Tuesdays With Hildy: Welcoming New Guys With Open Arms?

by hildymac on Sep 7, 2010 12:26 PM CDT

Thanks to DanGNR for this week's topic. I'm doped up on meds right now, so please, if this doesn't make any sense, find me something to kill this cold that won't turn me into a slobbering idiot.

It's an annual off-season occurrence. Some guys go, either through trade or being a UFA, and new guys arrive to take their place. All the moves are done (we assume) with the assurance that they're best for the team - even when the Blues average about 3 moves an off-season. Not everyone's thrilled with who we let walk, and not everyone's thrilled with who we re-sign (see: Winchester, Brad), but there's a special attention paid to the newcomers.

With the Blues introducing Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis community on September 9th, everyone knows who the celebrated free-agent acquisition is of the off-season. It's nice to know that we now have something close to a franchise goaltender for the first time in fifteen years or more. There's not too much gnashing of teeth going on in the Halak department, nor is there much going on with our other off-season pick-ups. None of them came from teams that we dislike. Yes, some might have an issue with the Habs thanks to a fear of little people, and others might dislike the Bruins thanks to that damn Bobby Orr, but there's not a sense of rivalry or contempt there. There's no irrational hatred of the players coming from those teams.

The players that Blues' fans focus the contempt on are the ones who arrive from Chicago and Detroit. We have a knack for getting the Red Wings' old goaltenders - some work out well like Ty Conklin has. Some, well, are Chris Osgood. Others fall over Sarah Palin's carpet and single handedly ruin the first half of a season like the super evil Red Wings secret agents we suspect them of being. The question here is, do we dislike them based on where they came from, or do we base our dislike on what they did (or didn't do) while wearing the note?

Imagine being a Leafs fan, and you get Halak. Do you laugh at stealing him away from Montreal? Or do you bitch about getting a player from a rival? How difficult is it to put aside that mindset of "they played for _____, so they suck"? The Thrashers have acquired several players from the Blackhawks this off-season that I have to train myself to tolerate. It might be do-able with Byfuglien, Ladd, and Sopel, but I absolutely can't stand Ben Eager and probably won't ever get to where I can be ok with him on the team. Is that based on him being a former Blackhawk, or is that because I just don't like him as a player? Probably the latter (I think he's useless), but the former comes in to play as well. Chris Chelios is probably one of the greatest defensemen the Mesozoic Era has ever seen, but he played for two teams that I hate, so by proxy I still hated him when he was in ATL.

It works two ways, though - we didn't start to hate Brett Hull or Brendan Shanahan when they went to the Wings, did we? We hated the team, but not the player. Why is that so hard to shake the other way around? And, finally, is there anyone that the Blues could acquire from the Wings or Hawks (or other team that you dislike) that you would be ok with? How do you justify that? No poll this week because I've asked too many obnoxious questions, but that's why God invented SB Nation's superior commenting system.

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Comments

I wouldn't go so far as to say that NONE of us care about Les Habitants, Hildy...

…I’ve always been an admirer of le bleu, blanc et rouge, going back to the 70’s with Dryden, Cournoyer, Houle, Lafleur, Mahovlich, Robinson, et. al.

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851

http://futurenotes.blogspot.com

by Tomorrows Blues on Sep 7, 2010 1:28 PM CDT reply actions

We-ll...

… in a negative way, I meant. Aside from calling them Les Smurfitants. ;)

Thrashing the Blues
SB Nation Atlanta - home of the Fairest and Weatheriest fans on the net.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Sep 7, 2010 9:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Answering the last question first

Yes, I would be OK with Lidstrom or Zetterberg in a Blue Note. But its strictly because they are great players who aren’t douches. Maybe Kane (maybe). The rest of them can burn (especially Holmstrom and Toews)

The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. But that's the way to bet. - Damon Runyon

by baroose on Sep 7, 2010 2:15 PM CDT reply actions

You got Toews and Kane backwards.

He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
Just because Jay McClement is the best defensive forward in the NHL doesn't mean he should win the Selke.

by Icion on Sep 7, 2010 2:51 PM CDT up reply actions

that’s what I was thinking too.

by Mr. Particle on Sep 7, 2010 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions

Thirded.

I’d rather have Captain Serious than Alternate Captain Asshat any day, even if Kane is trying to expand his horizons by reading Twilight.

Thrashing the Blues
SB Nation Atlanta - home of the Fairest and Weatheriest fans on the net.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Sep 7, 2010 9:56 PM CDT up reply actions

The first question Pierre McGuire will ask this year at NBC's first Blackhawks game:

“Why is Patrick Kane sparkling?”

by Paperwork Ninja on Sep 8, 2010 5:14 AM CDT up reply actions

It won’t be a question he will just squeal ‘Patrick Kane is absolutely SPARKLING on the ice tonight’ 30 million times.

He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
Just because Jay McClement is the best defensive forward in the NHL doesn't mean he should win the Selke.

by Icion on Sep 8, 2010 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions

My bad

Complete mind fart

The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. But that's the way to bet. - Damon Runyon

by baroose on Sep 8, 2010 7:08 AM CDT up reply actions

After the Blues, I’m tend to cheer for/against players more than teams (except for the Avs, I fucking hate them), and I would be fucking stoked if the Blues acquired Zetterberg from Detroit.

Also, I loved Brendan Shanahan everywhere he went, even when he limped out with the Devils.

by Manbones on Sep 7, 2010 3:03 PM CDT reply actions

*I'm=I

I wish this thing had an edit button.

by Manbones on Sep 7, 2010 3:04 PM CDT up reply actions

I've never really understood hating players for the most part

They’re guys doing a job. Nothing more.

My emotion is reserved for the jersey they wear, and as much as I hate that fucking flying tire, I wouldn’t complain about having Datsyuk, Zetterberg, or even Kronwall on my team. However, because they’re wearing that ugly sweater, they’ll remain Datsuck, Shitterberg, and Cockwall for now. And for all the bluster some show, most people are the same way. Anyone who says they wouldn’t want players like Kane, Toews, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Keith, or Zetterberg wearing the Blue Note just because they played in Chicago or Detroit is an idiot.

The only real exceptions to me are players who do douchey things, like Bertuzzi and Avery. Scoring goals doesn’t make someone to douche to me. Slamming a guy’s head into the ice from behind and crying to the officals because they didn’t buy your diving DOES make you a douche. Or useless guys like Ben Eager.

Chicagoan in the Lou.

by Mike Martin on Sep 7, 2010 3:58 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

I didn't start hating Shanny...

… until I learned what he had done to get himself bum-rushed out of the STL. So I guess I agree with this line of thinking.

by BleedBlue42 on Sep 7, 2010 4:04 PM CDT up reply actions

for a blackhawk fan

you make a lot of sense. my thoughts exactly: if they can help, ill take ’em. If the Blues were to trade last years roster (or this year) for the Hawks cup-winning team, id do it in a second.

St. Louis Game Time Fact: Morning links are part of a well-balanced meal.

SBNSTL Writing about the Blues in more than one line is tough.

by averagejoe on Sep 7, 2010 4:33 PM CDT up reply actions

I fucking hate it

When Blackhawks fans make sense!

Chicagoan in the Lou.

by Mike Martin on Sep 7, 2010 5:48 PM CDT up reply actions

Rec'd like that church in Florida is gonna be...

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851

http://futurenotes.blogspot.com

by Tomorrows Blues on Sep 7, 2010 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions

Except for Kane... he's a douche... :)

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851

http://futurenotes.blogspot.com

by Tomorrows Blues on Sep 7, 2010 4:41 PM CDT up reply actions

I actually think the opposite

I can totally understand disliking a dirty/cheapshotting/gutless player like Bertuzzi, Ruutu Downie, or Cooke, or even a player who has jammed a knife into your team’s collective hearts like Stevie Y, but usually hating an entire team seems a little silly to me.

I’ve already admitted that I will always hate the Avs, so I see the contradiction, but the entire reason I started hating them was because they had a team full of arrogant dickbags like Patrick Roy, Claude Lemieux, Peter Forsberg and Adam Deadmarsh. Never hated Sakic much though, he seems like a classy dude.

by Manbones on Sep 8, 2010 5:05 PM CDT up reply actions

The name on the front of any sweater

is more important than the name on the back.

Unless your name is Martin St. Louis.

Chicagoan in the Lou.

by Mike Martin on Sep 8, 2010 9:02 PM CDT up reply actions

I'd be okay with Duncan Keith or Brian Rafalski. That's about it.

Granted, most of the other ’Hawks/Wings I could tolerate provided they brought it on the ice. Though not so much Kandy Kane or Bertuzzi.

I know it's time for hockey because I've started singing "Don't Stop Believing" with the words "...born and raised in FUCK DETRIOT!!!"

by J-Mill on Sep 7, 2010 4:19 PM CDT reply actions

All I really want from Halak is this:

Way fewer soft goals and way fewer goals that shift the momentum to the opposing team in the 3rd period. Overtime causes problems.

by Paperwork Ninja on Sep 7, 2010 4:49 PM CDT reply actions

Actual conversation I witnessed recently:

At a Cleveland Indians game:

Little boy cheers at wrong moment
Girl: No, we’re cheering for the Indians!
Boy: Why?
Girl: Tampa Bay sucks!
Boy: But they’re winning.
Girl: They still suck, like, in real life.
Boy: This is real life….?

In the end you just can’t apply logic to sports.

by BlueMonday on Sep 7, 2010 6:32 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

rec'd

like that boy’s sense of fandom

"What's the use of being Irish if you can't be thick?" Billy Conn

Sextus: You can break a man's skull, you can arrest him, you can throw him into a dungeon. But how do you control what's up here?
[taps his head]
How do you fight an idea?

by Crapchesterian on Sep 7, 2010 7:22 PM CDT up reply actions

I LOVE BEN EAGER

every time he comes into STL his ass is laid out by CamSmash!!!!!!

he is welcome to STL any time he is on the away roster, and I welcome him with a smile.

"I quit because I didn't feel like the Detroit Lions had a chance to win. It just killed my enjoyment of the game."
-Barry Sanders
(Soon to be the Detroit RedWings - Henrik Zetterberg '11)

by DasBlues74 on Sep 7, 2010 10:28 PM CDT reply actions

I think after reading the thread of Halak joke it made me like him more.

"I wanna be an achiever like Bad Horse.... I meant Ghandi" ~ Dr. Horrible

by Carnie on Sep 7, 2010 11:00 PM CDT reply actions

Honestly . . . I wanted Patrick Sharp all offseason.

Every time I watched Jeremy Roenick toast The Note, I’d be like "Y’know, I hate that fucker, but if he played for the Blues . . . "

And seriously, who would NOT have wanted Steve Yzerman on their team, if it weren’t for the Dee-Tank Stank?

I think what I’m trying to say is that it goes on a case-by-case basis. There are certain guys from rival teams (Ben Eager and Kris Draper being prime examples) that would take an extended warming-up-to period but other guys (like the aforementioned Roenick, Yzerman and Sharp) that would take no warming up at all.

St. Louis Game Time . . . I need another beer.
And I can also write things in 140 characters or fewer.

by Donut King on Sep 7, 2010 11:06 PM CDT reply actions

Affirmative

I’d take Sharp, or Nicklas Lidstrom, on the Blues in a second, and I always wanted to see Roenick in the ‘Note. There are guys that you despise, but would love to see in your sweater; Esa Tikkanen is a good example. I hated that SOB when he was an Oiler, but once he put on the ’Note, it’s all good.

Kane or Draper or Maltby, though… yeah, a very “extended warming-up-to period” would probably be necessary…

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851

http://futurenotes.blogspot.com

by Tomorrows Blues on Sep 8, 2010 7:55 AM CDT up reply actions

Yeah

So its beating a dead horse here, but if we got Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or someone like that I would be fine with it. If its a quality guy I’m fine with bringing them in, so long as they help the team. Sure we’d give them shit when they screw up but if they were able to help the team, I would be fine with it.

Barret Jackman is my hero.

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

by BluesTiger on Sep 8, 2010 10:06 AM CDT reply actions