Monday Morning Meissnervations

It's Monday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is April 11th, the 101st day of 2011. There are 264 days left in the year.

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Despite loss, Hawks nab final playoff spot.

Lemaire steps down after Devils beat Bruins.

Second period sparks Pens to win at Atlanta.

Avs end season with win over Oilers.

Wild eliminate Stars.

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Todays Birthdays: Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy, is 83; actor Meshach Taylor (Anthony on Designing Women) is 64; model/actor Lucky Vanous (Diet Coke) is 50; actress Jennifer Esposito (Crash) is 38; singer Joss Stone is 24.


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Force's Brodzinski commits to St. Cloud State.

Black Hawks sail into playoffs, top Fighting Saints.

Phantoms eliminated despite win.

Lumberjacks cap season with loss to Indiana.

McKay delivers shutout in Gamblers' finale.

Stampede fall short in regular season finale.

Tri-City falls in final regular season game.

Apple Valley's Fasching leaving for USNTDP.

Force host Lincoln in First round playoff series.

RoughRiders rally for win to close great regular season.

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 A YouTube video of a Texas police officer using pepper spray on a baby squirrel has sparked outrage... but we're not sure why. Kids from Kimbrough Middle School in Mesquite, Texas, are heard on the student-recorded clip telling the uniformed officer to stop spraying the tiny animal. The squirrel had apparently chased students around the school grounds Wednesday afternoon. A Mesquite PD spokesman said the animal was suspected of having rabies and had tried several times to scare the squirrel away from the students. The officer then used pepper spray to protect the children.

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U.S. Women's National Team Roster Set
Team USA Will Look for World Championship Three-Peat in Zurich, Switzerland

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Hockey today announced the 21 players who make up its U.S. Women's National Team for the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship, which runs from April 16-25 in Zurich and Winterthur, Switzerland. Team USA will be looking to defend its back-to-back world titles from 2008 and 2009.

The U.S. squad was chosen following a 30-player selection camp that took place in Ann Arbor, Mich., starting on April 4, and included a pair of games against Canada's National Women's Team. The U.S. will continue to train in Ann Arbor until departing on Tuesday (April 12) for Switzerland.

"We had some extremely difficult decisions to make after a great week of training and competition in Ann Arbor," said Reagan Carey, director of women's hockey for USA Hockey. "During our winter training camp, we challenged the players to find ways to improve, and now we've been able to see the results of them embracing that challenge. Our staff and players are raising the bar of expectations for this program and their determination is evident across the board. We're confident that the team continuing on to Zurich will well-represent our standard of excellence."

"We're excited about this group," said Katey Stone, head coach for Team USA and also the head women's ice hockey coach at Harvard University. "It has a bittle bit of everything - experience, youth and players with a lot of fire. I'm anxious to see what we're capable of at the world championship."

The American roster is made up of three goaltenders, six defensemen and 12 forwards. There are a total of 15 Olympians on the squad, including four-timers Jenny Potter (Edina, Minn.) and Angela Ruggiero (Simi Valley, Calif.), who are among a total of 14 who earned the world title with Team USA in 2009.

Fifteen return from the U.S. Women's National Team that competed in the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup last November, while two forwards - Jen Schoullis (Erie, Pa.) and Kelley Steadman (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) - are making their National Team debuts at the senior level. An additional five players will be playing in their first IIHF World Women's Championship, including goaltender Brianne McLaughlin (Sheffield Village, Ohio), defensemen Josephine Pucci (Pearl River, N.Y.) and Anne Schleper (St. Cloud, Minn.), and forwards Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.) and Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.).

Further, 11 members of Team USA played NCAA Division I women's ice hockey during the 2010-11 season, while eight played in either the Canadian Women's Hockey League or the Western Women's Hockey League and one played in prep school. Of the 11 NCAA players, eight participated in the 2011 NCAA tournament, with five advancing to the Women's Frozen Four and three capturing the national title as part of the University of Wisconsin team.

Roster Highlights

15 Olympians
14 World Champions
4 World U18 Champions
14 players from the 2009 World Women's Championship (gold)
15 players from the 2010 Four Nations Cup (second place)
8 Canadian Women's Hockey Leage/Western Women's Hockey League players
11 NCAA Division I players
1 prep school player
At the last IIHF World Women's Championship, which took place in Hameenlinna, Finland, in 2009, the U.S. defeated Canada, 4-1, in the gold-medal game to earn its second straight world title. Top-seeded Team USA opens play in Zurich against Slovakia on April 17.

NOTES: Click here for the full roster ... The preliminary roster was reduced by six skaters and three defensemen to form the 21-player U.S. Women's National Team ... The U.S. Women's National Team training camp is taking place at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, home to USA Hockey's National Team Development Program ... The U.S. and Canada split the two-game pre-world championship series, with Canada winning the first game, 3-1, on Thursday (April 7), and the U.S. garnering a 4-1 victory last night (April 8) ... Members of the U.S. Women's National Team range in age from 18-32. Kendall Coyne is the youngest player, while Jenny Potter is the oldest ... All 21 players have skated in at least one international event for Team USA. The only two who have not competed in either an Olympics, World Championship or World U18 Championship are Josephine Pucci, who skated in the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup, and Jen Schoullis, who played in the 2010 Under-22 Series ... The U.S. has captured three gold medals (2005, 2008, 2009) and nine silvers (1990, 1992, 1994,1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007) in the 12 previous IIHF World Women’s Championships ... Joining Katey Stone as assistant coaches are Mark Hudak, head women's ice hockey coach at Dartmouth College, and Hilary Witt, assistant women's ice hockey coach at Northeastern University. Stone, Hudak and Witt were all behind the bench for the U.S. at the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup. In addition, Robb Stauber is serving as the goalie coach ... Follow @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates during all international events ... Follow the U.S. Women's National Program blog here.

Team USA 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship Schedule
April 16-25 • Zurich & Winterthur, Switzerland

Date Opponent Location Time (Local/EDT)
Thu., April 7 Canada* Ann Arbor Ice Cube L, 1-3
Fri., April 8 Canada* Ann Arbor Ice Cube W, 4-1
Sun., April 17 Slovakia Hallenstadion 12 p.m./6 a.m.
Mon., April 18 Russia Hallenstadion 4 p.m./10 a.m.
Wed., April 20 Sweden Deutweg Rink 8 p.m./2 p.m.
Fri., April 22 Quarterfinals Hallenstadion TBA
Sat., April 23 Semifinal #1 Hallenstadion 4 p.m./10 a.m.
Semifinal #2 Hallenstadion 8 p.m./2 p.m.
Mon., April 25 Bronze-Medal Game Hallenstadion 4 p.m./10 a.m.
Gold-Medal Game Hallenstadion 8 p.m./2 p.m.
*Pre-world championship game in Ann Arbor, Mich.

U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team Fall to Canada, 2-1, in Tune-up
Prior to 2011 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championsip

Grimaldi Nets Lone U.S. Goal

DRESDEN, Germany – Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.) netted Team USA's lone goal as the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team fell to Canada, 2-1, in its first of two pre-tournament games leading up to the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men's Under-18 Championship, which runs from April 14-24, in Crimmitschau and Dresden, Germany.

Canada opened the scoring just 39 seconds into the second period, but Team USA responded when Seth Jones (Plano, Texas) connected with Grimaldi for the score.

The U.S. sent seven shots on Canadian goaltender Malcom Subban in the third stanza but were unable to solve the netminder. Canada potted the evenutal game-winner at 4:16 to claim the victory.

Gibson made 31 saves on the night for Team USA in the loss, while Subban stopped 25 shots for Canada in the win.

The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team will meet Finland in Dresden Monday at 7 p.m. (1:30 p.m. EDT) in its final tune-up for the 2011 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship.

