It's metaphorical. The whole idea of spring cleaning - taking stock of what you have, whether necessary or not, more than enough or not - holds true to the end of any sports season. It's a pain, it's messy, it's emotional, it's overwhelming. But it's necessary to move forward, to grow up, to get better and to find that awesome pair of shoes that have been hiding in the back of your closet.
So, maybe I'm not strictly talking about hockey here, but in my mind a hockey team is a wonderful wardrobe. The metaphor works - trust me.

Blues News:

I didn't really find anything.

Hockey News:

• Patrick Warburton is best known as the voice of Kronk in The Emperor's New Groove. But he had another role, a role few people remember - Puddy. [WSJ]
• Yes. Another name I can't pronounce playing for the team in the city in which I live. [All Things Avalanche]
• Good. Grief. ENOUGH WITH THE SUTER TALK. [KuklasKorner]
• Nail Yakupov. Awesome name. Deserves more than Edmonton. [Five Minutes for Fighting]
• CBA negotiations. I like the idea of Bryzgalov as a poster child for long contracts, but aren't you forgetting Christian Ehrhoff? Yes, you are. [Down Goes Brown]
• BREAKING NEWS: Evgeni Malkin can score goals. [Puck Daddy]
• Little people playing hockey -- it's so cute. [Buzzing the Net]

Beer related thing of the Day:

This site at one point existed. It doesn't anymore. "Love Beer And Hockey? This is your site! From Lager to Jagr.. grab and pint and stop on by, we're here for YOU!" [Beer And Hockey]

Video:

Everything about this hurts.

Gametimelinks [at] gmail.com

So much, let's just jump in.

Blues News:

• Aww, Shattenkirk gets a little hometown love. [Greenwich Post]
• The Blues play-by-play men are under contract for next season - discuss your thoughts. [Post Dispatch]

Hockey News:

• Another reason minor league sports are great to support. The creativity and FUN they have with things. There are puns that are golden, free stuff for spelling "Setoguchi," just the creativity. [SB Nation: MN]
• This "oldest" hockey player looks suspiciously like Tyler. [Montreal Gazette]
• Everyone needs and ESPN link. It keeps the smile muscles limber. [ESPN]
• No more USA. No more Canada. No more - excuse me as I sob. [Lighthouse Hockey]
• I'd be more surprised if Cowhered doesn't say something that incites hate from one group of Americans. Moving on . . . [Awful Announcing]
• I don't think it's wrong that I hit someone who kept missing Kopitar's most beautiful goal. Not in the slightest. [Puck Daddy]
• Who doesn't love a good Zach Parise story? [The Globe and Mail]
• There's no way you're not quoting "Cool Runnings" today. Shoot, Ann and I quoted during mile 5 of our half marathon last month for no reason. [Puck Daddy]
• Yeah, I don't like the name or the logo for the new CHL Denver Cutthroats. [Mile High Hockey]
• I know ALL about the Kings - Mike Bibby, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, Hedo Turkoglu, Brad Miller, the Maloof brothers. OH, THE LA KINGS, yeah, I got nothing. [Puck Daddy]

Beer AND health thing of the day.

• Now that there isn't hockey, it seems that our little community starts running a little more. It's an odd summer phenomenon. So why not sign up for this 4K beer run? [TapNRun]

Video:

New Zealand ice hockey players perform the Haka. Don't know what the Haka is? It's a Maori war dance generally performed rugby matches. It's nightmare inducing.

See? I'm glad it's still morning. Also, the thumb across the neck gesture tells the opponent there is zero respect for the opponent - usually the All Blacks save that for the French.

gametimelinks [at] gmail.com

Finally, we're a little bit removed from the end of the sweep by the Los Angeles Kings. And seeing them rush out to a 2-0 series lead against the Phoenix Coyotes, I'm starting to not feel so bad.

Maybe the Kings are who everyone thought they were in September. Maybe they just needed a new coach with no personality who looks like he has permanent bitter beer face. All I'm trying to say is the Kings are really good and obviously deserved to win that series.

Still, it stings. Expectations are a fluid thing. At the beginning of the year, I think most fans would have been happy with a feisty team making the playoffs. When they fired Davis Payne, just making the playoffs seemed like a distant goal. And then the players starting drinking the Ken Hitchcock Kool-Aid and suddenly things changed. The Blues climbed the standings, they jumped over Chicago and Nashville and Detroit. They held the top spot in the West for awhile. They were in the President's Trophy running until the final weekend of the season.

