St. Louis Game Time

By Sean Gallagher

Welcome to the St. Louis version of a Civil War field hospital: Your 2008-2009 Blues!

As reported by Jeremy Rutherford over at the P-D’s blog, not only will Paul Kariya not be available to play this weekend, but rookie Patrik Berglund is also on the shelf after pulling his groin too hard at practice today.

To recap, the Blues’ injured list now includes Erik Johnson (season), DJ King (season), TJ Oshie (indefinite), Andy McDonald (indefinite), Dan Hinote (indefinite), Paul Kariya (indefinite) and Patrik Berglund (questionable).

Fan-fucking-tastic.

You can all do the math on the lines, but what it comes down to is a very 2005 era lineup with Tkachuk and Boyes playing the roles of “must do everything for the team to win,” followed by the line of Perron, Backes and Stempniak who must step up big time and then two full lines of AHLers/fighters.

And yes, you read Rutherford’s report right, defenseman Steve “Dr. Hook” Wagner practiced at left wing today in preparation for the game. While he probably could play there tomorrow, it seems more likely that we’re instead going to be treated to the offensive stylings of Brad Winchester instead.

On the plus side, the Blues cast off bleeder David Koci to Tampa Bay via waivers today. Wonder how many “Koci 33″ jerseys the Authentics shop got stuck with on that one…

By Brad Lee and Chris Gift

St. Louis Blues fans have a bond with some players that is difficult to break.

Brendan Shanahan has been gone for more than a decade his jersey is still a common sight at games. Listening to some fans talk about Craig Conroy, you would think he’s a perennial All Star. The number of retired players who live in St. Louis is surprising since a majority of them are from Canada.

During some of these breaks in the schedule this season, I thought it would be interesting to check up on a few former players. And we’re not talking about stars here, but guys fans knew and appreciated but never really became household names. It’s a regular feature we run in the paper edition of Game Time. Here are a few of those in one place, just waiting for your memories and comments.

Sergio Momesso

Now 43, Sergio Momesso played left wing for the Blues from 1988-91 and then again in the 1996-97 season. A Montreal native with an Italian background, big Sergio was a popular guy when he was roving the left wing opposite some guy named Brett Hull. He has an accent thicker than Mississippi River mud, and that was part of his charm. He won a Cup with the Canadiens before coming to St. Louis where he played a total of 222 regular season games and scored 44 goals and 70 assists. He was more of a hitter and protector for Hull. He’ll also be remembered for being included in the six-player deal that was blamed for ruining the chemistry of the 1990-91 season. The trade sent Momesso, Cliff Ronning, Robert Dirk and Geoff Courtnall for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn.

Momesso’s second stint with the Blues was just 31 games. He only scored one goal and three assists, ending his NHL career. He played professionally in Germany for four years before retiring altogether in 2001. Momesso owns a popular Italian restaurant in Montreal called Momesso’s Caffe’.

Momesso was in the news in January when his home outside Montreal was broken into and his 1986 Stanley Cup ring was stolen along with some of his game-worn jerseys from Montreal, Vancouver and one from St. Louis that was signed by Hull. Police said nothing else was taken. If you return the items now, no hard feelings.

Philippe Bozon

Another left wing for St. Louis, Philippe Bozon is a legend in his home country of France. He played in 144 games for the Blues 1991-1995 and turns 42 at the end of this month. He’ll gladly accept snails for the occasion.

Bozon was signed as a free agent during the early 90’s, when the NHL took on an extremely European feel to it. Bozon was the first Frenchman to play in the league. Montreal’s Cristobal Huet is the only other French-bred (not French bread) person to play in the NHL. He was assigned to the checking line when he arrived. French people generally speaking aren’t very good at being physical, so needless to say Bozon’s four seasons here left a little bit to be desired.

Every once in a while, Bozon would be put on Brett Hull’s line and he didn’t exactly set the world on fire while there. His numbers with the Blues in those 144 games were 16 goals, and 25 assists with 101 penalty minutes. He managed two goals in playoff games with 31 penalty minutes.

The 1993-1994 season was Bozon’s best, with nine goals and 16 assists. Those 25 points tied him for sixth best on the team with Vitali Prokhorov- talk about a name from the past. St. Louis was Bozon’s only stop in the NHL. He played the rest of his career in Europe, playing in both Germany and Sweden. He also played in the Olympics for France four times, scoring a hat trick in 1998 in the 11th-place game against Italy.

