"I Coulda Been A Contenda"

i got optrimistic and rewrote a few sections of my preseaon about 40 games in. but i can’t finish this, i didnt consider them a contender. murray a usable coach, or that this team had enough scoring to possible make the playoffs.

the set up for the season preview was as follows..

Ultimately the 2008 Blues’ hopes must lie with a team concept. The individuals they have assembled will not win games with individual performances. No one in the ‘Note is an elite, a game-breaker, a preseason favorite to win an award. Will the same team Gestalt appear that marked the sinking of Kitchen? Will someone surprise us? Will a deadline deal make this team better this time around? If the answers to all three of them are yes, then the Blues should expect a return to the playoffs. A single no may doom the team to watching the playofs on tv. If they are televised this year.

It is bummer times like this I listen to Balck Sabbath records with the lights turned off and shades drawn. Then I cheer up when the Finals roll around.

Black Sabbath I meant and I also meant RECORDS

Hey, Remember that time we beat Detroit in OT?
That was awesome.

Remember that time when we got shutout… twice… against the Blue Jackets? Hmmm… yea… not so positive…

This season will be remembered as the season before Oshie/Berglund.

yes, the season before oshie and berglund sat in the pressbox for a year

then get pput on a checking line with jay and lee and get 7 minutes of ice time a night

Remember when towel boy came down from the scoreboard on opening night? Awesome.

And remember when we got a furry blue mascot in a cool blues brothers suit and shades and he played the sax? Awesome. And then sometime later he took off his suit and shades and WAS WEARING A BLUES JERSEY — AND HELMET!! LOL! Awesome!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2007111319

Only game this year where I actually paid for “lower bowl” seats. I got so drunk and crazed that I had to keep pinching the bridge of my nose to alleviate my self-induced migraine.

Blues 4, Anaheim 2. Ducks send George Parros out to wake the team up after going down 2-0, and DJ King kicks his ass. Brad may gets into it with Walker… and breaks his hand. Parros wants more of King… and gets his ass kicked again.

I’ll bite…
Top 3:
3: Predators v Blues (10OCT) – Home opener, and they did everything right with a 4-1 win. Hell, Kariya was even scoring points back then.
2: Blackhawks v Blues (29MAR) – They lost 4-3 in regulation, but finally showed at least an ounce of character for the first time as a team all season. Even Captain Robot got into that one.
1: Red Wings v Blues (13NOV) – Perron makes his statement for his roster spot by scoring two goals while the team came back from an early 2-0 deficit. The game also ended a 3-game losing streak that propelled the team to 4 straight wins.

Bottom 3:
3: Blues v. Red Wings (21NOV) – The Blues snapped a 4-game winning streak by earning 11 penalties and 38 shots on goal. It was even worse than that sounds.
2: Blues v. Canucks (23JAN) – 3-2 shootout loss helped cap off the beggining of the end for this season. Yet another ZERO posted by the Blues in the shootout as Murray effectively iced the team’s most dangerous weapon, Perron, for the final 15 minutes of play, then sent him out to shoot. His chance was the best by far, as he beat Luongo, but hit the post.
1: Blues v. Predators (01APR) – With a chance to build on the character shown in the Blackhawks game days earlier AND an electiric first period that earned them a 3-0 lead in the game, the team turtles, and Cam Janssen and Hannu Toivonen remind all of the fans exactly why this team is nowhere near the playoff race. Fucking embarassing.

if the Blues could magically skip making the playoffs and the first 3 rounds and actually play the Stanley Cup Final, they’d actually win it. our record against the Eastern Conference this season was a baffling 6-3-1 (the OT was a loss), plus a 1-1 preseason record

i think you all are missing the most historic event that occured this season… 5-1 win over columbus on feb. 17, also known as “the game in which matt walker scored his first goal”.

probably the second best moment of the season was kipper throwing the puck at rucinsky’s face.

if we are playing THAT game, I’ll throw in le habs game. Perron idolized. Benched by Murray for no logical reason, like normal, then rewarded by Murray, paradoxically, by getting the first shootout chance, and perron does everything but score in front of his closest 40k friends.

oh we won too.

Bittersweet game for me – Dougie’s return as a Duck on 2/1/08 – the fans got to show their appreciation for him after the video montage (very classy move by JD and the gang to do that for him)
 and it was a great game – 0-0 O/T game and Emmanuel was THE MAN that night.

Vancouver 11/23 – took my brother to see the New Blues and he couldn’t believe the change in atmosphere in the Scotty – we were still standing guys up at the blue line back then, scoring and hitting and in hindsight playing over our heads.
Hannu was a legit #2 – Kariya was on fire and EJ scored that night.

Opening Night – Electricity in the air – glowing sticks to bang along with Charles singing “When the Blues go Marching In” – although they could have skipped Rag Boy – I prefer the Jumbotron blocking him from my view! Bradley scores 1 minute into the game – place was rocking that night – we actually had Paul Kariya playing for US the Blues and the promise of a new season was in front of us. What a great feeling as a fan!

Here’s to next October – that we all feel that same excitement as 10/10/07 – with TJ and Patrik skating out through the smoke & flames of the Zamboni tunnel along with a rejuvenated Paulie and a real #2 behind Emmanuel! :)

Diana, even making that 0-0 O/T win even better?
We didn’t have to see Towel Boy….best game of the year.
Just for that reason alone.
DD

Here’s where the season was trashed for good for me.

Just before the losing streak from hell began, the Blues had that 5-1 win over the Blue Jackets followed by another 5-1 win over the Blackhawks.

The Blues were 3 points out of 8th place. After the convincing 5-1 wins, I thought, " hey, the blues still have a shot at the playoffs!" HAHAHAHA!!!

Instead, they go to LA, get bombed 5-1, and go on a 3-13-4 run gaining them 7 of a possible 40 points. That’s where this season wound up worse than last year. The season can’t end soon enough.

To end on a positive note, BRAD BOYES IS A 40-GOAL SCORER!

Anybody miss Dennis Wideman?

No, but Carl Soderburg (?) isn’t in the NHL yet and I already miss him. Boston got us back with the skating train wreck trade.