1912:

1937:

2012:

You know, I've looked and looked and looked at this play and it doesn't look like a dirty play to me.

A) Was it late? No. Torres hits him less than a second after the puck is gone. If that is no longer acceptable you might as well just legislate checking out of the game.

B) Did Torres leave his feet? Not really. Torres does have a skate come off the ice after the hit because he loses his balance, but he in no way jumped into Hossa.

C) Did Torres charge into Hossa? No. Torres glides into that check. The force of the check is so violent in part because Hossa starts skating towards his own net (and into Torres check.)

D) Did Torres lead with an elbow or target the head of Hossa? No and no. Hossa seems to have been hurt with a whiplash effect when he fell.

When Torterella last night compared this hit by Chris Neil on Brian Boyle to the Torres on Hossa hit, he has a point. In fact the Neil hit is LATER than the Torres hit, otherwise they are pretty similar... Neil doesnt leave his feet, doesnt charge, doesnt lead with an elbow, doesnt target the head, and injures his opponent anyway. And none of the on ice officials, in either game, thought they were even penalties.

"Well," some have said, "Torres is a repeat offender," which would be fine if there was an actual offense here. There isn't.

The NHL has never been a model of consistency in these matters, but they have somehow managed to make things worse. Based upon the precedent of the Torres suspension, Neil should get five games (same type of hit, same injurous outcome, different disciplinary history), for a play that is a borderline penalty call at best. (I could see calling Interference on Neil.... it was a later hit than Torres.)

What is gonna suck is when a same type of play is called against Backes or Oshie. Given the way things are going, that will be a matter of "when" not "if."

OK folks, here it is for 2012. This will be the third year of St. Louis Brown Stockings fantasy baseball league on Yahoo, the league for SLGT fans! We have five open slots for this NL only league.

The Details:

Sign-up here:

League # 92639

Password: blues

We have the draft set for Sunday, March 25th. Join us. You're gonna need something to do in between Blues playoff games anyway, right?

Who do I have to kill... or sleep with.... or both... to get the Blues back on the ice and playing?

My God, how I hate the All-Star break,

Let me make this clear up front: I want to like Panger and his contributions to Blues broadcasts. I really do. In fact, in some situations I do like Panger's work. Those situations, however, are when he is working on a national broadcast. It isn't that he is doing anything different to annoy me when he is calling a Blues game. No, what annoys me as A Blues fan is he calls them exactly the same as national broadcasts. Dammit, I don't want an "objective" voice on my home broadcasts. I want someone who bleeds blue along with the fans. Now, that doesn't mean being a whacked out homer (ala the Chicago Blackhawks broadcast crew who take the homer thing to absurd lengths), but I'm constantly reminded watching Blues telecasts that Pang isn't really one of us.

What think you?

Poll

Is Panger enough of a homer for your tastes?

12%

Yes. The Hockey Prof is out of his freakin' gord.

28 votes

40%

Yes. Panger is just a reserved homer.

91 votes

17%

Not yet. He's still an outsider in a lot of ways. Maybe he will bleed blue one day. It isn't there yet.

38 votes

20%

No. Panger is way too concerned with his "national" image to ever be a real homer.

46 votes

8%

No. For fucks sake, this is hockey. He should be screaming for ref's heads on spikes nightly.

20 votes

223 votes | Poll has closed

Insert witty pregame banter here. What's that? The game has been going on for awhile already? Oops. Have at it anyway.

The answer is: Really fucking important.

The Blues are 9-2-2 this season when Roman Polak is in the lineup.  When Tyson Strachan is in the lineup the Blues are 9-8-2.  So, the Blues average 1.54 points per game when Polak is around, which would come to 126 points over a whole season.  With Strachan those numbers are 1.05 and 86.

Now, of course, not everything else is equal here.  So, this isn't a slap at Tyson.  But clearly this team plays better when Roman is healthy.

Sheesh.  Even our prospect forwards can't escape the injury bug. Blues Prospect Schwartz Out 6 Weeks

St. Louis Blues’ first round draft pick in 2010, Jaden Schwartz, will miss the remainder of the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championships and 6 weeks total after suffering a fractured left ankle in Team Canada’s victory over the Czech Republic on December 28.

Schwartz, 18, tallied a goal and two assists in two appearances for Team Canada at this year’s tournament. Currently in his freshman season at Colorado College, the 5’10, 182-pound forward leads the nation in points per game (1.53) among rookies with 11 goals and 15 assists in 17 games.

That leaves Tasarenko and Wannstrom as the only Blues' prospects at the World Juniors.  (As I type this Wannstrom has just scored for Sweden against the Czech Republic.  Kid looks pretty good, but the Czechs look truly dreadful.)

It is mind boggling really.  If you go and you look at the mock drafts over at NHL.COM you will see three (here, here & here) of them which have the Blues wasting their first round pick on a goalie.  I'm sorry, but what planet are these asshats living on?  Are they even watching the playoffs?  Who can look at the goalies plying their trade in the finals and say "You need to draft high to get anywhere in goal tending"??

Alright, fine, if the reincarnation of Patrick Roy (what? he's not dead yet?) becomes available you pick him, but A) Not even Patrick "Fucking" Roy was Patrick "Fucking" Roy when he was selected IN THE THIRD ROUND; and B) You cannot project a 17 year old kid into the NHL goalie position, period.  You can select a kid that if the stars all align might have a shot, but it is simply too difficult a position mentally to expect anything more than that.  If you had, by some miracle,  a kid who you could project into a NHL star at that position at that age, well, then he'd be a top pick easy, and thus wouldn't be around when the Blues select 14th anyway.

If the Blues actually select a goalie at #14 I will roam around town beating the kneecaps off of little old ladies with an iron bar until I release all of my aggression.  It will probably only take fifty or sixty of them, and it will all be on your heads St. Louis Blues!!

Part Four: Legs

 

"Godammit!" said Hull as he stood menacingly in front of the window holding something long and metallic which I couldn't quite make out in the early morning shadows.  He turned in my direction.

In a flash my .38 was up and pointed at Hull's head.

"What the hell?" yelled Hull as he shrank back dropping whatever he had in his hand.  It clattered to the floor at his feet.  I moved into the room giving myself a direct line of sight, and saw a Odyssey Black Series I 2-Ball putter lying on the floor next to a putting green.  "Johnson, have you lost your fucking mind?  What's wrong with you?  Have I missed some alumni dues or something?"

I lowered my piece.  Whatever was going on Hullie didn't know anything about it.  I could read it in his pudgy face.

"Sorry about that." I said a little sheepishly.  "I guess anything golf related makes me kinda nervous these days."

"Is that why you wanted this meeting?  You want to shoot me because you're clumsy?  Maybe you want to ventilate me because my game around the green sucks?"

What was I to say to that? "No, I was just checking to see if you tried to kill me yesterday?"  or  "Do you want to chip in for some Blackbeard the pirate impersonation lessons for Soupy?"  Neither seemed to quite do the trick, so I shrugged and fell into the nearest leather chair.

Continue reading this post »

Hockey Future has an interesting article up on who they rank as the best undrafted prospects in college hockey.  Now, I don't see a lot of East Coast hockey, but of the Western contingent there are two I wouldn't mind seeing the Blues sign:

 

Chay Genoway, D, 23
Senior, University of North Dakota

Genoway got his final year at North Dakota off to a terrific start, but it would all come to a halt on Nov. 13. when a hit by Aaron Marvin (CGY) forced Genoway out of the lineup indefinitely.

The Morden, MB native played in nine games to date and posted 10 points (four goals, six assists). All of his goals came on the power play.

