Monday Morning Meissnervations

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

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Today is February 14th, the 45th day of 2011. There are 320 days left in the year.

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Bertuzzi nets two as Wings cap home-and-home sweep of Bruins.

Grabner's hat trick leads Isles past Sabres in OT.

Rangers beat Pens to end skid.

Jackets win fifth straight on road.

Quick turns aside 40 shots to lead Kings past Flyers.

'Canes move into eighth with win at Atlanta.

Panthers score late to beat Sharks.

Hiller blanks Oilers in return to lineup.

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Today's Birthdays: TV journalist Hugh Downs is 90; actress Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) is 77; New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is 69; magician/illusionist Teller (Penn & Teller) is 63; actor Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Mission: Impossible III, Scotty in Star Trek 2009) is 41; rock musician Rob Thomas (solo and Matchbox Twenty) is 39.

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Lancers rally from 3-1 down to beat Tri-City.

Gamblers beat RoughRiders, are surviving tough schedule.

Steel beats Jacks to end skid.

Force defeat Indiana.

Stars align for Phantoms.

Black Hawks fall in shootout to Des Moines.

Musketeers lose shootout battle with Stampede.

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It's Valentine's Day and National Organ Donor Day.

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U.S. National Under-18 Team Upends Finland, 7-4, in Final Game of 2011 Five Nations Tournament

Team USA Claims Tournament Victory

HRADEC KRALOVE, Czech Republic - Reid Boucher (Grand Ledge, Mich.) tallied three goals as the U.S. National Under-18 Team upended Finland, 7-4, here today at Hradec Kralove Arena in its fourth and final game of the 2011 Five Nations Tournament.

Team USA finished with a perfect 4-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record to capture the tournament title.

“I’m so proud of our guys after a very successful event,” said Ron Rolston. “The experience that these players gain at these international tournaments will stay with them throughout their hockey careers and lives."

Blake Pietila (Brighton, Mich.) scored twice for Team USA in the opening frame, as the U.S. and Finland ended the first period tied, 2-2.

Boucher tallied his first goal to give Team USA a 3-2 lead early in the second period. After another Finland tally, Cole Bardreau (Fairport, N.Y.) and Adam Reid (Chino Hills Calif.) potted goals of their own to give the U.S. a 5-3 lead after two.

In the third period, Boucher scored twice to build the U.S. advantage to 7-3. Team USA held on to the lead to claim a 7-4 win and the tournament title.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 2 - 3 - 2 - 7
FIN 2 - 1 - 1 - 4

First Period - Scoring: 1, FIN, Hannikainen (Rekonen, Maatta), 1.46; 2, USA, Pietila (unassisted), 7:31; 3, FIN, Hannikainen (Rekonen, Maatta), 10:36; 4, USA, Pietila (Bardreau, Haggerty), 19:26. Penalties: None.

Second Period: - Scoring: 5, USA, Boucher (Grimaldi), 1:18; 6, FIN, Jarvelainen (Pokka), 2:48; 7, USA, Bardreau (Pietila), 7:13; 8, USA, Reid (Boyd, Paliotta), 17:45. Penalties: FIN, Lamberg (slashing), 5:05; FIN, Leino (interferece), 13:39.

Third Period - Scoring: 9, USA, Boucher (Miller, Fiala), 5:16; 10, USA, Boucher (Miller), 10:19; 11, FIN, Aaltonen (Wilenius), 18:59. Penalties: FIN, Maatta (holding), 7:59; USA, Pietila (slashing), 11:05.

Team USA 2011 Five Nations Tournament Schedule
Feb. 9 - Feb. 13, 2011 • Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

Date Opponent Location Time (ET)/Result

Wed., Feb. 9 Sweden Novy Bydzov W, 6-2
Thurs., Feb. 10 Russia Hradec Kralove W, 10-4
Fri., Feb. 11 Czech Republic Hradec Kralove W, 3-1
Sun., Feb. 13 Finland Hradec Kralove W, 7-4

U.S. National Under-17 Team Edges Slovakia, 2-1, at 2011 Vlad Dzurilla Tournament

Team USA Captures Tournament Title with Perfect 3-0-0-0 Record

PIESTANY, Slovakia - Cameron Darcy (South Boston, Mass.) and Ryan Hartman (West Dundee, Ill.) each scored as the U.S. National Under-17 Team defeated Slovakia, 2-1, here today at the Piestany Ice Arena in its final game of the 2011 Vlad Dzurilla Tournament. Team USA captured the tournament title with a 3-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record.

"We competed extremely hard today," said Danton Cole, head coach of the U.S. National Under-17 Team. "We got the job done today against a talented team and I'm proud of our team and how they played this tournament."

Darcy scored the the first goal of the game 8:03 into the second frame. Stefan Matteau (Chicago, Ill.) collected an assist on the play. Hartman then added to the U.S. lead just over two minutes later.

Slovakia cut the U.S. lead in half midway through the second period. But U.S. goalie Jared Rutledge (Chicago, Ill.) kept Slovakia at bay in the third period, stopping 24 total shots in the win.

