By Brad Lee
Barret Jackman can probably sleep easier tonight knowing that All-Star goaltender Emmanuel Legace is probably ok after his collision last night with asshole Blackhawk forward Patrick Sharp.
With just under five minutes left in the first period in the Blues' demoralizing 6-1 loss at Chicago, Sharp was skating in on Legace. Jackman was trying to catch up with him and gave him a nudge (or you could call it a push) into Sharp's back as they arrived at Legace. Sharp, who lost control of the puck and didn't even get a shot off, took that as an invitation to try and blow Legace up. You could argue that Legace was pretty far out of the crease and Sharp couldn't anticipate where the goaltender would be, but Sharp made no effort to avoid contact. Here are two pictures of the collision:
After the game, coach Andy Murray said it was just a bruise and that Legace will be in net on Saturday for the free food game vs. Nashville. God, we hope so because Marek Schwarz looked like a deer standing on Interstate 70 near Wentzville staring at three oncoming semis each doing 80 mph. You knew it wasn't going to end well.
We don't think you can debate Legace's importance to the team. But what you can debate is the heart of the Blues. When Legace left the game after the first period, it was still tied 0-0. Did the Blues try to pressure Lalime at all in the crease and possibly get a little physical with him? No. Did anyone go after Sharp even though he was pushed by Jackman? Don't remember it. You could argue the Blues didn't stand up for their injured teammate. Granted, the Blues were competitve for much of the first two periods, but they never seemed to really get things going. After a decent second period they still trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes. A power play goal by Patrick Kane early in the third sapped the Blues' will and essentially ended the game.
So what do you think? Were the Blues simply outplayed? Did they show a lack of heart after Legace went down? What does it mean that the Blues essentially gave up to a division rival in the closing minutes (We think that's what Andy Murray's message was with the pulled goaltender with more than six minutes left in the game down by three)?  We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Come back for a little you write the comedy later today.
One more note, thanks to everyone who stopped by the live blog last night. Even though the game ended up sucking, we had a lot of different people stopping by and dropping a funny line. We'll have a couple live blogs next week, so make sure you're in on the fun. And if you tried leaving comments last night and didn't see yours approved, they're in there and you're free and clear to make instant comments on any thread.
UPDATE: Jeremy Rutherford of the Post-Dispatch is reporting that Legace practiced today, faced shots from assistant coaches (was Ryan Johnson not available?) and did his positional drills, reinforcing the notion that Emmanuel will play Saturday. When he comes out for introductions, shower him on the ice with chicken fingers.
UPDATED UPDATE: There was some discussion in the comments about whether or not Sharp was at fault because of Jackman's push from behind. This picture isn't definitive, but judging from Jackman's expression, he may feel a little guilty (or just plain surprised). You be the judge.
