Monday Links - Meanwhile, Up I-55 . . .

Now, if you're a Blues fan and you think the series is over . . . you're not really a Blues fan.

But boy, we're far away from a week ago when everyone wanted to board the Panic Bus, aren't we?

Fun times. But put on a helmet tonight, it's gonna get ugly.

BLUES NEWS:

• It was bad enough that Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook plowed over David Backes in Game 2, making the head his primary point of contact. But then, someone decided to say "Wakey wakey, Backes . . . wakey wakey" in the post-scrum of the incident, and by all evidence, it looks like it was Duncan Keith. This'll be something, I'd bet. Hildy has her thoughts on the incident, as we also did some "Troll Control" in the comments. [SLGT]
• Not surprising . . . Seabrook got three games for that hit. You'll see the video later. Hitch doesn't know if Backes will be available for Game 3. I'd guess he's not playing tonight, though. [StL Today / Morning Skate]
  
• By the way, speaking of "Troll Control" . . . I wasn't kidding about this. And instead of whipping out the banhammer, I have better ways to get the job done, as I'd much rather make a troll feel like a dumbass than ban them outright. (Don't test the banhammer, though. You won't like me when I'm angry.)
  
• PROSPECT SUNDAY!!!!! B-Dubs covers the conclusion of the AHL and ECHL season in his recap of the week that was, tells us who's trending up, lets us know what's on the horizon and shows us what's moving in "The '14 File". [SLGT; SLGT; SLGT; SLGT]
• Before Game 2, our friend from The Netherlands (HUP HOLLAND HUP!), Gerard aka FanFromEurope, showed he was ready for the contest. By the way, for those of you who didn't meet him when he was in St. Louis in 2012, you missed a fun time. [SLGT FanShots]
• A discussion piece on the series from "TheMoose_". [SLGT FanPosts]
• Meanwhile, regarding Seabrook, "BurlRolett" believes we're missing the point. [SLGT FanPosts]
  

KNOW YOUR ENEMY--THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS:

• Probably shouldn't have to tell you by now . . . but go visit The Committed Indian . . . [The Committed Indian]
• . . . Second City Hockey . . . [Second City Hockey]
• . . . and another one to check out is Cheer the Anthem, for whom I did a series preview Q&A last week. [Cheer the Anthem]

HOCKEY NEWS:

• The Flyers evened up their series with the Rangers with a 4-2 victory in yesterday's matinee at Madison Square Garden. [Broad Street Hockey]
• The Bruins basically bullied the Red Wings and had their way with them in the first period, and carried that momentum to a 4-1 victory and a tie series heading to The Joe The Toolbag. [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
• Zdeno Chara status: BEST. [CBS Sports Eye On Hockey]
• The Canadiens got some favorable bounces and calls, Steven Stamkos got knocked silly (but later came back) and the Lightning(s) (but specifically, Ondrej Palat) got turnstiled by P.K. Subban . . . and the Habs won 3-2 and pushed the Bolts to the brink of elimination. [Eyes on the Prize]
• The Kings came in with momentum, scoring two goals off the hop, but then carried little more than a wet fart into the second and third periods. As a result, the Sharks took advantage. And with a 7-2 blowout victory, San Jose now carries a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Staples Center. [Fear the Fin]
• Here's the schedule for tonight. All Game 3's. Obviously the important one is in Chicago. [NHL.com 04/21/14]
• Saturday's season finale for the AHL's Portland (Maine) Pirates against the St. John's IceCaps was moved to their practice arena because of a circus being at their ACTUAL home arena. Whoops. [Puck Daddy]

OTHER SHIT:

• RIP, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. The boxer--wrongly accused of murder but later freed--immortalized in song by Bob Dylan and in film by Denzel Washington, passed at the age of 76 yesterday. [CNN]
• The Mayor of Peoria ordered police to find a man who set up a parody Twitter account in his name. And people think I take shit too seriously . . . . [Y! / The Sideshow]
• I don't do auto racing much . . . but holy shit, is this guy lucky. [Jalopnik]

VIDEO:

The Brent Seabrook suspension video:

GODDAMNIT, PATRICK BURKE SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE HIS OLD MAN.

(In case you're not aware of who Patrick Burke's dad is . . . it's this guy.)

Links? Videos? Random stuff? As Pedro Cerrano once said . . . "BRING THAT SHIT TO ME, MANG!" . . . you can do so in a couple ways:

• gtdonutking AT gmail DOT com
• @KingDonutI

Game 3 starts at 7:30pm CDT. FSMW locally, CNBC nationwide in the states (CBC/RDSI in Canada) and Y98 on the radio (they'll stream it too). Set your drinking, swearing and Fuck Chicago-ing schedule accordingly.

Also, the St. Louis Game Time Facebook page is up to 395 likes as of the completion of this post. Let's get it to 400 (or, perhaps, many more) before tonight's face-off, shall we?

LET'S GO BLUES.