Unequivocally, the regular season was a success. Give them an A. They were the best defensive team in the league. Special teams got to be pretty good. They became an opportunistic team with the best goaltender tandem in the league. I think the number of penalties they took during the year should have been a foreshadowing of what could go wrong in the playoffs, something that helped sink the ship against the Kings. They had some balanced scoring, but not an overabundance of scoring. But think about a year ago at this time. No playoffs. Think about two years ago at this time. No playoffs. Even three years ago at this time, the Blues had made the playoffs and then ended up being the first team eliminated with four straight losses to Vancouver. That sounds like progress. But was it enough?

If you look at the cogs on this team, they all saw many things they've never seen before. Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk now know what it's like to help take over a playoff game, control the flow, shake hands as the victor and then become the targets of heat-seeking missiles wearing the other team's jersey. T.J. Oshie had his best professional season. That was not his best series against L.A. David Backes has a year as captain under his belt. David Perron knows he can still play in this league. Andy McDonald knows he can still be a game changer much less a series changer. Patrik Berglund took two steps back in the regular season, rode McDonald's coattails in the first round and then struggled again in the second round. Chris Stewart needs to find himself.

Then there's the curious case of Brian Elliott struggling against the Kings and Jaroslav Halak looking like a passenger and then a vital player when he wasn't available. Lots of twists and turns in this season.

Ken Hitchcock is teaching this group of players how to win. He melded together a squad that couldn't get the job done a year ago into a team that went into the second round as the favorites to win the Cup according to Vegas odds makers (oops). And for all the good things that happened this season, it still sucks that it ended how it did with a sweep.

You know the movie the Matrix where Cypher is back on the ship and wants to give Morpheus and the gang up to the machines and he answers the phone when Trinity calls. And he says all he has to do is pull the plug, but she has to watch Switch die. And with that realization, Switch, standing over a fallen comrade, looks up at the camera and says. "Not like this." And then she falls over lifeless. I was prepared for the Blues to lose in the playoffs. I wasn't prepared for them to be humbled and broken and swept by the Kings. Not like this indeed.

Making the second round of the playoffs, that's an A. Getting swept takes some points away. Playoff grade...B-. Harsh, but like I said, expectations are fluid.

How about you? Do the Blues deserve one overall grade? One for the regular season and one for the playoffs? What letter would you give them?

My nights are so boring now a days... I have no puck to watch, unless you count the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs. But honestly I could care less about who is left. No team is really exciting to me and I have no desire to continue watching Quick mind fuck us all... its a wound that is still to fresh.

So that leaves my nights free to wallow away and attempt to fill the empty spot left by the blues with ice cream and an intense Gilmore Girls marathon... its like an intense break up that I am in the early stages of getting over.

Come back to me my dear blues I seriously won't ever hurt you like that again!

Now for the depressed RBR links:

Blues News:

• Not much out there but this was a really cool read with our Boy Shatty. (Greenwich Post)
• Bleacher Report gives us an A-... I can take that. (Bleacher Report)
• Can Tommy Stillman get shit done in St. Louis? Hope so cause damn we deserve it Tom. (STLToday)

According to every scouting report, Vladimir Tarasenko is at least twice as good as Evgeni Malkin. And by scouting report, I mean "comments on Facebook by guys who watched his shootout move on Youtube."

The question on everyone's mind (besides how he can stick handle like he's got the puck on a string) is WHEN. When will Tarasenko come to North America and make Alex Ovechkin look like Vitali Karamnov?

I've stolen a page from Tarasenko's diary weighing the pros and cons of coming to the NHL. (Although my friend Doug insists I call it a "journal.") I'm going to post it below as if I found it, but I really just ripped off Puck Daddy's translation and used it as my own.

Continue reading this post »

Flick is off stuck in an endless cycle tending to a boom pole and very little sleep...

That sounds a little wrong... eh.

SO while he is off recording sound on some set that I will never see I am here for you, the people... of Gametime... are we really people here? I ponder these things at very awkward times. I really need to stop doing that... or not.

I now shall move forward cause really this is just starting to sound very rambly and like I have been hit in the head or something of that nature... Seriously is it time for Blues hockey to be back yet???

Onward with the Links of the Robot!

Blues News:

• Interesting read on our future Russian Stallion... dog... what animal best associates with a russian??? (KMOV)
• If you haven't heard yet the blues have been purchased by local boy Tom Stillman... aka The Blackhawks Fans new drinking partner... seriously jealous of that dick... but not his dick... oh shit I give up... (STLToday)
• The Komen Race for the Cure is coming up soon... here is all the info you need to join the Blues "Team"! (Missouri Sports Mag)

By Brian Weidler, "Game Time" Prospect Department

A VERY HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY TO ALL YOU HOCKEY MOMS OUT THERE...

...especially Prospect Mom out here in Coyotes Country, and Friends of "Prospect Sunday" Angela and Jenn-Jenn.