NOTES: For the complete U.S. roster, click here ... The U.S. enters the tournament having captured a record seven consecutive medals, including back-to-back gold medals in 2005-06 and 2009-10, two silver medals (2004, 2007) and one bronze medal (2008). Team USA’s five gold medals are the most of any country in IIHF World Men’s Under-18 Championship history since the inception of the tournament in 1999. Team USA earned its first gold medal in 2002 ... For live scoring updates, follow @USAHockeyScores and #U18WORLDS on TwitterBeginning with the preliminary round, all of the U.S. games will be streamed live on USAHockey.FASTHockey.com ... More information about the 2011 IIHF World Men's U18 Championship can be found here ... For additional coverage, visit USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Facebook page ... The U.S. National Under-17 and Under-18 Teams train with The Hockey IntelliGym, a revolutionary new software program released on October 1, 2010 that trains hockey sense. To learn more, visit USAHockeyIntelliGym.com.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

CAN 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
USA 0 - 1 - 0 - 1

First Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: CAN, Locke (cross-checking), 2:38; USA, Jones (slashing), 6:22; USA, Paliotta (cross-checking), 7:46; CAN, Catenacci (charging), 9:40; USA, Pietila (hooking), 15:10.

Second Period - Scoring: 1, CAN, Ritchie (Scheifele), 0:39; 2, USA, Grimaldi (Jones), 7:03, (pp). Penalties: CAN, Smith (interference), 1:50; CAN, Catenacci (slashing), 6:18; CAN, Andrews (roughing), 8:02; CAN, Ritchie (roughing), 8:02; USA, Trouba (roughing), 8:02; USA, Boucher (slashing), 10:08; CAN, Koekkoek (tripping), 13:22.

Third Period - Scoring: 3, CAN, Catenacci (Rielly, Ritchie), 4:16, (pp). Penalties: CAN, Scheifele (cross-checking), 0:40; USA, Reid (hooking), 3:42; USA, Larraza (interference), 4:43; USA, Samuelsson (delay-of-game), 9:56; CAN, Bench (too-many-men), 10:56.

Shots by Period
1 2 3 Total
CAN 8 13 11 33
USA 10 9 7 26

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
CAN, Subban, 60:00 10/10 9/8 7/7 26/25
USA, Gibson, 58:20 8/8 13/12 11/10 33/31

Power Play: CAN 1-7; USA 1-8
Penalties: CAN 9-18; USA 8-16

Team USA 2011 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship Schedule
April 14-24 • Crimmitschau, Germany

Date Opponent Time (Local/EDT) Live Webcast
Sat., April 9 Canada (exhibition)* L, 1-2
Mon., April 11 Finland (exhibition)* 7:30 p.m./1:30 p.m.
Thu., April 14 Switzerland 7:30 p.m./1:30 p.m. FASTHockey.com
Fri., April 15 Slovakia 3:30 p.m./9:30 a.m. FASTHockey.com
Sun., April 17 Russia 7:30 p.m./1:30 p.m. FASTHockey.com
Tue., April 19 Germany 7:30 p.m./1:30 p.m. FASTHockey.com
Thu., April 21 Quarterfinals TBD
Sat., April 23 Semifinals TBD
Sun., April 24 Bronze-Medal Game 2:30 p.m./8:30 a.m.
Gold-Medal Game 6:30 p.m./12:30 p.m.
*Exhibition games will be played in Dresden, Germany

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In Des Moines over the weekend nearly 700 Drake University students joined in an effort to break the Guinness World Record for largest custard pie fight Saturday morning. The record required more than 671 participants. 


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Bombers Smith working on his craft.

2011 CFL Schedule is here.

Donate to the Tony Proudfoot Fund.

Visit the leagues' official website, http://www.cfl.ca/.

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Cheeseburger Happy Meal, Jimmy's favorite.


