Western Canada Belongs To The St. Louis Blues

by Brad Lee on Dec 24, 2009 9:36 AM CST Comment 12 comments

T.J. Oshie celebrates his 23rd birthday by scoring the shootout winner Wednesday night. (AP Photo/THE CANADIAN PRESS - Jeff McIntosh)

Browse more photos »

The Blues have multiple personalities. That's the only explanation for the team's play to this point. Apparently the personality that actually knows how to play hockey and win games only likes road games. Especially Western Canada.

Wednesday night the Blues won 2-1 in the shootout at Calgary. Combine that win with victories in Edmonton and Vancouver and the sweep of Alberta and British Columbia marks the first time in franchise history the team has swept all three teams in one trip.

Patrik Berglund apparently is feeling frisky as he scored again to give the Blues a 1-0 lead in the first period. He had six points before this trip. He now has nine. It's progress, party people. Let's see what he does in Minnesota on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas for us Americans) before we totally declare Iceberg fully reclaimed from the Island of Misfit Toys.

The Blues held the tenuous one-goal lead into the third before allowing the tying goal, a puck with eyes as it sliced through traffic, caught part of Mike Weaver's shin pad and then the back of the net. Fortunately for the Blues, Calgary couldn't put them away late in the game.

After an entertaining overtime, Brad Boyes and birthday boy T.J. Oshie each scored to win the shootout 2-0. Goaltender Chris Mason was the No. 1 star. And if you watched the telecast, you may have heard 10 times that Mason is from Red Deer, Alberta, just 90 minutes from Calgary.

The key to Wednesday's game was familiarity. It was already the third meeting of the season between the Flames and Blues. There were no surprises on the ice and plenty of physical play. The goaltenders played well, there were few stoppages in the first period. It felt more like a divisional game. And most importantly, when the pressure was turned up after the tying goal in the third, the Blues didn't panic. They didn't buckle. They kept playing their game and it worked out in the end. If only Boyes could pull a move during regulation like he does in the shootout where he's become dangerous every time.

After the Tampa debacle last week, I was ready to write this team off. They were on the edge of the cliff ready to plummet to the bottom. They were close to losing the fans after that game. Now? Who the hell knows. Regardless, the players have kept this team relevant with just three wins.

The real test will be the upcoming homestand next week. Until then, have some nog, open some new presents and have a Merry Christmas.

0 recs | Comment 12 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Sorry for this first post to be OT, but:

I actually attribute the Blues resurgence to myself. My fantasy team was doing horribly with Boyes, Berglund, and Perron on it…so I did what I always tell others to do. Purge your team of players that you have an attachment to in your fan-dom. Yes, that’s right. I dropped these three Blues because the ol’ Notes from STL are my faves. Since then, I have risen from the 6-8 range to the 3-5 range in my league and the Blues are 7-4. Compare that to the previous 10-10-5 and I’ll take it.

That being said – Murray, whatever you’re doing right now on the road, keep it up…whatever you’re doing at home, TURN IT AROUND by Tuesday, because I get to see my first game of the year in person!

by stlfan on Dec 24, 2009 9:45 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

really . . .

it couldn’t be attributed to the fact the Berglund has been allowed to play (therefore his is able to score and make assists) and Perron in no longer playing on a defensive line, but with Bergie, creating a nice scoring duo. . . and Brad’s number’s really haven’t changed much once he got going, he is still low on goals and high on assists (in comparison w/ himself), and he is utterly consistent in the shootout (4out of 7, over .500 in the shootout, )

by breibird on Dec 24, 2009 12:46 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

no, couldn't be that at all...

not if my theory was going to hold true at least. SO I’ll just stick with the…it was me…line.

by stlfan on Dec 26, 2009 7:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

While I am glad we did so well on this road trip

I am just not going to declare victory just yet. I really think its going to be determined by how well this translates into their home play. We know they have always been strong on the road this year. If they can pick it up at home then I will be ready to say we’re doing well. If they can do well at home here, then we can say that we’re onto something.

Barret Jackman is my hero.

Fueled. These new shores burn. Shadow, my sweet shadow, to you I look no more.

Crosby and Malkin. Two girls, one cup.

by BluesTiger on Dec 24, 2009 9:51 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

No more corners

A while back everyone (myself included) was looking for that moment when we turned the corner on the season. Well it’s never going to happen. The slump is basically over and yet we aren’t out of the fire and probably won’t be for the rest of the season. It’s a straightline non-stop fight to the post season and hoefully we’ll do as well on it as we did last year

The term "in my humble opinion", which they think adds weight to their statements rather than indicating , in reality, "these are the mean little views of someone with the social grace of duckweed"

by Maverides on Dec 24, 2009 9:53 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Nail on the Head

And it applies for a lot of teams, not just us. No team in the Western Confrence is safe. Right now, we are 11th in the West, and we’re 12 points out of the No.1 overall spot (just to put an example of the differences in the leagues, that’s closer then the 6 seed in the East is to the No.1 team out there). Every team in the West, from Chicago and San Jose on down, can not afford a long cold streak, because the other teams will catch them. All we can really do is play good sound hockey (I’m not expecting a streak like last years, but just playing good above 500 hockey works for me), take it one game at a time, and wait for some other teams to start falling in the standings. If we keep playing well, we should be good. But everything this is year is going to be a fight in the West. There are going to be teams that miss the playoffs who are very talented. You have to put in the extra work to get the job done. Lets hope the Blues can do that.

Breaking News: I'm currently in the process of writing "I will not say and/or type "that word" 1,000 times.

by Novacain on Dec 24, 2009 1:23 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs