It's Tuesday

It's Tuesday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is January 25th, the 25th day of 2011. There are 340 days left in the year. It's also my 56th birthday!

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Hurricanes outscore Leafs.

Rangers rally, edge Caps in shootout.

Flames beat Preds for third straight win.

Avs end skid with win over Blues.

Canucks pound Stars to end four-game skid.

Kings blank Bruins in L.A.

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Today's Birthdays: Actor Dean Jones (Love Bug, Shaggy D.A.) is 80; Hall of Fame R&B singer Etta James is 73; NASCAR legend Buddy Baker is 70; adventurer Kay Cottee (first woman to sail solo and non stop around the world) is 57; Blogger John Meissner is 56; singer Alicia Keys is 30.

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U.S. National Sled Hockey Team to Meet with NASCAR Driver Joey Logano Thursday

Meeting to Take Place in Conjunction with Three-Day Training Camp in Indian Trail, N.C.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The 2010-11 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team will conduct a training camp next weekend at the Extreme Ice Center in Indian Trail, N.C. The three-day camp (Jan. 27-30) will include practices and a meeting with NASCAR's Joey Logano on Thursday (Jan. 27) evening.

Logano, the 2009 Sprint Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year, teamed up with the Extreme Ice Center last year to help design, develop and build new sleds that were used by the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team that won the gold medal at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games last March in Vancouver, B.C. The current U.S. National Sled Hockey Team includes 10 members of that gold medal-winning squad, while its six newcomers will also be fitted for new sleds.

"Our upcoming camp will be the first time that we've seen these guys in over two months, so we'll have a lot of work to do on the ice," said Ray Maluta, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. "Having the camp in North Carolina will also give us a chance to formally thank Joey for his extremely generous contributions."

While Team USA has taken part in a pair of exhibition series thus far this season, it will play its first International Paralympic Committee-sanctioned tournaments later this spring. The U.S. will travel to Nagano, Japan, for the 2011 Japan Para Ice Sledge Hockey Championships in March, and London, Ont., for the 2011 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in April.

For the complete 2010-11 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team roster, click here.

Yale University Unanimous No. 1 in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Yale University is the unanimous No. 1 in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll after earning victories over Clarkson University and St. Lawrence University last weekend. The Bulldogs, who boast a 17-2-0 record, collected 510 points and all 34 first-place votes to claim the top spot for the seventh week in a row.

Boston College advances one place to No. 2 with 455 points after garnering wins over Boston University and the University of Massachusetts Lowell, while the University of Denver (415) moves up to No. 3 with a weekend sweep of the University of Alaska Anchorage. The University of Minnesota Duluth (413) advances to the No. 4 spot after twice defeating Michigan Tech University, while the University of North Dakota (404) rounds out the top five after splitting a weekend series with No. 15 University of Nebraska Omaha.

This weekend's top-15 match-ups feature No. 1 Yale University facing off against No. 12 Union College and No. 10 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and No. 9 University of Notre Dame hosting No. 13 Miami University in a weekend series.

NOTES: The WCHA leads all conferences with five ranked teams, while Hockey East boasts four ranked programs, and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and ECAC Hockey each have three ... A total of 19 teams received votes.

ABOUT THE POLL: The 16th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the five NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey Magazine, the most widely distributed hockey magazine in the world.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine
Men's College Hockey Poll - #16
(first-place votes in parentheses)

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine
Men's College Hockey Poll - #16(first-place votes in parentheses)

Rank	School	Last Week's Ranking	2010-11 Record	Weeks in Top 10
1	Yale University, 510 (34)	1	17-2-0	16
2	Boston College, 455	3	17-6-0	16
3	University of Denver, 415	4	16-5-5	16
4	University of Minnesota Duluth, 413	5	17-5-3	16
5	University of North Dakota, 404	2	18-7-2	16
6	University of Michigan, 334	6	17-6-4	16
7	University of Wisconsin, 276	9	17-8-3	11
8	University of New Hampshire, 270	7	13-5-4	16
9	University of Notre Dame, 224	8	16-9-3	13
10	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 201	13	15-6-3	8
11	University of Maine, 134	11	11-6-5	16
12	Union College, 122	10	16-7-3	13
13	Miami University, 117	12	14-9-3	16
14	Merrimack College, 87	14	13-5-4	3
15	University of Nebraska Omaha, 59	15	13-9-2	14

Others receiving votes: Western Michigan University, 27; Dartmouth College, 18; Boston University, 12; Niagara University, 2.

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Nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards will be announced early this morning.

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Goalie prospect Gibson combines talent, athleticism.

Pairing up between the pipes.

Phantoms hold special skating session.

USHL Power Rankings.

Fallen commits to Yale University.

Steel take another tumble against Ice.

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President Obama gives his state of the union address tonight. (You'll have to take notes for me. My wife is taking me to a hockey game for my birthday!)

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Ray signs extension with Eskimos.

Brown signs on for three more years with Als.

Lions extend RB Jamal Robertson.

Bombers mourn death of lineman Herb Gray.

Donate to the Tony Proudfoot Fund.

