It's Sunday

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

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Today is January 8th, the 8th day of 2012. There are 358 days left in the year. (This is a leap year.)

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Decision to delay realignment met with varied reaction.

Tortorella clinches coaching spot at All-Star Game.

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

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Today is the start of Universal Letter Writing Week. Also Home Office Safety and Security Week.

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Montreal, QC. -- In his ninth game as interim coach and with a small crowd of people protesting his job title outside the building prior to the game, Randy Cunneyworth believes he has finally found something that works for the Montreal Canadiens.

It's an unorthodox lineup quirk, but for a second straight game, Cunneyworth played seven defensemen regularly.

And for a second straight game the Canadiens won, this time beating the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Saturday night in front of 21,273 satisfied customers at the Bell Centre.

Read the rest here.

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Today is Argyle Day. Bring some brightness to winter by wearing an argyle print -- not just socks: anything with the diagonal diamond pattern.

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U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team Falls to Canada, 3-0, in
Gold-Medal Game at 2012 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship
Team USA Outshoots Canada, 28-16, in Defeat

ZLIN, Czech Republic -- Despite outshooting Canada, 28-16, the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team fell to Canada, 3-0, in the championship game of the 2012 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship. With the defeat, Team USA finished the tournament in second place with a 4-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record.

"It's disappointing," said Heather Linstad, head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team. "I thought our team had great team chemistry. We worked really hard and created many scoring opportunities, but couldn't find the back of the net."

Alexis Crossley scored on a rebound at 9:04 of the first period and Sarah Lefort capitalized on the power play at 14:03 to give Canada a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Canada connected for a second power-play tally at 15:42 of the third period to secure a 3-0 victory.

Brianna Laing (Marblehead, Mass.) made 13 saves in the loss, while Emerance Maschmeyer made 28 saves for Canada.

NOTES: Haley Skarupa was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Skarupa led the tournament in scoring with 11 points (11-0) ... Team USA recorded 28 shots on goal, while Canada had 16 ... Alex Carpenter earned the Best Forward of the tournament with nine points (4-5) ... The three best players of the tournament for Team USA, as chosen by the coaches: Alex Carpenter, Anne Pankowski and Haley Skarupa ... Alex Carpenter was Team USA's captain ... The IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, was played for the fifth time, and included 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 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
CAN 2 - 0- 1 - 3

First Period - Scoring: 1, CAN, Crossley (Woods), 9:04; 2, CAN, Lefort (MacAulay, Crossley), 14:03 (pp). Penalties: CAN, Capizzano (slashing), 10:42; USA, Illikainen (interference), 13:37.

Second Period -Scoring: None. Penalties: CAN, Lefort (cross-checking), 0:26; CAN, Connery (boarding), 2:49; USA, Burke (body checking), 6:58; USA, Kennedy-Menefee (slashing), 12:18; CAN, Team (too many men), 13:09; CAN, Krzyzaniak (tripping), 17:16.

Third Period - Scoring: 3, CAN, Roesler (Lefort), 15:42 (pp). Penalties: CAN, Kohler (elbowing), 3:03; CAN, Dubois (slashing), 9:05; Krzyzaniak (boarding), 11:14; USA, Savage (slashing), 15:02; Burke (roughing), 19:10; Pankowski (cross-checking), 19:57.

Shots by Period
1 2 3 Total
USA 9 8 11 28
CAN 3 9 4 16

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Laing, 59:15 3-1 9-9 4-3 16-13
CAN, Maschmeyer, 60:00 9-9 8-8 11-11 28-28

Power Play: USA 0-8; CAN 2-6
Penalties: USA 6-12; CAN 8-16

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 5 p.m./11 a.m. W, 8-0
Sun., Jan. 1 Sweden 7 p.m./1 p.m. W, 7-0
Tues., Jan. 3 Czech Republic 7 p.m./1 p.m. W, 13-1
Fri., Jan. 6 Semifinal 1: USA vs. Germany 3 p.m./9 a.m. W, 7-1
Sat., Jan. 7 Gold-Medal Game 7 p.m./1 p.m. L, 0-3

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Ticats name George Cortez new head coach.

Jones eager to work with Durant.

VANSTONE: Brendan Taman must deliver talent.