He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Hall of Fame in 2008 based on his international play and his trailblazing for the French in the NHL. His induction class included Igor Larionov and some guy named Mario Lemieux. One of these things is not like the other.

Marc Bergevin

It’s good to be friends with the coach.

Marc Bergevin, a retired defenseman, was named an assistant coach for the Blackhawks early this season when Joel Quenneville was tabbed for the head coaching job in Chicago. Bergevin, 43, had been Coach Q’s boss as director of pro scouting for the Hawks.

Bergevin was one of those Blues players to have two stints with the team. He broke into the league in 1984-85 at age 19 in Chicago. The defenseman was never blessed with good puck skills. He only topped 20 points in a season once in his career. But was it a long career. The guy probably ended up just keeping a moving truck parked in the driveway. He changed teams 11 times before he retired after 2003-04. He not only played twice for the Blues, but he pulled the same feat with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh - a team he played for three different times with stops elsewhere in the league. He scored 181 points in 1,191 career games.

Other than being Mario Lemieux’s personal caddy and being known as a locker room crack up at every stop in his career, Bergevin is probably best known (at least in St. Louis) for throwing a puck in his own net during the 2000 playoffs for the Blues. I guess there are worst things to be remembered for, like being a serial killer.

Herb Raglan

Herb Raglan was a right winger for the Blues from 1985-1991. In the days of Bob Probert, “Rags” was a highly touted “next Bob Probert.” He was drafted in the second round (37 overall). While never materializing into Probert, on or off the ice, Rags did have a few productive- relatively speaking- seasons for the Blues.

During the famous 1990-1991 season, Raglan was shipped to Quebec along with Tony Twist and somebody named Andy Rymsha for another tough guy, and future River Otter, Darin Kimble. Raglan also suited up with Tampa Bay and Ottawa before calling it a career. He finished his time in St. Louis with 235 games played, 26 goals, 39 assists, 65 points and 571 penalty minutes. He saw action in 32 playoff games with three goals, six assists and fifty penalty minutes.

Raglan, 41, has retired to Peterborough, Ontario. He and his wife, Tammy, recently opened the King Street Market, at the corner of King and Park Streets in Peterborough. The market features homemade sausage, meats and fish, with almost all of it made on site. He was somewhat of a butcher with the puck, so it’s only fitting he’s a butcher of meat now.

By Brad Lee

Apparently the plan to corner the market on Johnsons last year (Erik, Mike, Ryan) failed. So instead, the Blues are acquiring players with acronymns. Introducing forward BJ Crombeen who the Blues picked up on waivers from Dallas on Tuesday. He’s the son of Mike Crombeen who played for the Blues from 1978-83.

In addition to BJ, the Blues have a DJ and a TJ. And many fans on the Internets say they have a KT and an EJ too. Holy alphabet soup, AM (Andy Murray). We’re surprised the Blues made this announcement seeing as how BJ is such a VIP. Shouldn’t they have kept the PC on the QT? ‘Cause if it leaks to the VC he could end up MIA, and then they’d all be put out in KP.

For the record, the younger Crombeen has played in 15 games for the Stars this season with one goal, four assists and 26 penalty minutes. Add him into the mix for third and fourth line consideration. And the conventional wisdom that had Steve Regier, who scored twice in his season debut Sunday night, recalled from Peoria for Friday’s game is now in doubt.

So commenters, do you like the BJ or do you dislike the BJ? Tell us. Just please don’t show us.

By Brad Lee

For the second time in this tumultuous 2008-09 season, the St. Louis Blues defied prevailing logic and decided against forfeiting the rest of their games. For some reason, they’re not ready to give in even though it seems every break (literally) is going against the Blues. First it was Erik Johnson shredding his knee playing golf. Now this.

The team reported Monday that center Andy McDonald has a broken bone in his ankle and that it’s possible he has other damage to the joint. They have no idea when he might be able to return from the injury. The Blues set an arbitrary timetable of eight weeks. Minimum. McDonald was skating hard into the corner and lost an edge. He fell Sunday awkwardly into the boards, skate first late in the opening period of a 3-2 shutout loss to Montreal. His left foot jammed against the boards, bending back towards his shin, said team president John Davidson. An MRI was performed to see the extent of the injury. Surgery is unlikely, according to the team.

During the weekly podcast on the Blues Web site hosted by Chris Kerber, the radio voice of the Blues, Davidson described the impact of McDonald’s injury on the team and the sense that they can’t escape the injury bug as an organization.

