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.