Monday Morning Meissnervations

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

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Today is April 6th, the 96th day of 2015. There are 269 days left in the year.

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Referee Devorski calls it quits after 26-year career.

Islanders closing Coliseum chasing one more Cup.

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

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Today's Birthdays: John Ratzenberger (Cliff on Cheers) is 68. Marilu Henner (Celebrity Apprentice, Taxi, Evening Shade) is 63. Paul Rudd (Knocked Up, this summer’s Ant-Man) is 46. Zach Braff (Wish I Was Here, Scrubs) is 40.

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Sunrise, FL. -- Forward Steven Stamkos ended his scoring drought Saturday and helped the Tampa Bay Lightning clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Read the rest here.

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The White House Easter Egg Roll takes place today. • Link

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U.S. Women's National Team Defeats Russia, 13-1, Advancing to Gold-Medal Game of 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship

Brianna Decker and Monique Lamoureux Notch Four Points Each

MALMO, Sweden – The U.S. Women's National Team defeated Russia, 13-1, here today and will play Canada in tomorrow's gold-medal game at the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship. Puck drop is at 10 a.m. ET. The U.S. fell behind, 1-0, just 44 seconds into the game but responded in force. Ten players had multiple-point games and 16 players overall had at least one point in the game.  Brianna Decker(Dousman, Wis.) and Monique Lamoureux (Grand Fork, N.D.) had four-point games, 3-1 and 1-3 respectively. "We moved the puck extremely well today, created a lot of chances and converted,"said Ken Klee, head coach of the 2015 U.S. Women's National Team. "We'll look to carry that momentum over into tomorrow and just continue to play our game. We look forward to playing for the gold medal." For complete recap and box score, click here. NOTES: Brianna Decker was named U.S. Player of the Game ... The U.S. outshot Russia 50-8 ... The U.S. is now undefeated in four games and has outscored its opponents 30-6. The U.S., the defending world champion, has played Canada in the gold medal game in all 15 of the previous events, capturing the event’s top prize a total of five times (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013), including four of the last five tournaments and five of the last seven. U.S. Women's National Team Wins Sixth World Championship 14 Different U.S. Players Tally Points in 7-5 Victory Over Canada MALMO, Sweden—The U.S. Women’s National Team claimed their fifth International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship in six years with a 7-5 victory over rival Canada today. Team USA led 4-1 going into the second period but Canada made a comeback in the second, tying the game at five. In a hard-fought final frame, Team USA prevailed, notching two goals for the win. “I'm really proud of our team, they battled hard through some adversity and competed until the very end,” said Ken Klee, head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team. "It was an exciting game for the fans and extremely fun to be apart of.” The U.S. struck under three minutes into the first period when Annie Pankowski (Laguna Hills, Calif.) went to the net and wrangled the rebound from a Stephanie Anderson (North St. Paul, Minn.) shot, wristing the puck past Canada’s Ann-Renee Desbiens for the 1-0 lead. While on the power play 3:47 later, Monique Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) fed Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho), waiting in the slot, for a one-timer and the 2-0 lead. Again on the power play, Team USA cashed in when Megan Keller (Farmington, Mich.) knocked in a rebound. Canada finally got on the board, scoring on the power play just eight seconds into the advantage, making it 3-1. Anne Schleper (St. Cloud, Minn.) put the U.S. back up by three, when her shot from the top of the circle found its way past Desbiens at 17:08 of the period. Less than a minute later, Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin intercepted a pass on the U.S. blue line and wristed a shot past Jessie Vetter(Cottage Grove, Wis.), cutting the U.S. lead back to two goals with just 2:13 left in the stanza. In the second period, shortly after the power-play expiration, Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) came out of the corner with the puck and passed it to an awaiting Haley Skarupa(Rockville, Md.) all alone in front of the Canadian net. She beat Canada’s replacement goaltender Genevieve Lacasse to make it 5-2 at 7:33. Beginning at 10:03 of the period, Canada scored three goals in just 2:03 to tie the game at five. Following Canada’s second goal at 31:41, U.S. goaltenderAlex Rigsby (Delafield, Wis.) relieved Vetter. In the third frame, after a clean defensive-zone faceoff win, Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.) made the breakout feed to Knight along the left-side boards. Knight carried the puck into the offensive zone and saucered a cross-slot pass to Brianne Decker (Dousman, Wis.) for the tie-breaking goal at 11:42. With 6:42 to go in the frame, Coyne capitalized on the power play for the seventh U.S. goal and the 7-5 final score. Team USA was three-for-five on the power play and outshot Canada 36-27. Vetter started the game for the U.S. but was relieved by Rigsby at 31:41. Vetter had nine saves and Rigsby stopped 13 of 14 shots she faced in the final 28:19 of the game. Notes: The U.S has won five (2015, 2013, 2011, 2009-08) world