Visit the league's official website, cfl.ca.

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According to data crunched by The Daily Beast website, Massachusetts kids are the smartest in the nation. The website looked at recent fourth and eighth grade standardized test scores across the nation and determined, through a few bits of math, that The Bay State is at the top, while Mississippi kids are at the bottom.

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So Daddy -- Is this the one millionth picture you've taken of me?

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Here's the NFL Wild Card Round schedule:

At Seattle Seahawks 41, New Orleans Saints 36

New York Jets 17 at Indianapolis Colts 16

Baltimore Ravens 30 at Kansas City Chiefs 7

Green Bay Packers 21 at Philadelphia Eagles 16

Here's the NFL Divisional Round Schedule:

At Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Baltimore Ravens 24

Green Bay Packers 48 at Atlanta Falcons 21

At Chicago Bears 35, Seattle Seahawks 24

New York Jets 28 at New England Patriots 21

Here's the NFL Championship Round Schedule:

Green Bay Packers 21 at Chicago Bears 14

At Pittsburgh Steelers 24, New York Jets 19

Super Bowl XLV:

Sunday, February 6th 6:30pm Pittsburgh Steelers vs Green Bay Packers at Cowboys Stadium

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Think there are aliens out there waiting to talk to us? Mmmaybe not. Harvard astrophysicist Howard Smith says he analyzed all 500 planets known to exist and determined that because of hostile conditions elsewhere, we're probably alone in the universe.

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Today in Elvis History:

1958 - Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" became the first single to ever enter the U.K. pop chart at Number One.

1965 - Principal photography began for the Elvis Presely film "Fun in Acupulco."

2005 - "Love, Elvis" was released. It contained remasted versions of 24 of Elvis' greatest love songs. An unreleased alternate take of "For The Good Times" was included.

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Firefighters in Ohio said a man was attempting to kill bedbugs with rubbing alcohol and ended up sparking a fire in his apartment. It wasn't the rubbing alcohol that was the problem -- it was the cigarette he was smoking while using the rubbing alcohol. The fire destroyed the man's couch and damaged the carpet.

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Today in Beatles History:

1980 - Paul McCartney was released from a Tokyo jail where he had been imprisoned for nine days after trying to carry a half pound of marijuana through customs at the Tokyo airport.

1984 - Yoko One donated $375,000 to Liverpool's Strawberry Fields retirement home.

1990 - Paul McCartney (Beatles) was profiled on CBS-TV's "48 Hours".

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New on DVD today: Red (Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren); Saw: The Final Chapter (Formerly Saw 3D); Secretariat (Diane Lane, John Malkovich); Glee: Season 2, Volume 1; Matlock: Season 6; Webster: Season 1.

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Today in Sports History:

1924 - The first Winter Olympic Games, also known as the Winter Olympic Festival, were inaugurated in Chamonix in the French Alps. Sixteen countries sent 294 athletes to compete in five sports and thirteen events.

1973 - A midget house league hockey team in Portland, Oregon sponsored by Frasch & Associates Insurance beat the P.A.H.A. Bantam A team 4-3. Winning goaltender was John Meissner.

1981 - The Oakland Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 in Super Bowl XV. The Raiders were the first team to win the Super Bowl after entering the playoffs as a wildcard team.

1987 - Neil Diamond sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXI.

1987 - The New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos, 39-20, in Super Bowl XXI on NBC. The game featured TV commercials cost $550,000 for 30 seconds.

1988 - Rickey Green of the Utah Jazz scored the 5 millionth point in NBA history.

1995 - The defense gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson trial.

1998 - The Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers 31-24 in Super Bowl XXXII. The Broncos had lost 3 previous Super Bowl appearances with quarterback John Elway. The win also broke the 13 game winning streak of the NFC.

2002 - Ken Hitchcock was fired as head coach of the Dallas Stars. He had a record of 277-160-60-6, five straight division titles and two Stanley Cup finals appearances. His post season record was 47-33.

2003 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVIII in San Diego. Coach Jon Gruden, at age 39, was the youngest coach to ever win the title.

2010 - Kelly Kulick became the first woman to win a PBA Tour title.

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Now, explain to me WHY the new mayor of Toronto, Ontario wants to bring an NFL team to his city, when he already has a perfectly good (so to speak) CFL team playing there? But, then again, maybe the fans in Buffalo want to switch teams with Toronto anyway. Ya think?

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs 7:30pm EST

Wednesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

Nothin' Doin'

Friday --

Nothin' Doin'

Saturday --

Nothin' Doin'

Sunday --

Nothin' Doin'

Monday --

Nothin' Doin'

Tuesday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Philadelphia Flyers 7:30pm EST

Wednesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

Nothin' Doin'

Friday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Washington Capitals 7:30pm EST

Saturday --

SEJHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors at Florida Eels 3:30pm EST

MJHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors at Florida Eels 8:00pm EST

Sunday --

SEJHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors at Florida Eels 10:30am EST

MJHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors at Florida Eels 10:30am EST

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs St. Louis Blues 3:00pm EST

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That's all for today. See you again tomorrow.