“He was playing extremely well. When we went into the season we felt pretty excited with the fact that we had three lines that could score goals. And we knew every now and again that we would have some trouble keeping the puck out of our own net as we continue to grow our franchise in all areas. But now with Kariya and Oshie and Andy McDonald, it just keeps going on and on here. We’ve got to find a way to stop this.”

During the interview, Davidson mentioned calling up players from Peoria. He didn’t mention the likelihood of a possible trade or signing a veteran free agent still looking for a job a month into the season.

“It’s frustrating in that we’re playing hard. Even last night we were playing one of the better teams in the league in Montreal. Then you lose McDonald, you don’t have a group of players that already injured. And we had at least three players that were playing pretty banged up and really put forth a pretty good effort. It’s tough,” Davidson said on the Bluescast. “I hope somebody upstairs puts a smile on their face and changes our luck.”

One effect of McDonald’s injury was a mish-mash of forward line combinations after the first period. I started to wonder if newcomers Cam Paddock and Steve Regier were having to introduce themselves to their line mates as the hopped over the dasher boards. “Hi, I’m Steve. I’ll be your winger for the next 40 seconds.”

When the Blues take the ice Friday night, there’s little chance the David Perron, Lee Stempniak, Erik Patrik Berglund line will be split up. Over the last two weeks, they’ve been the most effective line for the team. There is a strong chance Brad Boyes, Keith Tkachuk and the hopefully-healed Paul Kariya will be reunited on a line. At the beginning of last season, the BTK line was a killer combination sparking the Blues to a strong first half of the season. The only downside would be Tkachuk playing center full-time, a more strenuous position requiring more skating and effort defensively.

When coach Andy Murray spoke to Kerber on the Bluescast, he was sympathetic to McDonald’s plight, but obviously doesn’t want anyone on the team to feel sorry for themselves.

“We didn’t really discuss Andy’s injury. He’s no longer available to us. Great guy, great player but he’s not part of the equation now. It’s up to the guys who are here,” Murray said. “No question he’s been our best player from day one of training camp, even if you look at preseason scoring and regular season contributions he was making. But it was more than that. It was also his work ethic. But again, he’s not available so we’ve got to have other guys step up.”

The Blues have almost a full week to get back up to speed before Anaheim comes calling on Friday. It will be the debut of the new third jersey for the Blues. The McDonald injury clouds the near and long-term future of this team. I’ll talk more about that later this week.

By Sean Gallagher

During the post-game press conference this evening, head coach Andy Murray confirmed that the Blues’ bad luck this year will, indeed continue. Team scoring leader Andy McDonald is out indefinitely with a fractured leg.

More information will follow after McDonald has a formal examination with team doctors in the coming days.

McDonald, who is in the last year of his current contract, was leading the Blues with 18 points (6g, 12a). He was getting over 20 minutes of icetime per game.

In related news, Murray also announced that it was likely that Paul Kariya would return to the lineup for Friday’s game against Anaheim.

By Chris Gift

Nothing beats sitting down on a Sunday afternoon/evening for a hockey game. Especially when the local football team is over two months in to their season and still talks about both of their wins.

As per most home games, most GT staffers are at the game, so here is the thread, and a great picture of Youppi.

A few quick things to note about tonight’s contest:

- Montreal has looked awful in their last two games, losing 6-1 in Boston on Thursday, and 2-1 last night at home to Philadelphia.

- Look for Carey Price to be in goal for the Habs. Jaroslav Halak played last night.

- Heavyweight Champion Georges Laraque visits tonight, perhaps a bout with David Koci is in our future.

- Sacre Bleu (or more accurately) “sacrebleu” is literally translated to “sacred blue,” a reference to the Virgin Mary. It is used instead of swearing, and has fallen out of common usage in French vernacular in recent times.

- Fuck Detroit, which we prefer, is a reference to the entire Detroit area. We use it whenever possible, and highly recommend saying it. Not only is it profane, but it also keeps Mary out of it. 

By Sean Gallagher

We couldn’t think of a better way to get everyone ready for our favorite Francophones than to run this movie produced by three Canadiens fans. Poorly acted, poorly edited and poorly executed. Even the faux play-by-play is horrid. Let’s hope their team plays as badly as this:

And no, you can’t have your four minutes back.

By Brad Lee

Blues lead 3-12. Big period coming up. Seriously, I meant 3-2.

Hey, we just had a technical snafu. Don’t know how, but the second period post was above this one. And I know at least one comment disappeared, from new commenter Sodbuster. Try again. Dunno what happened.

17:19 Hawks goal. Tied 3-3. I step away for a minute and this is what happens?

