It's Thursday

It's Thursday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is July 31st, the 212th day of 2014. There are 153 days left in the year.

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Subban's agent: deal with Canadiens can be reached.

Red Wings hire Hiller, Brewer as assistant coaches.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Wesley Snipes (will be seen in the Expendables 3) is 52. J.K. Rowling is 49. B.J. Novak (Inglorious Basterds, Ryan Howard on The Office) is 35. Rico Rodriguez (Manny Delgado on Modern Family) is 16.

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Tampa, FL. -- Re-live the best moments of the 2013-14 Lightning season with this quick recap of the season...

Read the rest here.

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Christopher Columbus, on his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, arrived at the island of Trinidad on this date in 1498.

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Regina, SK. -- Tristan Jackson is a bluecollar football player.

Read the rest here.

Next up for 2-2 Saskatchewan is a matchup with the 1-3 Ottawa REDBLACKS next Saturday, August 2nd in Ottawa. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm EDT. Catch all the action with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri on 620 CKRM, the Rider Radio Network and 620ckrm.com. The game can be seen in Canada on TSN and in the U.S. on ESPN3.com.

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The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins on this date in 1790 for his process for making potash and pearl ashes. The substance was used in fertilizer.

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. 2014 CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at Week 6. Reilly gets nod in July's Players of the Month. Please visit the league's official website, cfl.ca. ************************************************ MGM’s Leo the lion roared for the first time on this date in 1928. He introduced MGM’s first talking picture, "White Shadows on the South Seas." ************************************************ Tampa, FL. -- A daily review of the hot topics coming out of Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp: Read the rest here. ************************************************ A water main broke at UCLA, flooding the campus with 10 million gallons of water. [But the summer students are fine. They drifted to safety on empty beer kegs.] ************************************************ St. Petersburg, FL. -- If David Price has to go out, this isn't how he wanted to do it. But now all he can do is wait. Read the rest here. ************************************************ The sweet YouTube video of a 5-year-old crying uncontrollably about not wanting her brother to grow up picked up nearly 3 million new views on Wednesday - putting it over the 5 million views level. (Check for latest total.) The video was posted by Alex Miller, Sadie's uncle, who says she has "a flair for anything dramatic." The Phoenix, Arizona, family also has a 3-year-old daughter named Brooklyn, but it's unclear how she feels about 3-month-old Carson growing up. ************************************************ San Francisco, CA. -- The postgame music that had gone missing while a dormant Giants offense scored just six runs in the club's season-high six-game losing streak returned to the Giants' clubhouse late Wednesday afternoon. Read the rest here. ************************************************ A Beijing couple turned to the law to help evict their 29-year-old unemployed son, who they say has long outworn his welcome. The court judge told the son to move out. ************************************************ Jimmy plays second base. ************************************************ You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as the baseball trade deadline, isn't it? ************************************************

Today in Elvis History:

1956 - Elvis Presley received a speeding ticket in Hattiesburg, MS. He was on his way to Memphis. 

1969 - Elvis Presley performed his first live concert since March 25, 1961. He opened a four-week engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. 

1971 - The album "Love Letters From Elvis" hit #7 in the U.K.

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On this date in 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon's surface.

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Today in Beatles History:

1966 - In Birmingham, AL, citizens burned Beatles albums and memorabilia. The incident arose from a John Lennon interview with Maureen Cleave in "Datebook" magazine. 

1968 - The Beatles' Apple Boutique in London closed after heavy losses.

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Men rode in a vehicle on the moon for the first time in a lunar rover vehicle (LRV) on this date in 1971.

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Today in Sports History:

1932 - Enzo Ferrari retired from racing. In 1950 he launched a series of cars under his name. 

1961 - The first tie in All-Star Game major league baseball history was recorded when it was stopped in the 9th inning due to rain at Boston's Fenway Park. 

1981 - The seven-week baseball players’ strike came to an end when the players and owners agreed on the issue of free agent compensation. 

2001 - Korey Stringer (Minnesota Vikings) collapsed during practice. The 27-year-old died the next day of multiple organ failure due to heatstroke. 

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TV TONIGHT: THE QUEST - This new reality show, from the executive producers of The Lord of the Rings and The Amazing Race, is a blend of fantasy and fairytales. 12 people are transported to a fantasy world (really Austria) where they must compete to save the (imaginary) kingdom of Everealm. (8p ET, ABC)

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

Nothin' Doin'

Friday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs L.A. Angels of Anaheim 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at New York Mets 7:10pm EDT

Saturday --

CFL Football -- Saskatchewan Roughriders at Ottawa REDBLACKS 7:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs L.A. Angels of Anaheim 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at New York Mets 7:10pm EDT

Nascar Nationwide Series -- U.S. Cellular 250 Presented By New Holland at Iowa Speedway 8:00pm EDT

Sunday --

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Gobowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway 1:00pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at New York Mets 1:10pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs L.A. Angels of Anaheim 1:40pm EDT

Verizon Indycar Series -- Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio 3:00pm EDT

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

It's Wednesday

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

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Today is July 30th, the 211th day of 2014. There are 154 days left in the year.

