Just another day at the beach....
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The Clark Cup playoffs continued last night, with a thrilling, down-to-the-wire contest at the Urban Plains Center in Fargo, North Dakota.
The Force got the home crowd of 4,123 roaring their approval, with goals by Johnnie Searfoss at 3:45 of the first period and Chase Grant's power play goal at 3:33 of the second period, to build a 2-0 lead. Omaha battled back with a Seth Ambroz power play goal at 4:31, to trail 2-1 after 40 minutes.
In the third, Grant's second power play goal, at 12:31, put Fargo up 3-1. The Lancers wouldn't quit though, crawling within one once again, thanks to an unassisted goal by Greg Wolfe, at 14:43. Grant got the hattrick with an empty net goal at 18:44, regaining the Force's two-goal lead at 4-2. Again, Omaha wouldn't roll over and continued to pound away at the Fargo net. With the goaltender off, Erik Haula scored at 19:27, narrowing the deficit to 4-3. The Lancers continued to apply the pressure, storming the Force net in the dying moments. A free-for-all in the goalmouth saw a Fargo defender cover the puck, resulting in Omaha's being awarded a penalty shot with just 4 seconds remaining in regulation time. Wolfe, who scored earlier in the period, missed high and wide and the Force were able to hold on for the 4-3 win.
Besides Chase's 3 goals, Nate Schmidt added 4 assists, while netminder Ryan Massa made several five-star stops amongst his 23 saves for Fargo. For the Lancers, Erik Haula paced the offense with a goal and an assist and Jeff Teglia made 21 saves. The Force were 2-for-7 on the power play, Omaha was 1-for-5.
Fargo now leads the best-of-five Western final 2 games to 1, and can wrap things up with a victory on home ice tonight. Faceoff is set for 8:05pm EDT, with the broadcast available online at http://www.lancers.com.
The Eastern final continues Friday and Saturday, with the defending Clark Cup champion Indiana Ice hosting the two-time running Anderson Cup champion Green Bay Gamblers at the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis. Faceoff each night is set for 7:05pm EDT. If game five is needed in either series, the West final game would be in Omaha on Saturday, April 24th at 8:05pm EDT, with the East final game being in Green Bay on Tuesday, April 27th at 8:05pm EDT.
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After seeing their team-record 7 game road win streak come to an end in Chicago Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Rays rebounded for a resounding 12-0 victory over the White Sox last night.
The Rays scored 1 in the third, 4 in the fourth, 1 in the fifth and 6 in the sixth. The big blow of the night was a Sean Rodriguez 3-run homer in the fifth inning. Jason Bartlett, Evan Longoria and Sean Rodriguez each went 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored, while Rodriguez drove in 4. Juan Pierre singled twice in 4 at bats for Chicago. Wade Davis fanned 6 in 6 innings for Tampa Bay, evening his record at 1-1. Mark Buehrle, who tossed a perfect game last season in his last appearance against the Rays, allowed 6 earned runs in 4.2 innings, dropping to 2-2 on the season for the Pale Hose. Attendance at U.S. Cellular Field was 17,023.
Tampa Bay is now 11-4, 1/2 game behind the Yankess in the A.L. East. Chicago slips to 5-10 and last place, 6 games behind Central leading Minnesota. Rays and the Sox wrap up their three-game set tonight in Chicago at 8:10pm EDT, on 620AM WDAE. Tampa Bay opens a nine-game home stand tomorrow night, with Toronto coming to town for three, with first pitch set for 7:10pm EDT at Tropicana Field.
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Hockey playoff roundup ----
NHL:
Western Conference
Last night --
Vancouver 6, Los Angeles 4. (Series tied 2-2, game 5 in L.A. Friday night at 10:00pm EDT)
Eastern Conference
Washington 8, Montreal 4 (Caps lead 3-1, game 5 Friday night in Montreal at 7:00pm EDT)
Tonight --
Eastern Conference
Philadelphia at New Jersey 7:00pm EDT (Flyers lead 3-1)
Ottawa at Pittsburgh 7:00pm EDT (Penguins lead 3-1)
Western Conference
Chicago at Nashville 8:30pm EDT (Preds lead 2-1)
Colorado at San Jose 10:30pm EDT (Series tied 2-2)
Boston is at Buffalo in the Eastern Conference big play time Friday night at 7:00pm EDT, with the Bruins holding a 3-1 lead.
WHL:
Eastern Conference Finals
Last Night --
Calgary 4, Brandon 3 (Calgary leads 3-1) Game 5 Friday at Calgary, 9:00pm EDT.
Tonight:
Tri-City at Vancouver 10:00pm EDT (Vancouver leads 2-1) Game 5 Friday in Kennewick at 10:05pm EDT
OHL:
Western Conference Finals:
Last Night --
Barrie 4, Mississauga St. Michaels Majors 3 (Barrie wins series 4-1)
Tonight --
Kitchener at Windsor 7:05pm EDT (Barrie leads 3-1) Game 5 Friday at Kitchener (If necessary) at 7:30pm EDT
QMJHL:
Semifinals --
No games tonight
Friday --
Saint John at Victoriaville 7:00pm EDT (Saint John leads 2-1)
Moncton at Drummondville 7:35pm EDT (Moncton leads 3-1)
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The Tampa Bay Storm's next game, on the road against the Milwaukee Iron, has been moved to Sunday at 5:00pm EDT, because of a conflict at the Bradley Center with an NBA playoff game taking place on Saturday.
The Storm are 1-1, losing their season opener at Tulsa 69-58 on April 3rd, then beating Dallas 54-41 in their home opener on April 16th. Next home game is Saturday, May 1st at 7:30pm EDT, against the Arizona Rattlers. Hear all the action on 1250AM WHNZ.
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My wife Kim and I took Jimmy to Clearwater Beach today. As you can see below, we had fun!
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That's it for today. Y'all have fun now, ya hear?!?!
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