Saturday Links: Hoping Stan Kroenke Goes 0 And 2 Today

Apologize for the link-less Friday. But let's just get going today, since we've got a 2:00 central Conference III Title Belt match today.

BTW, a little less than an hour after this post goes live over in England, my Everton boys will take on Arsenal (aka, Stan Kroenke's EPL team) in the FA Cup quarterfinals, with the winner getting a trip to Wembley. Let's hope Kronke goes 0-2 today, huh?

BLUES NEWS:

• PROGRAMING NOTE:...like an actual programing note...this afternoon's game might be on a not-FSMW channel, depending on your market or your provider. Check your local listings...or fuck that & just click here to find out. [Blues]
• Magnus Paajarvi has been playing quite well lately, which inevitably means that he was going to get a nice fluff write up in the P-D - and here it is! [STLToday]
• David Backes, T.J. Oshie, and Alex Pietrangelo were all missing some luggage from their trip home from Russia. Unlike Backes & Oshie's missing medals, their bags were found and returned. Happy ending! [SLGT]
• Ken Hitchcock says that the Blues have one big goal that they're fighting for right now: the...President's Trophy? While I agree that the President's Trophy should be given more respect than it gets...well what do you guys think? Poll below. [Pro Hockey Talk]

KNOW YOUR ENEMY - THE COLORADO AVALANCHE:

• Tyler was interviewed by Mile High Sports (not to be confused with Mile High Hockey, which you should also check out at some point today) about today's match-up. DK gets the stick tap, even if it is for blatant self-promotion. [Mile High Sports]
• Eric Johnson has 5 points in the last 2 games, which obviously means that the Avalanche won The Trade today. [Denver Post]

HOCKEY NEWS:

• Five games last night, with a few third period comebacks. If you find the Score Of The Day you could win a prize!* [NHL.com 3/7]
  

*No you can't.

• Ten games today, but you're not going to find a better match-up than the Blues-Avs almost-but-not-quite-yet-rivalry. Tonight though, a game between two of the least-shitty teams in the East between the Bruins and the Lightning(s) wouldn't be a complete waste of your time. [NHL.com 3/8]
• The standings as they stand this morning see the Blues 2 points up on the Blackhawks and 3 behind the Ducks (with 2 games in hand). [NHL.com Standings]
  
• Before getting into the on-ice news this morning, it should be noted that today is the 10th anniversary of the Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident. An entire decade later, the case has still yet to reach trial, although a court date is set for this September. And somehow a team still employs him. [National Post]
• And now for something completely different...Jersey Fouls! [Puck Daddy]
• Fun fact: Dan Bylsma was recently on TLC's Say Yes to the Dress. This likely gave the Penguins the edge in their shootout win in Anaheim late last night. [Pensblog]
• In Roberto Luongo 's first game back for the Panthers, he backstoped Florida to a 2-0 shutout of Buffalo. It was his first shutout for the Panthers since April 18th, 2006. [Pro Hockey Talk]
• The Calgary Flames retired Joe Nieuwendyk's number last night before scoring 3 third period goals to beat the Islanders 4-3. [Matchsticks & Gasoline]
• Also on the jersey retirement front, the Dallas Stars will raise Mike Modano's number 9 to the ceiling tonight before playing the Minnesota Wild (in what, oh by the way, happens to be a huge game in the wild card race). Leading up to the night, the folks at DBD got to interview the highest scoring American NHLer of all-time if you don't count Brett Hull. [Defending Big D]
  
• Canadian women's gold medal goaltender Shannon Szabados has signed to play with the men of the Columbus Cottonmouths of the Southern Professional Hockey League. No word on if they also signed Sochi's goal post as well. (Awwww...now I'm sad again.) BTW, if the St. Charles Chill were to sign Hilary Knight, I am there in a heartbeat! [Puck Daddy]
  
• Advanced analytics have revolutionized how we see the game of hockey and how we rate NHL players...but how do we know any of it is worth a damn to begin with? [SBNation NHL]
• "NHL Outdoor Games Inspiring More Kids To Go Outside And Play Hockey At Their Local NFL Stadium" [The Onion]
  

OTHER SHIT:

• At last Sunday's Academy Awards, the winner of the big prize was 12 Years a Slave, a film some prognosticators thought might scare away some old white male Oscar voters (also known as "Oscar voters") away from seeing it, hurting its chances of winning. Turns out they were exactly right: two Academy voters have since admitted to voting for 12 Years a Slave for Best Picture without having even seen the damn movie. [The Dissolve]
• On today, the opening of the 2014 MLS season (GO RSL!), a new study has found that MLS is now equally as popular among 12-24 year olds as MLB, which is great news for America soccer fans...just, you know, ignore that NHL part of the graph for now...yikes...[ESPN FC]
• Earlier this week, during the Cardinals broadcast of a spring training game against the Red Sox, FSMW had a spring training version of their "Keys to the Game" that included "1) Remember the regular season. 2) Get your work in." That was it. So Grant Brisbee offered some other "Keys" that FSMW could use, such as "1) Pitch well. 2) Hit well. 3) Ignore your own mortality and general sense of insignificance." [SBNation]
• I know a thing or two about having terrible insomnia - especially while bring you good people your morning links! (Don't worry, I couldn't sleep for shit before I became a link rat either.) For your Science Saturday, here are 5 side effects of insomnia you might not think about if you don't suffer from it. (Yeah, Cracked isn't exactly a reputable medical journal, but this shit is researched, goddamnit!)[Cracked]

VIDEO:

Just one today, but it's one of my favorites and a Jon Lajoie classic...motherfucker!

Have an awesome video? Or link? Or whatever? Send me that shit.

• jasonmcadams1120 AT gmail DOT com
• @JMill1120

I'm off to get a couple hours of sleep before the Everton-Arsenal match. COME ON YOU TOFFEES!!!

Oh, and let's go Blues, too!