It's Wednesday

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

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Today is October 15th, the 287th day of 2014. There are 78 days left in the year.

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Babcock: Red Wings speed can be a huge asset.

Buffalo Sabres to host 2016 NHL Draft.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Penny Marshall (Laverne & Shirley) is 71. TV chef Emeril Lagasse is 55. TV personality (Trading Spaces) Paige Davis is 45. Dominic West (The Wire, 300) is 45.

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Tampa, FL. -- Last season, Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos awoke from an early-season scoring slumber with a hat trick in game No. 4 against Florida en route to an injury-abbreviated 25 goals for the season.

Read the rest here.

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On this date in 1860, Grace Bedell, 11 years old, wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln. The letter stated that Lincoln would look better if he would grow a beard.

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Wisconsin Takes Over No. 1 Spot in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine College Hockey Poll USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine 2014-15 Women's College Hockey Poll - Regular Season #4 (First-place votes in parentheses) Rank School Last Week's Rank 2014-15 Record Weeks in Top 10 1. University of Wisconsin, 183 (13) 2 6-0-0 4 2. University of Minnesota, 177 (6) 1 3-0-1 4 3. Boston College, 146 3 2-0-1 4 4. Harvard University, 130 4 0-0-0 4 5. Cornell University, 104 5 0-0-0 4 6. Boston University, 102 6 1-1-0 4 7. Clarkson University, 61 9 3-1-0 4 8. University of North Dakota, 53 n/a 3-1-0 3 9. Quinnipiac University, 34 8 2-0-1 2 10. Mercyhurst University, 32 7 3-0-1 4 Others Receiving Votes: University of Minnesota Duluth, 13; Bemidji State University, 7; Northeastern University, 2; St. Lawrence University, 1. Notes: The ECAC leads all women's conferences with four ranked teams, while the Western Collegiate Hockey Association has three and the Hockey East Association has two. College Hockey America has one ... A total of 14 schools received votes in this week's poll ... This season's previous polls can be found here. About the Poll: The 18th 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. Record Numbers Across the U.S. for 2014 IIHF World Girls' Ice Hockey Weekend Celebration Fourth Annual Event Includes U.S. Women's National Team Participation at Select Events Nationwide COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A record 147 locations across the U.S. participated in the fourth annual International Ice Hockey Federation World Girls’ Ice Hockey Weekend this past Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 11-12). “It’s terrific to see our country get behind this initiative like it has,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “Our passionate volunteer base did a tremendous job of helping celebrate this year's event and continues to influence the growth of girls and women’s hockey.” The 147 locations that participated marked the most of any country in the world and also eclipsed the previous U.S. high of 120 sites established last year. Olympians Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho) and Anne Schleper (St. Cloud, Minn.), helped bring national visibility to IIHF World Girls’ Ice Hockey Weekend by skating in practices with the Anaheim Ducks (Knight) and Tampa Bay Lightning (Schleper) and also participating in other event-related activities. In all, 35 states hosted events such as youth hockey clinics, hockey jamborees, Try Hockey for Free opportunities, female-only tournaments, introductory information sessions about the sport and other hockey-themed gatherings with support from teams in the NHL, AHL, NCAA and USHL as well as USA Hockey affiliates and local associations. To view photos and social media posts from the weekend, click here. NOTES: Participation in girls and women’s hockey in the United States has increased by more than 30% in the past decade and now has in excess of 67,000 registered players … Hilary Knight participated in a one-hour Twitter takeover of USA Hockey’s account on Tuesday, Oct. 7 as part of the promotion for IIHF World Girls’ Ice Hockey Weekend. The associated hashtag was trending third overall in the U.S. during the 60-minute session … The IIHF World Girls' Ice Hockey Weekend is an opportunity to celebrate female participation in the sport. The goal of the event is to grow the game through a variety of events that aim to introduce beginners to basic skills in a positive, fun and safe environment; provide more opportunities to play ice hockey; teach fair play, sportsmanship and teamwork; create new friendships; and develop a lifelong love of the sport. More than 340 events took place this past weekend in 32 countries around the world. For more information on the IIHF World Girls' Ice Hockey Weekend, click here.

************************************************* On this date in 1892, the U.S. government announced that the land in the western Montana was open to settlers. The 1.8 million acres were bought from the Crow Indians for 50 cents per acre. ************************************************

Regina, SK. -- "The best players in this situation are the ones that can focus on the job that they have to do, control the things they control and really come out here and compete on Sunday." Luc Mullinder what the Riders need to do to bounce back after Monday's loss to Montreal.

