including ample rain which apparently is what they want for the film to have the organic grittiness to fit the script. I don’t know the release date but one can assume some time in 2010 nor do I know the title. I obviously don’t know much but as I said we talked football and not work.”

– The on-again off-again feud between Hulk Hogan and ex-wife Linda appears to be on again due to Hulk described Linda as an “abusive alcoholic” in his new book, “My Life Outside the Ring.”

“As far as what he has said about Linda, it’s not accurate about her being involved with heavy alcohol and being abusive, and trying to hit Nick with a wine bottle? Absolutely false,” attorney Ray Rafool stated. “It’s disappointing and it is irritating. We disagree and wish he would have stuck to the facts instead of sensationalism to sell his book. It does reheat a lot of stuff, but it makes her feel all the more happy that she’s divorced and away from him. He’s Jennifer’s problem now.”

“You can now understand the fear that Linda had when she was going through the divorce because she knows his personality, heard these rumors, knew what he was doing, and that’s the reason why she was so concerned. We’re thankful that at this point, he has straightened his life out,” Rafool said.

A rep for Hulk says that he “stands by what is written in the book.”

NFL

– 49ers LT Joe Staley (MCL, PCL) is out six weeks.