It's Saturday

It's Saturday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is April 5th, the 95th day of 2014. There are 272 days left in the year.

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Kings defenseman Doughty could play Saturday.

Henrik Sedin could be back for Canucks on Saturday.

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

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American Indian Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia on this date in 1614.

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Tampa, FL. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning came out with a lousy effort in their first game after clinching a postseason berth.

Read the rest here.

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The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, MA, on a return trip to England on this date in 1621.

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U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team Named U.S. Olympic Committee Team of the Month Farmer a Finalist for International Paralympic Committee Best Male Athlete of March COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team has been named the U.S. Olympic Committee's Team of the Month for March, thanks to its gold-medal performance at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) is one of five nominees for the International Paralympic Committee's Best Male Athlete of March. Public voting is taking place at Paralympic.org through Wednesday (April 9). Farmer shared the Team USA lead in both goals (3) and points (5) at the Paralympics. He tallied two goals and an assist in the 3-0 semifinal win against Canada. In his Paralympic debut, the 16 year old notched a goal and an assist versus Italy. Team USA received "Team of the Paralympic Games" honors at the U.S. Olympic Committee Best of U.S. Awards Show Wednesday (April 2) at Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. The inaugural event honored outstanding U.S. performances from the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The U.S. became the first nation to win back-to-back Paralympic gold medals in sled hockey by defeating Russia, 1-0, in the gold-medal game March 15. Josh Sweeney (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored the game-winning goal and Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) made six saves. Overall, the U.S. posted preliminary round wins over Italy (5-1) and South Korea (3-0), plus a semifinal triumph against Canada (3-0). Team USA avenged its only loss, a 2-1 setback versus Russia in the preliminary round, by topping the host country in the gold medal rematch. Yesterday (Thursday, April 3), Team USA visited the White House to take part in a celebration of 2014 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes, hosted by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

************************************************ U.S. President George Washington cast the first presidential veto on this date in 1792. The measure was for apportioning representatives among the states. ************************************************ Cloquet, MN. – The Wenatchee Wild opened the 2014 Robertson Cup playoffs on the road against the Minnesota Wilderness and got a superb effort up and down the lineup, skating to a 3-0 win at the Northwoods Credit Union Arena, in game one of the best-of-five Midwest Division semifinals. Wenatchee opened the scoring on a rebound goal by David Powlowski (Rochester, New York), assisted by Joseph Kaszupski (Henderson, Nevada) and Chris Jones (Normandy Park, Washington) at 17:36, for a 1-0 Wild lead. Matthew Nuttle (Marilla, New York) picked up a loose puck in close and scored, from Omar Mullan (Dearborn, Michigan) and Brendan Harris (Las Vegas, Nevada) at 13:01 of the second period, for a 2-0 Wenatchee lead. The lead grew three minutes later, as Nicholas Rivera (Pacific Palisades, California), stationed to the left of the goal, pounced on a rebound and fired it home. The assists went to Mike Coyne (Kenmore, New York) and Mullan at 18:15, putting the Wild up by a score of 3-0. Minnesota would outshoot Wenatchee 11-7 in the third period, but the Wild held strong, holding on to the lead and taking the game 3-0. “It was a nice win” said Wenatchee Wild Head Coach Bliss Littler. “It was nice to get out of the blocks with a win tonight. We capitalized on a couple of bounces; they stayed to our game plan. I’m sure we have their attention and we’ll get the Wilderness’ best game tomorrow night. We’re going to have to be prepared.” Wenatchee outshot the Wilderness 30-29. Chase Perry (Andover, Minnesota) made 28 saves to earn the shutout; Kasimir Kaskisuo made 27 saves for Minnesota. The Wild was 0-for-3 on the power play and 1-of-1 on the penalty kill. Wenatchee leads the best-of-five series, 1-0. Game Two is tomorrow (Saturday) night, with game 3 in Cloquet on Sunday. If necessary, the series will shift to Wenatchee for games 4 and 5 on Friday and Saturday, April 11th and 12th. Individual and group game tickets for all home playoff games are on sale now. Call 509.888.PUCK (7825).  ************************************************ Isaac Quintard patented the cider mill on this date in 1806. ************************************************ Barker: 'You've got to have a progression plan'.

Video: Vega Excited To Be Back In Big Blue.

