Ten years is a long-ass time to wait to get to the second round, but here we are.

What. A. Win.

The Blues had a chance to close out the San Jose Sharks on home ice in front of a packed crowd at Scottrade Center. San Jose, of course, had a chance to make the Blues travel halfway across the country again for Game 6. For 50 minutes, the Sharks were winning that battle.

Following Thursday's win all the talk was that the Sharks were going to come hard and play the best game of the series—the proverbial dead cat bounce if you will. It happened. The Sharks had a sluggish first period but came out like they were shot out of a cannon in the second period. The Sharks dominated play and managed to sneak a goal past the seemingly impenetrable Brian Elliott.

Still it was just one goal.

In the third, in a span of 45 seconds, the Blues woke up and turned back into a team that was the best team in hockey for most of the season. Jamie Langenbrunner and Scott Nichol scored a goal to wake up the crowd. David Perron responded with a phenomenal tip. Just like that, it was 2-1. When Andy McDonald iced it with an empty netter, well I let out a roar that scared my dog. It was incredible.

The Blues are going to the second round. Awesome.

Let's get some bullets up in here:

• I'm an eternal pessimist, but I felt like the Blues were going to win this game after the second period. The Sharks had that push and tried like hell to take the lead. They got one goal. When you spend that much effort on that, you're gonna burn out.
• Jamie Langenbrunner played his best game as a Blue. A lot of the youngsters looked timid in their first close out game. Not Langenbrunner. He looked faster than he has ever been, smarter than ever and better than ever. Great job by the old dude.
• Scott Nichol. Holy cow is this dude a player. What a spark plug.
  
• I don't care if Jaroslav Halak's ankle is healed by Game 1, Elliott is the man until he's not. What a showing by him tonight.
  
• Andy McDonald can hit the net on a spinning backhand from center ice. Brad Boyes is super jealous.
• The Sharks played a great series, but the Blues were the better team. I predict a lot of changes in San Jose this summer.
• Ken Hitchcock for president.
• The crowd was unreal. After being quiet most of the game, the crowd was just waiting to erupt. And oh boy did they. The last 8 minutes of the game wee as loud as I've ever heard it. Such a great atmosphere.
  
• What a victory for boring hockey, eh? If this is boring, than I'm a fan of boring hockey. Anyone who calls it boring is bitter over being eliminated.
• Should be a pretty happy birthday for Mr. Gallagher.

I'm outta bullets. Chime in in the comments with yours.

I'll leave you with a song. The Blues aren't done yet.

There's no doubt about it: this is the biggest game of the year for the Blues.

Going to San Jose down 2-0 is just about the last thing the Blues want to happen. An average road team, the Blues can't afford to have to win two games in San Jose. A loss tonight and the series is titled so heavily in favor of the Sharks that I'm sure the Blues will start calculating how much playoff ticket money they have to give back.

But a win? Well a win makes this a series.

There's no reason the Blues can't win tonight. None. The Blues out-played the Sharks in Game 1 for most of the time. Overtime was a complete domination for the Blues. All they need to do is put the puck in the net—someone besides Patrik Berglund has to be able to beat the frighteningly average Antti Niemi.

The big lineup changes are already around the internets, and this site. In: Carlo Colaiacovo, Matt D'Agostini and B.J. Crombeen. Out: Chris Stewart, Ryan Reaves and Kent Huskins. Honestly? These moves mean dick. Carlo is marginally better than Huskins, the ghost of Stewart and the ghost of D'Ags will both be ghostly. I have to figure B.J. is in only because Reaves can't go but they don't want to say that. If Hitch really wanted to get the lines going, he'd taking Vladimir Sobotka and his five goals off the third line. But whatever.

This is the playoffs. This is your GDT. Comment like you don't want to go to San Jose down 2-0.

The Blues, right now, are a mess.

With just one game left in the regular season, today at Dallas, the Blues are in the midst of the worst slump of the season. In it's last 10, St. Louis is a dismal 3-4-3. Last night against Phoenix the Blues played arguably the worst game of the Ken Hitchcock Era.