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

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Brad Pitt was spotted leaving a salon in Beverly Hills Thursday with a cane. Pitt told photographers that he tore a ligament in his knee.

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The 2011 NFL playoffs are underway. Here's the Wild Card Week schedule:

Wild Card Playoffs

All times Eastern

January 7th

At Houston 31, Cincinnati 10
At New Orleans 45, Detroit 28

January 8th

Atlanta at NY Giants 1:00pm
Pittsburgh at Denver 4:30pm

Division Playoffs

January 14th

New Orleans at San Francisco 4:30pm
TBD at New England 8:00pm

January 15th

Houston at Baltimore 1:00pm
TBD at Green Bay 4:30pm

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NEW IN THEATERS THIS WEEKEND - The Devil Inside (R)

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Time to go down the slide.

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Today is Bubble Bath Day, Earth's Rotation Day, National English Toffee Day (Linky Link), Midwife's Day or Women's Day, National Joy Germ Day, Show and Tell Day at Work and War on Poverty Day.

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Today in Elvis History:

1935 - Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. His twin brother Jessie Garon was stillborn.

1946 - Elvis Presley received his first guitar from his parents.

1955 - Elvis Presley's third single "Milkcow Blues Boogie" was released.

1956 - Elvis Presley performed at The Louisiana Hayride. He also performed the previous day.

1957 - The Memphis Draft Board announced that Elvis Presley had been classified as A1 and that he would probably be drafted within the next six to eight months.

1959 - Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand, called Elvis in Germany to tell him that he had been voted most popular singer of the year and that his record "King Creole" was the most popular record of the year.

1965 - Hal Wallis agreed to change Elvis Presley's 1958 contract into a five-picture deal. The movies Elvis made under the contract were "Blue Hawaii", "Girls! Girls! Girls!", "Fun In Acapulco", "Roustabout" and "Paradise Hawaiian Style".

1981 - "Elvis Presley Day" was declared in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, North & South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

1993 - The U.S. Postal Service released a stamp of Elvis. The picture used was one of Elvis in the 1950's.

2004 - RCA Records and BMG Strategic Marketing Group with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that Elvis Presley had become the best selling solo artist in U.S. history.

2005 - In the U.K., a campaign began to release Elvis Presley's 18 #1 songs over 17 consecutive weeks. The campaing ended on April 25th.

2006 - The RIAA presented awards upgrading the sales certification status of "ELVIS 30 #1 HITS" and "It's Christmas Time" and for the first sales certifications for the DVD "Elvis by the Presleys". "ELVIS 30 #1 HITS" was upgraded from 3x Platinum to 4x Platinum. The album "It's Christmas Time" was upgraded from Platinum to 2x Platinum. The DVD "Elvis by the Presleys" was certified at 2x Platinum.

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The first corporation was charted in the United States on this date in 1675. The company was the New York Fishing Company.

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Today in Beatles History:

1973 - Yoko Ono released "Approximately Infinite Universe" as a two record set.

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George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address on this date in 1790.

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Today in Sports History:

1901 - In Chicago, IL, the first tournament sanctioned by the American Bowling Congress was held.

1955 - After 130 home basketball wins, Georgia Tech defeated Kentucky 59-58. It was the first Kentucky loss at home since January 2, 1943.

1957 - Jackie Robinson announced his retirement from major league baseball in an article that appeared in "LOOK" magazine.

1960 - The NCAA met in New York and voted against reviving the unlimited substitution rule for college football.

1977 - The cover of TV Guide was "Super Bowl."

1984 - ABC purchased the remaining 85% of ESPN.

1993 - Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) became the 18th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points.

1994 - Dino Ciccarelli (Detroit Red Wings) became the 19th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals.

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William S. Paley appeared on CBS Radio for the first time on this date in 1929 to announce that CBS had become the largest regular chain of broadcasting chains in radio history. The title of the comic strip was later changed to "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century."

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Coming up:

Tonight --

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

Monday --

Nothin' Doin'

Tuesday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Vancouver Canucks 7:30pm EST

Wednesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Carolina Hurricanes 7:30pm EST

Friday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals 7:00pm EST

Saturday --

Nothin' Doin'

Sunday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Pittsburgh Penguins 1:00pm EST

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