St. Louis Game Time - Coyotes At Blues GameDay Storystream: Blues Need To Snap Streak Of Poor PlayWe're one ugly bastard.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/10753/gt-fave.png2015-12-10T09:38:14-06:00http://www.stlouisgametime.com/rss/stream/96332812015-12-10T09:38:14-06:002015-12-10T09:38:14-06:00Robby Fabbri Chats With NHL Tonight<iframe src="http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=896772" width="640" height="395"></iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Fabbri chats with Tony Luftman, Kevin Weekes and Mike Johnson about staying in St. Louis his entire rookie season, buying in to Hitchcock’s system (yay buy in discussion!), and memories from his World Junior Championship experience with Team Canada.</p></p></div>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2015/12/10/9885368/robby-fabbri-chats-with-nhl-tonighthildymac2015-12-08T23:46:12-06:002015-12-08T23:46:12-06:00Coyotes Vs. Blues Recap: All Aboard The Umlaut Train
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<figcaption>Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Choo-Choo!</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.stlouisgametime.com/">Blues</a> looked to bounce back from a horrid performance in front of the home faithful against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/">Maple Leafs</a>. Their opponent tonight? The Phoenix <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fiveforhowling.com/">Coyotes</a> of Glendale of Arizona. <span>Mike Smith</span> would be between the pipes for the Yotes. The Blues would counter with goaltender <span>Jake Allen</span>. The lines tonight would see some changes. The first line would see a new face. <span>Magnus Paajarvi</span> would team up with <span>Paul Stastny</span> and Vladimir Tarasenko. <span>Alexander Steen</span> would move down to the second line with <span>David Backes</span> and Troy Brouwer. The third line would consist of <span>Robby Fabbri</span>, <span>Jori Lehtera</span> and Dmitrij Jaskin. With <span>Steve Ott</span> now being sidelined for the next 3 months, the fourth line would consist of <span>Scottie Upshall</span>, Kyle Brozdiak, and Ryan Reaves. The D-pairings would see a new(old)face. There would be of course <span>Jay Bouwmeester</span> and Alex Pietrangelo. The new pairing of <span>Petteri Lindbohm</span> and <span>Kevin Shattenkirk</span>. And lastly <span>Carl Gunnarsson</span> (Why?!?!) would be paired with <span>Colton Parayko</span>.</p>
<p><b>First Period:</b></p>
<p><b></b>Oh boy. This game did not start out like the Blues or the fans had hoped. Honestly it felt a little like the the Leafs game. Arizona would not care about the Blues first period short comings and take advantage. A minute into the game Tarasenko would get called for tripping. The Coyotes would challenge Allen right away.</p>
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<p>Not to say that the Blues didn't have some sort of life during the period. Reaves would introduce himself to former Duck Kyle Chipchura</p>
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<p>Good things happen when you go to the net. Arizona apparently knows this information and put it to practice. <span>Brad Richardson</span> would shoot one in from the point. It would somehow get to the net and Allen would make the initial save. Allen would not be able to save the rebound chance from Steve Downie. It seemed like Pietrangelo could have made a better effort to clear him out. 1-0 bad guys.</p>
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<p>The Blues would finally tally their first shot on goal with about six and a half minutes left in the first period. Glaring issue that still hasn't been addressed. The Blues were being out shot 8-1 at this point. Shots would finish 9-3 for the period.</p>
<p><b>Second Period:</b></p>
<p>The Blues power play would continue to struggle. This would be there only chance on the second of three power plays tonight. Yep.</p>
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<p>Never fear Blues fans, Hitch would set a record for keeping the lines together through this point in the game. (Not really a stat or sure that's true but it sure seems like it) It pays of for the boys as Paajarvi would set up Tarasenko for a beautiful goal and the Blues would tie this thing at one. Bouwmeester would also notch an assist on the play. It would be Tarasenko's 16th of the season.</p>
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<p>Mike Smith would be tested more in the second. (Not that it's saying much but...) Jaskin would get a shot on Smith and he seemed to be in a lot of discomfort. Smith would shake it off though and continue.</p>
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<p>Jake Allen had a decent game tonight. Here he denies Stefan Elliott. Yes, a guy named Elliott was trying to score on Allen. Funny right?</p>
<p><iframe height="395" width="640" frameborder="0" src="http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=2015020413-407-h&site=blues"></iframe></p>
<p>The Blues haven't been great on the power play. The penalty kill however is second in the league coming into tonight. The Coyotes have given up 6 shorthanded goals on the year. Well, you better make that 7. Shattenkirk would get the blocked shot and take off. Steen would join him for a two on one break. Shatty made a perfect pass over to Steen who would just bury it. It's Steen's 10th goal of the year. It would also mark the first shorthanded goal for the Blues this season.</p>
