This is perhaps an odd thought to offer up to the coaching staff of the St. Louis Blues. We are making all kinds of assessments about the needs of the club and we are hearing in response from the tight lipped GM that we have all of the tools already on the ice. I am going to have to agree with the GM on this one. The Blues fan in me wants to make two trades, one for Mike Richards (just because he is under-performing) and the other for Jeff Carter (because he is under-performing on a really bad team). Both of those guys know each other and play well together and are probably really pissed about the decision their former team made to move them away for Bryz. This being said, they are both really expensive and we would probably give up quite a bit to get them. I like our current players, our system players (though I still wish we had a little more in the way of depth and I know that isn't a popular opinion). So here goes my ass backwards way of fixing the little problem of who to trade and who to play (based on the hope that everyone is magically healthy before the end of the year).

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There was a brief moment in time that the St. Louis Rams were a good football team. It was only a couple years, but they were one of the best teams in the history of the NFL. It was surprising how fast the Greatest Show On Turf faded away -- almost as surprising as their ascension to the top of the mountain.

In 1995, their first season in St. Louis, they finished 7-9. The next year they won six games. Then five and then in 1998 they won four. It almost cost Dick Vermeil his job after two seasons. That summer they traded for Marshall Faulk, drafted Tory Holt, signed Adam Timmerman and Trent Green. Oh, and had Kurt Warner fall out of the sky. But beyond adding players, they had to change a mindset.

D'Marco Farr was a defensive lineman on that team that won the 1999 Super Bowl, a holdover from Los Angeles. He's now an afternoon host on 101 FM here in St. Louis. He told a story recently that really resonated with me. That summer one of the assistant coaches would drop into team meetings and conversations a simple phrase: Why not the St. Louis Rams? It was an easy question, but a loaded one. Of course the Rams never talked about being Super Bowl contenders, especially heading into that season. They were challenging Cincinnati for the worst record of the 1990s. They weren't contenders. But then, why the hell were guys playing? Was it just for a paycheck? Or did they go through grueling practices in August to get better, to become a winning team? Before they could win anything, they had to believe they could.

Why not the St. Louis Blues? Oh sure, they're not an Original Six team and they've never won a Finals game much less a Cup. They haven't won a playoff game since the spring of 2004. The team has been for sale for months now; they probably can't afford to make much noise at the trade deadline even though its well under the salary cap. But why not the St. Louis Blues?

That history of failing in the playoffs is history. This group of players didn't lose to the Sharks in the first round in 2000. These guys didn't lose Geoff Courtnall and Cliff Ronning in a trade. This squad didn't turn the puck over to Steve Yzerman in the neutral zone in front of Jon Casey. That stuff doesn't affect one damn thing about the 2011-12 St. Louis Blues.

We're now getting into mid-February and the Blues are winning games they probably shouldn't (Hello Devils!). They're dominating teams that are obviously inferior. And they've won their share against the best teams in the league. Why not the St. Louis Blues. It's not a question. It's a statement.

From here to the end of the season, whenever that may be, my new motto is why not the St. Louis Blues. I hope it's yours too. Use it on Twitter. Facebook. Somebody make a damn shirt. It means we're confident, behind our team, and that we have expectations. Hopefully the players feel it too. And it means anything is possible.

You know why we give Wings fans so much shit (other than the fact that they have such thin skin and always react)? We're tired of our team getting pushed around. And now we finally have a team that can push back.

Why not the St. Louis Blues?

Weekend Mom decided to get delayed at the airport so you get some old ass Links vet who is way past him prime, not unlike last night's Devils goaltender. Wait, you mean it wasn't Brodeur that started for them? Meh, the hell with it.

Blues News:

• The Blues did the smart/obvious thing and stated that they aren't in absolute need of making a trade. I'm sure that'll make the other GM's weak at the knees as they ante up their franchise cornerstones to get their hands on a shiny, new Ben Bishop. [Post-Dispatch]
• Friday dawns upon us with the Blues sitting 3 points back of Detroit. [Standings]

NHL News:

• It's reasonable to assume that Mike Babcock won't be tolerant of any Red Wings telling the general public about the universe... [Puck Daddy]
• ...because the Wings/Leafs Winter Classic was officially announced. [TSN]
• Scott Gomez scored. I'll type it again: Scott Gomez scored. [Puck Daddy]
• It's still a while before Deadline Day is here, but it's not too early for someone to start looking for a link to use so we can all waste that day together. So, y'know, someone get to lookin', dammit. [TSN]

Other Stuff:

• From the lore of the Game Time e-mail, BluesFanFromNE sends in the concept of the Bacon Milkshake. If you already knew about this, you needed a reminder. [Yahoo]
• Cracked tackles game show tricks in this entry. [Cracked]

Video:

I've never seen a video of a tortoise eating stuff in fast forward, so I posted a video of a tortoise eating stuff in fast forward. I hope he knows Torty.

