It's Saturday

It's Saturday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is December 24th, the 358th day of 2011. There are 7 days left in the year.

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Classic Alumni game to be televised in U.S., Canada.

NHL Network gets a jump on 2012 with new show, ad campaign and logo.

Visit the official league website, http://www.nhl.com.

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The War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain was ended on this date in 1814 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.

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Denver, CO. -- Mathieu Garon and the Tampa Bay Lightning refused to come home for Christmas empty-handed.

Garon made 27 saves, including several key stops down the stretch and in overtime, as he helped the Lightning collect a point following a 2-1 loss in extra time to the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on Friday night.

Read the rest right here.

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On this date in 1818, Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for "Silent Night" to words written by Josef Mohr.

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Jason Zucker Named Captain of 2012 U.S. National Junior Team

Emerson Etem, Jarred Tinordi Named Alternate Captains

Camrose, Aberta -- Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev./Univ. of Denver) was named captain of the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team, and will be joined by alternate captains Emerson Etem (Long Beach, Calif./Medicine Hat Tigers) and Jarred Tinordi (Millersville, Md./London Knights).

Zucker will be playing in his third International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, having skated with the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. National Junior Team in Regina and Saskatoon, Sask., and with the bronze medal-winning U.S. squad last year in Niagara and Buffalo, N.Y.

Etem also earned a bronze medal with Team USA last year, while Tinordi will be making his first U.S. National Junior Team appearance.

For the complete U.S. roster, click here.

The 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship will take place from Dec. 26, 2011-Jan. 5, 2012, in Edmonton and Calgary, Alta. Team USA will play its first preliminary-round game on Monday (Dec. 26) against Denmark. The game will be televised live on NHL Network U.S., and will start at 8 p.m. EST.

NOTES: The U.S. National Junior Team is currently in the midst of a pre-tournament camp taking place in Alberta, Canada. Team USA has already taken part in two exhibition games, and will play its final pre-tournament game tonight (Dec. 23) against Slovakia in Three Hills, Alta. ... Dean Blais, head men's ice hockey coach at the University of Nebraska Omaha, is serving as head coach of the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team. He is assisted by Scott Sandelin, head men's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Tom Ward, head ice hockey coach of the Shattuck-St. Mary's School's boys' prep team; and Joe Exter, assistant men's ice hockey coach at Ohio State University ... Jim Johannson, USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations, is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the third consecutive year. Tim Taylor (Guilford, Conn.), former U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team head coach and longtime Yale University men's ice hockey team head coach, is also serving his third straight year as Team USA's director of player personnel ... The U.S. National Junior Team blog will provide daily updates with game recaps, photos and multimedia content. The blog can be found here ... Use the hashtag #USAWJC to join the conversation on Twitter.

Team USA 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship Schedule
Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 • Alberta, Canada

Date Opponent Location*
Time (MST)/Result

Tues., Dec. 20 Russia^ Red Deer L, 3-6
Wed., Dec. 21 Switzerland^ Camrose W, 7-3
Fri., Dec. 23 Slovakia^ Three Hills 7 p.m.
Mon., Dec. 26 Denmark Edmonton 6 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 28 Finland Edmonton 1:30 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 30 Czech Republic Edmonton 1:30 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 31 Canada Edmonton 6 p.m.
Mon., Jan. 2 Quarterfinals Calgary TBD
Tues., Jan. 3 Semifinals Calgary TBD
Thurs., Jan. 5 Bronze-Medal Game Calgary 1:30 p.m.
Gold-Medal Game Calgary 6 p.m.
*All games in Edmonton will be played at Rexall Place. All games in Calgary will be played at Scotiabank Saddledome.
^Pre-tournament game

U.S. National Junior Team Blanks Slovakia, 5-0,
in Final IIHF World Junior Championship Pre-Tournament Game

Team USA to Begin Tournament Play Monday

CAMROSE, Alta. -- Charlie Coyle (East Weymouth, Mass./Boston Univ.) scored twice, while Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa./Saginaw Spirit) and Jarred Tinordi (Millersville, Md./London Knights) had a goal and an assist each, as the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team blanked Slovakia, 5-0, tonight at the Three Hills Centennial Arena.

Tonight marked Team USA's final pre-tournament game leading up to the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, which will take place from Monday (Dec. 26) through Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Calgary, Alta.

"Tonight was an extremely physical, hard-fought victory," said Dean Blais, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "I thought our goaltending was very good, and our energy was high."