Another short and sweet week, as there's just not much to talk about right now in the World O' Prospects. After the Memorial Cup, there will be heavy emphasis on the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Oh, and the Russians inexplicably continue to refuse to give Vladimir Tarasenko a chance to earn a spot on the World Championships roster. Are the powers-that-be in Russian hockey punishing T-90 for publicly expressing a desire to play in the NHL? And will this drive Tarasenko to sign with the Blues sooner rather than later, notwithstanding any threats about being banned from the Sochi Olympics in 2014 if he abandons the KHL?

I will try to stay on top of this story as best I can, with any details or breaking news posted here as soon as I hear them.

-- B.

PROSPECT PROMOTIONS / DEMOTIONS:

None to report this week.

PROSPECT TRADES:

None to report this week.

PLAYERS ON SICK CALL:

None to report this week.

PLAYERS RETURNED TO DUTY:

None to report this week.

PLAYERS ON SUSPENSION:

None to report this week.

PROSPECT NEWS AND NOTES:

ITEM: PROSPECT PLAYOFF UPDATE.

NHL: Nothin'.

AHL: Nothin'.

ECHL: Nothin'.

EUROPE: Nothin'.

QMJHL: The Saint John Sea Dogs are your President's Cup champions for the second consecutive season, earning a spot in the Memorial Cup tournament to be played May 20-27 in Shawinigan.

Blues' prospects Stephen Macaulay or Ryan Tesink were not key contributors on offense in the final series, being overshadowed by Saint John's more high-profile forwards. Tesink posted an assist, two penalty minutes, and a plus-1 in the four games of the Final series, and finished the playoffs with a 7-6-13 scoring line (plus-5, 24 PM, 2 PPG, 2 GWG) in 17 games. Macaulay, meanwhile, picked up a goal and an assist in the Finals, both coming in Saint John's 6-4 win over Rimouski in Game Three. Tesink and Blues' 2011 Traverse City invitee Maxime Villemaire assisted on Macaulay's goal, which put the Sea Dogs ahead to stay in that game.

Macaulay, a 2010 draft pick of the Blues who is likely to sign an ELC this summer and turn pro with the Peoria Rivermen in 2012-13, finished the playoffs with a 6-7-13 scoring line (plus-5, 10 PM, 1 PPG, 1 GWG) in 17 games.

OHL: The London Knights are your Rogers OHL Champions for the 2011-12 season, defeating the Niagara Ice Dogs and Blues' prospect Brock Beukeboom four games to one. The Ice Dogs took the series opener in double overtime by a 3-2 score at London's John Labatt Centre before dropping four straight games to the powerhouse Knights.

Beukeboom, who like Macaulay is also a 2010 draftee (by Tampa, acquired in the Eric Brewer trade) and expected to sign his ELC this summer, picked up a pair of assists and four penalty minutes in four Finals appearances, but was a minus-4 in the Finals and was not dressed for Game Five. In 19 playoff contests, the 6' 2, 197-pound right-shooting blueliner from Uxbridge, Ontario posted a 2-3-5 scoring line, with a minus-1 and 10 minutes in the sin bin.

WHL: Out in the wild, wild West, it all comes down to one game at the historic Rexall Place (formerly Northlands Coliseum) in Edmonton.

Ty Rattie and the Portland Winterhawks evened their best-of-seven Ed Chynoweth Cup Final series with the Edmonton Oil Kings at three games apiece with a 3-2 win at the Rose Garden, across the Willamette River from downtown Portland, on Saturday night. The Hawks got a goal from Pittsburgh first-rounder Joe Morrow, and a pair (including the game-winner) from Columbus prospect Olivier Gabriel to send the series back to Edmonton for what should be a classic Game Seven tonight.

The game for all the marbles in the 'Dub is scheduled for 8:00 PM CDT, and the Hawks' radio stream can be found HERE for those interested in listening live online.

Rattie has been held pretty much in check by Edmonton in the Finals, picking up "only" two goals (both on the power play) and four points in five appearances; remember, he sat out Game Two on concussion watch. As a result, he has fallen behind linemate and 2010 Calgary draftee Sven Bärtschi in the WHL playoff scoring race. Bärtschi now leads with 34 points (14 G, 20 A) in 21 games, while Rattie is right behind with 33 points (19 G, 14 A) in 20 games.

The Airdrie, Alberta native continues to lead all WHL players in playoff goals (19) and power-play goals (7), and he has a plus-12, 12 penalty minutes, a shorthanded goal (an OT game-winner vs. Tri-Cities in Game 2 of the Western Conference final) and two game-winning goals to add to that impressive scoring line.