Real fans buy Game Time PRINT edition (but endured pessimism tonight)

I feel very passionate about the importance of supporting and buying the PRINT edition of Game Time.  This internet site is fine, but what can compare to going to the game and buying an actual printed edition from a very friendly Amy or Becky Benoist?   The internet is a nice thing, but it is not a substitute for human interactions, to buy the paper from the vendor, and to appreciate the work of the folks who put the paper together just hours before.  Every time I buy the paper from Amy, it reminds of those good old days way back in the 1900's.  

All of you here in Cyberspace, please promise to fork out your four bucks (the cost of about 2/5 beer) for the print edition of this paper.  And get to know your vendor.  My daughters now attend the games and the first thing they do before entering the arena is to go straight to Amy to get the paper. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I have no tie to Game Time.  Just a long-term Blues' fan who appreciates the work that the Game-Time people do.  And, before that, appreciated the original paper from Jeffio, who might have invented this genre even before the internet existed.

My love for the PRINT edition, and my loyalty to it: that is what gives me mixed emotions to read that gallagher will be posting the editorial from today's paper on the website.  For one thing, it will give people access to something that I paid four hard-earned dollars for, tonight.  But the other thing: it will show a very pessimistic tone by gallagher and Brad Lee exhibited in tonight's paper.

I don't post on this site often.  The main reason is because I am more of a "paper" guy than an "internet" guy, but the other thing is that when I have posted in the past, I sometimes will question the popular opinion of the fans of the Blues, and I get accused of being too negative.   Earlier this year, I posted something entitled:

Teams without superstars do not win championships

You may want to find it and re-read it.  It was from early October, when the Blues were doing great.  Gallagher, Lee, Tomorrow's, and other fans jumped all over me.  My point was: the Blues do not have any great players.   At that point, I was told that Oshie is just as good as Jonathan Toews, and that Halak was at least as good as Glen Hall or Patrick Roy.  Backes is Adonis incarnate; how could I possibly say he was a third-line player, second line at best?

Reading tonight's PRINT edition of Game Time.....It reminded me of my October posting, but more negative.  Gallagher and Lee acknowledge now that the Blues have no true first-line forwards.  They talk about the fact that our young players have not fulfilled their promise: even the beloved and popular players, like Oshie and Backes.... they are just not that good.   They are not terrible.....they are hard-nosed, give a lot of effort, get some hits, etc.....but they are not stars and will not likely ever be.  They are not first-liners.   Gallagher and Lee even go so far as to question God himself, and by God I mean: Jarmo Kekalainen.  This is the guy who announced in 2006 that the first overall draft choice was Erik Johnson, in front of the next three picks, Jordan Staal (Stanley Cup), Toews (Captain of Stanley Cup team last year), and Nicklas Backstrom.  They even question JD, asserting that the rebuilding of the past five years has been a failure.

So, compared to tonight's PRINT edition, I am not so negative after all.  I just pointed it out five months before them that we have no star players.  

But, an optomistic thought:  Alex Pietrangelo is the real deal.  Imagine how many assists he would have on a team with a true first line.  He is clearly the best player on the Blues.  The pessimist in me, though, is telling me: what will the Blues do to screw him up?   They already sent him back to Juniors for the first two years of his career, when he could have been up here in the NHL.  Another thought:  I think it is too early to give up on Erik Johnson.

Halak?  Very surprising to me, the type of season he is having.  I thought he would be good.  On some nights, as in the game in Florida, he is good.  But tonight....another terrible game, with two unfortunate goals in the third period.  He has been great some nights, that is true, but the Florida game should not have been considered anything special: he had a solid game against a mediocre team, and did not give up a "bad" goal.  Why is that so extraordinary?   Tonight, an absolutely atrocious goal early in the third, and then a very weak late tying goal with failure to control a rebound from a shot from a bad angle.    Very disappointing player this year, but perhaps might get better as his career goes forward.  This year, though, his "bad" games have cost us at least 10 points, the difference between playoffs and not.

I fear that the Game Time PRINT edition is right....the rebuilding project has failed.  Where to go from here?