Genoway is an offensive defenseman with great hands and on-ice presence. He is a fluid skater with good speed. He quarterbacks the power play with confidence and his puck skills are outstanding. What Genoway lacks in size (5’9/174), he more than makes up for in his leadership and work ethic. He is a tireless worker and leads by example. On a young Fighting Sioux team, Genoway has been invaluable in guiding North Dakota to another great season in the WCHA.

Genoway was off to arguably his best start of his collegiate career. An All-American West Second team selection last season, Genoway may have been on his way to another and All-American season were it not for his injury.

Continue reading this post »

I'm just gonna point his out before anyone else does.  If I grew a beard I would BE St. Louis Globe-Democrat writer George Csolak:

 

George:

Hockey Prof:

All I can say is, George, you are a handsome man. Who's your daddy?

C'mon people.  I know at least four more of you do not have anything better to do this summer when the Blues will be on golf courses, or returning to their off-season jobs stocking shelves at the Decorah, Iowa Kum & Go (dirtiest store name ever.)  So, why not grab one of the last four open slots in the SLGT inspired St. Louis Brown Stockings fantasy baseball league?  And don't give me any crap about being too busy, especially you guys in college.  I'm sorry but a rigorous schedule of masturbation does not count as a busy social life, even for the really ambitious.

the league ID # is 306567, and the password is browns

OK, this is for those SLGT inhabitants who don't actively hate baseball...if you are one of those you can go straight back to your lives and forget you ever clicked this.

For any who are left, after many years away I've decided to play Fantasy baseball this season.  I want to invite any SLGTers who want to join in to do so.

I'm running this league over on Yahoo.  It's called St. Louis Brown Stockings.  Let me say up front: the point of this league is fun.  Anyone caught taking it too seriously will be ridiculed to within an inch of their life.

The details:

NL only; Head-to-head scoring; 7x7; Live draft; March 7th draft day. 

You should be able to join here.

UPDATE:

Yahoo seems to be all fucked up.  I've got a note off to them about fixing this.

the league ID # is 306567, and the password is browns

Hopefully they will sort this soon.

UPDATE x2:

Yahoo seems to have fixed things.  Join in!

Today I got pointed to this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette written by a Bob Smizik: NHL doesn't belong in the Olympics

Card-carrying members of what one commenter the other day called ``the hockey Taliban,’’ made a brief appearance on this blog this week.

``Taliban’’ might seem a bit strong, but the reader described them this way:

``If you’re not completely committed to hockey, you’re the enemy.’’

I know the type. If you write something even mildly negative about hockey they come out of the woodwork to denounce you with this standard response:

``You don’t know anything about hockey.’’

In their minds:

* Fighting is good for the sport.

* The regular season is fraught with meaning.

* Shootouts are the perfect way to determine the winner of a game.

* Hockey is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds.

Continue reading this post »

 The 26th of December brings many things; indigestion, sore thumbs from playing new video games a little too long, nog hangovers, suicide wounds on your wrists after hearing "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer," etc.  But this year it brought something else for yours truly... a trip to St. Paul to watch the Blues play... uh... I know its not the North Stars anymore... hmm... oh well, it's not important.

So, the wife and I packed up the Wagon Queen Family Truckster and hit the road!

Continue reading this post »

Cool story about a Canuck in King Arthur's Court...uh I mean hockey rink.  From the NHL to Altrincham

It is the jewel in ice hockey's crown: the fastest league in the world, watched by hundreds of thousands of fans, three times a week for half a year.

North America's National Hockey League - the NHL - is as good as the sport gets.

Televised, analysed and monetised to within an inch of its life, it is the sport's beating heart. It is a world away from ice hockey in the UK.

To my knowledge, only one man in England's Premier League (EPL) has stepped onto the ice as an NHL star. Now, he's talking to me in a dimly-lit Bracknell car park.

I just bought tickets online for the Dec. 26th showdown between the Note and the Wild up here in St. Paul.  As I was going through the process I was asked to verify I was a human being and not a bot by typing in two words they provided.