15:40 Kane-Toews line gets a lot of attention. Perron line buzzing again. Nice.

14:52 I can’t believe they think Buffalogin can play forward. He’s slow as snot.

14:15 Hawks hit Legace in the chest. Good imitation of Jamal Mayers. “Good save by Manny Legace,” Federko said. No rebound, sure. But he got hit in the chest.

Got a text from Tim at the South County Hooters. Says the Internet access isn’t working. Too much intereference or something. I thought radio waves went through silicone.

13:05 Shot off the shoulder of Brewer above Legace. Rebound almost was trouble, but it went wide.

12:25 McDonald thought he had a breakaway. Duncan Keith broke it up. Sounds like an 80s rocker name. Was he in Poison or Cinderella or something?

11:11 Berglund falls down like he was hit by a tazer. Not that I would know what that would be like in person. Allegedly.

10:31 Khabibulin is a checking defenseman. He took Walt out in the corner. How is that not intereference on him? And Federko just agreed.

And if I seemed slow on some of this, I just realized I had paused the DVR at some point and was a good couple minutes behind live action. So know I know what Bob Plager sees after half a bottle of scotch.

What am I saying? I meant on his second bottle.

Los Bri, he mentioned the Committed Indian paper I am offering via e-mail.

8:30 Blues power play coming if Hawks ever touch it.

8:15 The Blues are on their fifth power play? Really? I guess the one-minute jobber is in there. Doesn’t seem like they’ve had the advantage that much. Oh wait, they gave up the shorty.

7:27 Perron with a risky move in traffic and Hawks clear. He needs to find space, not Hawks players.

6:40 Hawks doing a good job pinning the Blues against the boards.

Now St. Louis holding puck in well.

6:00 Big kill for Chicago. Fun game.

5:33 TV timeout was needed if they’re playing the Cam Cam line.

I love the Chicago organ’s sound. Too bad both teams have buildings with less character than their old ones.

5:11 Cam Cam line out again? WTF?

4:41 Chicago apparently has an Eric Johnson. I did not know that. He doesn’t look very big.

4:00 Our Johnson is so big, he putts out from his hospital bed.

3:33 Sharp had the backdoor all to himself, and the puck jumped past him. Damn, that was close.

2:46 Boyes stopped on the backhand…and there’s a Chicago penalty???? Wow. Wait, Tkachuk is going off? Chicago had the puck? “You gotta be kidding me,” Federko said. I agaree.

2:36 Hawks’ sixth power play. So I guess home team gets last chance.

And the Hawks once again hold the puck in. Even when it comes out, only one guy changed.

1:50 Everyone is dropping their sticks. Then during a scrum, two players held down Toews like they were going to brand him. Intense stuff.

1:15 Puck cleared. And it’s Aaron Johnson? John Kelly on the FSN said Eric. Or Erik. Sorry, Hawks fan.

:42 Full strength. Nice.

Bad bounce almost cost the Hawks.

END OF REGULATION, tied 3-3.

Stay here for overtime, won’t you? The other Blues-Hawks game went to the shootout before some rookie (Go for Osh) scored the game winner for the Blues.

Tim talked with Angellllla at the Hooters. She’s getting the ok from her boss to answer my interview questions. I could have just texted her, but I thought it would be much creepier to have Tim talk to her for me.

4:27 Bouncing puck on Legace who smothers it. Lots of bounces there in Chicago. That kind of scares me.

3:53 PENALTY???? Blues get the power play after McDonald fell down from a hook. WEAK. Stick was in there, but he hardly touched him. Federko predicts goal. Thanks for the jinx, prick.

3:30 FOUR FORWARDS ON THE ICE ALMOST LEADS TO A SHORTY BREAKAWAY. Where did I put those high blood pressure pills???

2:45 MCDONALD WINS IT WITH THE BIG SHOT!

And that’s how you shut the fuck up 21,000 people. And I already admitted it was a bullshit penalty.

Fun, fun game.

As a guy who has written about the Blues here or on that other site six days a week for more than a month, that game is almost gratifying. Holy crap. I’m almost relieved instead of elated.

Next Hawks game in St. Louis, I’m going to be there no matter what. Should be an interesting rematch. Too bad it’s not until January. I have no idea if they go back to Chicago in between.

MatthewK.

damn..

that was a fun game.. I hate overtime

I can understand that sentiment. Don’t be a stranger, Hawk fan.

We had a big turnout tonight. Thanks to everyone who stopped by.