Did I mention the playoffs start next week?

Every single team goes through slumps at one point, but the Blues simply could not have picked a worse time to start sucking. Now locked into the two seed in the West, after pissing away first place with this abysmal play, the Blues have put together the best season in St. Louis in more than a decade. And still, it looks like they can piss it all away.

No one, let alone us here at Game Time, want to see another playoff failure. So, because of that, here's my five ways the Blues can turn things around.

Continue reading this post »

By then? The Wings will be coasting and the Blues will be fighting the Hawks for home ice. April 4th is going to be decided by whether or not Detroit feels like letting the Blues have a home playoff series. -- J.J. From Kansas

I'm no scientist, but it seems damn near impossible for one statement—just 40 words long—to be oh so very wrong.

The only way this statement is even remotely close to being true is if you flop the Blues references for Detroit. Then it's close.

You see, tonight's game (which starts at 6:30 p.m. local time) means next to nothing to the Blues and everything to Detroit. The Blues, three points back of Vancouver, are almost locked into the No. 2 seed. Sure they could catch the Canucks, but at worst, the Blues finish second. The Wings? Oh they need a win.

Detroit is one point (with a game in hand) behind Nashville for the fourth-spot in the West. The Wings desperately need the points. At Joe Louis, the Wings are pretty good in front of the empty seats with a 31-6-2 record. On the road, and in front of actual screaming fans, Detroit is a meager 16-21-3. Must be a team of agoraphobics.

Want to know how little this game means to the Blues? Ask Ken HItchcock. While the Blues coach would love to clinch the one seed, he'd rather get the team ready for the playoffs. Tonight he's throwing shit against the wall and trying another line combination. It might be a playoff lineup, but then again it might not. Hitch is concerned with seeing how things fit right now, losses be dammed.

The simple fact is this isn't a game worth getting worked up over. This game means a lot more to the Wings than it does to the Blues.

This is your Game Day Threat. Comment like the Blues are Central Division champs. Because they are. Suck it, Detroit.

Prior to Tuesday's battle with the Nashville Predators head coach Ken Hitchcock made a late lineup switch. Instead of Chris Porter on the fourth line, Hitch subbed in Ryan Reaves for some extra toughness.

Just like about every other decision he's made as the Blues head coach, Hitchcock was right. Reaves had seven hits and was just a physical force. Reaves played like Cam Janssen with a brain and hockey talent—always making the good hit, never just running around like a wild animal. Reaves has turned into not just a pretty good fourth-liner, but a pretty good hockey player.

While playing Reaves was a good decision, it was interesting that the choice for Hitch was between Reaves and Chris Porter. Left out of the discussion? B.J. Crombeen, who spent another game as a healthy scratch on a team that is still not 100 percent healthy.

Plucked off waivers from the Dallas Stars, Crombeen immediately forced his way into the Blues lineup as a fourth liner who could fight (not well, mind you, but he did it often). B.J. separated himself from the other fighters by killing penalties. Unlike the Janssen's of the world, B.J. was given prime short-handed minutes and becoming symbolic of the new NHL that doesn't need pure fighters.

Now? B.J. is just another fourth liner. He takes dumb penalties, doesn't score and is not a good fighter. Oh and he doesn't kill penalties any more. Take a look at the numbers.

Forty four seconds—that's how much short-handed time Crombeen has played this season. Hitchcock has decided to give penalty kill minutes to guys like Patrik Berglund, David Perron and other skill players. Crombeen? He's a passenger, first watching the game from the bench and now the press box.

It's easy to see why Hitchcock made him a healthy scratch. He doesn't really bring anything to the team anymore. His March numbers are pretty, pretty awful—10 games played, no points, a minus-3 rating, 20 penalty minutes and only five hits. Everyone remembers his March 10, game against Columbus where he had three minors in the Blues win.

The simple fact is, Ryan Reaves does his intimidation job better. Patrik Berglund does his penalty kill job better. Chris Porter, of all people, does the agitating pest role better—he's had 32 hits in 10 March games with only seven penalty minutes and one minor. The question is, what does Crombeen do?

Everyone keeps talking about the roster decisions for the playoffs, but one is basically already made. Get comfy in the press box, Beej, you're gonna be there a while.

The unofficial mantra around these parts is just get two points. It doesn't matter how you do it, just get two points.

Tonight the Blues got the two points in an ugly, ugly game. This was honestly the worst I've seen the Blues play in some time, but hey two points.

The biggest reason the Blues now have an NHL-best 97 points? Jaroslav Halak. The Blues unquestioned No. 1 goaltender stood on his head. He had two killer saves on odd-man rushes and, with the help of the God wand of Alex Pietrangelo, was able to keep the penalty kill streak alive.

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't that much fun but it was a win. Two points, friends. Two points.

Let's fire off some bullets.

• If you have any doubt that Jaroslav Halak is the No. 1 guy, you haven't been paying attention. Ken Hitchcock can play dumb and say it's a tandem, but I bet the on-fire Halak starts at least five games on this seven-game road trip.
• Back in January, some rival fans said they needn't worry about these Blues. Come March, they said, the road would eat them alive. How does 6-1 sound?
• David Perron loves scoring goals. His giggle after his odd shot was just the best.
  
• Some people are afraid to say it, but I'm not. The Blue Jackets are a rivalry. It's obvious that they don't like the Blues and the Blues don't like them. Every game is filled with chippy play, hits, fights, and all sorts of nastiness. Remember how when the Blues sucked, they still got up for games against the Red Wings? Same thing with Columbus. They will give the Blues EVERYTHING they have for 60 minutes. It's fun beating them.
• That said, the Blues really need to not make it so hard to beat teams they should beat. Eight penalty kills? That's about eight too many. The team took 12 the entire six-game roadie. Clean it up, boys.
• Speaking of the penalty kill, with the 8-for-8 showing today, the Blues have now killed off 47 in a row. That's kinda impressive. The NHL record, by the way, is 53.
  
• I applaud the ex-Avs Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk dropping the gloves to defend their teammates, but dudes, you can't fight after clean hits and you can't instigate shit. Play smarter. The Blue Jackets WANT you guys off the ice.
• There was some pregame talk about the Blues' decision to sit Ryan Reaves in favor of Jamie Langenbrunner because the Blue Jackets were dressing Jared Boll. Frankly, it was the right call. The first place team shouldn't make roster decisions to matchup with the last place team. How often did the Wings dress a goon when the Blues were playing Cam Janssen? Besides, Reaves should be back in the lineup on Tuesday after B.J. Crombeen took four minors today.
  
• Speaking of Langenbrunner, this was a perfect game to get him back in the lineup. He's gonna be slow because he's old and rusty. On the second game of a back-to-back, everyone else is going to be a little slow. He was able to get his legs back tonight and should be ready for Chicago on Tuesday.

Blues take on the Blackhawks on Tuesday. See you then.

Take us home, DJ Khaled.

When the Blues were making a charge up the standings a lot of rival fans dismissed the team as being a product of an unsustainable home record. When the Blues hit the road, things would go south. This six game road trip was pointed to as a part of the schedule where the Blues would turn back into a pumpkin and be just another average team.

Not quite.

For the first time since 1991, the Blues have won four straight on a single road trip thanks to a 5-2 victory in Edmonton. With Wednesday's win, the Blues are guaranteed to come back home with a winning mark on the trip. After the game, the Blues are now 14-13-3 away from the home barn. Not great, but paired with the stellar home mark, well you have the best team in the Central Division, at least according to NHL rules.

Let's do the whole bullet thing, shall we?

