It's Sunday

It's Sunday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is January 1st, the 1st day of 2012. There are 365 days left in the year. (This is a leap year.)

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'Legion of Doom', Parent power Flyer alums.

NHL's Collins on state of Classic, potential future sites.

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

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Today is the start of Celebration of Life Week, Diet Resolution Week, Silent Record Week and National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week.

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Tampa FL. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning arrived home on Dec. 27 to open a three-game homestand with a sense of concern. They had gone 2-3-1 in their previous six games and were dealing with a compilation of nagging injuries to some key players.

Saturday night, they prepared to head out on the road again, having swept all three games at home while pulling their record back to .500 for the season.

It was the NHL's leading goal scorer, Steven Stamkos, who set the pace as he collected his fifth career hat trick and second of the season to lead the Lightning to a 5-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Martin St. Louis collected three assists for the Lightning to reach 500 for his career.

Read the rest here.

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Today is Copyright Law Day, Ellis Island Day, Euro Day, Global Family Day (Linky Link), First Foot Day (Linky Link), Mummer's Parade Day, New Year's Day, New Year's Dishonor List Day, Polar Bear Plunge or Swim Day (Linky Link), Saint Basil's Day and Z Day.

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U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team Blanks Russia, 8-0,
at 2012 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship
Haley Skarupa Scores Three Goals to Lead Team USA to Victory.

ZLIN, Czech Republic -- Haley Skarupa (Rockville, Md.) scored twice in the first period and again in the third period to lead the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team to an 8-0 victory over Russia in its first preliminary-round game of the 2012 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship.

"I thought we played very well," said Heather Linstad, head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team. "We started to share the puck and we skated well. We did a lot of good little things today."

Skarupa put the U.S. on the board at 9:48 of the first period when she potted a rebound from an Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) shot. Skarupa connected on her second goal, on the power play, at 17:53, with a shot from the slot that beat Russian goaltender Margarita Monakhova low.

Miye D'Oench (New York, N.Y.) gave Team USA a three-goal lead at 12:51 of the second period with a shot in front of the net. Dana Trivigno (Setauket, N.Y.) tapped in Sydney Daniels' (Southwick, Mass.) shot that rebounded off the back boards for Team USA's second power-play goal of the game. Daniels earned an assist on both second period goals.

Trivigno connected for her second tally of the night after MaryAnne Kennedy-Menefee (Lansing, Mich.) found her open at 5:55 of the third period. Paige Savage (Carrollton, Tex.) lit the lamp with a high wristshot at 12:48 to increase the U.S. lead to 6-0. Skarupa tapped in her third goal of the night at 13:18 with help from Carpenter, who also picked up an an assist on Savage's goal 30 seconds earlier. Daniels beat Monakhova stick side with 14 seconds remaining in the game to secure the 8-0 win for Team USA.

Sidney Peters (Geneva, Ill.) stopped all 13 shots to earn the shutout in the U.S. victory, while Monakhova made 63 saves for Russia.

Team USA will play its second preliminary-round game of the 2012 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship tomorrow (Jan. 1) against Sweden at 1 p.m. EST.

NOTES: Haley Skarupa was named Team USA's Player of the Game ...The U.S. went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Russia went 0-for-2 with the man advantage ... Team USA recorded 71 shots on goal, while Russia had 13 ... Alex Carpenter is Team USA's captain ... The IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, being played for the fifth time, includes teams from Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States ... Team USA captured gold in each of the first two years of the tournament (2008, 2009) as well as last season (2011). In 2010, the team took home the silver medal ... Heather Linstad, head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Connecticut, is the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team for the 2011-12 season. She is assisted by Joel Johnson and Hilary Witt ... To follow the team in the Czech Republic, check out the U.S. Women's National Program blog by clicking here ... Post-game video interviews can be found by clicking here.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 2 - 2 - 4 - 8
RUS 0 - 0- 0 - 0

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Skarupa (Carpenter, Savage), 9:48; 2, USA, Skarupa (Trivigno), 7:53 (pp). Penalties: RUS, Shibanova (bodychecking), 1:43; RUS, Shibanova (cross-checking), 5:20; RUS, Batalova (interference), 15:56; RUS, Nikolayeva (slashing), 18:32.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, USA, D'Oench (Daniels), 12:51; 4, USA, Trivigno (Daniels), 17:17 (pp). Penalties: USA, Crossman (tripping), 14:54; RUS, Yergorova (slashing), 16:39.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, USA, Trivigno (Kennedy-Menefee), 5:55; 6, USA, Savage (Carpenter), 12:48; 7, USA Skarupa (Carpenter, Savage), 13:18; 8, USA, Daniels (Cameranesi), 19:46. Penalties: USA, LaShomb (hooking), 7:30.

