The Blues have still yet to lose to the big powerhouse team in the Central Division, but to be fair we haven't even played the Avalanche yet.
BLUES NEWS:
"Blues beat Blackhawks" is the single greatest alliterative statement in the English language! Here's the recap from our own EspeciallyPoorCyborg, but I want to know what you thought - poll below! [SLGT]
Believe it or not, some people saw it differently. [The Committed Indian]
Despite the good start, attendance at DrinkScotch has been...not so great. Not exactly #19150. [Frozen Notes]
My all-time favorite St. Louis Blue will have his in-person hearing at the league offices in New York later today. My prediction: 6 games. [NHL.com]
KNOW YOUR ENEMY - WINNIPEG JETS:
The boys are back at it tonight in Manitoba, where Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom are "really good." And that's not an ironic statement - they got #FancyStats and ever-y-thang! [Arctic Ice Hockey]
"Jets' Wheels a Little Flat" nice to see that St. Louis isn't the only town that loves puns in their sports headlines - can you imagine what the P-D could do if we had Blake Wheeler? [Winnipeg Free Press]
HOCKEY NEWS:
Believe it or not, the world doesn't just shut down when the Blues and Blackhawks play - there were a bunch of other games last night, highlighted by Tim Thomas stopping 37 shots against his old Bean Town Boys, but the Bruins still won 3-2. [NHL.com]
I guess the hockey world does shut down when the Blues and Jets play. The only other game tonight is Yotes and Ducks. [NHL.com]
Cody McLeod will probably also get to meet Brendan Shanahan in person after his hit on Niklas Kronwall in last night's Avs-Red Wings game. This might seem odd coming from the guy who threw Lappy under the bus this week, but I think a lot of the trouble comes from Kronwall putting himself in such a bad position, much more so than Dan Boyle. That said, McLeod certainly didn't do himself any favors, and he deserves whatever is coming to him. By all accounts, Kronwall will be alright, although the phrase "minor concussion" is worrying for several reasons. [The Hockey News]
Last night's Hurricanes-Maple Leafs game ended with the Leafiest Leafs Moment to ever happen to the Leafs. The Canes seemingly iced the puck, but confusion over the new hybrid rules cause the Leafs to neglect to play it, before it bounced off the boards, pinballed off of Jonathan Bernier's back heel and into the net. That was the game-winning goal to cap off a Carolina 3 goal 3rd period comeback. [Puck Daddy]
Taylor Hall tied The Great One's record for scoring 2 goals just :08 apart. The Islanders controlled the other 59:52, however, and won 3-2. [Copper'n'Blue]
The trouble with #FancyStats is that we mostly only have the information needed to compile these numbers from the last 5-7 years. If you ever wanted to know Denis Potvin's corsi numbers, you'd be shit out of luck. Until now (sort of...still a work in progress). [SBNation NHL]
UN-HOCKEY NEWS:
The Cardinals will try to clinch their 19th National League pennant tonight in game 6 against the Dodgers. [STLToday]
Some interesting statistics about drinking in America - apparently Missouri ranks 5th in hangovers. Also, somehow golf fans drink more than any other group of sports fans, with puckheads coming in 3rd. Ladies and gentlemen, we need to get our shit together and fix this. [Slate]
Speaking of drinking, you don't have to worry about drinking alone anymore, the Japanese have given you wine for your cats! I can't decide which is sadder: that this exists or that I would consider buying some. [Time Newsfeed]
There are still 12 spots for next year's World Cup in Brazil up for grabs (including Mexico's - HA-HA!), but you can still get an early start at seeing what the group drawings might shake out to be with this draw simulator. My first time through it I came out with a Group A of Brazil, the US, Russia, and the Netherlands, which wouldn't just be the Group of Death, but might actually be the strongest group that could possibly be drawn the way the seeds are currently set. [Ultra-Zone]
VIDEOS:
Someone briefly mentioned the Hartford Whalers in passing during last night's GDT - which is more than enough excuse to rock out to this old thing:
The other night, I was up late watching a documentary of old Mario Lemieux highlights, and it was pretty much just 68 minutes of my yelling "Holy shit!" at my computer. (You can find that video here if you have the time.) I had heard all of the legends, and I watched the man play during his 21st century comeback, but I had never seen some of the older highlights from the '80s, and I was flabbergasted. Some of those moves I still would swear aren't humanly possible! But you don't have to take my word for it...
Another game day around these parts, so be sure to check back periodically for more stuff, including some Road Music (or whatever CCR has in store for us this time).
And hey, why don't you send me some cool stuff to share?
jasonmcadams1120 AT gmail DOT com
@JMill1120
Poll
From which part of last night's win did you derive the most pleasure?
T.J. Oshie's SWEET shootout move
Duncan Keith's own goal
The perfect penalty kill
Hossa getting Oshie'd
Patrick Kane getting all fancy in the shootout then completely missing the net
59 votes | Results