• Andy McDonald is a difference maker. It's such a cliche to say getting an injured played back is like making a trade, but think about how much better this team is with McDonald on the ice? His first goal got things started in the right direction. His second was really nifty, too. He's just a guy who makes plays and makes whatever line he's on great.
• That fourth goal? I could watch that fourth goal on a loop and not get tired. Alex Pietrangelo is just so good and so smart and so patient. His pass was a thing of beauty. But what takes the goal to the next level? Kevin Shattenkirk showing the hockey IQ and offensive skill to get to the net and put that put past the red line. Just a pretty goal.
• Chris Stewart lives! I love when Stewart realizes he's a bad, bad man. He worked hard for the penalty shot and then converted in the narrowest of holes. Big play for him.
• Jaroslav Halak has been in the zone for a while now, but he's jumped up a level. He's playing some of his best hockey and making a few saves a night that he really has no business making. Brian Elliott will likely get the start tomorrow against Vancouver, but I don't see him getting many more in the 17 or so games left this year.
• Roman Polak was boarded by Ryan Smyth on a not nice play. Since Polak is neither Roman or Polish or apparently human, he was unhurt and able to play in the third. Still the hit was dirty and I expect Brendan Shanahan to call up Captain Canada and let him know that hey, you can't do that. He probably won't get suspended since Polak doesn't appear hurt and you just know that he'll say he didn't mean to do it. I expect a fine at most, but what do I know. Don't answer that.
  
• That 5-minute power play? Let's pretend that never happened.
  
• Something that also sucked? The last half of that second period. The Blues HAVE to work hard or else shit falls apart. They fixed that pretty quick in the third. Against a better team? Things could've been worse.
• The Oilers are like the bizarro Blues. They have forward talent on line after line but have no back end. The play an uptempo fire-wagon type of hockey, but they have no defense. If you put the Oilers forwards with the Blues D and goaltending I think you'd win the Cup every year for the next 10 years.
• In good news, that three-goal thing happened again. The Blues are STILL unbeaten when scoring three this year. Incredible.
• Also good: When Scott Nichol scores. That little dude is just fun to watch.

I think this is how Gallagher would want to end this post. Come back tomorrow for Vancouver fun.

Hours ago the trade deadline passed and the Blues didn't make a move (unless you count the move that the team made a day before the trade deadline which doesn't count because, shit, that doesn't fit the narrative).

As other teams around the Central Division loaded up with game-changing super star players—looking at you Paul Gaustad and Johnny Oduya, the Blues did not nothing. Nothing. We as Blues fans should march down to the Scottrade Center and protest like not-at-all spoiled Cardinals fans.

It's an outrage. And outrage I can't stand for anymore.

Continue reading this post »

Wild Center Warren Peters was suspended one game for cross checking David Backes in the head.

I tend to give the league the benefit of the doubt, but I ... I'm just at a loss for words. Cross checking is illegal no matter where you do it. Peters told the league he was aiming for Backes' shoulder, meaning he was trying to illegally hit him. It was a premeditated illegal check. He "missed" the shoulder and popped Backes in the face. But it's cool because he was totally sorry, and Backes wasn't hurt. So it's one game.

I'm sorry but what? Admitting you were trying to hurt a guy is totally cool as long as the guy doesn't get hurt?

Brendan Shanahan and the Department of Player Safety are more transparent than the wheel of discipline regime of Colin Campbell, but just as bad. There have been so many questionable suspensions, and non-suspensions that I don't know what to think anymore.

The NHL wants hits to the head out of the game, but a cross check TO the head is just one game. Oh and a leaping hit, like the one Cal Clutterbuck laid on Alex Pietrangelo that made DIRECT contact to the head? That doesn't even merit a fine.

We've seen this before Pavel Datsyuk makes a hit to the head of Barret Jackman? No suspension. Every single questionable hit against the Blues this season has been ignored by the league. Now let me be clear, I'm not putting on my tinfoil hat and suggesting the league is biased against the Blues, because that's fucking moronic. What I'm saying is the league has been so inconsistent that I don't even know what a suspension-worthy hit is.