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Trotz energized by new challenges with Capitals.

Trottier to join Sabres as assistant coach: report.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is 80. Arnold Schwarzenegger is 67. Laurence Fishburne (CSI, Matrix movies) is 53. Director Christopher Nolan (Batman movies, Inception) is 44. Soccer player Hope Solo is 32.

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Tampa, FL. -- It may be summer time here in Florida, but that doesn't mean Tampa Bay's National Hockey League franchise hasn't been busy gearing up for the new season. Join us on Wednesday, July 30, at 7:30 p.m., as Sun Sports, the regional television home of the Tampa Bay Lightning, proudly presents the newest edition of "Inside the Lightning."

Read the rest here.

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Christopher Columbus landed at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage on this date in 1502.

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USA Hockey Newsfeed

• Granato, Sullivan to Coach at USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp

• Blue & White Rosters Set for USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp

• FASTHockey to Stream All Games at USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Tony Granato (Downers Grove, Ill.) and Mike Sullivan(Centerville, Mass.) will attend the first four days (Aug. 2-5) of the 2014 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, New York, as camp assistant coaches. The NJEC will convene 42 U.S. players Aug. 2-9 at the Olympic Training Center. In addition to daily practices, the U.S. will play international games against Finland, Sweden and Czech Republic. For detailed camp information, click here. The camp is an audition for positions on the U.S. National Junior Team that will compete at the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2014-Jan. 5, 2015, in Montreal and Toronto, Canada. Granato served as an assistant coach for the 2014 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team in Sochi, Russia. He is entering his first season as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Granato spent the previous five seasons (2009-14) as an assistant for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Granato was with the Colorado Avalanche for six seasons, including nearly three years as head coach (2002-04, 2008-09). He played 13 seasons in the NHL for the New York Rangers (1988-90), Los Angeles Kings (1990-96) and San Jose Sharks (1996-01). Internationally, Granato played for the United States in seven international competitions, including the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, the 1991 Canada Cup, three IIHF Men’s World Championships (1985, 1986, 1987) and two IIHF World Junior Championships (1983, 1984). Sullivan has served as a coach for multiple U.S. National Teams. In 2006, he was an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team in Torino, Italy. For the U.S. Men's National Team, he was the head coach in 2007 and an assistant coach in 2008. At the NHL level, Sullivan was most recently an assistant for the Vancouver Canucks in 2013-14. From 2009-13, he was an assistant for the New York Rangers. Prior to New York, he spent two seasons (2007-09) with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sullivan possesses NHL head coaching experience, having led the Boston Bruins from 2003-06. His first professional coaching job came in 2002-03 when he was head coach of the American Hockey League's Providence Bruins. NOTES: Use the hashtag #NJEC on Twitter to join the conversation surrounding the camp …Mark Osiecki (Burnsville, Minn.) is head coach of the 2015 U.S. National Junior Team. He is currently an assistant coach for the American Hockey League's Rockford IceHogs ... The assistant coaches for Team USA are Don Granato (Downers Grove, Ill./U.S. National Under-18 Team), Kevin Patrick (Schenectady, N.Y./Univ. of Vermont) and Mike Ayers (Hingham, Mass./Boston College) ... Adam Nightingale (Cheboygan, Mich./Shattuck St. Mary's School) is the video coordinator ... 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 sixth consecutive year ... USA Hockey's international council, chaired by Gavin Regan(Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams.

Blue & White Rosters Set for USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey announced today the blue and white team designations for its National Junior Evaluation Camp that will be taking place in Lake Placid, New York, Aug. 2-9. The 42 athletes participating in the camp have been separated into two groups for the first three days of practices and games vs. Finland and Sweden. Blue Roster |White Roster On Aug. 5, Team USA will trim its roster and a single U.S. squad will finish the camp with practices and games against Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden. Team Blue will be coached by Kevin Patrick (Schenectady, N.Y./Univ. of Vermont) and Tony Granato (Downers Grove, Ill./Detroit Red Wings). Team White will be coached by Mike Ayers(Hingham, Mass./Boston College) and Mike Sullivan (Centerville, Mass.). Notes: Of the 42 players invited to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp, 14 competed in the United States Hockey League during the 2013-14 season, including 10 from USA Hockey's National Team Development Program ... Nineteen players competed in the college hockey ranks last season ... Thirteen of the 42 players participated in last year's camp ... The 2015 U.S. National Junior Team will be selected following a pre-tournament camp in December to be held in Boston ... At the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship, the U.S. will compete in a group with Finland, Germany, Slovakia and Canada.

