It's Friday

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

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Today is December 21st, the 356th day of 2012. There are 10 days left in the year.

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NHL announces cancellation of 2012-13 regular-season schedule through January 14th.

Former hockey pro Russell returns to family business.

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

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The "Mayflower", and its passengers, pilgrims from England, landed at Plymouth Rock, MA on this date in 1620.

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2013 U.S. National Under-17 Team World U17 Challenge Roster Announced

Team USA Looks to Improve on Back-to-Back Second Place Showings

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey today announced the 22-player roster for the U.S. Men's National Under-17 Team that will compete in the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge Dec. 28, 2012-Jan. 4, 2013, in Drummondville and Victoriaville, Quebec. Team USA has claimed second place the past two tournaments (2011-12) and earned the title in 2010. The U.S. has placed in the top three for six consecutive years (2006, 2008-12). No tournament was held in 2007. The U.S. lineup features eight defensemen, including Louis Belpedio (Skokie, Ill.), Nathan Billitier (Spencerport, N.Y.), Ryan Bliss (Bedford, N.H.), Ryan Collins (Bloomington, Minn.), Brandon Fortunato (North Hills, N.Y.), Jack Glover (Golden Valley, Minn.), Johnathan MacLeod (Dracut, Mass.) and Joshua Wesley (Raleigh, N.C). Twelve forwards will skate for Team USA in the tournament, including Anders Bjork (Mequon, Wis.), Jack Eichel(North Chelmsford, Mass.), Jared Fiegl (Parker, Colo.), Ryan Hitchcock (Manhasset, N.Y.), Keegan Iverson (St. Louis Park, Minn.), Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.), Ryan MacInnis (St. Louis, Mo.), Sonny Milano (Massapequa, N.Y.), Austin Poganski (St. Cloud, Minn.), Alex Tuch (Baldwinsville, N.Y.), Dominic Turgeon (Cherry Hills, Colo.) andChris Wilkie (Omaha, Neb.). Backstopping the U.S. will be goaltenders Chris Birdsall (Glen Rock, N.J.) and Edwin Minney (Wind Gap, Pa.). All games of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will be be streamed live and available on-demand atFASTHockey.com. The U.S. Men's National Under-17 Team will play one pre-tournament game against Canada's Team Pacific Dec. 28, in Drummondville, Quebec, before opening tournament play on Dec. 29 against Canada's Team Ontario at the Colisee Desjardins. A complete schedule can be found below. NOTES: For Team USA's full roster, click here ... Forwards Keegan Iverson and Dominic Turgeon play for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, while Austin Poganski skates for Cathedral High School in St. Paul, Minn. Netminder Chris Birdsall suits up for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League, while the other 18 players on the roster come from the U.S. National Under-17 Team that is part of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program based in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... The 2013 World Under-17 Challenge includes two pools of five teams. Pool A consists of teams from Finland, Canada's Team Pacific, Russia, Sweden and Canada's Team West. Pool B consists of teams from Canada's Team Atlantic, Canada's Team Ontario, Canada's Team Quebec, Slovakia and the United States ... The U.S. enters the tournament having captured first place three times (2001-02, 2010) and second place in 1999, 2008, 2011, 2012 ... Follow @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates during the tournament. Scores will be designated with #WU17 ... For additional coverage, visit USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Facebook page ... The U.S. National Under-17 Team trains with The Hockey IntelliGym, a revolutionary new software program released on October 1, 2010, that trains hockey sense. To learn more, visit USAHockeyIntelliGym.com. Team USA 2013 World Under-17 Challenge ScheduleDec. 28, 2012 - Jan. 4, 2013 • Drummondville and Victoriaville, Quebec Date Opponent Location Time (EST) Live Streaming Fri., Dec. 28 Canada Pacific* Centre Marcel Dionne 6:00 p.m. FASTHockey Sat., Dec 29 Canada Ontario Colisee Desjardins 1:30 p.m. FASTHockey Sun., Dec. 30 Canada Atlantic Colisee Desjardins 1:30 p.m. FASTHockey Mon., Dec. 31 Canada Quebec Colisee Desjardins 7:30 p.m. FASTHockey Weds., Jan. 2 Slovakia Centre Marcel Dionne 1:30 p.m. FASTHockey Thurs., Jan. 3 Semifinal Centre Marcel Dionne 7:30 p.m. FASTHockey Semifinal Colisee Desjardins 7:30 p.m. FASTHockey Fri., Jan. 4 Third-Place Game Centre Marcel Dionne 3:00 p.m. FASTHockey Championship Game Colisee Desjardins 7:30 p.m. FASTHockey *Pre-tournament game U.S. National Junior Team Tops Sweden in Overtime, 3-2, in World Junior Championship Pre-Tournament Action Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere Notches Game-Winning Goal HELSINKI, Finland – The U.S. National Junior Team defeated Sweden in overtime, 3-2, in a pre-tournament contest here tonight at Vantaa Valtti Arena. The game was the first of two that precede the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2012-Jan. 5, 2013, in Ufa, Russia. Team USA picked up a pair of goals from its defensemen, including the game-winner by Shayne Gostisbehere (Margate, Fla./Union College), and negated eight of nine Sweden