Look, we've tried to be as even handed as possible with this team. When the Blues got off to the best start in franchise history, I wrote about how we fans were only expecting things to take a turn for the worse. And when they did, we tried to preach against overreacting. And then the Blues played about as crappy as they did five years ago. And then we went negative. And then the Blues scored five goals on a competitive but probably just average Ottawa Senators team Friday night and now I'm wondering what it's going to take for the Blues to suddenly find a little winning streak.
To win two in a row, the Blues will have to take down the New Jersey Devils. Fortunately for St. Louis, these probably aren't the Devils you're used to. These Devils have just 12 points, tied for second lowest total in the entire NHL. They've got issues at goaltender where a Hall of Famer may be nearing the end of an incredible career. They've got a high-priced superstar who is absolutely the wrong player for the system the Devils play. And then there's the hometown kid with family ties working in the building tonight hoping to take the ice.
One storyline that might be really nice for the visiting Devils and the official scorer here at the Drinkscotch Center is the call-up of minor league goaltender Mike McKenna for the Devils from Albany. McKenna is a St. Louis native from West County and spends much of his summer practicing with Blues players at the Mills in Hazelwood. You might not know this, but Terry McKenna, his father, is the official scorer for Blues games. His father, Bill, was the original official scorer for the Blues back at the Arena. Nice bit of trivia.
Anyway, McKenna got in some hot water with the Devils organization when he Tweeted that he was hoping traffic was light between Albany and New Jersey, pretty much letting the hockey community know he was getting the promotion with Martin Brodeur's elbow flaring up. . . before the team officially announced it. You may have heard this before, but the guy who runs the devils, Lou Lamoriello, is a dick. Major dick. In fact, he's a prick. And I'm sure that when it got back to Lou, he got pissed. If you search for McKenna on Twitter, a formerly active player on the social networking tool, you won't find him because he deleted his account.
McKenna, 27, has taken a long route to get a chance at playing in the NHL after he was drafted by Nashville back in 2002. He actually got some NHL exposure in 2007 when he was invited to the Blues' prospect camp and then the team's training camp. He was originally signed to play in Peoria but he ended up in Las Vegas-playing hockey, not dealing cards.
He bounced around the minors and ended up in the NHL on an injury-depleted Tampa Lightning in 2008-09 and wound up playing in 15 games, starting 14 of them. But that's the last time he's spent a minute of a game on the ice. Maybe tonight he'll play in the area where he spent time as a teenager going to games. Maybe his dad will have to record a goal against his son. That would kind of suck for the McKenna family.
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