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

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Daniel Bakeman, the last surviving soldier of the U.S. Revolutionary War, died at the age of 109 on this date in 1869.

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Tampa, FL. — On Friday, the Buccaneers sent fifth-year WR Mike Williams to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Read the rest here.

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Firestone Tire and Rubber Company began the first regular production of balloon tires on this date in 1923.

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St. Petersburg, FL. -- A No. 5 who pitched like a No. 1 and a proud papa led the way to an 8-1 Rays win over the Rangers on Friday night at Tropicana Field, as Jake Odorizzi picked up his first victory in the Major Leagues.

Read the rest here.

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The first operation to remove a lung was performed at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO on this date in 1933.

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Los Angeles, CA. -- If this were boxing instead of baseball, the Giants' 8-4 victory Friday over the Los Angeles Dodgers would have generated a split decision.

Read the rest here.

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Winston Churchill resigned as British prime minister on this date in 1955.

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See? There's the parade!

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You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as a another lazy Saturday, isn't it?

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Today in Elvis History

1967 - The Elvis Presley movie "Double Trouble" was released in the U.S.

1972 - Elvis Presley began a 15 date U.S. tour at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, NY.

2005 - Lisa Marie Presley's album "Now What" was released.

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On this date in 1987, FOX Broadcasting Company launched "Married....With Children" and "The Tracey Ullman Show". The two shows were the beginning of the FOX lineup.

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Today in Beatles History:

1962 - In Liverpool, the Beatles performed at the Carvern Club. They wore their black leather outfits for the first half of the performance and then changed into their new suits for the second half of the show.

1967 - Paul McCartney celebrated the 21st birthday of his girlfriend Jane Asher.

2003 - Paul McCartney began the U.K. leg of his "Back In The World Tour". The set included 22 Beatles songs.   

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In Poland on this date in 1989, accords were signed between Solidarity and the government that set free elections for June 1989. The eight-year ban on Solidarity was also set to be lifted.

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Today in Sports History:

1965 - The color of National Football League penalty flags used by officials was changed from white to bright gold.

1967 - Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia 76ers) set an NBA playoff record when he got 41 rebounds in a game.

1970 - Bobby Orr (Boston Bruins) became the first NHL defenseman to win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's top scorer.

1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) became the all-time NBA regular season scoring leader when he broke Wilt Chamberlain's record of 31,419 career points.

1985 - John McEnroe said "any man can beat any woman at any sport, especially tennis."

1987 - Doug Jarvis (Hartford Whalers) completed his 12th NHL season in his 692nd consecutive game. Jarvis retired after playing the first two games of the 1987-88 season setting the iron-man record at 964 games.

1999 - Barry Bonds was walked intentionally for the 270th time of his career. He passed Hank Aaron on the all-time list.

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The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan opened on this date in 1998, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world. It links Shikoku and Honshu. The bridge cost about $3.8 billion.

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers 4:10pm EDT

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Dallas Stars 7:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Texas Rangerss 7:10pm EDT

NAHL Playoff Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild at Minnesota Wilderness 8:05pm EDT

Sunday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Texas Rangerss 1:40pm EDT

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway 3:00pm EDT

NAHL Playoff Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild at Minnesota Wilderness 6:00pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers 8:00pm EDT

Monday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals 8:10pm EDT

Tuesday --

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks 4:35pm EDT

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs 7:30pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals 8:10pm EDT

Wednesday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals 2:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks 10:15pm EDT

Thursday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Philadelphia Flyers 7:30pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks 10:15pm EDT

Friday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds 7:10pm EDT

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Columbus Blue Jackets 7:30pm EDT

Nascar Nationwide Series -- VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway 8:00pm EDT

NAHL Playoff Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild vs Minnesota Wilderness 10:05pm EDT (If necessary)

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies 10:15pm EDT

Saturday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds 1:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks 4:05pm EDT

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Bojangle's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway 6:30pm EDT

NAHL Playoff Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild vs Minnesota Wilderness 10:05pm EDT (If necessary)

Sunday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds 1:10pm EDT

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals 3:00pm EDT (Final game of regular season)

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks 4:05pm EDT

Verizon Indy Car Series -- Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach at Long Beach, California 4:40pm EDT

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