Monday Morning Meissnervations

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

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Today is March 2nd, the 61st day of 2015. There are 304 days left in the year.

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NHL trade deadline deals.

Lightning acquire defenseman Coburn from Flyers.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev is 84. Jon Bon Jovi is 53. Daniel Craig (Cowboys & Aliens, James Bond films) is 47. Chris Martin of Coldplay is 38. Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help, the next Jurassic Park movie) is 34.

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Sunrise, FL. -- Jaromir Jagr drew rave reviews for his Florida Panthers debut Saturday despite being held off the scoresheet. His contributions in his second game with his new team were more tangible.

Read the rest here.

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On this date in 1807, The U.S. Congress passed an act to "prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States... from any foreign kingdom, place, or country."

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The USPHL's Empire South playoffs went in favor of the Florida Junior Blades, as they swept the Tampa Bay Juniors in two straight games. On Friday, February 27th, a five goal second period propelled the Blades on their way to an 8-0 win. Josh Koepplinger led the attack with a pair of goals and Connor Fewster made 32 saves. Tampa Bay's Sam Coleman and Zac Gazzanna combined for 35 stops. The Juniors were 0-for-6 on the power play and 2-of-3 on the penalty kill.

On Saturday, February 28th, it was a much closer game, with each team scoring twice in the first two period, before a two-goal third sent the Blades on to a series clinching 6-4 win. Mason Ledbetter, Jonathan Grodzki, Josh Basso and Benoit Chin scored for Tampa Bay, Koepplinger has 2 goals and 2 assists for the Blades. Coleman had 49 saves for the Juniors, Fewster 45 for Florida. Tampa Bay was 3-for-8 on the power play and 3-of-4 on the penalty kill.

In the Elite South playoffs, the Tampa Bay Juniors split a pair of games over the weekend with the Atlanta Junior Knights. 

In game one on Saturday, February 28th, the Juniors were down 5-2 after two and 6-4 with 4 minutes left, but goals 20 seconds apart by Connor Smith and Richard Foy tied the game and forced overtime. In the second half of the extra session, Romain Wild found a chink in the armor of Atlanta goaltender Samuel Kany, firing home a shot from the right circle with 2:04 remaining, giving Tampa Bay the 7-6 win. Foy and Wild each finished with a goal and an assist as did Connor Smith. Brandon Goudreau, Nick Mattone, Drake Stimpson and Brock Thompson added singles, while Christopher Astrom chipped in with 4 assists. Jacob Bayer scored 4 goals for the Knights. Michael Krch had 40 saves for the Juniors, Kany made 36 saves for Atlanta. Tampa Bay went 1-for-7 on the power play with a short handed goal against. On the penalty kill, the Juniors were a sparkling 9-of-10, with a short handed goal.

On Sunday, March 1st, Brandon Goudreau scored a sceond period goal, but Atlanta scored three times, on goals by Patrick MacDonald, Chris Caldwell and Bayer, taking a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes. And despite a third period goal by Astrom, Tampa Bay could get no closer, dropping a 3-2 decision. Krch had 36 saves for the Juniors, Kany 33 for the Knights. Tampa Bay was 0-for-1 on the power play and 6-of-6 on the penalty kill.

The series-deciding third game will be played today, Monday, March 2nd in Ellenton. Game time is set for 2:30pm EST, with the action to be streamed live on Fasthockey.com. The winner moves on to the next round in Boston in two weeks, while the loser will see their season come to an end.

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On this date in 1861, the U.S. Congress created the Territory of Nevada.

