Monday Morning Meissnervations

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

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Today is December 10th, the 345th day of 2012. There are 21 days left in the year.

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Wounded Canadian veteran conquers sledge hockey.

WJC camp.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Susan Dey (The Partridge Family, L.A. Law) is 60; actor-director Kenneth Branagh (Wild Wild West) is 52; TV chef Bobby Flay is 48.

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U.S. National Sled Team Captures 2012 World Sledge Hockey Challenge Title

Team USA Shuts Out Rival Canada

CALGARY, Alberta – Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) turned aside eight shots and earned a shutout as the U.S. National Sled Team clinched the 2012 World Sledge Hockey Challenge tournament title with a 1-0 win over Canada here tonight at the WinSport Canada Ice Complex. "We came out strong in the first period and had them back on their heels," said Jeff Sauer, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Team. "Those are the two best teams in the world and it should be a game like that. I thought it was great for our fans." Team USA outshot Canada 3-0 in the first period, but was unable to find the net. Taylor Chace (Hampton Falls, N.H.) put the U.S. on the board at 9:10 of the second stanza. After collecting the puck in the corner, Greg Shaw (Merritt Island, Fla.) found Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) along the boards. Farmer passed to Chace high in the slot and the captain sent the puck past Benoit St-Amand for the score. In the final frame, Canada nearly tied the game on a breakaway. Cash made a diving save, but the puck continued toward the net. Farmer came down on the backcheck and saved the puck from going across the goal line to preserve the one-goal lead. The final five minutes saw a U.S. penalty kill and heavy pressure from Canada, but Team USA's defense sealed the tournament title. Cash had eight saves for Team USA in the victory, while St-Amand turned in an eight-stop performance for Canada. For complete World Sledge Hockey Challenge coverage, click here. NOTES: Taylor Chace was named player of the game for the U.S. ... It marks the second time the U.S. has won the World Sledge Hockey Challenge (2009) ... For the complete U.S. tournament roster, click here ... The World Sledge Hockey Challenge official website is available here ... Jeff Sauer (Madison, Wis.), former men's ice hockey head coach at the University of Wisconsin, served as the head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team, while Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.) was the assistant coach ... For additional coverage, visit usahockey.com and USA Hockey'sFacebook ... Taylor Lipsett (Plano, Texas) missed the tournament due to injury. Billy Hanning (Festus, Mo.) was called up from the U.S. National Developmental Sled Hockey Team ... Dan Brennan served as the general manager for the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... The U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team for the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia, will be chosen next summer. Game Summary Scoring By Period 1 2 3 Total USA 0 1 0 1 CAN 0 0 0 0 First Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: CAN, Bowden (interference), 7:10. Second Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Chace (Farmer, Shaw), 9:10. Penalties: CAN, Dorion (teeing), 3:35; USA, Salamone (holding), 3:52; CAN, Team (too many men), 12:16. Third Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: CAN, Bowden (hooking), 3:13; USA, Salamone (hitting from behind), 10:39; USA, Salamone (misconduct), 10:39. Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total USA 3 5 1 9 CAN 0 3 5 8 Goaltenders (SV/SH) 1 2 3 Total USA, Cash, 45:00 0/0 3/3 5/5 8/8 CAN, St-Amand, 45:00 3/3 4/5 1/1 8/9 Power play: USA, 0-4; CAN, 0-2 Penalties: USA, 3-14; CAN, 4-8 2012 World Sledge Hockey Challenge Dec. 2-8 • Calgary, Alta. • WinSport Canada Ice Complex Date Opponent Time (Local/EST)/Result Sun., Dec. 2 Norway W, 3-1 Mon., Dec. 3 Japan W, 8-0 Wed., Dec. 5 Canada L, 1-2 Thurs., Dec. 6 Norway W, 4-1 Sat., Dec. 8 Canada W, 1-0

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Mississippi was admitted to the Union as the 20th American state on this date in 1817.