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Some retailers are charging customers for trying on clothes. The stores are tired of people coming in, trying on clothes and shoes, and then leaving and buying the stuff online.Customers at some ski shops are being hit with a $50 "fitting fee" to try on ski boots. The charge is refunded if they buy a pair of ski boots in-store.

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Today in Elvis History:

1956 - Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel" hit #1. It was his first #1 single.

1959 - The album "Elvis," a 14-track expansion of the compilation album "For LP Fans Only" was released in the U.K.

1962 - The Elvis Presley movie "Follow That Dream" opened in Oscala, FL.

1964 - Elvis Presley's single "Viva Las Vegas" hit #17 in the U.K.

1965 - Elvis Presley began pre-production work on "Frankie and Johnny."

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One man used a peculiar weapon during a fight with his girlfriend in Flint, Michigan, last week. The woman threw him out of their apartment, so the guy picked up a bike and threw it at her. Yes, he was drunk.


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CHICAGO -- Sunday afternoon brought more losing and little offense for the Rays.

Chicago took a 6-1 win over Tampa Bay with 23,436 looking on at U.S. Cellular Field. In doing so, the White Sox won three of four games in the series, while the Rays moved to 1-8 on the season.

Read the rest here.

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The family film Hop had a lot of new competition at the movieplex over the weekend -- and held them all off. Hop stayed at No. 1 and made $21.7 million Friday-Sunday. Russell Brand's Arthur remake debuted in second with $12.6 million.

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SAN FRANCISCO --  In keeping with the spirit of their first home series, the San Francisco Giants got runners in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings Sunday. None of them were able to score, though, allowing the St. Louis Cardinals to salvage a game of the series with a 6-1 victory.

Read the rest here.

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Disney is rumored to have already begun work on a third film in the Tron film series.

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Today in Beatles History:

1964 - The Beatles singles "You Can't Do That" and "There's a Place" were #48 and #74 positions on the singles chart.

1970 - Paul McCartney announced a "temporary break with the Beatles." He cited "personal differences" and adding that he will no longer record with John Lennon.

1970 - Paul McCartney's first solo album "McCartney" was released.

1991 - Ringo Starr was a guest on Fox TV's "The Simpsons."

1997 - Paul McCartney performed a 20-minute concert on a London rooftop.
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Today is Barbershop Quartet Day.

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Today in Sports History:

1921 - The first live sports event on radio took place this day on KDKA Radio. The event was a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee.

1940 - Andrew Ponzi set a world's record in a New York pocket billiards tournament when he ran 127 balls straight.

1947 - Jackie Robinson became the first black player in major league baseball history. He played in an exhibition game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1999 - Spain's José María Olazábal won the 63rd Master golf tournament.

2001 - In Johannesburg, South Africa, 43 people died during a stampede at a soccer match at Ellis Park stadium. Another 160 were injured.

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This is International "Louie, Louie" Day.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- After sweeping to the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy, Will Power was emphatic that this was a race he wanted to win ... badly.

Power, who also started on the pole in the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series race on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park course, finished three positions behind Team Penske teammate and race winner Helio Castroneves last April. It cost him points in the championship race over the course of the 17-event season, and he believed he let the victory slip away.

Read the rest here.

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Today is National Pet Day. (Linky Link)

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Coming Up: 

Tonight --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 10:15pm EDT

Tuesday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 10:15pm EDT

Wednesday --

NHL Playoff Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins 7:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 10:15pm EDT

Thursday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Minnesota Twins 6:40pm EDT

Friday --

NHL Playoff Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins 7:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Minnesota Twins 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 9:40pm EDT

Saturday --

Nascar Nationwide Series -- Aaron's 312 at Talledega 3:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Minnesota Twins 4:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 8:10pm EDT

Sunday --

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Aaron's 499 at Talledega 1:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Minnesota Twins 1:40pm EDT

Indy Car -- Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 3:30pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 4:10pm EDT

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