See you later figure skaters.

By Brad Lee

Just wanted to make sure everyone saw one of the last comments in the first period post.

MatthewK.

Hey - I’m part of those assholes from Chicago who sometimes comment on your site.

What the fuck is going on in this game? We may be down 3-1 on the scoreboard.. but we’re up 3-1 on the fight card.

I’d say the Hawks are 2-1 with a draw. That Janssen fight doesn’t count.

Hey Mr. Blues Fan In Sweden, try www.justin.tv and look under the sports heading. Don’t know if it works outside the U.S. or not. It worked for me in Seattle last weekend, and that’s practically Canada.

By the way, anyone wanting the copy of the Committed Indian for tonight (the Hawks’ fan-run paper sold at games), send me a note at gtbradlee@gmail.com and I’ll get it to you. Everyone who has responded has gotten one.

Third sweater on sale Wednesday. They debut Saturday nigth.

19:00 Blues with some hop in their step early in the second. Hopefully they still play some good offense and don’t start protecting the lead already.

18:00 Perron with the mini spinorama, backhand pass to a cutting Berglund. Sweet play, no goal. That’s the creativity I want to keep seeing from him. He created space, protected the puck and made an excellent pass.

16:30 McKee goes down to block a pass. That was worth about $500,000 based on his salary this year.

15:37 Perron, Berglund, Stempniak line playing well. Berglund put one on net. Perron goes skates first into Khabibulin. That will make him many friends in the Windy City. Hawks penalty. Seabrook. For once the announcers are paying attention. Which is nice. They just now realized Backes got a game misconduct.

14:45 I haven’t given Brewer much shit tonight. With him as kind of the lone point man on the power play with the umbrella formation, his passes are so fucking slow. No crispness at all.

13:55 Bolland with the shorthanded goal. Legace looked like he made the save, but it trickled in off the post and the back of his leg. Fuck. Score is now 3-2 Blues.

I’m shocked it wasn’t Sharp.

And according to the comments, people in Sweden can figure shit out. You know why that is? It comes from putting all that Ikea furniture together.

12:50 That’s something you don’t see every night. Instead of tripping and falling over the blue line, Brewer did it on the end red line.

10:45 I’ve counted at least two really weird bounces that almost hurt the Blues so far tonight.

McKee is going off for holding. As Federko noticed, McKee tried the, “I’m raising my hands so I can’t possibly be holding him so don’t blow the whistle on me” move to no avail.

8:26 Blues taking another penalty. That comes from holding the puck in the Blues’ end for about half an hour. This is the second time tonight the Hawks just wore the St. Louis penalty killers down. And Murray takes the timeout before the three second 5-3.

Can’t wait for the big Mizzou basketball game vs. Prairie View A&M. I’m trembling with anticipation. Or I need another beer. One or the other.

8:04 About six players ended up prone on the ice as the puck was loose in front. Legace was flailing and the Blues decided taking guys out like they were Secret Service agents guarding the President.

7:32 And the referees get all accountant on us, trying to even the ledger. It will be four on four for about a minute.

6:55 Perron in all alone…shot it wide. Some shake and bake moves there.

6:32 Legace with the glove save from his backside. He tried the little flourish, but the ref thought about making him drop it. Then thought better of it.

5:10 Hawks skating really well right now with the Toews, Kane, Sharp line. Blues look a little winded.

2:21 Wow. Perron skated up the middle, drew the defenders, made a move with the puck, looked like he was going to shovel it on net, passed at the very last moment to Berglund. I don’t think the big Swede was ready for it. Keep them together long enough and that’s a goal.

Brent Sopel in the box for the Hawks.

2:00 Berglund and Perron played their way onto the first power play unit. Nice.

1:21 Brewer got a shot through. And then a Hawks player fell down fanning on a shot. Awesome.

1:04 Boyes gets a chance. Khabibulin flops on his but. Somehow endes up on the puck. They play dumb Tetris-like Russian music for the goaltender. Weak.

:20 Kelly said Perron has been playing like a man possessed tonight. Thanks for paying attention, buddy.

END OF PERIOD

Blues still lead 3-2. No goals, no fights, but still some interesting play. HUGE third period coming up. I’ll let you know whent he post is up.

By Brad Lee

Wanted to get the thread up early. Game time is 7:30 CST. Game is on the FSN. No HD, those cheap bastards. We welcome followers of all denominations, so if any stray Hawks fans show up, I hope they join in the reindeer games in the comments.

Here’s the Yahoo! preview.