Stay tuned for a simple question from Brad Lee.

Gametimelinks (at) gmail.com

It was almost storybook. ALMOST.

The Blues had a lead at 2-1, fell behind 3-2 and tied it up with just under six minutes to play in the third at 3-3. They were scoreless in the overtime. T.J. Oshie did a slow motion move in the shootout to score on the Blues' first attempt. Two saves by Brian Elliott put former Devils captain and really disliked in New Jersey Jamie Langenbrunner on the ice shooting third second for the Blues to win the damn thing. And he got stoned. So Elliott just had to go ahead and stop all three shots he saw in the shootout. Damn fine effort.

The Blues are near the top of the standings. When I make pronouncements about where they are, late games always come back and bite me. I know they're still behind Detroit. But it's a horse race.

Blues come back for games Saturday and Sunday at home. Colorado and then San Jose. Should be a fun little weekend down at the rink.

Gallagher's working on some paper or something, but I've got many bullets, some of them babies. Call them BBs.

• The Blues remain unbeaten in regulation against the Eastern Conference. Any radical realignment by the NHL in the future should take this into account. Thanks.
• T.J. Oshie skated like his hair was on fire tonight.
• Nice to see David Perron with his third goal in two games. The French Canadian had been quiet with zero points in four straight games before this little scoring binge. If Perron can get going, we can kind of forget some of the scoring problems.
• Passing. The Blues are struggling right now passing the puck. I'm not talking about the turnovers (Alex Pietrangelo, clearing the puck up the middle of the ice is something you learned not to do when you were 10). I'm talking about players getting the puck in their skates or just out of their reach. Next game watch how many awkward positions players are having to contort into to accept the puck. To me, that's a big part of the scoring problem.
• Did the Devils make a huge mistake building their arena in Newark? No wonder they're going bankrupt, the attendance looks horrible. According to ESPN, the Devils are drawing an average of 15,113 at an 85 percent capacity. I'll put money on the under if Thursday night is any indication.
• Huge power play after Chris Porter bled on a boarding call. Unfortunately the five minute major was only four minutes because of a Blues penalty, but it's not like they had a ton of good chances with the man advantage.
• Darren Pang, a tiny goaltender in his day, had a long dissertation on goaltender interference after David Backes was pushed with two arms into Johan Hedberg. Backes was called for interference. Yes, it had to be bullshit for a goalie at heart to say there's no way Backes interfered with a fellow netminder.
• The lines got shuffled. A lot. Often even.
• I believe we saw the first goaltender change of the Ken Hitchcock era. After Jaroslav Halak gave up his third and the lead, Hitchcock went to the bullpen and Brian Elliott was All-Star quality stopping every shot he faced in regulation and the overtime.

A win on the road? In the shootout? Well I think that might be cause for some celebration. How you feeling? Let us know down below.

Welcome to tonight's Game Day Thread. If I do things right, and I'm not Brad Lee so I should, this will be the only GDT for today.

So tonight the Blues continue on the road, this time the Blues will be visiting old friend Cam Janssen and the New Jersey Devils. Janssen, if you haven't heard because you don't pay attention, was born and raised in Eureka, Mo. rooting on the Blues. When the Blues were shitty, they got the local boy to give the fans someone to cheer on. As the Blues got better, the need for the Neanderthalic Janseen all but disappeared. This summer the Blues (correctly) realized that Ryan Reaves can fight just as well as Cam and can actually skate with the puck on his stick. With that, Cam went back to Jersey. He hasn't played much, but he'll probably be in the lineup tonight for the Jaroslav Halak/Brian Elliott effect. Then again, I could've just wasted a ton of words on a healthy scratch.

The Devils are a team we don't see much around these parts, but a team we talk about often. There are some in the comments section, and in my GChats (Hi Nate), who talk often about the pipe dream of landing Zach Parise. He's pretty good. Also good? Ilya Kovalchuk. His contract is insane, but he's probably the best Russian in the NHL right now (Sorry Datsyuk fans, I'm a fan of goal scorers. Please don't come here and tell me I'm wrong. It's my opinion.)