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New Stamps recognize familiar faces in Calgary. O'Day has become a mainstay in Saskatchewan. Please visit the league's official website, http://www.cfl.ca. ************************************************ ALMOST TIME TO MOVE THE CLOCKS - Daylight Saving Time begins March 8th. ************************************************ Tampa, FL. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers own the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL draft. Almost everyone agrees that they'll choose a quarterback. Read the rest here. ************************************************ New research reveals that a dog’s short term memory lasts for less than two minutes. [“Could someone please tell me why I’m digging this hole?”] ************************************************ Corvallis, OR. -- An inspired Oregon State wrestling team built an insurmountable lead heading into the championship round and cruised to its fourth consecutive Pacific-12 Conference wrestling crown on Sunday at Gill Coliseum. Read the rest here. ************************************************ On this date in 1933, the motion picture King Kong had its world premiere in New York. ************************************************ More Ninja practice. ************************************************ You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as the deciding game of a hockey playoff series, isn't it? ************************************************ Today in Elvis History: 1957 - Elvis Presley's "Too Much" hit #2 in the U.S.  1960 - Elvis Presley left Germany after serving two years in the U.S. Army.  1988 - Elvis Presley's song "Hound Dog" was inducted into the NARAS Hall of Fame at the 30th annual Grammy Awards.  ************************************************ YouTube user Joseph Colangelo has taken winter sledding to a new level by creating a luge track for his kids in his own back yard. With packed snow and a thick layer of ice, the track sends everyone flying down a small hill and around a couple of simple embankments. | VIDEO ************************************************ Today in Beatles History: 1964 - "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles was released in the U.S.  1964 - George Harrison and Pattie Boyd met each other for the first time.  1964 - The Beatles began their first film, "A Hard Day's Night."  1967 - The Beatles won two awards at the ninth annual Grammy Awards.  1969 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed at a jazz festival in Cambridge, England. At the show they recorded "Let's Go On Flying," "Snow Is Falling All the Time," "Don't Worry Kyoko," "Song for John," and "Cambridge 1969." It was the first time a Beatle performed solo.  1973 - A judge granted Yoko One permanent residency in the U.S. The same judge also ruled that John Lennon would have to leave the country in the next 60 days or be deported.  1975 - Linda McCartney was arrested for personal possession of marijuana. Paul was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident but was not charged.  2003 - "The Beatles - Now and Then, Photographs by Harry Benson" exhibit ended at the Albany Institute of History & Art. The exhibit featured approximately 80 of Benson's classic images of the Beatles. ************************************************ A North Dakota man was found running naked on a highway at around 3AM. Police say the man had allegedly been driving a Chevrolet pickup truck reported stolen. ************************************************ Today in Sports History: 1904 - The "Official Playing Rules of Professional Base Ball Clubs" were adopted.  1918 - Joe Malone (Toronto Arenas) became the first scoring leader in the NHL. He had scored 44 goals in 22 games in the first NHL season. His record stood until 1944-45 when 50 goals were scored by Maurice "The Rocket" Richard.  1922 - The Toronto St. Patricks and the Vancouver Millionaires played the final professional hockey game that featured seven players on each side.  1927 - Babe Ruth signed a 3-year contract with the New York Yankees worth $70,000 a year.  1929 - George Hainsworth (Montreal Canadiens) recorded his 20th shutout of the season. He ended the season with a total of 22.  1929 - The Chicago Blackhawks were shut out for the eighth consecutive game.  1940 - The first televised intercollegiate track meet was seen on TV in New York City on W2XBS. The game presented live from Madison Square Garden. New York University won the meet.  1962 - Wilt 'The Stilt' Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks. The final score was 169-147. Chamberlain broke several NBA records in the game.  1966 - Bobby Hull (Chicago Blackhawks) became the first NHL player to score 50 goals in two seasons.  1969 - Phil Esposito (Boston Bruins) became the first player in the NHL to score 100 points in a season. Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe also crossed the 100 mark during the same season.  1984 - John Long (Detroit) began a free throw streak of 51 NBA games.  1992 - Ryne Sandberg signed a 5-year contract with the Chicago Cubs worth $30.5 million.  2000 - Team New Zealand (Kiwis) retained yachting's America's Cup. It was the first time that a non-American syndicate had successfully defended the Cup.  2004 - The Pittsburgh Penguins ended their NHL record 14-game home losing streak when they tied the New York Islanders 3-3.  2004 - The Indianapolis Colts signed Peyton Manning to a seven-year, $98 million deal with a $34.5 million signing bonus. It was the largest package to date in the NFL ************************************************ Fifty Shades of Grey has dominated the box office since its release, but has now dropped out of first place. Will Smith’s Focus debuted on the big screen and jumped up to the top spot over the weekend with a decent start of $19.1 million. ************************************************ HAMPTON, Ga.— If you had to pick one driver to knock Joey Logano off his pedestal at Atlanta Motor Speedway, you couldn't make a better choice than Kevin Harvick. Read the rest here. ************************************************ Leonardo DiCaprio has joined the cast of The Crowded Room, a real life drama about Billy Milligan, the first person to successfully use multiple personality disorder as a defense in a court of law. Sounds like a compelling enough story, and making the story more rich is the fact that Milligan had 24 different personalities for DiCaprio to portray. *********************************************** HAMPTON, Ga.— Coors Light Pole-sitter Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick dominated the early and middle stages of Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway—before Jimmie Johnson decided to crash the party. Read the rest here. ************************************************ On this date in 1949, the B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II landed in Fort Worth, TX. The American plane had completed the first non-stop around-the-world flight. *********************************************** Coming Up: Tonight -- USPHL Elite Playoff Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Atlanta Junior Knights 2:30pm EST  Tuesday -- NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Buffalo Sabres 7:30pm EST Wednesday -- Nothin' Doin' Thursday -- NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs 7:30pm EST Friday --  NAHL Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild at Wichita Falls Wildcats 8:05pm EST Saturday -- Nascar XFinity Series -- Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway 4:00pm EST NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Dallas Stars 7:00pm EST NAHL Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild at Wichita Falls Wildcats 8:05pm EST Sunday -- Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway 3:30pm EDT ************************************************ That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow.