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NHL
NEW YORK (AP) — NHL trade deadline day was widely expected to be busy. The day before might prove to be even wilder.
Several big-name hockey players were on the move Tuesday, 24 hours before time for dealing runs out, including star goalie Roberto Luongo, who was ushered out of Vancouver and sent back to Florida eight years after he was sent packing.
The Panthers, on their way to missing the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 seasons, dealt goalie Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias to the Canucks for Luongo and forward Steven Anthony.
On Tuesday, the Anaheim Ducks sent goalie Viktor Fasth to the Edmonton Oilers for a 2014 fifth-round draft pick and a 2015 third-round selection. Edmonton then traded veteran goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to the Minnesota Wild for a fourth-round draft pick this year.
The Western Conference-leading Ducks traded forward Dustin Penner to the Washington Capitals for a fourth-round draft pick this year and then quickly moved that pick to the Dallas Stars for veteran defenseman Stephane Robidas.
NFL
Former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner tweeted that he was reinstated by the NFL following his suspension in December for violating the league's policy on substance abuse.
Browner announced the news via a lengthy statement on his Twitter page. Browner was suspended indefinitely without pay by the league on Dec. 18. The reinstatement will make Browner a free agent as his contract with the Seahawks ended after this season.
Browner's agent, Peter Schaffer, also confirmed the reinstatement to The Associated Press.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys are close to getting under the salary cap after restructuring the contracts of quarterback Tony Romo, linebacker Sean Lee and cornerback Orlando Scandrick.
The adjustment on the six-year, $108 million extension Romo signed last year will save Dallas about $10 million on the salary cap, while the conversions on Lee and Scandrick will cut about $7 million. Lee and Scandrick got new contracts last year as well.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles have released wide receiver Jason Avant.
The Eagles cut ties with Avant on Tuesday. He played his first eight NFL seasons in Philadelphia and ranks 11th in team history with 297 receptions for 3,646 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was drafted in the fourth round in 2006 from the University of Michigan. In 2010, Avant was chosen by his teammates as the Ed Block Courage Award recipient in recognition of the adversity he overcame in his youth.
CYCLING
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas appeals court has temporarily blocked an arbitration panel from reviewing $12 million in bonuses paid to Lance Armstrong by a company that wants its money back, stopping efforts to force him to give new sworn testimony about his doping past.
SCA Promotions has sought to reopen a 2006 settlement paid to Armstrong since his 2013 admission to using performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career to win the Tour de France.
The arbitration panel that first approved the settlement agreed to reconsider the case, and a Dallas judge last week rejected Armstrong's attempts to stop it. The panel set a March 17 hearing and SCA's attorneys wanted to question Armstrong under oath on Thursday.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The prosecutor leading an investigation into fraud in an academic department at North Carolina says a retired administrator tied to the case won't face charges.
In a news release, Orange County district attorney Jim Woodall said Deborah Crowder from the formerly named African and Afro-American Studies department is cooperating with investigators. She also will cooperate with an independent investigation by former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth L. Wainstein, announced by the school last month.
The problems in the department included classes with significant athlete enrollments that didn't meet and were treated as independent study work requiring only a research paper, as well as unauthorized grade changes dating to the late 1990s.
OSCAR PISTORIUS
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — For two days, the witness in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius kept her composure. Then, just as her testimony was about to finish, she broke down in tears at what she said was the memory of the screams she heard on the night that the double-amputee athlete fatally shot his girlfriend in his South African home.
Michelle Burger, a neighbor of Pistorius who took the stand on the second day of a trial watched around the world, remained calm through intense questioning by the chief defense lawyer. In a final exchange with the lead prosecutor on Tuesday, however, emotion washed over her as she recalled what she described as the terrified screams of a woman early on Valentine's Day last year.
BASEBALL
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana agreed to a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles as he tries to come back from the second major operation on his left shoulder.
Santana would get a $3 million, one-year deal if added to the 40-man roster and would have the chance to earn an additional $5.05 million in roster and performance bonuses. He would receive the full amount for 120 days and 25 starts.
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