Shots by Period
1 2 3 Total
USA 31 24 16 71
RUS 2 6 5 13

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Peters, 60:00 2-2 6-6 5-5 13-13
RUS, Monakhova, 60:00 31-29 24-22 16-12 71-63

Power Play: USA 2-5; RUS 0-2
Penalties: USA 2-4; RUS 5-10

Team USA 2012 Women's World Under-18 Championship Schedule
Prerov and Zlin, Czech Republic

Date Opponent Time (Local/EST) Result
Sat., Dec. 31 Russia  W, 8-0
Sun., Jan. 1 Sweden 7 p.m./1 p.m.
Tues., Jan. 3 Czech Republic 7 p.m./1 p.m.
Wed., Jan. 4 Quarterfinal 1 3 p.m./9 a.m.
Quarterfinal 2 7 p.m./1 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 6 Semifinal 1 3 p.m./9 a.m.
Semifinal 2 7 p.m./1 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 7 Bronze-Medal Game 3 p.m./9 a.m.
Gold-Medal Game 7 p.m./1 p.m.

U.S. National Junior Team Loses to Canada, 3-2,
in Final Preliminary-Round Game of IIHF World Junior Championship

Coyle, Zucker Score for Team USA in Loss

EDMONTON, Alta. -- Charlie Coyle (East Weymouth, Mass./Boston Univ.) and Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev./Univ. of Denver) scored third-period goals, but the U.S. National Junior Team came up just short in a comeback bid against Canada, losing 3-2 in its final preliminary-round game of the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship tonight in Rexall Place.

"I liked the fight back by our team," said Dean Blais, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "We're disappointed to not be playing for a medal, but we still have two games to go in this tournament, and we will continue to fight."

Canada took a 3-0 lead after the opening period, but the U.S. began to push back in the second. Team USA outshot Canada, 12-9, in the second period, creating multiple scoring chances including breakaways by Kyle Rau (Eden Prairie, Minn./Univ. of Minnesota) and Emerson Etem (Long Beach, Calif./Medicine Hat Tigers).

Midway through the third period, Charlie Coyle (East Weymouth, Mass./Boston Univ.) snapped a wrist shot just under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the tournament to put the U.S. on the board.

At 13:12 of the third period, Team USA struck again. After strong work behind the Canadian net by Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass./Boston College), Etem poked the loose puck to Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev./Univ. of Denver), whose wraparound attempt hit the skate of Canadian goalie Scott Wedgewood and deflected into the net.

U.S. netminder Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich./Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) was pulled in favor of an extra attacker with 1:50 to play, but despite some good pressure, Canada hung on for the win. Campbell made 32 saves, while Wedgewood stopped 30 shots.

The U.S. National Junior Team will next face Latvia on Tuesday (Jan. 3) at 1 p.m. EST, in Calgary, Alta., in its first of two relegation-round games. The contest will be streamed live in the United States on NHL.com.

NOTES: Jacob Trouba (Rochester, Mich./U.S. National Under-18 Team) was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Team USA finished 0-for-5 on the power play, while Canada was 1-for-4 with the man advantage ... In other tournament action, Finland blanked the Czech Republic, 4-0; Slovakia topped Switzerland, 6-4; and Sweded edged Russia, 4-3, in overtime ... Team USA completed the preliminary round with a 1-0-0-3 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record to place fourth in Group B ... The U.S. will face Latvia (Jan. 3) and Switzerland (Jan. 4) in the relegation round ... 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 0 - 0 - 2 - 2
CAN 3 - 0 - 0 - 3

First Period - Scoring: 1, CAN, Stone (Huberdeau, D. Hamilton), 5:39 (pp); 2, CAN, Schwartz (Stone, Strome), 10:12; 3, CAN, Connolly (unassisted), 15:59. Penalties: CAN, D. Hamilton (high-sticking), 1:08; USA, Clendening (cross-checking), 2:57; USA, Tinordi (roughing), 5:10.

Second Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: CAN, Strome (tripping), 8:47; USA, Rau (slashing), 14:49; USA, Etem (tripping), 15:41; CAN, D. Hamilton (tripping), 16:59; CAN, Howden (cross-checking), 19:45.