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WENATCHEE, Wash. - A furious Wenatchee Wild comeback in the final half-minute led to a nearly equally exciting 11 round shootout Saturday night, with the Wild coming away with a thrilling 5-4 win over the Jamestown Ironmen, in front of 2,217 fans on Teddy Bear Toss Night on Saturday night at the Town Toyota Center. The teddy bears had to cool their stuffed heels, as for the third straight game, it was scoreless after one. The teddy bear goal finally came at 3:02 of the second period, as Evan Schmidbauer (Surrey, British Columbia) filed one home from in tight on a rebound for his 5th goal of the season. Lance Carney (White Bear Lake, Minnesota) drew the lone assist and the Wild went up 1-0. Jamestown would take just over five minutes to knot the score. Robert Nichols (Dallas, Texas) made the first stop, but Nicholas Sierra would score a rebound goal on the power play, assisted by Luc Gerdes at 8:08, tying the game 1-1 and ending Nichols' shutout streak at 148:08. Dylan Zink scored unassisted at 9:16, then Victor Johansson, assisted by Sierra and Tyler Dunagan at 10:02, putting the Ironmen up 3-1. Jono Davis (La Verne, California) batted one out of midair and into the back of the net 5:31 into the third period, assisted by Max McHugh (Edgewood, Washington), cutting the Wenatchee deficit to 3-2. 2:20 later, Nathan Ropelewski scored a goal some thought might have been kicked in. The unassisted goal at 7:51 restored the two-goal lead for Jamestown, at 4-2. That was just the set up for the Wild's last-minute comeback. On the power play, with Nichols pulled for the extra attacker McHugh scored his 7th on a backhander at 19:31 assisted by Jacob Barber (Dardenne Prairie, Missouri), then Davis cut through the left wing circle, went backhand, forehand and scored unassisted 12 seconds later at 19:43, his second of the period and team-best 19th of the season, tying the game 4-4. In the overtime, neither team was able to light the lamp and the game headed to a deciding shootout. Luc Gerdes scored in round two for the Ironmen, but Noah Nelson (Oconomowoc, Wisconsin) scored through the five-hole in round five, then David Mead (Conklin, New York) fired home a wrister glove-side in round eleven, giving Wenatchee the extra standings point, with the 5-4 win. Nichols was solid in net once again, making 18 saves for the Wild, while his opposite netminder, Reid Mimmack, made 35 saves for Jamestown. Wenatchee was 1 for 5 on the power play and 3 of 4 on the penalty kill. Head Coach Bliss Littler said "I thought we played really well. They're (Jamestown) a well-coached team, they don't beat themselves. We made a couple of mistakes, one on the pk and one on the faceoff in d-zone coverage, all of a sudden there, they're up 3-1. It's always nice having it in the back of your head that you're down and you pull your goaltender and score." On the play of Nichols in the shootout, Littler said "You know what? We could have gone another ten rounds. He looked real solid." Next weekend the Wild will be on the road for two games at the Fresno Monsters. Game times next Friday and Saturday, December 14th and 15th, are 7:35pm each night. After that, the Wild is off for the league's Christmas break, resuming action on December 28th, 29th and 31st on home ice against the Kenai River Brown Bears. Game time for the first two games is 7:05pm, with the third game slated for a 6:05pm start. Season tickets and individual game tickets are on sale now. Call 509.888.PUCK (7825).. ************************************************ Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's comments about 47 percent of the population dependent on the government and "binders full of women" topped this year's best quotes, according to a Yale University librarian. Fred Shapiro, associate librarian at Yale Law School, released his seventh annual list of the most notable quotations of the year. ************************************************ Corvallis, OR. -- If nothing else, you have to give Mack Brown credit for being honest. Read the rest here. Visit the Oregon State Athletics department official web site. ************************************************ Did you hear about the oversize prisoner in Brazil who tried to escape but became wedged in the hole in the wall? [Not exactly a criminal mastermind. The next time he steals something it should be a girdle.] ************************************************ Off Limits: Top 5 free agents that aren't going anywhere. 2010 Draft class living up to the billing. Visit the leagues' official website, http://www.cfl.ca/. ************************************************ A Santa was fired by a mall in Portland, Maine, after parents complained on the mall's Facebook page. A number of parents complained about various things they didn't like. One mom said Santa refused to have his picture taken with her daughter unless mom bought the $20 photo package -- which the mall had clearly labeled as optional. Another mom said Santa "put his hands on his lap" so that her 6-year-old daughter couldn't get on. ************************************************