David Backes scored the game-winning goal on Sunday in a typical power-forward move. Camped out in front of the net, Backes took a centering pass and sent the puck into the back of the net with his big body. It was a goal I'm sure he'd love to repeat 30 times a season.

Unfortunately the goal went past Brian Elliott and not Corey Crawford. Backes' inadvertent own goal was the difference in Chicago's 3-1 win on Sunday. The Blues led for much of the game until the third period. Chicago finally put one past Brian Elliott early in the third and then late in the frame found Backes' skate for goal No. 2 and the win.

There's a lot of things that happened in this early-afternoon contest, so let's break things down with the St. Louis Game Time approved bullets.

• This is yet another road loss for the Blues. While I don't the Blues played poorly, like they did against Columbus, it's discouraging to see another loss away from the Scottrade Center. As good as the Blues are at home, things are almost as bad on the road. The bounces that go the right way in the barn in St. Louis don't happen on the road. I don't know how to fix this, but the Blues have to do something.
  
• I didn't see a lot of first guessing giving Brian Elliott a start on back-to-back days, but I'll say this: it was the right call. Elliott, once again, played well. He played well enough to win and made some nice saves. The Keith goal happens and there was literally nothing he could do on the Backes own goal.
• The Blues don't give up third period goals. Today? Three. Unacceptable. Don't play the back-to-back card, Chicago played yesterday, too.
  
• Chippy play at the end of losses needs to stop. Minnesota pulled that shit yesterday and the Blues got all up in arms. Can't have it both ways, boys.
• One goal? One god damn goal? After nine in two games, that was disappointing to see.
• In positive news, how awesome is it to have Andy McDonald back? He was the best player on the ice today. He made things happen on almost every shift. He's so good he makes Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrik Berglund look good.
  
• I don't have video of it, but Brad Lee thinks that McDonald's goal wasn't his and that a Blackhawks player put it in. I disagree, but Brad told me to put that in the recap.

That's all I have for today. Share your thoughts in the comments. Remember, don't feed the trolls.

Welcome to tonight's Game Day Thread. If I do things right, and I'm not Brad Lee so I should, this will be the only GDT for today.

So tonight the Blues continue on the road, this time the Blues will be visiting old friend Cam Janssen and the New Jersey Devils. Janssen, if you haven't heard because you don't pay attention, was born and raised in Eureka, Mo. rooting on the Blues. When the Blues were shitty, they got the local boy to give the fans someone to cheer on. As the Blues got better, the need for the Neanderthalic Janseen all but disappeared. This summer the Blues (correctly) realized that Ryan Reaves can fight just as well as Cam and can actually skate with the puck on his stick. With that, Cam went back to Jersey. He hasn't played much, but he'll probably be in the lineup tonight for the Jaroslav Halak/Brian Elliott effect. Then again, I could've just wasted a ton of words on a healthy scratch.

The Devils are a team we don't see much around these parts, but a team we talk about often. There are some in the comments section, and in my GChats (Hi Nate), who talk often about the pipe dream of landing Zach Parise. He's pretty good. Also good? Ilya Kovalchuk. His contract is insane, but he's probably the best Russian in the NHL right now (Sorry Datsyuk fans, I'm a fan of goal scorers. Please don't come here and tell me I'm wrong. It's my opinion.)

Anyway, the Devils are an Eastern Conference team which is good for the Blues. St. Louis is 10-0-2 against the (L)Eastern Conference (did you catch what I did there? F---ing clever.). Alas, this is also a road game—the Blues are 9-11-3 away from home—so you just never know what's gonna happen.

Here are the keys to the game, at least in my eyes

• Score first and score early. It worked well against Ottawa.
• Jaro needs to be good Jaro.
• Don't play as shitty as they did for most of the Ottawa game.
• Know that, while still good, Martin Brodeur is not invincible.

This is your Game Day Thread. Comment like you're Cam Janssen chirping during a fight.

Alternate ending: Comment like you still hate Lou Lamoriello and Judge Edward J. Houston.