Drop your predictions and such before the puck drop.

BONUS: As you might know, there is a paper version of Game Time that we sell outside Blues games. We were insipired by the godfather of underground publishing, Jeffio, who ran the Game Night Revue for 10 years. That drunkard was inspired by the Blue Line, a fan-run publication sold outside Hawks games because this other drunkard wanted an outlet to cuss out the then-owner Dollar Bill Wirtz. I said all that to say this: There’s a new fan-run publication in Chicago called The Committed Indian. This is their first season and the crazy dude who is doing it sent us the pdf version of their paper tonight. I think he’s been brave enough to comment a few times around here. If you’d like to see what the fans are reading about the Blues tonight in Chicago, drop me a line at gtbradlee@gmail.com and I’ll forward your way.

We’ll be back closer to game time…here at Game Time.

19:47 And we’re off to a flying start. Offsides.

17:25 Legace with a decent save.

17:13 Stempniak on the doorstep. Couldn’t get a shot.

17:04 Mini breakaway. Legace makes the stop. Too much happening. Can’t type fast enough. Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up meth.

16:12 MCDONALD! A shorty! Doing his best Patrick Sharp impersonation. 1-0 St. Louis.

A first period lead? Really?

I would like to point out that before the season on my player rankings, I rated McDonald the most important player on the team.

HEY TIM AT HOOTERS. Tell Angellla Brad says hi and then ask if she’ll be able to answer my interview questions.

14:15 Apparently the Blues penalty is over. It’s hard to see the screen when a 3 year old keeps pointing at the screen to her friend Barret Jackman.

13:45 PERRON SCORES!!!!! What. The. Fuck. 2-0 St. Louis, with two goals in two games for Frenchy. Khabibulin is Russian for “Soft Like Cheese Clothe.”

Apparently John Davidson on TV is bad luck. 2-1 Blues.

And the score and time are invisible. Backes just had his second chance and then anarchy ruled. Apparently Woywitka is pissed he’s not in Peoria anymore.

SOMETIME DURING THE GAME Davidson had to step in and mention there’s a Blues power play. Hopefully Davidson can give Federko some tips or something.

AT SOME POINT TONIGHT Davidson declares the Hawks-Blues rivalry is back during a pushing match. Tkachuk tried forcing the puck in. Hawks took umbrage. I smell fisticuffs.

10:45 “I thought it was a decision that could go either way,” Kelly said about the Pietrangelo decision. Davidson said, and I’m paraphrasing here: I’m not going to say you’re wrong, but you’re wrong.

9:35 CAM PADDOCK SCORES!!!! Who? 3-1 Blues? Is he related to Cam Neely? And I hate seeing No. 65. Holy crap. Whatever kind of coffee they replaced in the dressing room before the game, buy more.

And Woywitka and Seabrook dropped the gloves. Jeffrey, hold on for dear life.

That’s going to leave a mark.

Commercial: “We owed the IRS more than $3 million…and we payed less than $1 million.” Hey dumb bitch, it’s people like you who are ruining the economy for this country. Thanks for doing your part — a nation down.

Backes and Barker drop the gloves while we watch Tkachuk junior score a hat trick. And Barker will not be recongized by his boyfriend after the game.

I bet Cam Janssen is pissed he hasn’t danced yet.

8:42 Walt drops the glove with Buffalogin or however the hell you spell his name. And there’s a reason Walt doesn’t drop much anymore. He got hurt in a fight with Phaneuf last year. Walt got the extra 2 minutes? WTF?

7:40 Hawks holding the puck in forever on the power play.

Too bad Oshie is hurt. Would love to see a fight with him and Toews.

6:25 Penalty over.

So maybe the rivalry is back…

5:24 So Janssen was so raring to go, he forgot to throw punches. He fights Eager and it’s over quickly with the takedown. Fourth fight of the first period.

So if Legace and Khabibulin go, who wins? And yes, Legace is allowed a step stool.

4:52 Legace cleaned up a rebound. He hasn’t been challenged much besides the goal, but he looks steadier than he did two nights ago.

2:23 High-priced free agent defenseman Brian Campbell pinches in. He has 0 penalty minutes so far this season.

2:09 Perron on the other hand is in the box right now. I hope he feels shame.

Chris D.

brewer’s shot blocked huh. 

I’ve seen grass grow faster than his release.

:24 Paddock out killing penalties. Interesting.

END OF PERIOD

Blues lead 3-1. Go figure. We’ll let you know when the second period post is up. Thanks for hanging out tonight.