It's Wednesday

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

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Today is April 9th, the 99th day of 2014. There are 266 days left in the year.

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Top pick MacKinnon of Avalanche deserves Calder.

Five Questions: Devils' Jagr has drive to keep playing.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner is 88; Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, Flight of the Phoenix, Smart People) is 60; Kristen Stewart (Twilight) is 24.

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Tampa, FL. -- It was a bitter sweet victory as the Tampa Bay Lightning rebounded from back-to-back losses to shutout the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0, but almost netminder Ben Bishop to an upper body injury in the process.

Read the rest here.

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Researchers are studying a 1,700 year old mummy found with a brain but no heart. [Probably an ancestor of Rush Limbaugh/Donald Trump.]

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The NAHL's Midwest Division semifinal series, led by the Wild 2 games to 1, will shift to Wenatchee for games 4 and 5 (If necessary) on Friday and Saturday, April 11th and 12th with game time set for 7:05pm PDT both nights. Individual and group game tickets for all home playoff games are on sale now. Call 509.888.PUCK (7825). WILD 2.0 UPGRADE ************************************************ Peterborough, NH, opened the first municipally supported public library in the United States on this date in 1833. ************************************************ Champions Crowned at 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships Youth, Girls, High School, Junior and Women's winners emerge COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A total of 21 national champions were crowned across the country Sunday (April 6) at the 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Youth, Girls and Women's National Championships, while on Monday (April 7) the Boston Junior Bruins claimed the Junior Tier III national championship. Title game results are below for all completed levels. Click on the scores for video highlights. Still to come, the national sled hockey championship will be decided Sunday (April 13) and the adult nationals will be contested later this month. Already completed, the High School Varsity national championship went to Bethel Park (Pa.) on March 30. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Youth Tier I National Championship | Green Bay, Wis. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 14U Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.) Chicago Mission 4-2 Note: With the win, SSM earned its first-ever 14U title and avenged a loss in last year’s final. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 16U Team Wisconsin Colorado Thunderbirds 2-1 (4 OT) Note: First 16U champion from Wisconsin since the classification’s inception in 2003; first Wisconsin team to win a Tier I youth national championship at any classification since Team Wisconsin won the 17U title in 2002. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 18U Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.) Victory Honda (Mich.) 4-2 Note: Third 18U national championship in four years for SSM. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Girls Tier I National Championship | Marlborough, Mass. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 14U Assabet Valley (Mass.) East Coast Wizards (Mass.) 2-1 Note: Second title in three years for Assabet; third straight runner-up finish for East Coast Wizards. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 16U Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.) Mid-Fairfield (Conn.) 3-0 Note: Second straight 16U title for SSM. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 19U Assabet Valley (Mass.) Shattuck-St. Mary's (Minn.) 2-0 Note: Either Assabet Valley or SSM has won the last six Tier I 19U girls titles. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Youth Tier II 14U National Championship | Hackensack, N.J. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 14U 1A Montana Thunderblades Team South Dakota 2-1 Note: The second-ever youth national championship for a Montana-based team; first was in 2010 (Tier II 16U 2A – Montana Thunderblades). Level Champion Runner-Up Score 14U 2A Chesterfield Falcons (Mo.) New Canaan Winter Club (Ct.) 4-2 Note: Chesterfield finished its regular-season CSDHL schedule in second place, but hit on all cylinders to win at the 2014 nationals. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 14U 3A USA Eagles (Mich.) Miami Toros (Fla.) 3-1 Note: First-ever Tier II 14U 3A national championship for USA Eagles. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Youth Tier II 16U National Championship | Reston, Va. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 16U 1A Team South Dakota Delaware Ducks 7-1 Note: Second Tier II 16U 1A national championship in three seasons for Team South Dakota. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 16U 2A East Coast Eagles (N.C.) Union Knights (Az.) 3-2 Note: Second-straight Tier II 16U title for a North Carolina-based team (Greensboro Stars, 2013, Tier II 16U 1A). Level Champion Runner-Up Score 16U 3A Oakland Jr. Grizzlies (Mich.) Massena/St. Lawrence (N.Y.) 3-2 Note: First Michigan-based Tier II 16U 3A champion since Summit Plastics won in 2011. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Youth Tier II 18U National Championship | Reston, Va. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 18U 1A Knoxville Ice Bears (Tenn.) Idaho Jr. Steelheads 5-1 Note: Second-ever national championship for a Tennessee-based team. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 18U 2A Affton Americans (Mo.) New Jersey Ice Vault Bandits 2-1 Note: Second-straight year with a Tier II national championship for an Affton-based team; Affton won an 18U 3A title last year. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 18U 3A Mid-State Mustangs (Pa.) Delaware Ducks 6-1 Note: Eighth national championship for a Pennsylvania-based team in youth nationals history. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Girls Tier II National Championship | Amherst, N.Y. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 14U Assabet Valley (Mass.) New Jersey Titans 5-1 Note: Assabet Valley programs competed in three of the six girls’ national championship games in 2014. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 16U Charles River (Mass.) Marquette Sentinels (Mich.) 2-1 Note: Massachusetts-based programs won five of the six girls’ national championships in 2014. Level Champion Runner-Up Score 19U Cape Cod Storm (Mass.) Keweenaw Storm (Mich.) 2-1 Note: Cape Cod emerged in the only national-championship battle of two teams with “Storm” nicknames. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Junior Tier III National Championship | Simsbury, Conn. Level Champion Runner-Up Score Tier III Boston Jr. Bruins (Mass.) North Iowa Bulls 4-1 Note: Second junior national title for Boston Junior Bruins in four years; the program produced a Junior B national championship in 2011. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey Women’s A, B & C National Championship | Marlborough, Mass. Level Champion Runner-Up Score Senior A Minnesota Blue J's Team Connecticut 3-0 Note: Second-straight Women’s Senior A national championship for the Minnesota Blue J’s, and their fourth in the last six seasons. Level Champion Runner-Up Score Senior B Gulf Coast Seagals (Fla.) Victory Honda (Mich.) 3-2 Note: First-ever Women’s Senior B national title for a Florida-based team. Level Champion Runner-Up Score Senior C Tri-City Selects (N.C.) Chicago Sharks 4-1 Note: First-ever Women’s Senior C national title for a North Carolina-based team. 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey High School Varsity National Championship | Omaha, Neb. (March 30) Level Champion Runner-Up Score Varsity Bethel Park (Pa.) Providence Catholic (Ill.) 2-1 ************************************************ The Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada on this date in 1869. ************************************************ Report: Roughriders to extend GM Taman.

CFL.ca Power Rankings: Stamps top off-season list.

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

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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was at a marketing conference Tuesday and revealed that she's "thinking about" running for president in 2016.

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Tampa, FL. — Lovie Smith finally got to move into his new home over the weekend, long after the billboards welcoming the Buccaneers' coach were erected along Tampa's congested roads, back when the other professional ballplayers in town were reporting for spring training.

Read the rest here.

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A Texas woman contacted police about her dissatisfaction with a product she recently purchased. Why not take it back to the store and complain to management? Because what she bought didn't come from a store. The woman complained to police that a drug dealer sold her a bad batch of marijuana that did not pack much of a punch. She's been arrested.

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Kansas City, MO. -- One run decided Tuesday night's Rays-Royals contest; there could be no other way.

Read the rest here.

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Mae West made her debut on Broadway on this date in 1928 in the production of "Diamond Lil."

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San Francisco, CA. -- The Giants' offense gained some legitimacy Tuesday.

Read the rest here.

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HBO has renewed Game of Thrones for a fifth and sixth season.

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Jimmy and Flipper enjoy the parade.

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You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as dodging raindrops, isn't it?

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Today in Elvis History

1953 - Elvis Presley entered the annual Minstral Show at Humes High School.

1962 - In Hawaii, filming began on the Elvis Presley movie "Girls! Girls! Girls!"

1968 - The Elvis Presley album "Loving You" was certified gold by the RIAA.

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On this date in 1950, Bob Hope made his first television appearance on "Star-Spangled Review" on NBC-TV.

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Today in Beatles History:

1964 - Capitol Records won the rights to distribute the Beatles' recordings in the U.S. from VeeJay.

1970 - Paul McCartney announced the official split of the Beatles.

1973 - Paul McCartney released the song "My Love." It was his second #1 hit.

2002 - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft appeared on David Letterman's "Late Show." He played part of the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" on piano. Ashcroft said it was his tribute to Paul McCartney, who "is turning 60 this year" just like him. 
  
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NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts on this date in 1959.

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Today in Sports History:

1912 - The first exhibition baseball game was held at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was between Red Sox and Harvard.

1913 - The Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field opened.

1941 - The PGA established the Golf Hall of Fame.

1945 - National Football League officials decreed that it was mandatory for football players to wear socks in all league games.

1959 - The Boston Celtics won the first of eight consecutive NBA championships.

1965 - The Houston Astrodome held its first baseball game.

1987 - Wayne Gretzky passed Jean Beliveau as the all-time hockey playoff scoring leader.

2002 - Saku Koivu returned to the Montreal Canadiens after a seven-month battle with cancer. The win against the New Jersey Devils clinched Montreal's first postseason position since the 1997-98 season.

2002 - The New Jersey Nets won their first divisional title since joining the NBA in 1976.

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"TIME" magazine featured a cover with the entire "Peanuts" comic gang on this date in 1965.

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

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 

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!