What a comeback, eh?

I'll be perfectly honest with you guys, while the rest of you were watching the Blues play the first 50 minutes of hockey, I was listening to talks of budgets and taxes and all sorts of fun stuff at my Clark Kent job. It sucked.

I was tracking the game online and via the Twitters and for a while, it seemed like one of those nights I was glad I wasn't able to tune in. I kept reading tweets about dodgy officiating and I saw a 1-0 lead turn south quickly as the Blues kept filling up the sin bin.

Then the third period happened and, whoa, did the Blues take charge. The Blues scored three goals (two on the power play) and came away with two important points. Brad and Gallagher—who can't write this because HE'S at his Clark Kent job—both said how important it is for the Blues to beat the teams the Blues are supposed to beat. Edmonton is one of those teams so, no matter how the Blues got there, a win sure is nice.

I promised Gallagher I would include bullet points, so bullet points I shall include.

• I wrote in the paper today that Jaroslav Halak seems to be taking the No. 1 spot back. After the paper came out online, Jeremy Rutherford had something something similar on the PD website. He gave up three goals, but seemed to play well. He still scares me sometimes—too many posts for my liking—but he's supposed to be the guy and it's nice he's playing like the guy.
• How 'bout that David Backes, eh? He looked like a god damn beast in the third. A goal and a dime and just all around badass play. Ladies and gents, take a look at the Blues token All Star.
• I'm going to ignore the Alex Pietrangelo play in the third where he allowed Ben Eager to hit the best. Outside of that, my man crush grows. A goal and assist for the d-man will do that. Ladies and gents, take look at the Blues All Star of the future.
• In NBA Jam parlance, Chris Stewart is heating up. He's playing with Backes and David Perron (who looks just filthy out there right now) and is playing hard. I don't think you're allowed to float with Backes on the ice, mostly because he just makes shit happen.
  
• Did I miss anything? Fill me in in the comments. What happened on the Roman Polak play?

Third period come backs, no matter who you beat, are great. This is a team that's doing special things and it's fun as hell to watch.

And just because I feel like celebrating (note: this isn't me):

Eric Brewer is back in the house, friends. I for one hope he gets a long, loud and triumphant welcome back to the place he used to call home. It's not everyday a former captain comes back.

The Blues are already doing its part to welcome back the robot. For years Brewer wore the No. 4 in St. Louis. Yesterday the Blues gave that number to newcomer Kris Russell. 

Along with Brewer, Blues fans will get a chance to watch the exciting brand of Tampa Bay hockey. Earlier this week the Lightning showed off a passive 1-3-1 defense—some are calling it a 0-1-3-1 since the Lightning make no effort to enter the opposition zone. The Flyers decided to pout and not play hockey and there were a lot of moments standing still. It was riveting hockey. 

Tonight is Game 3 for Ken HItchcock. After his first non-win, there will be changes in the lineup. Poor Ian Cole, who is pretty damn good, sits in favor of Hitch's guy Russell. Goalie Jaroslav Halak will also be sitting in favor of Billy Brian Elliott. It will be interesting to see how Elliott plays in front of the new guy.

Some things to watch tonight, bullet style:

• The power play has two goals in two games. Can it make it three?
• The penalty kill has been shitty for the Blues. Will that change?
• Steven Stamkos. Enjoy watching young Brett Hull.
• Steve Yzermen. Wanna get drunk? Drink every time he get mentioned. Finish your drink and don't stop drinking if they show the Jon Casey clip. 

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Blues are going to make a coaching change and Brad Shaw and Ray Bennett will be kept on as assistants.

Bennett and Shaw joined Blues in the 2006 season. Shaw was hired in the summer of 2006 under current head coach Mike Kitchen. Bennett joined the staff the day after Andy Murray was hired. On Sunday night, the Blues fired Davis Payne and named Ken Hitchcock the new man. Shaw and Bennett were kept on as assistants. 