Tampa, FL. —The Buccaneers absorbed a blow to their playoff hopes Sunday when rookie QB Nick Foles and the visiting Eagles scored two late touchdowns to win, 23-21, completing the rally on the game’s final play.

Read the rest here.

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Spending office hours staring at cute and cuddly animals could actually help boost your work performance. Researchers found university students who viewed images of baby animals, such as puppies and kittens, performed set tasks with greater time and care.

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Let's see what else we can do Jimmy.

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You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as Wenatchee Wild Hockey.

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Today in Elvis History

1960 - Elvis Presley's soundtrack album "G.I. Blues" hit #1 in the U.S.

1966 - Elvis Presley's album "California Holiday" hit #17 in the U.K.

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A woman in Gainesville, Florida, was arrested after she left her young children unattended while she went to a Dunkin' Donuts and then to a nightclub for a beer.

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Today in Beatles History:

1965 - The Beatles film "Help!" opened in Finland.

1968 - John Lennon made his first solo TV appearance.

1976 - "Wings over America," by Paul McCartney's was released.

2010 - Rolling Stone released it's December 23, 2010 issue. It contained the entire interview with John Lennon given three days before his murder in 1980. It was the first time the entire interview had been published.

2010 - On The Jimmy Fallon Show Paul McCartney and Fallon sang "Scrambled Eggs" (The Original "Yesterday") with never-before-heard lyrics.

2010 - It was reported that the Beatles' "Penny Lane" had been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

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Five weeks after opening number one with $88 million, the James Bond blockbuster Skyfall is back on top of the U.S. box office. This time, the 23rd film in the 007 franchise claimed the weekend crown with just $11 million.

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Today in Sports History:

1919 -  The National League voted to ban spitballs by all new pitchers. The Rules Committee officially worked out the ban the following February.

1939 - The National Football League's attendance exceeded 1 million in a season for the first time.

1962 - Frank Gifford (New York Giants) was on the cover of "Sports Illustrated."

1972 - The American League voted to adopt the designated-hitter rule in a three-year experiment. In December of 1975 the American League voted to permanently adopt the designated-hitter rule.

1972 - The longest non-scoring pass in NFL history was made when Jim Hart (St. Louis Cardinals) threw a pass from his own one yard-line to Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashad). Moore was tackled on the Rams' one-yard line. The pass was officially 98 yards.

1992 - The NHL awarded franchises to Miami and Anaheim for the 1994-95 season.

1994 - Art Monk (New York Jets) set an NFL record of 178 straight games with a reception.

2001 - ESPN announced that it would be expanding into Europe with its first network, which would feature great sports moments from the past. The launch was planned for early 2002 in France.

2007 - Michael Vick was sentenced by a federal judge in Richmond, VA, to 23 months in prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation and killing dogs that underperformed.

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The crew of the space shuttle Endeavor deployed the repaired Hubble Space Telescope into Earth's orbit on this date in 1993.

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

Nothin' Doin'

Tuesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Wednesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

Nothin' Doin'

Friday --

Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors Empire South and EJHL South teams at Boston Showcase.

Saturday --

Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors Empire South and EJHL South teams at Boston Showcase.

Sunday -- 

Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors Empire South and EJHL South teams at Boston Showcase.

NFL Football -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints 1:00pm EST

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