For the second straight game, Team USA scored in the opening minute of the first period when Coyle tipped an Adam Clendening (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) slap shot past Slovakian starting goalie Dominik Riecicky.

The U.S. opened up a three-goal lead with a pair of power-play goals late in the first period. Saad redirected a pass from Clendening into an open side at 18:12 with his team on a two-man advantage. Then, Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev./Univ. of Denver) found the back of the net just 52 seconds later to make the score 3-0 after one.

Two minutes into the second period, Tinordi pushed the U.S. advantage to four goals when he collected a pass from Emerson Etem (Long Beach, Calif./Medicine Hat Tigers) at the Slovakian blue line, rushed in and fired a shot just under the bar. Coyle's second tally of the night at 8:15 of the second period proved to be the game's final goal.

Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich./Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) and John Gibson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kitchener Rangers) combined to make 20 saves in the win, while Slovakian goalies Riecicky and Juraj Simboch stopped 32 shots in a losing effort.

Team USA will play its first preliminary-round game of the IIHF World Junior Championship on Monday (Dec. 26) against Denmark. The game, to be televised on NHL Network U.S., will start at 8:00 p.m. EST.

NOTES: Team USA finished 2-for-6 on the power play, while Slovakia was 0-for-6 with the man advantage ... Jason Zucker was named captain of the U.S. National Junior Team earlier in the day, while Emerson Etem and Jarred Tinordi were named alternate captains ... NHL Network U.S. will televise all Team USA games in the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship and 15 games total in the event. For the complete broadcast schedule, click here... The U.S. National Junior Team is coming off back-to-back medals in the IIHF World Junior Championship for the first time ever, having earned a bronze medal in last year's event in Buffalo, N.Y., and a gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Championship in Saskatoon, Sask. ... Dean Blais, head men's ice hockey coach at the University of Nebraska Omaha, is serving as head coach of the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team. He is assisted by Scott Sandelin, head men's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Tom Ward, head ice hockey coach of the Shattuck-St. Mary's School's boys' prep team; and Joe Exter, assistant men's ice hockey coach at Ohio State University ... Jim Johannson, USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations, is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the third consecutive year. Tim Taylor (Guilford, Conn.), former U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team head coach and longtime Yale University men's ice hockey team head coach, is also serving his third straight year as Team USA's director of player personnel ... The U.S. National Junior Team blog will provide daily updates with game recaps, photos and multimedia content. The blog can be found here ... Use the hashtag #USAWJC to join the conversation on Twitter.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 3 - 2 - 0 - 5
SVK 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Coyle (Clendening), 0:55; 2, USA, Saad (Clendening, Etem), 18:12 (pp2); 3, USA, Zucker (Miller, Arnold), 19:04 (pp). Penalties: SVK, Trska (tripping), 4:21; USA, Miller (roughing), 10:10; SVK, Marincin (roughing), 10:10; SVK, Cajkovsky (cross-checking), 11:25; USA, Watson (cross-checking), 14:17; SVK, Matousek (charging), 17:22; SVK, Marincin (slashing), 17:51; USA, Tinordi (roughing), 19:56; SVK, Bene (roughing), 19:56.

Second Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Tinordi (Etem), 2:03; 5, USA, Coyle (Saad, Tinordi), 8:15. Penalties: USA, Etem (interference), 5:47; USA, Czarnik (cross-checking), 8:27.

Third Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: SVK, Dolnik (goalie interference), 0:16; USA, Brickley (kneeing), 9:24; USA, Team (too-many-men), 11:34; SVK, Tvrdon (slashing), 15:43; USA, Forbort (delaying-the-game), 18:46.

Shots by Period
1 2 3 Total
USA 16 7 14 37
SVK 8 8 4 20

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Campbell 31:19 8-8 7-7 -- 15-15
USA, Gibson 28:41 -- 1-1 4-4 5-5
SVK, Riecicky 28:27 16-13 4-2 -- 20-15
SVK, Simboch 31:33 -- 3-3 14-14 17-17

Power Play: USA 2-6; SVK 0-6
Penalties: USA 8-16; SVK 8-16

Team USA 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship Schedule
Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 • Alberta, Canada

Date Opponent Location*
Time (MST)/Result

Tues., Dec. 20 Russia^ Red Deer L, 3-6
Wed., Dec. 21 Switzerland^ Camrose W, 7-3
Fri., Dec. 23 Slovakia^ Three Hills W, 5-0
Mon., Dec. 26 Denmark Edmonton 6 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 28 Finland Edmonton 1:30 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 30 Czech Republic Edmonton 1:30 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 31 Canada Edmonton 6 p.m.
Mon., Jan. 2 Quarterfinals Calgary TBD
Tues., Jan. 3 Semifinals Calgary TBD
Thurs., Jan. 5 Bronze-Medal Game Calgary 1:30 p.m.
Gold-Medal Game Calgary 6 p.m.
*All games in Edmonton will be played at Rexall Place. All games in Calgary will be played at Scotiabank Saddledome.
^Pre-tournament game

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On this date in 1906, Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, MA.

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Stamps promote Walkosky to defensive coordinator.

Visit the leagues' official website, http://www.cfl.ca/.

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The first broadcast of "The Voice of Firestone" was heard on this date in 1928.

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The 2011 NFL season is underway. Here's the week sixteen results:

Week 16

Thursday, December 22nd

At Indianapolis 19, Houston 16

Saturday, December 24th

Oakland at Kansas City 1:00 PM
Jacksonville at Tennessee 1:00 PM
Miami at New England 1:00 PM
Arizona at Cincinnati 1:00 PM
Denver at Buffalo 1:00 PM
St. Louis at Pittsburgh 1:00 PM
NY Giants at NY Jets 1:00 PM
Minnesota at Washington 1:00 PM
Tampa Bay at Carolina 1:00 PM
Cleveland at Baltimore 1:00 PM
San Diego at Detroit 4:05 PM
Philadelphia at Dallas 4:15 PM
San Francisco at Seattle 4:15 PM

Sunday, December 25th

Chicago at Green Bay 8:20 PM

Monday, December 26th

Atlanta at New Orleans 8:30 PM

Week 17 (Final week of regular season)

All times Eastern

Sunday, January 1st

Carolina at New Orleans 1:00 PM
Buffalo at New England 1:00 PM
Chicago at Minnesota 1:00 PM
NY Jets at Miami 1:00 PM
San Francisco at St. Louis 1:00 PM
Detroit at Green Bay 1:00 PM
Tampa Bay at Atlanta 1:00 PM
Baltimore at Cincinnati 1:00 PM
Pittsburgh at Cleveland 1:00 PM
Dallas at NY Giants 1:00 PM
Washington at Philadelphia 1:00 PM
Indianapolis at Jacksonville 1:00 PM
Tennessee at Houston 1:00 PM
Seattle at Arizona 4:15 PM
Kansas City at Denver 4:15 PM
San Diego at Oakland 4:15 PM

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On this date in 1944, The Andrews Sisters starred in the debut of "The Andrews Sisters’ Eight-To-The-Bar-Ranch" on ABC Radio.

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Ready for the big game.

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On this date in 1948, for the first time ever, a midnight Mass was broadcast on television. It was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

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Today in Elvis History:

1957 - In a letter to the Memphis Draft Board, Elvis Presley formally requested a deferment for the filming of his new movie "King Creole." The request was granted on December 26th.

1965 - Elvis Presley proposed to Priscilla Beaulieu.

1977 - Elvis Presley's version of "My Way" hit #22 in the U.S.

1994 - The Elvis Presley song "If Everyday Was Like Christmas" hit #94 in the U.S.

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NBC-TV presented, "Amal and the Night Visitors," the first opera written for television on this date in 1951.

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Today in Beatles History:

1980 - John Lennon's "(Just Like) Starting Over" was certified gold by the RIAA.

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Luna 13 landed on the moon on this date in 1966.

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Today in Sports History:

1951 - Joe Namath (New York Jets) became the first NFL quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards.

1981 - Reggie Jackson announced that he would join Gene Autry’s California Angels for the 1982 season.

2000 - 36 minutes after the end of a game, both the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins were called back to the playing field. The teams had to play the final 3 seconds of the game which the Dolphins had won 27-24. The end result did not change.

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Three astronauts, James A. Lovell, William Anders and Frank Borman, reached the moon on this date in 1968. They orbited the moon 10 times before coming back to Earth. Seven months later man first landed on the moon.

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Coming up:

Tonight --

NFL Football -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers 1:00pm EST

Sunday --

Nothin' Doin'

Monday --

Nothin' Doin'

Tuesday --

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

Wednesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens 7:30pm EST

Friday --

Nothin' Doin'

Saturday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Carolina Hurricanes 5:00pm EST

Sunday --

NFL Football -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons 1:00pm EST (Final game of regular season)

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That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you'll do so tomorrow too. Thanks again!