It is utterly mind boggling to me that these two men have jobs. Shaw has been here for five-plus seasons and now four head coaches. Bennett is on coach No. 3. The Blues seem to have no problem changing the head man, but man are they loyal to the Lieutenants. Shaw and Bennett are made of Teflon. 

Can anyone explain this me? The Blues head coach is in charge of the operation, but doesn't get to choose his assistants? It's almost like the assistants would be more loyal to the men upstairs (not God) than to to Davis Payne. 

In football, the coach and coaching staff are one. If you fire the HC, you're firing the OC, the DC and everyone down to the water boy. Very rarely do guys stay on staff. 

Payne's dismissal is seen by many as the direct result of a sluggish start by just about every key players and, once again, poor overall team play. The Blues are taking shifts off, having long stretch of lackadaisical play, and piss poor special teams. Wanna take a wild guess at what Shaw and Bennett do? Shaw has been in charge of the PK, Bennett has worked with the power play. 

Let's look deeper into those numbers.

Continue reading this post »

Oh left coast games, how I loathe you.

The Blues travel to Vancouver. In between dodging glass shards from the riots (timely!), the Blues will take the ice against the Canucks for a late game. If you can stay up, it should be a good one. 

This GDT is pretty much being thrown together at the last minute, so don't expect much analysis. It's late, I'm pretty tired and well, none of you read this stuff anyway. So let me go on a little rant.

How come two of the six (RIP Thrashers) seven Canadian teams named after Canada? Everyone makes fun of the Houston Texans, but the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens are way worse. Another team, the Maple Leafs, are named after the flag. The Jets, Oilers, Flames and Senators are fine names. Why can't Canada be more creative. 

/rant over

Anyway, let's talk about the game. Tonight is the battle of backup goalies who maybe aren't really backup. Roberto Luongo is an awesome goalie, but he's struggling. In his place will be Cory Schneider. Schneider is a highly-touted prospect looking to pull a Lou Gehrig over Lou's Wally Pipp.

In net for the Blues will, again, be Brian Elliott. The guy signed as a potential starter in Peoria is in the process of stealing Jaroslav Halak's job. If Elliott keeps winning, he'll keep getting starts. 

This is your Game Day Thread. Put on some coffee, stay up late and watch some pucks.

Let's do this. 

I find it pretty sad that in 60 minutes of hockey, my biggest highlight was seeing Jon Hamm at the game wearing a new hat of lies.

Yes friends, it was that kind of game. The Blues sucked for 60 minutes and lost yet another on this season-opening road trip. After six games, the Blues are 2-4—a far cry from last season, no?

The funny ting about games like this, is that there simply isn't much to say. If you saw it, you know how bad it was. If you went to bed, well consider yourself lucky.

The Blues played like poo for the entire contest. Goaltending was weak, the defense was weak, the power play was impotent and the PK allowed another goal. To be crass, it was a shit show and the only happiness was seeing Jon Hamm being our token celebrity fan.

Since you're expecting it, here are the Gallagher Mandated Post Game Bullet Points (TM)

• I mentioned this in the GDT, but it bears repeating: Jaroslav Halak is worse than Chris Mason. Mason's last season in St. Louis he put up a 2.53 GAA with a .913 save percentage. In 166 games, Halak has career numbers of 2.58 and .915. Mason lost his chance to be a starter in the NHL with those numbers. How long before the same happens to Jaro?
• I don't think Brian Elliott is the answer either, but I'd be willing to bet he gets a few more starts in the next few games.
• Alex Steen was moved to the first line, but Jamie Langenbrunner was still there. Langenbrunner has no goals this season and Backes has an empty netter. Can we stop calling it the top line? 
• Speaking of lines, Evgeny Grachev is a playmaker, not grinder. Stop pairing him with Scott Nichol and Ryan Reaves. Also, stop playing Ryan Reaves. Chris Porter doesn't do a lot well, but he also doesn't do a lot poorly—Porter could help with the PK.
• LA fans are really quiet. It's odd. 

