The St. Louis Game Time Paper

We did it.

Tonight marks the end of the regular season for the St. Louis Blues. That means we pulled it off, printing 24 issues of Game Time under new management.

When Gallagher quietly told people last fall that he was probably going to stop running the paper, he asked a few of us if we wanted to do it. We all told him to stick that offer up his ass. Sure, we all loved this deranged thing, but who would be crazy enough to commit to putting it together for an entire season?

And then January hit and it sure seemed like the players and owners were making
progress. And then there was that one time a few of us sat down with some of the brass of the St. Louis Blues. And we saw up close and personal the commitment and passion they have for this franchise. I looked across the table at Tom Stillman and I saw a man who was as frustrated as I was that his team wasn't playing. I saw a guy I could relate to with how he feels about the Blues. He was all-in with this thing. He couldn't wait for them to get out on the ice.

And something stirred in me.

Dammit.

***

That's the beginning of my editor's column for tonight's game against Chicago. We'll have more issues for the home playoff games. But we usually treat this last regular season game as kind of a time to say thanks. Because you never know when the next paper is the last for the season.

I wanted to stop by here today to say a few things. One, thanks to Hildy and the others who write stuff for the site. Gallagher and I started this thing back in 2006 on an old Word Press template. It was ugly and little read and we loved it. We joined SBN a few years later. We spread a few fucks around on the Internet and passed the torch. The paper is such a huge commitment, I couldn't spare a lot of words for this place. And that's a shame because there are a bunch of quality people here who have good opinions and routinely make me laugh.

The end of my column is a little melancholy. I have no idea if the paper is continuing next season. When we started back up in January, I said I would make no promises until this summer. Three and a half months has been a huge grind. Six months plus playoffs...well I just don't know.

What I do know is that I appreciate everyone who reads the paper and either subscribes online or buys it at the game. You folks are the reason I want to think about doing it again next season. Thanks for reading.

And if you don't know about the paper, where the hell you been? We sell the paper in four spots (most of the time):

• By the driveway leading into the Kiel Garage (no, they never changed the name).
• By the 14th Street entrance to the building, by the dividing line between the arena and the Peabody Opera House.
• On the northeast corner of 14th and Clark, just outside the fence of the City Hall parking lot.
• In front of the main entrance, between the Al MacInnis and Bernie Federko statues.

I'm considering what I can do for a playoffs email subscription. If we come up with something, I'll let you know. If you're interested, email me at gtbradlee at gmail.com. That might help persuade me in putting something together.

It appears the Blackhawks are trying to hand the Blues the fourth seed with half their AHL roster up with the Hawks for tonight. Which means a home playoff game probably Tuesday or Wednesday. Come on Wednesday.

I have no idea about the future of the paper or what the playoffs hold for this hockey team. My suggestion is we try to enjoy it as much as possible for as long as they both are going this year.