power plays. "Overall, I think our special teams did a great job tonight," said Phil Housley, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "We got an early goal on the power play, which got us settled in. Also our penalty killing was extraordinary, especially on the two extended five-on-threes. The guys played hard, were competitive and played with tempo. Also, we wanted to see the guys we have to make decisions on and I believe we were able to do that." Sweden took the early lead at 2:35 on a wrist shot from the left circle. Team USA responded two minutes later on a power-play marker by Connor Murphy (Dublin, Ohio/Sarnia Sting). Jim Vesey (North Reading, Mass./Harvard Univ.) slid a pass from the goal line to the left point for Murphy. After faking a shot, Murphy moved down to the high slot and snapped the puck over the goaltender's glove for a 1-1 score. Team USA then weathered four straight Sweden power plays and gained e a 2-1 advantage at 3:48 of the second stanza. Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn./Univ. of Notre Dame) forced a turnover behind the Sweden net and flipped a pass into the lower right slot, where Ryan Hartman (West Dundee, Ill./Plymouth Whalers) was waiting to blast it into the net. Sweden knotted the game at two with a power-play goal late in the second period. Despite each team having multiple power plays in the third period, no goals were scored to set up a four-on-four overtime period. At 1:38 of the extra frame, Sean Kuraly (Dublin, Ohio/Miami Univ.) won an offensive zone faceoff back to the right point. Gostisbehere hammered the puck through traffic and into the top of the Sweden net. Goaltender Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine/Providence College) earned the win in relief, stopping 18-of-19 shots in 30:11. Starter Garret Sparks (Elmhurst, Ill./Guelph Storm) turned away 17 of the 18 shots he faced in 31:27. Sweden netminder Niklas Lundstrom made 29 saves. Up next for Team USA is its second and final pre-tournament game vs. Finland on Dec. 22. Game time locally is 1 p.m. (6 a.m. ET) at the Helsinki Ice Hall. NOTES: Visit the new online home for the U.S. National Junior Team, worldjuniors.usahockey.com ... NHL Network is broadcasting all Team USA games live and re-airing them in prime time each night. NHL.com is also streaming all games live ... Phil Housley (South St. Paul, Minn.), head boy's ice hockey coach at Stillwater (Minn.) High School, is the head coach of the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team. He is assisted by Mark Osiecki (Columbus, Ohio), head men's ice hockey coach at Ohio State University, Grant Potulny (Minneapolis, Minn.), assistant men's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota and David Lassonde (Denver, Colo.), assistant men's ice hockey coach at the University of Denver ... Jim Johannson (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations, is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the fourth consecutive year. Tim Taylor(Guilford, Conn.) is the director of player personnel ... Team USA will compete in a group with Canada, Germany, Russia and Slovakia at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship. For more information about the tournament, clickhere ... The final roster for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship will be released on Saturday (Dec. 22) on USAHockey.com. GAME SUMMARY Scoring By Period Team 1 2 3 OT Total Sweden 1 1 0 0 2 USA 1 1 0 1 3 First Period – Scoring: 1, SWE, Molin (Froberg), 2:35; 2, USA, Murphy (Vesey, Trocheck), 4:51 (pp). Penalties: SWE, Team (too many men), 4:03; USA, Team (too many men), 6:46; USA, Team (too many men), 12:52; USA, Gostisbehere (slashing), 16:05; USA, Hartman (holding), 17:02; SWE, Arnesson (tripping), 19:21. Second Period – Scoring: 3, USA, Hartman (Lucia), 3:48; 4, SWE, Rakell (Vikstrand, Sandberg), 19:26 (pp). Penalties: SWE, Pettersson (tripping), 6:02; USA, Gostisbehere (hooking), 9:11; SWE, Forsberg (slashing), 13:24; SWE, Arnesson (interference), 16:23; USA, Murphy (high-sticking), 18:36. Third Period – Scoring: None. Penalties: USA, Galchenyuk (holding), 4:11; USA, Biggs (tripping), 11:49; SWE, Sorensen (tripping), 13:11; SWE, Lindholm (high-sticking), 15:57; USA, Team (too many men), 17:16; SWE, Djoos (tripping), 18:02. Overtime - Scoring: 5, USA, Gostisbehere (Kuraly), 1:38. Penalties: None. Shots by Period 1 2 3 OT Total USA 10 12 8 2 32 Sweden 10 12 15 0 37 Goaltender (SH/SV) 1 2 3 OT Total USA, Sparks, 31:27 9/10 8/8 -- -- 17/18 Gillies, 30:11 -- 3/4 15/15 0/0 18/19 SWE, Lundstrom, 61:38 9/10 11/12 8/8 1/2 29/32 Power Play: USA 1-9; SWE 1-9 Penalties: USA 9-18; SWE 9-18  2013 IIHF World Junior Championship NHL Network ScheduleDec. 26, 2012-Jan. 5, 2013 • Ufa, Russia • Ufa Arena  Date Matchup Time (Local/EST)/Result Thurs., Dec. 20 USA vs. Sweden* W, 3-2 OT Sat., Dec. 22 Finland vs. USA* 1:00 p.m./6:00 a.m. Thurs., Dec. 27 USA vs. Germany 8:00 p.m./9:00 a.m. Fri., Dec. 28 USA vs. Russia 8:00 p.m./9:00 a.m. Sun., Dec. 30 USA vs. Canada 3:30 p.m./4:30 a.m. Mon., Dec. 31 USA vs. Slovakia 4:00 p.m./5:00 a.m. Wed., Jan. 2 Quarterfinal #1 Quarterfinal #2 5:00 p.m./4:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m./8:00 a.m. Thurs., Jan. 3 Semifinal #1 Semifinal #2 5:00 p.m./4:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m./8:00 a.m. Sat., Jan. 5 Bronze Medal Game Gold Medal Game 5:00 p.m./4:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m./8:00 a.m.