titles in the past six years. Overall, the U.S. has six world championships (2015, 2013, 2011, 2009-08, 2005) while Canada has ten—both teams have meet in all 16 gold-medal games of the Women’s World Championship … With 12 goals, this game is the highest scoring gold-medal game in Women’s World Championship history … Hilary Knight was named the tournament’s most valuable player and received the Directorate Award for Best Forward … Brianne Decker, Knight and Kacey Bellamy each earned top player of the tournament honors for Team USA. Forwards Decker and Knight and defensemanMonique Lamoureux were each named to the tournament all-star team … Knight (7-5—12), Decker (5-6—11) and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson (5-3—8) were the top three in tournament scoring. Knight also led the tournament in goals with seven, while Anne Schleper (6), Decker (6) and Lamoureux (6) were the top three assist-getters. Schleper (1-6—7), Lamoureux (1-6—7) and Megan Keller (2-3—5) were the top three, respectively, among defensemen in tournament scoring … Kendall Coyne (+8), Decker (+8), Knight (+8) and Lamoureux (+7) were the tournaments top four plus/minus leaders. U.S. Deaflympic Ice Hockey Team Claims Bronze At 18th Winter Deaflympics Ruef and Struwing Lead Team USA Past Finland, 6-5 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Robert Ruef (Erie, Pa.) recorded four points and Derek Struwing (Bartlett, Ill.) scored two goals as the U.S. Deaflympic Ice Hockey Team defeated Finland, 6-5, today to claim bronze at the 18th Winter Deaflympics in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. U.S. captain Jim Crane (San Diego, Calif.) opened the scoring just two minutes into the game. Four minutes later, Peter Gintoli (Shelton, Conn.) finished a pass from Ruef to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead. Struwing’s shorthanded tally 11:31 into the second stanza made it 3-0 for the U.S. Two minutes later, Ruef’s goal gave the U.S. a 4-0 lead before Victor Lindfors responded to make it 4-1. Finland’s Janne Yrjola connected just :14 into the final frame to cut Team USA’s lead to two. Both teams continued to trade chances until Struwing’s second goal of the game made it 5-2 with 9:37 remaining in the period. Yrjola scored again for Finland two minutes later, but Garrett Gintoli(Shelton, Conn.) gave the U.S. a comfortable 6-3 cushion just 90 seconds later. Finland made it interesting with two goals in the final three minutes, but fell short of scoring the equalizer as the U.S. captured the bronze medal. The U.S. outscored its opponents 37-18 over five games and finished the tournament with a 3-0-2 (W-T-L) record. 18th Winter Deaflympic Games Mar. 28-April 5 - Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia - Arena Ugra Date Opponent Result Sun., March 29 Canada L, 2-4 Mon., March 30 Finland W, 4-3 Wed., April 1 Russia L, 5-6 Thurs., April 2 Kazakhstan W, 20-0 Sun., April 5 Finland (Bronze Medal) W, 6-5 NOTES: The U.S. outshot Finland, 44-35 … For complete stats, click here …  For the complete U.S. roster, click here … For more information on U.S. Deaf Hockey, click here … Jeff Sauer (Madison, Wis.), head coach of the U.S. Deaflympic Ice Hockey Team, also serves as head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team … The U.S. Deaflympic Ice Hockey Team operates under the governance of the USA Deaf Sports Federation. ************************************************ The Pope has been told to lose weight. [Blame it on all those miracles. He keeps turning dough into pizza.] ************************************************ Back in Double Blue, Ricky Foley eyes career year. Checking Down: Lulay's arm a topic of discussion. Please visit the league's official website, http://www.cfl.ca. ************************************************ Five months ago Duke and Wisconsin played each other, with the Blue Devils beating the Badgers 80-70. Now the pair meet again tonight in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game. If Wisconsin wins it will be their first Championship victory since 1941. ************************************************ Tampa, FL. -- The reshaping of Lovie Smith's defense continues. Read the rest here. ************************************************ An overweight mother from Scotland (Cumbernauld) lost 85 pounds after a co-worker asked her when her baby was due — even though she wasn’t even pregnant. Marie Kilpatrick was mortified when her colleague popped the ultimate embarrassing question. Marie says the comment mortified her so much that she decided to drop her diet of fast food and began a strict diet and exercise regime. ************************************************ Palo Alto, CA. -- Sophomore Helen Ann Haun set a school record in the pole vault on Saturday as the Oregon State women’s track & field team completed competition at the Stanford Invitational. Read the rest here. ************************************************ Officers in New Jersey (Paramus) responded to reports of a “disorderly” goat on the loose and found the little fella headbutting the door of a home. Cops have turned the goat over to animal control and are looking for his owners. ************************************************ St. Petersburg, FL. -- The Orioles and Rays will meet at Tropicana Field on Opening Day with much to prove, a shared beginning following wildly different offseasons. Read the rest here. ************************************************ David Lynch is done with Showtime’s Twin Peaks reboot. Lynch, who had on board to direct the project, tweeted Sunday that money issues have led to his departure. ************************************************  Phoenix, AZ. -- For the third time in five years, the San Francisco Giants will open the season as the reigning