FASTHockey to Stream All Games at USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- USA Hockey, in partnership with FASTHockey, is providing live streaming coverage of the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp. Games are being offered on a pay-per-view basis. FASTHockey uses a unique game-credit system for viewing games, offering discounts to customers who watch multiple games. Users who want to watch one or more games must first sign up for a free account at USAHockey.FASTHockey.com. Users can then buy game credits - a single game ranges from $7.99 (when one game credit is purchased) to $5.99 (when 50 game credits are purchased). Game credits never expire and can be used to watch live games or access on-demand content. ************************************************ The city of Baltimore was founded in Maryland on this date in 1729. ************************************************

Regina, SK. -- In the latest episode of Rider Rewind, host Dan Plaster caught up with veteran Defensive Back Tyron Brackenridge and O Line Jack-of-all-trades, Dan Clark.

Read the rest here.

Next up for 2-2 Saskatchewan is a matchup with the 1-3 Ottawa REDBLACKS next Saturday, August 2nd in Ottawa. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm EDT. Catch all the action with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri on 620 CKRM, the Rider Radio Network and 620ckrm.com. The game can be seen in Canada on TSN and in the U.S. on ESPN3.com.

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On this date in 1619, the first representative assembly in America convened in Jamestown, VA. (House of Burgesses)

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. Irving: Three reasons for the Bombers' early success. Patience the most valuable virtue for Smith. Please visit the league's official website, cfl.ca. ************************************************ "Scientific America" carried the first magazine automobile ad on this date in 1898. The ad was for the Winton Motor Car Company of Cleveland, OH. ************************************************ Tampa, FL. -- Here's a sampling of media reports on the Buccaneers today. Read the rest here. ************************************************ A new study finds that you can cut your risk of cardiovascular disease by running even a few minutes a day. [Does it count if I'm running after the ice cream truck?] ************************************************ St. Petersburg, FL. -- Quality pitching and timely hitting, kind of sounds like the good old days of Rays baseball. Read the rest here. ************************************************ The 40-hour workweek is a distant memory. A new survey found 88% of us work more than 40 hours a week. 7 out of 10 take work home at least once a week. Over half of us would spend more time with family or exercise if we could reclaim an extra 60 minutes a day. Then again, Americans spend 5 hours a day watching TV would we really spend extra time exercising? ************************************************ San Francisco, CA. -- The noise that the AT&T Park crowd delivered after Giants second baseman Dan Uggla struck out in Tuesday night's seventh inning was unusual, but also unmistakable. Read the rest here. ************************************************ An Australian tour guide allegedly drove her group around while drunk. The owner of the tour company has apologized to the eight tourists, who fled for their hotel rooms after the tour bus was pulled over by cops. ************************************************ Let's play (yaaaawwwwn!) some ball! ************************************************ You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as someone not cleaning up their mess, isn't it? ************************************************

Today in Elvis History:

1954 - Elvis Presley made his professional debut in Memphis at the Overton Park Shell. It was his first concert to be advertised. 

1957 - The Elvis Presley movie "Loving You" opened in the U.S. 

2003 - Sam Phillips died at the age of 80. He was the founder of Sun Records and was the first mentor of Elvis Presley.

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On this date in 1937, the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) was organized as a part of the American Federation of Labor.

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Today in Beatles History:

1977 - "The Beatles Live! At The Star-Club In Hamburg, Germany-1962" hit #111 in the U.S. 

2002 - The Yoko Ono single "Open Your Box" was released.

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TV TONIGHT: SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE - The freak storm of man-eating fish returns to wreck havoc, this time on Manhattan. (The original Sharknado was set in Los Angeles). Tara Reid, Ian Ziering, Vivica Fox, and Mark McGrath star in this campy sequel. (9p ET, SyFy)

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Today in Sports History:

1930 - Uruguay won soccer's first World Cup. They beat Argentina 4-2. 

1966 - England's soccer team won the World Cup. 

1968 - Ron Hansen of the Washington Senators made the first unassisted triple play in the major leagues in 41 years. 

1971 - U.S. President Nixon gave the keynote speech at a banquet honoring seven new inductees into the Professional Football Hall of Fame. 

2001 - Former Dallas Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin entered an innocent plea for a felony charge of possession of less than a gram of cocaine. The charges stemmed from Irvin's arrest August 9, 2000. 

2001 - Lance Armstrong became the first American to win three consecutive Tours de France.  

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Maksim Chmerkovskiy says he's hanging up his "Dancing With the Stars" shoes. He said on Tuesday's The View: "I'm done dancing [on] 'Dancing With the Stars'. I feel like it's time."

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Milwaukee Brewers 12:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Pittsburgh Pirates 3:45pm EDT

Thursday --

Nothin' Doin'

Friday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs L.A. Angels of Anaheim 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at New York Mets 7:10pm EDT

Saturday --

CFL Football -- Saskatchewan Roughriders at Ottawa REDBLACKS 7:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs L.A. Angels of Anaheim 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at New York Mets 7:10pm EDT

Nascar Nationwide Series -- U.S. Cellular 250 Presented By New Holland at Iowa Speedway 8:00pm EDT

Sunday --

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Gobowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway 1:00pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at New York Mets 1:10pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs L.A. Angels of Anaheim 1:40pm EDT

Verizon Indycar Series -- Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio 3:00pm EDT

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