It's Wednesday

It's Wednesday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is February 19th, the 50th day of 2014. There are 315 days left in the year.

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Break about over, NHL teams set for furious finish.

United States' quest for gold continues vs. Czechs.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Singer Smokey Robinson is 74; Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom, Dumb & Dumber) is 59; Seal is 51; Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects, Oscar for Traffic) is 47.

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Sochi, RU. --Martin St. Louis has built a career as a high-energy player, a water bug on the ice who keeps his powerful legs moving at all times to overcome his lack of size with his overwhelming will.

Read the rest here.

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Thomas Alva Edison patented a music player (the phonograph) on this date in 1878.

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University of Minnesota Keeps Unanimous No. 1 Ranking in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine 17th Annual Women's College Hockey Poll - #20 (First-place votes in parentheses) Rank School Last Week's Ranking 2013-14 Record Weeks in Top 10 1 University of Minnesota, 190 (19) 1 30-1-1 20 2 University of Wisconsin, 168 2 23-5-2 20 3 Cornell University, 144 3 20-3-4 20 4 Clarkson University, 140 5 23-4-5 20 5 Harvard University, 103 6 20-4-3 20 6 Boston College, 102 7 23-5-3 20 7 University of North Dakota, 66 4 17-9-4 20 8 Mercyhurst University, 64 8 21-7-3 13 9 Robert Morris University, 25 9 22-7-3 11 10 Quinnipiac University, 24 10 18-5-9 17 Others receiving votes: Boston University, 13; Northeastern University, 2; Syracuse University, 2; University of Minnesota Duluth, 1. Notes: To view past polls, click here ... The University of Minnesota received all 19 first-place votes in this week's poll ... Minnesota has been the No. 1-ranked team in each of the last 46 polls dating back to March 20, 2012 ... ECAC Hockey leads the way with four ranked programs, while the Western Collegiate Hockey Association has three, College Hockey America has two teams ranked, and the Hockey East Association is represented with one school in the poll ... A total of 14 teams received votes. About the poll: The 17th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the four NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey. 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team Documentary to Debut Feb. 24 on PBS Team USA Defends 2010 Paralympic Gold Medal Beginning March 7 in Sochi COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team will be featured in a one-hour documentary entitled "Ice Warriors: USA Sled Hockey," that will debut Monday (Feb. 24) on PBS. The program follows Team USA across North America as it prepares to defend its 2010 Paralympic gold medal at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Additionally, the show will be available online in its entirety beginning Feb. 25. The 2014 Paralympic Winter Games will take place March 7-16 in Sochi, Russia. All U.S. games will be streamed live at TeamUSA.org. NBC and NBC Sports Network will also have Paralympics coverage. The U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team is currently training at Extreme Ice Center in Indian Trail, N.C., through Feb. 22. Final preparation for the Paralympics will take place in Colorado Springs, Colo., with Team USA holding practices on Feb. 26-27, before embarking for Sochi Feb. 28. Seventeen players were named to the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team last December. Seven players return from the 2010 U.S. squad that captured the gold medal at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. The list includes goaltender Steve Cash(Overland, Mo.), who was named the top goaltender of the 2010 Paralympic Games after not allowing a single goal in five games, and defenseman Taylor Chace (Hampton Falls, N.H.), who was named the best defenseman in Vancouver. Additional Paralympic veterans include defensemen Nikko Landeros (Johnstown, Colo.) and Andy Yohe (Bettendorf, Iowa); and forwards Taylor Lipsett (Plano, Texas), Adam Page (Lancaster, N.Y.), Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) and Greg Shaw (Merritt Island, Fla.). Cash, Chace, Lipsett and Yohe also earned bronze medals at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. Fifteen players on the Paralympic roster were members of the 2012-13 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team that garnered the silver medal at the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Sled Hockey World Championship. That list includes Tyler Carron (Fort Collins. Colo.), Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.), Jen Lee (San Francisco, Calif.), Dan McCoy (Cheswick, Pa.), Kevin McKee (Davenport, Iowa), Rico Roman (Portland, Ore.), Paul Schaus (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Josh Sweeney (Phoenix, Ariz.), in addition to Cash, Chace, Landeros, Lipsett, Page, Pauls and Shaw. NOTES: Team USA's captain is Andy Yohe, while its alternate captains are Taylor Chace andJosh Sweeney ... The youngest player on the roster is Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.), who turned 15-years old in May and is making his debut on a U.S. National Team. Declan Farmer turned 16 years old in November ... The oldest player on the squad is Andy Yohe at 35-years old ... Four members of the team have served in the U.S. military. Jen Lee is active duty in the U.S. Army. Rico Roman is a U.S. Army veteran, while Paul Schaus and Josh Sweeney served in the U.S. Marine Corps ... Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), director of sled and inline national teams for USA Hockey, is serving as the general manager of the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team ... Jeff Sauer (Madison, Wis.) is in his third season as head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.), American Development Model regional manager for USA Hockey, is in his third season as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... Additional staff members include team physician Mike Uihlein(Grafton, Wis.), athletic trainer Mike Cortese (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and equipment managerJoel Isaacson (Houghton, Mich.). 2014 Paralympic Winter Games Game Schedule for U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team  March 8-15 • Sochi, Russia Date Opponent Venue Time (Local/EST)/Result Live Stream Sat., March 8 Italy Shayba Arena 4:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. TeamUSA.org Sun., March 9 South Korea Shayba Arena 5:30 p.m./8:30 a.m. TeamUSA.org Tues., March 11 Russia Shayba Arena 5:30 p.m./8:30 a.m. TeamUSA.org Wed., March 12 5th-8th Placement Shayba Arena 5:00 p.m./8:00 a.m. TeamUSA.org 5th-8th Placement Shayba Arena 9:00 p.m./noon TeamUSA.org Thurs., March 13 Semifinal Shayba Arena 2:00 p.m./5:00 a.m. TeamUSA.org Semifinal Shayba Arena 9:00 p.m./noon TeamUSA.org Fri., March 14 7th-Place Game Shayba Arena 2:00 p.m./5:00 a.m. TeamUSA.org 5th-Place Game Shayba Arena 9:00 p.m./noon TeamUSA.org Sat., March 15 Bronze-Medal Game Shayba Arena 2:00 p.m./5:00 a.m. TeamUSA.org Gold-Medal Game Shayba Arena 9:00 p.m./noon TeamUSA.org

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Today is Double Lunch Day. The lunch break is one of the best parts of the day, so today take two -- and early lunch and a late lunch.

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FA14: Eight things we've learned through free agency.

Saying good bye: Edwards announces his retirement.

Please visit the league's official website, cfl.ca.

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A 4-year old Syrian refugee was found alone in the desert. [Remind your 8-year-old of this when she wants to stop selling cookies door-to-door because it's too cold.]

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Tampa, FL. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a new coach, front office, and will add another component on Thursday.

Read the rest here.

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We know why the sewers of East Kilbride, Scotland, got a bit backed up: a large Pooh blocking the pipes. That's a stuffed Winnie the Pooh. The water company also recently found in its sewer pipes a fax machine and a pink bicycle.

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Time to go home Daddy!

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You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as watching even more Olympic hockey, isn't it?

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Today in Elvis History

1969 - Elvis Presley recorded the song "Kentucky Rain."

1971 - Elvis Presley hit himself in the mouth with a microphone and chipped a tooth. The cause was a fan that had rushed on stage.

1974 - Lisa Marie Presley had a tonsillectomy.

2010 - In Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil's "Viva ELVIS" production world premiered at the Aria Resort & Casino at CityCenter. 

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Jimmy Fallon's start as host of The Tonight Show is a ratings winner for NBC. TV ratings released Tuesday show 11.3 million people tuned in to watch Fallon's debut on Monday night.

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Today in Beatles History:

1971 -  Paul McCartney released "Another Day" in the U.K. 

1981 - George Harrison was ordered to pay ABKCO Music the sum of $587,000 for "subconscious plagiarism" between his song, "My Sweet Lord" and the Chiffons "He's So Fine."

2002 - George Harrison's former brother-in-law was barred from selling Beatle's memorabilia. Carl Roles was accused of stealing boxes of clothing, records and other memorabilia from Harrison's Los Angeles home in the 1970's. Roles attempted to sell the items the day after Harrison died.

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There should be a website called Stupid People on Facebook. Oh wait, there already is -- it's called Facebook. A Florida man who disagreed with a police officer about a traffic stop is under arrest. In a Facebook post following the incident, Bruce Allen Santee II offered $100 to anyone who would kill the officer. Santee was arrested on a charge of written threats to kill or do bodily harm.

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Today in Sports History:

1935 - Lou Gehrig signed a contract with the New York Yankees for $30,000. 

1942 - The New York Yankees announced that they would admit 5,000 uniformed servicemen free to each of their home ball games during the coming season.

1946 - Danny Gardella became the first major league player to go to the Mexican League.

1965 - The NFL began using six officials during games.

1977 - Rod Gilbert (New York Rangers) scored his 1,000th point.

1996 - Charles Barkley (Phoenix Suns) got his 10,000th career rebound. He became only the 10th NBA player to reach 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in a career.

1996 - Patrick Roy (Colorado Avalanche) became the second youngest NHL goaltender and 12th overall to reach 300 career victories.

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If you struggle with staying within a set budget, maybe you should try drawing your purchases. 'Daily Drawings' is a project by Oregon-based illustrator Kate Bingaman-Burt, in which she's drawn her daily purchases for the past eight years. Altogether, she has illustrated over 2,100 purchases since the start of the project. Her many purchases include CDs, gas, clothes and various types of groceries. Kate's not doing it as a tool for managing her money, but imagine how much less you'd buy if you knew you had to draw everything once you got home. | site link

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

Nothin' Doin'

Friday --

NAHL Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild at Johnstown Tomahawks 7:30pm EST

Saturday --

Nascar Nationwide Series -- Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway 1:15pm EST

NAHL Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild at Johnstown Tomahawks 7:00pm EST

Sunday --

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway 1:00pm EST

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