Read the rest here.


Coming up next for the 9-6 Riders is a week 17 home game with the10-5 Edmonton Eskimos on Sunday, October 19th. Game time at Regina's Mosaic Stadium is 4:00pm 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 ESPN2.

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On this date in 1914, the Clayton Antitrust Act was passed by the U.S. Congress.

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. MOP Watch: Week 16 stock analysis. #KegSize Plays of the Week - wk. 16. Please visit the league's official website, cfl.ca. ************************************************ A LINK WE LIKE - Dozens of movies cleverly tied together by a single basketball. ************************************************  Tampa, FL. -- News from around the Bucs' division, where the Saints are coming off their bye week, the Bucs are going into theirs and the Panthers have the weekend's best result despite ending in a tie in Cincinnati. Read the rest here. ************************************************ Today (Wednesday) is Take Your Parents To Lunch Day. ************************************************ Corvallis, OR. -- The Oregon State men’s soccer team has moved up to No. 17 in the NSCAA rankings, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America announced today. The Beavers moved up six spots, after coming in at No. 23 last week. Read the rest here. ************************************************ When they die people can now have their tattoos removed and given to loved ones as a keepsake. [“Thanks, Uncle Jack, but to be honest, I’d rather have the big screen TV.”] ************************************************ San Francisco, CA. -- A postseason game had ended on an error only seven previous times in Major League history. Gregor Blanco's deft bunt, combined with his speed, generated walk-off No. 8 on Tuesday. Read the rest here. ************************************************ Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that he and his wife Priscilla Chan will donate $25 million to fight Ebola. ************************************************ My little man watches baseball. ************************************************ You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as your son's school walk-a-thon isn't it? ************************************************ Today in Elvis History: 1955 - Buddy (Holly) & Bob opened a show for Elvis Presley in Lubbock, TX.  1961 - In Nashville, Elvis Presley recorded the song "Good Luck Charm."  1968 - Elvis Presley recorded the song "Charro!"  1973 - In Memphis, Elvis Presley was admitted to Baptist Memorial Hospital suffering from pneumonia. He stayed for two weeks.  1994 - The Elvis Presley collector's edition album "If Every Day Was Like Christmas" was released. ************************************************ John Hawkley of Napa, California recently set a North American record for biggest pumpkin when he weighed in a whopping 2,058 pound pumpkin at this year’s Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off. ************************************************ Today in Beatles History: 1971 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared on "The Dick Cavett Show" on ABC to promote Lennon's new LP and film ("Imagine"), Yoko's book, two films and a fine arts show.  1997 - Paul McCartney's symphonic poem "Standing Stone" debuted. ************************************************ Hundreds of passengers on a international flight had to share just two toilets because the other toilets were clogged. Flight crew on the Hainan Airlines plane bound for China from Paris announced after taking off that three of its five toilets were clogged. About 200 passengers had no choice but to use only two bathrooms for the next 17 hours. ************************************************ Today in Sports History: 1989 - Wayne Gretzky, while playing for the Los Angeles Kings, surpassed Gordie Howe's NHL scoring record of 1,850 career points.  2001 - The 0-4 Dallas Cowboys and the 0-4 Washington Redskins played on Monday Night Football. It was the only time in the 31-year history of Monday Night Football that two 0-4 teams played. The Cowboys won the game 9-7.  ************************************************ NBC announced Tuesday that Prince and Chris Rock will appear on Saturday Night Live on November 1 as the musical guest and host. ************************************************  Coming Up: Tonight -- MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs St. Louis Cardinals (Game 4 NLCS) 8:00pm EDT Thursday -- MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs St. Louis Cardinals (Game 5 NLCS) 8:00pm EDT (if necessary) College Football -- Oregon State Beavers vs Utah Utes 10:00pm EDT Friday -- Nothin' Doin' Saturday -- MLB -- San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals (Game 6 NLCS) 4:00pm EDT (if necessary) USPHL Empire Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Palm Beach Hawks 5:15pm EDT NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Vancouver Canucks 10:00pm EDT Sunday -- USPHL Empire Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Florida Eels 9:30am EDT USPHL Elite Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Florida Eels 12:15pm EDT Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway 2:00pm EDT CFL Football -- Saskatchewan Roughriders vs Edmonton Eskimos 4:00pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs St. Louis Cardinals (Game 7 NLCS) 7:30pm EDT (if necessary) ************************************************ That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow.