the mad sports man

 The USA put the finishing touches of a 4-0 win over Sweden. Russia is second and Sweden third. The US has shut out their opponents the last three games. Yikes. The quarterfinals has: Canada vs Czech Republic, USA vs Slovakia, Finland vs Sweden and Germany vs Russia. All quarterfinals are on Saturday.

 Canada just beat Finland 4-1 to take group A.  I believe they will play Czech Republic in the quarterfinals on Saturday.  Rest of the quarterfinals will be decided in the USA vs Sweden game.  Update after that game.

 This wasn't in doubt. It was scoreless after one.  The Czechs then ended up winning 7-0.  They will finish 4th in group B and will face either Canada or Finland in the quarterfinals. That game starts at 5pm Prince Albert time.

 Sweden had a streak of 54 straight wins in preliminary round.  Key word is HAD. Because Russia put an end to the streak with a 4-3 win in overtime. They won it with five seconds to go. Sweden last lost on New year's Eve 2006 to the USA in a shootout. Russia is on top of group B with 8 points (they are done their preliminary round), Sweden with 7, USA with 6 and Czech Republic with 3. Tomorrow has Czech Republic vs Austria, Canada vs Finland and Sweden vs USA.  That's it until tomorrow.

 Boy this got close. Germany was up 4-0 after two periods and hung on to win 5-4 over Switzerland.  Switzerland is out (and no relegation this year), and Germany finishes third in group A.  Earlier Finland beat Slovakia 6-0. Slovakia finishes fourth and Finland plays Canada tomorrow to decide group A.  I will do a group B update after the Russia vs Sweden game, considering that is the only group B game.

 Russia just beat Austria 7-1.  Earlier in group B, the U.S beat the Czech Republic 7-0.  Sweden still leads with six points in two games. Russia and the United States each have six points in three games. Russia takes second due to beating the United States already. Tomorrow has Finland vs Slovakia, Switzerland vs Germany and Russia vs Sweden. Quarter final spots up for grabs.

 This wasn't much of a game.  It was close after the first, but Canada ended up beating Switzerland 10-0.  They lead group A with 9 points.  Group B I will update after the Austria vs Russia game.

 Quite the night cap to finish.  Germany beat Slovakia in overtime 4-3.  I think they also got most of their lineup back.  Canada and Finland still lead group A with 6 pts, Slovakia with 4 after the OT loss, Germany now has two and Switzerland with none.  Earlier Sweden beat Austria 4-0. They now have six pts, the U.S, Russia and Czech Republic have three and Austria with none.  Tomorrow has USA vs Czech Republic, Canada vs Switzerland and Sweden vs Russia.

 Christine Sinclair has won the Bobbie Rosenfeld award as CP female athlete of the year.  I think great choice. Broke the record for most international goals at 185.  Has had an outstanding career not only for Canada, but for womens soccer in general.

 This one had the Czech Republic beat Russia 2-0. Wow.  The Czechs, Russia and the United States sit at a win and a loss and 3 points, Sweden has 3 points and a win.  Austria has one loss.  Tomorrow has Austria vs Sweden and Slovakia vs Germany.  That's it for tonight.

 Canada hung on to beat Slovakia 3-1 to go to two wins in two games.  The Slovakia goalie stood on his head tonight.  Canada and Finland each have 6 points. Finland beat Switzerland 4-1. Earlier.  Czech Republic vs Russia in an hour in the only group B game.  Stay tuned.

 The U.S just blew Austria out 11-0 to even their record at a win and a loss and 3 points.  First game of the day had Sweden beat Czech Republic 7-1. They are tied with Russia with three points (one less loss than the u.s.). Czech Republic and Austria with nothing.  Tomorrow has Switzerland vs Finland, Canada vs Slovakia and Russia vs Czech Republic.  Until then, cheers.

 Wow this was a blitz alright.  Game just ended and Canada blew out Germany 16-2. (You read that right). Canada, Finland and Slovakia sit atop group A with three points each. Switzerland has one loss and Germany now has two losses. Not sure if Germany had a full lineup or not.  I will do a group B update after the U.S vs Austria game.

