Friday Morning Headlines & Highlights (1-8-21)

Your trip through the sports headlines with Wayne, Bryan, and Jeff goes through UMaine sports, the NHL, the NBA and more, we have it all for you on The Morning Line.

The UMaine men’s hockey team is back on the ice this afternoon at Vermont. The Black Bears are 0-3-1, and coming off a 9-5 loss Monday afternoon at UMass-Lowell. It is a 1pm start today and tomorrow.

The UMaine women’s hockey team is also on the road for their second weekend trip of the year to visit Holy Cross. The Black Bears are 4-4 overall, including a weekend split with the Crusaders in Worcester to open the season. The game starts at 6 tonight, and 6:30 tomorrow night.

The UMaine Men’s basketball team travels to NJIT this weekend for a pair of games against the Highlanders. Both games are at 2pm.

The UMaine women’s basketball team hosts NJIT this weekend, it is the first home weekend of the season for the Black Bears. Both games are at 1pm at the Pit, no fans allowed in the building.

With Zdeno Chara having left Boston for Washington, the Bruins needed a new team captain and yesterday Patrice Bergeron was named the 20th captain in franchise history.

The NHL is allowing teams to sell sponsorships on their helmets, and this week the Bruins unveiled TD Bank will be the sponsor logo as the B’s take the ice.

The Celtics are back on the floor tonight for their 10th game of the season. Boston hosts the Washington Wizards at the Garden. It’s a 7:30 tip time, and a 7pm pregame show. C’s are favored by 5 and a half.

Seattle Mayor said he spoke with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and is optimistic the league will expand and that Seattle will be at the front of the list for a new franchise to replace the Supersonics.

Houston Texans Quarterback Deshaun Watson reportedly offered his input as the franchise searched for a new General Manager before hiring Nick Caserio from the Patriots. But the team apparently did not ask for his opinion or use the list he provided according to reports.

Katie Sowers, one of the NFL's first full-time female assistants and its first openly gay coach, will not return to the San Francisco 49ers next season, been an assistant for 3 seasons working with Wes Welker and the Receivers.