It's Friday

It's Friday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is March 30th, the 90th day of 2012. There are 276 days left in the year.

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Canadiens' GM Gauthier relieved of his duties.

Players try to rally EA Sports NHL '13 cover support.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Rocker Eric Clapton is 67; Actor Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies) is 62; Rapper MC Hammer (real name Stanley Kirk Burrell) is 50; Singer Celine Dion is 44; Singer Norah Jones is 33.

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Newark, NJ. -- Ryan Malone apparently felt right at home in front of the net on Thursday night.

Unfortunately for him and the Tampa Bay Lightning, so did the New Jersey Devils.

Malone scored three times to record his fourth career hat trick, and Victor Hedman added two assists, but neither could prevent New Jersey from earning its second consecutive victory in a 6-4 win over the Lightning at the Prudential Center.

Read the rest here.

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Today is Doctors Day, Grass Is Always Browner On The Other Side Of The Fence Day and Pencil Day.

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U.S. National Sled Hockey Team Defeats Canada, 2-1, to Advance to the
Gold-Medal Game of the 2012 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship

Chace Tallies a Goal and an Assist; Cash Makes 15 Saves

HAMAR, Norway - Taylor Chace (Hampton Falls, N.H.) scored a goal and recorded an assist and Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) made 15 saves to help the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team defeat Canada, 2-1, in the semifinals of the International Paralympic Committee Sledge Hockey World Championship tonight at the Olympic Amphitheatre.

With the victory, Team USA advances to the gold-medal game on Sunday (April 1) where it will face Korea at 10 a.m. EDT.

"Our guys really stuck to the game plan tonight," said Jeff Sauer, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. "We played really strong defensively, especially in the last five minutes of the game. It was our goal to play for a gold medal and now that's what we're doing."

Chace opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the top of the slot that found the back of the net at 9:48 of the first period. Taylor Lipsett (Richardson, Texas) banged home a rebound with 10 seconds remaining in the period to open a two-goal lead for Team USA. Chace and Alexi Salamone (Grand Island, N.Y.) collected assists on the goal.

Cash made several outstanding saves near the end of the second period to keep the score 2-0 in favor of the U.S. heading into the second intermission.

Canada made it a one-goal game at 8:51 of the third period, but the U.S. was able to hold its lead to earn a spot in the gold-medal game on Sunday.

NOTES: Steve Cash was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... For a complete 2011-12 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team roster, including bios, click here ... All games from the 2012 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championships are streamed live here, while live scoring can be found here ... Taylor Chace is serving as a captain for the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team, while Taylor Lipsett is the alternate captain ... Team USA is the defending champion of the event ... The U.S. National Sled Hockey Team has participated in two previous competitions this season. Team USA captured second place in the World Sled Hockey Challenge in Calgary, Alta., (Nov. 27-Dec. 3) and posted a 1-0-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record against Canada in an exhibition series in Williamsville, N.Y., (Feb. 23-25).

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 2- 0- 0- 2
CAN 0- 0- 1- 1

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Chace (unassisted), 9:48; 2, USA, Lipsett (Chace, Salamone), 14:50. Penalties: CAN, Bowen (delay of game), 7:28; USA, McKee (holding), 11:23.

Second Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: CAN, Rempel (too many men), 1:26; USA, Lipsett (interference), 2:34; CAN, Murray (butt-ending, double minor/misconduct), 8:37; USA, Chace (interference), 15:00.

Third Period - Scoring: 3, CAN, Dixon (Bridges), 8:51. Penalties: CAN, Dixon (interference), 6:38; USA, McCoy (delay of game), 10:25.

Shots by Period
1 2 3 Total
USA 3 3 0 6
CAN 5 4 7 16

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Cash, 45:00 5/5 4/4 7/6 16/15
CAN, Watson, 45:00 3/1 3/3 0/0 6/4

Power Play: USA 0-5; CAN 0-4
Penalties: USA 4-8; CAN 5-20

Team USA 2012 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship Schedule
Hamar, Norway

Date Opponent Time (Local/EDT)
Sun., March 25 Estonia W, 2-1 (SO)
Mon., March 26 Czech Republic L, 1-2 (SO)
Wed., March 28 Japan W, 5-0
Thur., March 29 Canada (Semifinals) W, 2-1
Sun., April 1 Korea (Gold-Medal Game) 4 p.m./10 a.m.

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Ashton Kutcher is expected to return for an expected 10th season of Two and a Half Men -- and sources say the current offer being discussed is about $1 million per episode. Ashton currently reportedly makes $700,000 per episode, while Charlie Sheen raked in $1.25 million in his final season.

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Five more years: Hufnagel extends with Stamps.

Flames increase ownership stake in Stampeders.

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

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The NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four games will be played Saturday night.

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What a handsome little guy, eh?

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President Obama will take his 600th flights on both Air Force One and Marine One today (Friday).

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Today in Elvis History

1961 - In Hawaii, a resolution was passed "expressing gratitude and appreciation to Elvis Presley and Col. Tom Parker" for helping to raise funds for the USS Arizona.

1967 - Elvis Presley's "Guitar Man" hit #19 in the U.K.

2004 - The album "Maximum Elvis" was released. It contained the songs "The King Of Western Bop", "A White Man Who Could Sing The Blues", "Let's Get Real, Real Gone For A Change", "The Snowman", "This Unspeakably Untallnted, Vulgar Young Entertainer", "At The Movies", "A Nice Lad When You Get To Know Him", "The Hippie Element", "Death" and "Resurrection?".

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Best Buy is closing 50 stores. [That's just great! Now where am I supposed to watch free cable?]

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Today in Beatles History:

1967 - The cover of the Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was staged and photographed.

1996 - The Beatles' "Anthology 2" hit #1 on the U.S. album chart.

2007 - A man was arrested after trying to force his way into Paul McCartney's mansion in Sussex.

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Beer and chocolate eggs, together at last--and just in time for Easter! Brazilian beer Skol has infused its brew into the creamy middle of some Cadbury-like Easter eggs for a confection that should prove irresistible to chocoholics with a taste for beer. And the best part? Anyone interested in tasting the boozy Easter treats need only fan Skol on Facebook in order to be eligible for a free six-pack. Here's video of the eggs being made.

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Today in Sports History:

1925 - The Victoria Cougars of the WCHL became the last non-NHL team to win the Stanley Cup.

1946 - Maurice "The Rocket" Richard scored his first of three overtime goals in the Stanley Cup Finals.

1980 - George Gervin (San Antonio) became the fifth NBA player to win at least three consecutive scoring titles.

1993 - The Ottawa Senators lost their 37th consecutive road game to tie the NHL record that had been set in 1975.

1997 - Golfer John Daly checked into the Betty Ford Clinic after a drinking binge a few days earlier.

2002 - The Dallas Stars lost 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers. The game ended the Stars' streak of 50 straight wins when leading after 2 periods.

2004 - NFL owners approved a modified version of the instant replay system for five years. They added a third coaches' challenge if the first two were successful.

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The Canadian government announced on Thursday that it plans to pull the penny from circulation at the end of 2012, saying the copper-coated currency is more expensive for the Royal Canadian Mint to produce than its actual currency value.

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Coming up:

Tonight --

Nothin' Doin'

Saturday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Winnipeg Jets 7:00pm EDT

Sunday --

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway 12:30pm EDT

IZOD Indy Car Series -- Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park 2:00pm EDT

Monday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Washington Capitals 7:00pm EDT

Tuesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Wednesday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens 7:30pm EDT

Thursday --

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

Friday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees 3:10pm EDT (Regular season opener)

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 7:10pm EDT

Saturday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Winnipeg Jets 7:00pm EDT (Final game of regular season)

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 4:05pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees 7:10pm EDT

Sunday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees 1:40pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 4:10pm EDT

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