NOTES: 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

USA 0 - 2 - 0 - 2
SVK 0 - 1 - 0 - 1

First Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: None.

Second Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Darcy (Matteau), 8:03; 2, USA, Hartman (Osterberg), 10:37; 3, SVK, Mraz (Bezuch, Nechala), 11:32. Penalties: SVK, Dolnik (high-sticking), 4:11; USA, Harmtan (slashing) 16:12; USA, Samuelsson (charging), 19:11.

Third Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: USA, Skjei (slashing) 4:01; USA, Jones (tripping), 7:35; SVK, Dano (tripping), 18:11; USA, Vatrano (game-misconduct), 19:33; USA, Vatrano (head-butting), 19:33.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 5 8 6 19
SVK 11 9 5 25

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Rutledge, 60:00 11/11 9/8 5/5 25/24
SVK, Sabol, 60:00 5/5 8/6 6/6 19/17

Power Play: USA 0-2; SVK 0-5
Penalties: USA 6-30; SVK 2-4

Team USA 2011 Vlad DzurillaTournament Schedule
Feb. 11-13 • Piestany Ice Arena • Piestany, Slovakia

Date Opponent Time (EST)/Result

Fri., Feb. 11 Switzerland W, 5-1
Sat., Feb. 12 Germany W, 5-1
Sun., Feb. 13 Slovakia W, 2-1

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Just Go With It, starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, beat Justin Bieber: Never Say Never at the weekend box office, but by less than a million bucks. Just Go With It made $31 million.

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Mullin: Esks to be Free-Agency spectators.

Donate to the Tony Proudfoot Fund.

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

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Jimmy plays hockey with Mommy.







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Thirty-five cases of frozen meat were stolen Friday morning from an Athens, Georgia, Taco Bell.

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Today in Elvis History:

1957 - RCA informed Elvis Presley that they would exercise their option to extend the term of his contract. The current contract was to expire on October 15, 1961, the new contract was scheduled to expire on October 15, 1966.

1966 - The principle photography for the Elvis Presley movie "Spinout" began.

1975 - Elvis Presley was discharged from the hospital. He was admitted on January 29.

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Two men were crowned Mr. Beer Belly 2011 in a California contest. Mike Perine and Dallas Glover were the co-winners of Saturday's contest at the Eastbound Bar & Grill in Lakeside, California.

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Today in Beatles History:

1972 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono began a weeklong stay as co-hosts on "The Mike Douglas Show."

2003 - In Sydney, Australia, police recovered reel-to-reel tapes that had apparently been recorded by the Beatles. The tapes were believed to have been stolen from the Abbey Road Studios in 1969.

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Have you seen, or heard, the latest neighborhood noisemaker? It's called Turbospoke -- a fake noisy exhaust system for your kids' bicycle. Think of it as a commercial update to sticking baseball cards through your spokes. It uses one of three different cards (each makes a different sound) coupled to an "exhaust pipe" that acts as an amplifier.

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Today in Sports History:

1932 - The U.S. won the first bobsled competition at the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, NY.

1934 - The NHL held its first All-Star Game as a benefit for injured NHL star Ace Bailey. Toronto played against a team of All-Stars from the seven other teams in the league.

1966 - Rick Mount of Lebanon, IN, became the first high school, male athlete to be pictured on the cover of "Sports Illustrated".

1966 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers set a National Basketball Association record as he reached a career high of 20,884 points after seven NBA seasons.

1966 - CBS bought the rights to the NFL's 1966 and 1967 Championship Games for $2 million per game.

1977 - Al Hill (Philadelphia Flyers) scored five points, 2 goals and 3 assists, in his first NHL game.

1979 - Twenty-year-old rookie, Don Maloney (New York Rangers) scored his first goal in the National Hockey League. It came on his first NHL shot.

1988 - Bobby Allison became the oldest driver to win NASCAR's Daytona 500.

1989 - Mike Tyson and Robin Givens were divorced.

1990 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) ended his 46-game scoring streak. The streak was the second-longest in NHL history.

2002 - Greco Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner was stranded 17 hours outside in temperatures that reached 25 below zero. When he was found his body temperature was 88 and his feet were frozen. On March 28, 2002, Gardner had the middle two toes on his right foot amputated due to frostbite.

2003 - A Florida judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Jose Canseco. Canseco had violated his probation that stemmed from a nightclub brawl in 2001. On March 17, he was sentenced to two years of house arrest and three years of probation.

2004 - Sean Burke (Philadelphia Flyers) got his 300th win. Burke was the 20th goalie to reach the milestone.

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Did you catch the Grammys? (What a scandal! Would someone please explain to me how in the world Christina Aguilera won for Best National Anthem?)

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

Nothin' Doin'

Tuesday --

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

Wednesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Detroit Red Wings 7:30pm EST

Friday --

Nothin' Doin'

Saturday --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers 7:30pm EST

Sunday --

Nothin' Doin'

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