Third Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Coyle (Miller), 9:49; 5, USA, Zucker (Arnold, Etem), 13:12. Penalties: CAN, Gormley (delaying-the-game), 0:50; USA, Arnold (roughing), 6:31; CAN, Jenner (slashing), 6:31.

Shots by Period
1 2 3 Total
USA 8 12 12 32
CAN 19 9 7 35

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Campbell 58:20 19-16 9-9 7-7 35-32
CAN, Wedgewood 60:00 8-8 12-12 12-10 32-30

Power Play: USA 0-5; CAN 1-4
Penalties: USA 5-10; CAN 6-12
Officials: Referees - Vyacheslav Bulanov (RUS), Soeren Persson (SWE); Linesmen - Johannes Kack (SWE), Milan Novak (SVK)
Attendance: 16,647

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 W, 11-3
Wed., Dec. 28 Finland Edmonton L, 1-4
Fri., Dec. 30 Czech Republic Edmonton L, 2-5
Sat., Dec. 31 Canada Edmonton L, 2-3
Tues., Jan. 3 Latvia Calgary 11 a.m.
Wed., Jan. 4 Switzerland Calgary 3 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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The last gladiator competition was held in Rome on this date in 0404.

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Who will be #1? CFL.ca’s Top 10 Plays of 2011.

Lions named Canadian Press Team of the Year.

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

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On this date in 1622, the Papal Chancery adopted January 1st as the beginning of the New Year (instead of March 25th).

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The 2011 NFL season is underway. Here's the week seventeen schedule:

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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The first traveler's checks were issued in London on this date in 1772.

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This is how you rock out Jimmy.

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Albany became the capital of New York state, replacing New York City on this date in 1797.

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Today in Elvis History:

1956 - The Carl Perkins song "Blue Suede Shoes" was released. Elvis Presley recorded the song on January 30, 1956.

1959 - Elvis Presley's BMW was destroyed on Germany's Autobahn by his father. German newspapers reported inaccurately that Elvis had died in the accident.

1966 - Elvis Presley's soundtrack "Harum Scarum" hit #8 on the U.S. charts.

1992 - The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization took over exclusive U.S. and Canadian administration for the Elvis Presley music catalogs through a deal with the Presley estate, Gary Horey, Julian and Jean Aberbach.

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Brooklyn and New York merged to form the single city of New York on this date in 1892.

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Today in Beatles History:

1962 - The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records in London. The company opted for Brian Polle & the Tremeloes because the group was based in the south of England.

1991 - Paul McCartney performed on MTV. The album "Unplugged - Official Bootleg" documented his performance.

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On this date in 1898, Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island were consolidated into New York City.

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Today in Sports History:

1902 - The first Tournament of Roses (later the Rose Bowl) collegiate football game was played in Pasadena, CA.

1926 - The Rose Bowl was carried coast to coast on network radio for the first time.

1933 - The first Orange Bowl was played. Miami defeated Manhattan 7-0.

1935 - The first Sugar Bowl was played. Tulane defeated Temple 20-14.

1935 - The first Sun Bowl was played. Hardin Simmons and New Mexico State tied 14-14.

1937 - The First Cotton Bowl football game was played in Dallas, TX. Texas Christian University (T.C.U.) beat Marquette, 16-6.

1954 - The Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl were shown in color for the first time.

1961 - Briggs Stadium was renamed Tigers Stadium.

1968 - Evil Knievel, daredevil, lost control of his motorcycle midway through a jump of 141 feet over the ornamental fountains in front of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

1969 - Los Angeles Kings owner Jack Kent Cooke fined each of his players $100 for "not" arguing with the referee.

1992 - The ESPN Radio Network was officially launched.

2007 - In Denver, CO, Darrent Williams (Denver Broncos) was killed in a drive-by shooting outside a nightclub.

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On this date in 1930, "The Cuckoo Hour" was heard for the first time on the NBC-Blue Network, which later became ABC Radio.

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Coming up:

Tonight --

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

Monday --

Nothin' Doin'

Tuesday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Toronto Maple Leafs 7:00pm EST

Wednesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Ottawa Senators 7:30pm EST

Friday --

Nothin' Doin'

Saturday --

Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors Empire South and EJHL South teams at EJHL Showcase at N.E.S.C., Marlborough, Massachusetts.

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens 7:00pm EST

Sunday --

Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors Empire South and EJHL South teams at EJHL Showcase at N.E.S.C., Marlborough, Massachusetts.

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