World Series champions and baseball's poster team for continuity. Once again, they'll do it on the road, this time taking on a National League West foe that has gone through key organizational changes in the last calendar year, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Read the rest here. *********************************************** For 17 years a woman in China has been giving chocolates to the local police unit that saved her and her family from carbon monoxide poisoning. The woman has given four officers chocolate every year to express her gratitude and commemorate the heroic act on February 14, 1998, when officers found her husband, their 7-year-old son and 8-year-old nephew unconscious in their home. ************************************************ Jimmy loves his aminals. ************************************************ You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as the brakes on the new car doing funny things, isn't it? ************************************************ Today in Elvis History: 1956 - Paramount Pictures signed Elvis Presley to a three-movie deal.  1965 - Elvis Presley's single "Crying In The Chapel" was released.  1968 - Elvis and Priscilla Presley saw Tom Jones' midnightshow at the Flamingo.  1968 - Elvis Presley's single "Stay Away" hit #67 in the U.S.  1970 - Elvis Presley bought a six door 1969 Mercedes limo.  1974 - Elvis Presley's single "I've Got A Thing About You" hit #33 in the U.K.  1992 - The U.S. Postal Service invited customers to vote on which picture of Elvis they would like to appear on a postage stamp.  2004 - The Elvis Presely album "Blue Christmas" was released on CD.  ************************************************ A 16-year-old in India has done the ultimate to prove he is tough enough to one day join the army. The teen was upset after being teased by friends over his ambition to join up, so he did what any kid would do — he drove nails into his hands and feet. He’ll be released from the hospital in a couple of days. ************************************************ Today in Beatles History: 1968 - The Beatles opened the office of Apple Corps Ltd. in London.  1992 - George Harrison played his first full-length live concert in the U.K. since the final Beatles performance in 1969. The show was a benefit for the Natural Law Party.  1996 - The Beatles' "Anthology Volume 2" hit #1 on the U.S. album chart.  2006 - The trial filed by Apple Corps against Apple Computer concluded. The judge was expected to rended his decision in the following month. The suit was based on a 1991 agreement between the companies that would keep Apple Computer out of the music business. The suit claimed that Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store was in violation of the agreement. ************************************************ In Ohio a woman stabbed her boyfriend because he was eating all the salsa. [Well yeah — he was double-dipping.] ************************************************ Today in Sports History: 1896 - The first modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece.  1970 - Bobby Orr (Boston Bruins) became the first defenseman to win the National Hockey League's (NHL) scoring title.  1973 - U.S. President Nixon threw out the first pitch of the season at a California Angels game. It was the first time that a U.S. President had performed the ceremonial activity in a city other than Washington, DC.  1987 - Sugar Ray Leonard took the middleweight title from Marvin Hagler.  1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) announced that he would retire from the National Hockey League (NHL) following the playoffs of the current season. ************************************************ A Navy midshipman who’s friend is training to become a Navy pilot got a nice surprise after buying something on eBay. According to the Navy man his friend bought and paid for an XBox One. But when the seller found out the buyer was headed to flight school to become a Navy pilot, he told him he was not only sending him the XBox One, but also refunding his money. • Read the email ************************************************  Coming Up: Tonight -- MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles 3:10pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 10:10pm EDT Tuesday -- MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles 7:10pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 9:40pm EDT Wednesday -- MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles 7:10pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 9:40pm EDT Thursday -- MLB -- San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres 6:40pm EDT NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs New Jersey Devils 7:30pm EDT Friday -- MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Miami Marlins 7:10pm EDT Nascar Xfinity Series -- O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway 8:30pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres 10:10pm EDT Saturday -- MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Miami Marlins 4:10pm EDT NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Boston Bruins 7:00pm EDT (Final game of regular season) Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway 7:30pm EDT NAHL Playoff Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild at Lone Star Brahmas 8:10pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres 8:40pm EDT Sunday -- MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Miami Marlins 1:10pm EDT Verizon Indy Car Series -- Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at Avondale, LA. 2:30pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres 4:10pm EDT ************************************************ That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow.