Who's the best hockey guy in the St. Louis media?

You know, aside from us, of course.

There has been plenty of discussion around these parts about which media guys are not respected (Andy Strickland, do not look to the right of the screen), but we thought, "What better way to kill some non-hockey summer days than by having a winner-take-all contest of all the mainstream media guys who cover the Blues?"

And what better way to do than to set up a March Madness-esque bracket of everyone and then let you all vote them off one by one until all have been eliminated except for our champion? Beginning in the next few days we will post the bracket of 32 writers, broadcasters and other assorted hockey journos who cover the Blues in some way or fashion. Obviously the more hockey-focused they are, the higher their seedings will be (expect that Jeremy Rutherford and Norm sanders will find themselves No. 1 seeds in their particular brackets).

We have compiled a list of the first 30 guys who will be in the bracket after the jump, but just like the NCAA, we're going to let a couple guys "play their way in." use the attached poll to vote for the guy you think is most deserving to be in the bracket - the top two guys will win berths.

Media Madness players:

John Kelly

Darren Pang

Bernie Federko

Chris Kerber

Kelly Chase

Pat Paris

Jim Hayes

Kevin Wheeler

Scott Warman

Tom Ackerman

Tom Casey

Rick Zombo

Tony Twist

Jeremy Rutherford

Andy Strickland

Dan O'Neill

Jeff Gordon

Bernie Miklasz

Norm Sanders

George Csolak

Doug Vaughn

Steve Savard

Rene Knott

Martin Kilcoyne

Frank Cusamano

Angellllllla Sharpe

John Hadley

Mike Claiborne

Tim McKernan

Kevin Slaten

Feel free to let us know if we missed someone or to start lobbying for your favorites now. The vote will close on saturday and the bracket will be released shortly thereafter.