It's been 10 days since the Blues started the season, so of course it's still time for teams to be playing their first games at home. 

The LA Kings are hosting the Blues tonight in their first game at the Staples Center. There's going to be a lot of pregame hype, so hopefully the Kings get too uptight and play a stinker.

The blues are coming off a loss to the Ducks and have a lot of questions surrounding them. Noted internet troll Joe Strauss compared the 2-3 Blues to the 0-5 Rams because that's totally the same thing. Still, the Blues haven't had a good start to the year.

Jaroslav Halak gets the start tonight and hopefully good Jaro shows up. Jaro has been getting dumped on a lot as of late. We've all seen him play better, and tonight would be a good start. 

Another thing to watch tonight is the special teams. The power play stinks and the penalty kill does, too. You can really only have one bad one, two is deal breaker. Davis Payne said the Blues were going to work on the special teams, and while there sin't much you can do in one day, it would be nice to see some progress.

I don't have the lines in front of me, but I know this: Alexander Steen is riding high on the top line and I say, no shit. He's the best player right now and deserves big minutes. Evgeny Grachev looks like he's playing with Scott Nichol and Chris Porter. I gotta say, as far as fourth lines go, that one doesn't suck. I'd like to see Geno get some better lineys, but he could do worse than Nichol and Porter.

Anyway, none of you all read this far, so I'll shut up.

This is the GDT. Comment like you don't have to go to bed.

The dreams of an 82-0 season are ruined. It looks like we'll just have to settle for 81-1.

After Saturday's disappointing loss, the Blues remain at home for a "holiday" matinee. While most normal people have to work on this Columbus Day, the Blues will be playing at 1 p.m. local time.

The Calgary Flames (0-1) are also in town, and it's always fun to have a home game that's not Nashville or Columbus. Calgary is a team full of old guys who may or may not be past prime age. Jarome Iginla is still good, Miikka Kiprusoff is probably not.

The Flames are a much different team than the Predators—they don't play defense for 60 minutes. The Blues should be able to get some shots off today without having to navigate through traffic. And yes, Kipper is not as good as Pekka Rinne.

Things to watch, bullets style:

• Kent Huskins should make his debut in place of the injured Carlo Colaiacovo.
• Nikita Nikitin seem to polarize the crowd with his Game 1 showing. Some thought his offensive game made up for his defensive lapses, while others thought his defensive lapses overshadowed his offensive game. Hopefully he has a more complete game today.
• The SOB Line (Chris Stewart, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund) was the best in the opener. They could really destroy a bad team like Calgary.
• Jaroslav Halak has to control rebounds. It seemed like every shot was bouncing off him on Saturday. He faced 15 shots and gave up three goals—that's not good. Jaro has to play better.
• The Blues looked like a team playing the first game of the season on Saturday. Hopefully the second game is a much more cohesive game. 

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

This is the Game Day Thread. Comment like you're skipping work.

Days are getting shorter and the temperatures are getting colder. That can only mean one thing—hockey is coming back.

Blues' training camp began this week. Unfortunately, the real games don't begin until October 8. Until then, we hockey fans, and journalists, have to pass the time. What better way to do that than try and predict the future!

Each season is filled with story lines. Some develop over time—injuries and such—but some are story lines from Day 1. Let's try and predict the stories for this season.

Last Chance Player: Jamie Langenbrunner

The Blues actually have a couple of guys who can fit this narrative, but my gut says that Jamie is going to be the guy for this. Once a very, very good player, Langenbrunner is most certainly in the twilight of his career.

In 2008-09, Langenbrunner scored 29 goals. Last season, as a 35-year-old with Dallas and New Jersey, he scored nine goals in 70 games. The Blues were able to pluck Langenbrunner out of the bargain bin hoping he still has gas left in the tank.

Other choices: Kent Huskins, Jason Arnott, Brian Elliott, Scott Nichol—pretty much Doug Armstrong's offseason shopping list.

Continue reading this post »