Saturday Links - Bach On Mandolin

BLUES NEWS:

• Oddly enough, Martin Havlat met his demise not by injury but his own doing otherwise . . . he requested his release for "personal reasons", and to that end, the Blues have placed him on unconditional waivers. Let the speculation begin! [SLGT]
• Robb takes you through player usage thus far this season, pointing out a few key players, in this week's #Fancystats Friday. [SLGT]
• The Blues signed 2014 draft pick Samuel Blais to a three-year entry-level deal. Strictly a procedural move to lock in his first three professional years. [Blues]
• Not even a shortened stick and a baseball mitt could've helped Brian Elliott (or, for that matter, Jake Allen) on Thursday. But he tried it out in practice anyway. [Frozen Notes]
• The Blues are facing a certain team from Chicago tonight, one they faced 10 days ago. There was a big to-do in that game and such, one that I believe the Blues would like to avoid if at all possible. [StL Today]

KNOW YOUR ENEMY--THOSE FUCKERS UP NORTH (AKA "TFUN" AKA THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS):

• Second City Hockey has news and views on the Blackhawks . . . [Second City Hockey]
• . . . as do our kindred spirits over at The Committed Indian . . . [The Committed Indian]
• . . . and they have a vendor that needs help. The boys at TCI were able to lend a helping hand when SLGT vendor Clarence had to battle cancer. It's our turn to return the favor. [The Committed Indian]
• Oh, and also, Duncan Keith and Michal Rozsival have both been activated from IR and should be available to play tonight. Bleh. [Sportsnet]

SCORES AND SCHEDULE:

• Four games last night. All of them ended with scores. The road team won each of the four games. [NHL.com 11/13/2015]
• There is one important game tonight and 12 other ones. [NHL.com 11/14/2015]

HOCKEY NEWS:

• Ryan Lambert drops an enormous deuce on the contract the Red Wings signed Justin Abdelkader to the other day in this week's Trending Topics. As he should. [Puck Daddy]
• The first NHL fine for embellishment this season goes to . . . Red Wings forward Teemu Pulkkinen! Congratulations, young man. Or some shit. [NHL.com]
• Check out this tremendous four-man passing play from the University of North Dakota hockey squadron. Dayum. (That stupid fucking song, though.) [CBS Sports Eye on Hockey]
• Alex Ovechkin is shooting the puck a lot, as always. But the Capitals forward is unlikely to ever break the single season record, held by Bruins legend Phil Esposito. [USA Today]
• The NHL suspended Avalanche(s) forward and Captain Gabriel Landeskog for two games following a head shot to Bruins dickbag forward Brad Marchand on Thursday. [TSN]
• Canucks goaltender (and old "friend" . . . seriously, fuck you) Ryan Miller doesn't want his five hole to get any bigger, I'm guessing. [Sportsnet]
• The Ducks would've been better off drawing a dick-and-balls on the telestrator. [SB Nation]
• Nikolai Khabibulin had not officially retired yet . . . that changed yesterday. [Pro Hockey Talk]
• The Predators have been lucky in one regard . . . their old top draft picks don't score against the Preds while playing elsewhere. Unless your name is . . . oh hey, Scottie Upshall! Well that's great news. [Nashville Post]

OTHER SHIT:

• I'm pretty sure you know what happened in Paris already.
• And because clearly enough hadn't already happened at Mizzou recently . . . now MU's head football coach, Gary Pinkel, will resign due to health concerns. #FuckCancer [USA Today]
• #SoccerAtBusch: The USMNT looked rather impressive in a 6-1 rout of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (which sounds like the name of a 50's swing cover band) in St. Louis last night. [SI / Planet Futbol]
• The IAAF has suspended Team Russia from participating in upcoming track and field events--including next year's Summer Olympiad in Rio--due to doping concerns. [Deadspin]
• Neil deGrasse Tyson reads mean tweets directed at him. [Nerdist]
• 15 really damn cool dog and cat houses. [Mental Floss]
• Control your emus, people. [Y! / AP]

VIDEO:

Frontman of Nickel Creek and The Punch Brothers (and soon-to-be host of A Prairie Home Companion) and fucking AMAZING mandolin player, Chris Thile, plays Johann Sebastian Bach's "Sonata No. 1 in G Minor" . . . of course, on his mandolin. 15 minutes long, so grab ye some coffee:

Fuckin' rad, man.

Next up at the LInks Factory: Hoosier Blue!

But first, check back for all tonight's news and views.

And if you're going to the game, buy a St. Louis Game Time paper, you asshole.