Anyway, the Devils are an Eastern Conference team which is good for the Blues. St. Louis is 10-0-2 against the (L)Eastern Conference (did you catch what I did there? F---ing clever.). Alas, this is also a road game—the Blues are 9-11-3 away from home—so you just never know what's gonna happen.

Here are the keys to the game, at least in my eyes

• Score first and score early. It worked well against Ottawa.
• Jaro needs to be good Jaro.
• Don't play as shitty as they did for most of the Ottawa game.
• Know that, while still good, Martin Brodeur is not invincible.

This is your Game Day Thread. Comment like you're Cam Janssen chirping during a fight.

Alternate ending: Comment like you still hate Lou Lamoriello and Judge Edward J. Houston.

Tonight the Blues stay in the Eastern Conference and take on the Devils. Unfortunately, these Devils are going to present a tougher challenge than the Sens did. They are one of the hottest teams going right now. Scoring a couple of goals early, like Tuesday, will help a lot. Hell, scoring goals -period- is a big bonus. No matter what happens, the Blues need to stand tall, take what the Devils dish out, and keep coming at 'em.

I Won't Back Down / Johnny Cash

Musical note: as much as I enjoy the Tom Petty original, no one sings this with as much conviction as The Man In Black.

The Enemy: This is probably the worst time to be pulling into East Rutherford, NJ to play the Devils. They are on a hell of a hot streak, having won 5 in a row including 2 against the current Conference-leading NY Rangers. In 4 of those games, NJ scored 4 or more goals. In the last 10 games, their record is 7-2-1. Their PK is second in the league, killing 88.7% of opponent power plays.

No surprise, the players to watch are familiar names Ilya Kovalchuk (10 pts in the last 5 games), Patrik Elias (currently riding a 6-game point streak) and Zach Parise (also on a 6-game point streak). Add to that David Clarkson, who has 5 goals in the last 5 games. Suffice it to say, their offense is clicking right now. Also, one new player to watch out for is rookie center Adam Henrique (13G/ 21A), who is one of the leading candidates for the Calder Trophy this year.

As for goaltending, the venerable Martin Brodeur has put up a stat line of .899 SV% and 2.66 GAA. According to the Twitterverse, backup netminder Johan Hedberg will likely get the start tonight. His numbers are .909% / 2.52.

Further Reading:

In Lou We Trust

Blues vs Devils coverage

Final Verse: An early start once again, as the puck drops at 6:00 PM St Louis time. The broadcasts are on the usual outlets, Fox Sports MW for TV and KMOX 1120 AM for radio. Until then, this is your pregame warmup. Gather here, vent just one more time about the Stevens deal, laugh at the redonkulous Kovalchuk contract, and enjoy this two-for-one special, as two fights broke out at the same time in NJ's last game with the Rangers:

Eric Boulton vs Brandon Prust & Cam Janssen vs Michael Rupp Feb 7, 2012 (via hockeyfightsdotcom)

LGB!

-CrossCheckRaise

If you've been on any of the message boards or NHL rumor sites or other Blues sites then you've seen the rumors: The Blues are looking for an offensive upgrade (some say scorer, I say playmaker). In exchange, they are willing to give up Patrik Berglund, Chris Stewart and Ben Bishop.

Here's why that won't happen.

Under the current ownership group and the reign of John Davidson as president, the Blues have made only a few trades that were not of the Sellers-At-The-Deadline variety. Among them:

• Trading Doug Weight to Anaheim for Andy McDonald (2007)
• Acquiring Carlo Colaiacovo and Alexander Steen from Toronto for Lee Stempniak (2008)
• Acquiring Jaroslav Halak from Montreal for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz (2010)
• Acquiring Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk along with a 2nd rd pick from Colorado for Jay McClement, Erik Johnson and a 1st rd pick (2011)

The common element of every one of these trades is that the Blues traded away assets of value. Better said, they traded away assets that were at their highest value. The rule to playing the stock market, and the NHL Trading Game, is to buy low and sell high. When a stock (player) is at his highest value, sell (trade) it. When the value goes down, the other guy is stuck with it. Likewise, buy (acquire) a stock (player) when the other guy has given up on it. When the value (player) explodes, so does your gain.

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