That one felt good, now didn't it? Finally exercising both the California and LA Kings demons at once, plus another standing room only crowd. Here's hoping that all three of those things become old hat in the very near future.
You want some victory links? Here are some victory links.
BLUES NEWS:
- The Blues #BeatLA 5-0 last night, and it was awesome. Fearless Leader: Online Edition Hildymac recaps the proceedings for you. [SLGT]
- For the Hollywood perspective from last night: [LA Times]
- Jaroslav Halak has been feeling under the weather lately and doesn't seem to be getting any better just yet. So he'll spend the next couple of days at home away from the team while he gets treated. Operation: Chicken Soup for the Slovak is a go, repeat: GO! [STLToday]
HOCKEY NEWS:
- A bunch of other games occurred last night, and some of them had winners. [NHL.com 1/2]
- Four games tonight, including that classic blood rivalry, Calgary-Tampa Bay! Did you know that the Flames and Lightning both play in the National Hockey League? Fancy that! Also, Blackhawks vs
Patrick KanesDevils. [NHL.com 1/3] - Kyle Okposo of the New York Islanders was not selected for Team USA's Olympic squad, so he decided to do the next-most American thing possible: making Native Americans suffer. He scored in overtime to beat the Blackhawks. [Lighthouse Hockey]
- Speaking of people who were not selected for Team USA, Scott Burnside's fabulously thorough chronicle of the USA Hockey brain trust selection committee aired a lot of harsh criticisms about one American star in particular: Bobby Ryan. Yesterday, the Senators winger responded pretty openly. [SBNation NHL]
- Scotty Bowman thinks that Brandon Saad should have made Team USA because "He's really coming on...doesn't play crazy minutes yet...he's going to be an all-around player." Which of course straight up ignores the fact that T.J. Oshie, who was chosen head-to-head instead of Saad, does play crazy minutes and is an all-around player. Good goddamn, if this is the kind of stupidity we're going to have to go through every four years, maybe it's good that the NHL probably won't be going to the 2018 games. [Pro Hockey Talk]
- When the Maple Leafs were announced as the road team for the
20132014 Winter Classic, it was feared that NBC & the NHL would see a ratings drop with a Canadian market involved. Those fears seem to have been for naught, as Wednesday's game at The Big House drew a 2.9 overnight, the biggest Nielsen numbers since the 2009 Wrigley game. St. Louis was the 4th most tuned-in market, drawing a 4.4. [Puck Daddy] - The US were sent home from Sweden yesterday in a 5-3 loss in the quarterfinals of the World Juniors to Russia yesterday morning, most likely due to it taking place too early for people to make enough Red Dawn jokes on Twitter (also, the two 5-on-3 power plays the Americans gave the Russians probably didn't help either). Your semifinals this year are Russia-Sweden and Canada-Finland. [United States of Hockey]
OTHER SHIT:
- It's incredible what can happen to a building, city, park, or place when people leave for good. Here are some beautiful, chilling, and stunning photographs of 38 totally abandoned places in the world. And no, smartasses, Detroit isn't one of th-[sees number 27]...oh, wait, never mind. [Distractify]
- Chris Kluwe, a former punter for the Vikings, is and has been an active and vocal supporter for marriage equality (good for him). In May of 2012, Kluwe was released by the Vikings, and now he's accusing the team of letting him go because of his outspoken views... [Deadspin]
- ...the Minnesota Vikings unsurprisingly deny said accusations. Sticktap on this story to @D_Vilhelm. [Buzzfeed]
- If every suggested and/or attempted state secessionist movement in US history were successful, there would be 124 states, including St. Louis City as it's own stand alone state, because being it's own stand alone county is SO 19th century. Also, "Forgottonia" is a fitting name for western Illinois, as not a single highway passes through the entire region. [Daily Mail]
VIDEOS:
If you haven't seen the CBC intro for the Winter Classic yet, do yourself a favor and have a click. You know that Oshie and Bergie are rocking out to this somewhere. (ps, I could NOT find the clip to their roommate days of them playing "Wonderwall" on Rock Band...damn you, intervening years!)
Remember those animatronic "bands" that you'd find in Chuck E. Cheese's or other kids pizza places? Well some guy bought an entire set and reprogrammed it, because that's the kind of thing that anyone would do if they had the money, time, and know-how. Bravo, guy with far too much time on his hands, bravo!
It's been a full seven days since I've brought you your links, so surely you've been saving some up for me, right? Send them my way, won't you?
- jasonmcadams1120 AT gmail DOT com
- @JMill1120
I mentioned on Twitter last night that I was going to post a piece of my own today, and that's still the plan. That'll get done when it gets done. Keep your eyes peeled for that!