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The first ice-skating club in America was formed in Philadelphia, PA on this date in 1849.

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Corvallis, OR. -- Today, The Oregonian, in conjunction with the Austin American-Statesman, continues a 10-part series comparing Oregon State and Texas ahead of the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio (3:45 p.m., TV on ESPN).

Read the rest here.

Visit the Oregon State Athletics department official web site.

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On this date in 1879, Ibsen's "A Doll's House" was first performed in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a revised happy ending.

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CFL mourns the loss of Eagle Keys.

Ticats offence gets a boost with new Coordinator Condell.

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

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On this date in 1898, scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium.

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Tampa, FL. —Head Coach Greg Schiano gave his players a longer break in the schedule than usual after Sunday's tough loss but expected them to use it to recharge and come back ready to finish the last two weeks strong.

Read the rest here.

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On this date in 1909, McKinley and Washington schools of Berkeley, CA, became the first authorized, junior-high schools in the U.S.

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Mommy, call someone and tell them I'm cute!

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You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as watching the garbage collectors do their work, isn't it?

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Today in Elvis History

1960 - Elvis Presley was inducted into the Los Angeles Indian Tribal Council.

1960 - Elvis Presley's movie "Flaming Star" premiered in Los Angeles.

1957 - The production chief of Paramount Studios petitioned the U.S. Army to defer Elvis Presley's induction by two months so he could finish filming "King Creole." The draft board agreed after Elvis made the request himself.

1970 - Elvis Presley went to the White House to volunteer his services to U.S. President Nixon on fighting the nation's drug problems. He gave Nixon a chrome-plated Colt .45 and Elvis was given a Narcotics Bureau badge.

2006 - "Writing for the King" was released. The set included two CDs and a book that included more than 140 interviews with songwriters.

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On this date in 1913, the "New York World" Sunday edition included a crossword puzzle as an added feature of the "Fun" supplement. It was the first crossword puzzle to be published.

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Today in Beatles History:

1963 - The Beatles performed their first Christmas show at the Gaumont Theatre in Bradford, England.

1966 - The Beatles recorded the clarinets used on "When I'm Sixty-Four."

2000 - Glasses that belonged to a statue of John Lennon were stolen in Havana, Cuba. The theft was not made public until December 30, 2000.

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On this date in 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon. The craft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean on December 27.

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Today in Sports History:

1941 -  Ray McLean (Chicago Bears) performed a drop kick for an extra point in the NFL. The next one would not happen until Doug Flutie performed one 61 years later.

1951 - Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement from major league baseball.

1959 - Tom Landry accepted the position of head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Landry led the team to 22 consecutive winning seasons in his 29 years as coach.

1969 - Vince Lombardi coached his last game. His Washington Redskins lost to the Dallas Cowboys 20-10. The Redskins ended that season at 7-5-2, which was the first winning season for the team in 14 years.

1975 - John Riggins became the first New York Jets player to gain 1,000 yards.

1975 - George Blanda, in his final regular-season game, became the first professional football player to reach 2,000 points. His total was 2,002 points over a 26-year career.

1975 - The Buffalo Sabres scored eight goals in the third period against the Washington Capitals. The Sabres won the game 14-2.

1980 - Harold Carmichael ended his NFL streak of 127 consecutive game receptions.

1981 - Cincinnati defeated Bradley 75-73 in seven overtimes. The game was the longest collegiate basketball game in the history of NCAA Division I competition.

1983 - The NBA's Indiana Pacers ended a 28 game losing streak.

1993 - Shaquille O'Neal's "I Know I Got Skillz" single was certified Gold by the RIAA.

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On this date in 1971, The U.N. Security Council chose Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as secretary-general.

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

Nothin' Doin'

Saturday --

Empire South Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Florida Eels 5:15pm EST

EJHL South Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Florida Eels 8:00pm EST

Sunday --

NFL Football -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs St. Louis Rams 1:00pm EST

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That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!