What two words did the Wild (and Ticketmaster) provide?

 

"Pleau"

"Enticing" 

 

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

This goes back to last week and the link on Garfield as Garfield. Here is the Bloom County strip the idea was "borrowed" from.

 

via i35.tinypic.com

I've never been a big fan of New Year's resolutions.  I've never really figured out why hitting January 1st should mean anything to anybody.  OK, fine, we have to buy a new calendar, but why should I re-evaluate my entire life just because I bought another set of 12 Far Side cartoons?

Besides, I've always been wary of New Year's resolutions because I suspected the people pushing us to make them were the same Catholic bastards that made New Year's a holy day of obligation.  Oh, yeah, like I'm so fucking sure it was totally coincidental that I was being forced to go to church after a night dedicated to heavy drinking.  Sorry, bishops, but I ain't buying it for a minute.

However, the start of the hockey season is something that has special meaning to me.  Life is noticeably different once the Blues are skating for real.  So it makes sense, to me at least, for this to be the time of year where I decide to make changes to what is important to me.  Now, it isn't my fault that, because it is this time of year, my resolutions will all be about hockey.  If you don't like it Mr. Bishop I suggest you go read a golf blog or something.  (Sit down Ben, I'm not talking to you!)

Continue reading this post »

Hockey Prof here:

I know the Blues web site says no TV/Radio tonight, but the Wild website says:

Audio from tonight's game will be streamed live via WCCO on CBS radio

For what it's worth....

ADDING:

Since none of the higher ups seem to be around (drinking?) I'm promoting this to a game thread.

Really.  I've nothing better to do.

Part Three: The Lion's Den?

The flight down to Love Field in Dallas was uneventful.  All I had to do was brood about the potential dangers waiting for me when I arrived.  This happens when someone tries to ventilate your skull for ya.  You get edgy until you learn something, anything, to your advantage.  In the meantime,  I did learn that Checketts only stocks Dewar's in the on-board bar, the cheap sonofabitch.

Once in Dallas I headed not for the downtown hotel I had made a reservation for, but instead had a cabbie drop me off at a Motel 6 off of I-35 in Fort Worth.  I registered under the name David Backes.  This being Texas I knew there was no chance any of the yokels would know the difference, neither would the guy from the Punjab working the desk.

I woke at 4 for my 9 o'clock appointment.  I made it outside the Stars' offices before 6 and took up a position in the shadows across the street.  I waited and watched.

Soon the staff began to arrive for their work day; First the stiffs came in via public transport, the janitors, the secretaries, the guy who gives Zubov his bikini waxes, etc.  Next the suits began to arrive and pull into the corporate parking lot; the guys with tiny dicks arrived in expensive foreign sports cars, the better endowed in more tasteful sedans.

Hull finally made his appearance at 8:30 driving a black Lexus sedan.  I waited another couple of minutes and was about to head across when a limousine pulled up.

"What have we got here?" I asked of myself.  I looked at the man pulling himself out of the back and audibly said, "What the fuck?"

Wayne Gretzky?  Wayne fucking Gretzky?  What in the hell is he doing here in Dallas only a couple weeks before training camp opens?  I know its only the Coyotes, but even they should attempt to put a team together.  It was too odd not to be suspicious.

Continue reading this post »

Norm Sanders says:

Veteran  center Derek Armstrong signed a two-way contract Tuesday with the St. Louis Blues.


The 36-year-old Armstrong had five goals and nine points in 56 games with the Los Angeles Kings last season. He also had 63 penalty minutes and a plus-minus rating of minus-11.

How will the Armstrong era be remembered when it is all over?

Poll

Looking 10 years into the future, how do you think you will remember the Derek Armstrong era?

59%

Derek who?

59 votes

21%

Wasn't he the first man to walk on the moon?

21 votes

19%

I'll never forget the time he said, "Kid, would you like my autograph? Pretty please?"

19 votes

99 votes | Poll has closed