 First night of the World Juniors is finished.  Group A had Finland beat an undermanned Germany 5-3 while Slovakia beat Switzerland 1-0.  Finland and Slovakia each have three points.  One game in group B and it ended not that long ago. Russia hung on to beat the United States 5-3. The Russians had a 4-1 lead going into the 3rd period.  Tomorrow Canada plays their first game against Germany in the lone group A game. 5pm start Prince Albert time.  Group B games has the Czech Republic vs Sweden and Austria vs the United States.

 First Saints player is Alvin Kamara as he tied an NFL record for most touchdowns with 6, tying Gale Sayers.  Second Saints player is Drew Brees as he has now throw for 80,000+ yards on his career.  I think that is the highest ever.  I may be wrong on this.  Saints beat the Vikings 52-33.

 What a great Christmas Eve.  Went to Dad's and step moms place for Christmas dinner. Open presents with the rest of the family over zoom chat which was neat.  Also got to chat with my sister on the phone. A great Christmas Eve.  Gonna chill quietly tomorrow.

 Merry Christmas to all here.  I hope it's good.  Stay safe out there, no need to get sick with this pandemic. Cheers.🎄🎅🤶🎀🎁

 In their only pre tournament game, Canada beat Russia 1-0 in a very good one.  Canada opens the World Juniors Saturday against Germany at 5pm Prince Albert time.  Should be a fun tournament.

 The NHL schedule is out. Loads of back to back games with each team within their own division. Makes sense considering one doesn't want the covid 19 virus getting around.  The Canadian division will play each other 9 or 10 times. The other three divisions will face each other 8 times. With the world juniors starting in a couple of days, it's nice to have hockey back.

 At 4:02 am today, the winter solstice has arrived. Today marks the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight hours, meaning we now start getting more daylight. Although winter already made an appearance with a big dump of snow last month and has gotten cold a couple of times. Christmas day is in four days.

 The NHL and NHLPA have tentatively agreed to play a 56 game season, scheduled to start January 13.  Both the owners and players have to vote on this.  I think they will.  Teams will likely be playing within their division only.  What the schedule will look like and how and where the games be played still needs to be figured out.

 A little throw back Thursday for you. The first Olympic champion at the first winter Olympics in 1924 in Chamonix is Charles Jewtraw of the United States.  He won the first winter Olympics gold in the 500m speedskating event.  He won with a time of 44.0 seconds. Silver went out Oskar Olsen of Norway with a time of 44.2 seconds. The bronze went to Roald Larsen of Norway AND Clas Thunberg of Finland. They both got the time of 44.8 seconds. So there you go.

 ....you decide to go outside to take a couple of pictures of the street (one from the North and South) without a jacket on and it's -17c out. Probably not the best idea but I did it. Now I have to figure out how to post pics on this site from my phone.

 Been up in the living room playing some Christmas tunes and a Dave and Morley story tonight.  Got the lights on the tree glowing as well.  Pretty neat evening.  Time for another Dave and Morley story.

 Went out to shovel, and didn't last because there wasn't much to shovel.  It's -23c out.  I'm sure we're about to pay for the nice weather we had.  There's a real good chance of a white Christmas assuming the cold stays long enough.  Ahhh yes ahhh yes.

 It sure has been nice the last week and a half.  The cool off is coming. -5c tomorrow and -6c Saturday.  Sunday will really get chilly with -15c for a high and I think -17c Monday and Tuesday. It was bound to come back at some point. Joys of living in Canada.

 Alphonso Davies, Canada's top soccer player playing for Bayern Munich and super bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif are co-winners of the Lou Marsh trophy. Wow this is great. They each got 18 votes.  Last tie was in 1983 when Wayne Gretzky and i forget who. Congrats.

 Oh boy a busy Sunday. Started by painting the kitchen walls, which took three and a half hours. Cleaned the paint brush, two rollers and the tray, which was about 5-10 minutes.  Also tallied up the NFL early games.  Just got out of the shower.  Now I chill.

 On this day in 1909, the Toronto Varsity Blues beat the Toronto Parkdales 26-6 in the first Grey Cup game.  There had been Dominion Championship games since 1884, but this was the first to award a trophy.  It was the Varsity Blues third championship and fifth appearance, while it was Parkdale's first appearance.