The lockout has officially claimed the 2013 Winter Classic. A report filed to ESPN states the event which would have featured the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs at the University of Michigan will not be taking place.

The prized Winter Classic was one of the NHL's biggest success stories over the last few years. Now it too has fallen victim to the current lockout and it has fans asking if the rest of the 2012-13 season is next on the chopping block. 

Don Cherry loves to offer his opinion to any person willing to listen. When he was prompted on CBC's radio show about how long he thought the lockout would last, Cherry answered that he thinks odds are good that the entire season will be lost. 

"If I'm betting, I'd say no [NHL season]," stated Cherry, as seen on CBC.ca's site. 

Gary Bettman won't be handing out any Halloween candy this year. He still hasn't figured out how to unlock his front door. Instead, he'll be taking to the streets to join in on the trick-or-treating.

"I'm Gary Bettman and I can do whatever I want!"

We always imagined Bettman was shorter in real life and more difficult to understand. 

Props to Ziggy Linklater & Kevin Minato for this gem. 

Well, apparently it just absolutely tore up... the Southeast Division?

According to Slate.com, Siri didn't really know how to handle all of the inquiries. It caught the word "hurricane" and did what everyone else would do -- look up the Carolina Hurricanes position in the standings. Since all of the divisions are now in alphabetical order, the Carolina Hurricanes are in a five-way tie for first place in the Southeast Division with zero points (insert joke here).

Slate tested Google's voice search for Android and didn't get any hockey related news, just boring old emergency information. 

s/t to Wayne in Alabama

The Ottawa Senators have announced that they will be sponsoring PGA Tour member Brad Fritsch in 2013. Fritsch will sport Ottawa's logo on both his shirt and on his golf bag while receiving "financial support" in return. 

The news, as seen on the team's official site, is humorous when you consider that Fritsch might have company on the links as he warms up for the 2013 PGA Tour as various NHL players attempt to kill time during the lockout. 

The last time the league had a labor situation, I was toiling away in high school. Living in Oil Country, I had just seen the Flames make a run to the Cup before they engaged in a year long effort to get a salary cap put into place.

I followed sports, and hockey of course, but nothing like I do now. My life did not change at all in the year that we missed hockey. The lockout may have actually made me into a bigger fan as once it came to a conclusion and the Oilers went out and got Chris Pronger, Mike Peca and decided to make a daring run all the way to game seven of the Cup Finals, I was officially hooked.

Patrick Marleau's a pretty unassuming guy. He's also a great team guy, willing to make a personal sacrifice like giving up the C for his team. Also, he's the bane of Jeremy Roenick's existence, so that's another plus. Marleau hasn't said too much about the NHL Lockout, but with the league cancelling all games through November 30th, he came out with a statement today that's been overlooked, but is a PR bombshell for the NHL if it's true.

Reports have indicated that the NHL will announce that they are cancelling all games through November 30th. The move brings the number of games lost to the lockout to a whopping 326, or, it has claimed 26.5% of the 2012-13 season (Aaron Portzline).

As with the two waves of cancellations we dealt with earlier, there's plenty of reasons to be pessimistic over this announcement and even one or two reasons to be a bit optimistic. 

Derek Roy - Irony is your new middle name. 

As the NHL lockout trudges forward both the players and owners continue to battle for the upper hand in the area of public relations. Players cry that the NHL isn't being fair while the NHL declares the players aren't being realistic. We've seen dozens and dozens of players use Twitter to try and bring fans together behind their cause. "We just want to play!" they clamor. 

Derek Roy, one of the newest members of the Dallas Stars, probably should have used Twitter a bit more carefully when he Tweeted a picture of his lavish, extremely expensive Ferrari (one that's easily six figures) followed up by a rather phony claim that he and other NHL players simply want to play in front of fans more than any thing else.