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<p>The Coyotes seemed to have scored litterally seconds later, but the refs waived it off. They would say that the Coyotes player would interfere with Allen and disallow the goal. It seemed to me that he was tripped or pushed into Allen and that the goal should have counted. Needless to say it was disallowed and the Blues would keep their 2-1 lead.</p>
<p><b>Third Period:</b></p>
<p>The Coyotes would again be on the power play. (They were 0-4 tonight, to include that shorthanded goal against) Jake Allen would deny <span>Mikkel Boedker</span>. I thought the Blues power play was rough. Although, this was more that the Yotes are terrible on the power play and the Blues are good on the penalty kill. (Arizona ranked 28th coming into tonight)</p>
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<p>The Blues were looking as good as they had been in awhile and it paid off for them. Lehtera hits Shattenkirk with a backhanded pass and he walks in and scores. It needed to be and was a perfect pass. Shattenkirk gets his 4th goal of the year. Needless to say he has been the bright spot on the team not named Tarasenko.</p>
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<p>The Blues would continue to push. The line that looked like it was building something late was the Fabbri/Jaskin/Lehtera line. They have some potential if Hitch decides to keep them together. He did tonight, and it almost paid off for Jaskin here</p>
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<p>The Blues best period tonight was by far the third period as far as shots on goal. They would finish with 10 shots on goal in the third capped off by this David Backes empty netter</p>
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<p>Jake Allen would get the win tonight and hasn't lost a game against Arizona/Phoenix. (5-0-0). The Blues would score four goals tonight, which is more than they've scored in the last three COMBINED. To say they needed this was an understatement. It wasn't a perfect game by any means, but a win is a win. It seems like the Paajarvi experiment will continue for another game at least. Although, knowing the head coach these lines could look completely different come next game. The Blues continue their homestand on Thursday as they take on the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Flyers</a>. Make sure to find a GT vendor and buy a paper!</p>
<p><b>Three <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/">Stars</a>:</b></p>
<p>3rd: Magnus Paajarvi (1 assist, Umlaut Overlord.)</p>
<p>2nd: Alexander Steen (1 goal, 1 assist, apparently favors the movie Step Brothers over Anchorman. Thanks FSMW)</p>
<p>1st: Kevin Shattenkirk (1 goal, 1 assist, So hot after his injury return might actually combust)</p>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2015/12/8/9875804/coyotes-vs-blues-recap-all-aboard-the-umlaut-trainJustin422015-12-08T18:30:02-06:002015-12-08T18:30:02-06:00GameThread for Arizona Coyotes at St. Louis Blues
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<figcaption>Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Coyotes would love to break a road losing streak, while the Blues would like to get some points at home. Something's gotta give.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.stlouisgametime.com/">Blues</a> have played the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fiveforhowling.com/">Coyotes</a> very well the past few seasons.</p>
<p>That means jack. We saw that with the Leafs, and we saw that with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.litterboxcats.com/">Panthers</a>. While it can't be necessarily argued that the Blues played down to Florida's level, since the Panthers aren't exactly a bad team, it sure as hell can be argued that they played down to the Leafs' level the last 45 minutes of that game.</p>
<p>The Coyotes also are not a bad team, they're a .500 club. Which, in case you haven't noticed, is basically what the Blues are as late. Maybe this one'll be a draw.</p>
<p>This is your GameDay Thread. Comment like you're trying to figure out what <span>Magnus Paajarvi</span> is doing starting on the top line.</p>
<p>Let's do this. Let's Go Blues.</p>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2015/12/8/9873980/gamethread-for-arizona-coyotes-at-st-louis-blues-dec-8-2015hildymac2015-12-08T15:00:03-06:002015-12-08T15:00:03-06:00Coyotes At Blues Game Preview: Rorschach Test
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<figcaption>Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>It's time for the Blues to figure out what is going on in their subconscious to make them consciously play such awful hockey as of late.</p> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/professional/blues-offense-has-gone-dry/article_0c08718d-fa33-53fd-b130-2e7545699bfc.html">Yesterday in the Post-Dispatch, Ken Hitchcock tried to play psychoanalyst with the Blues' current situation. There was much talk about conscious play</a>, which insinuates that they are consciously playing out of Hitch's system for whatever reason. That in and of itself raises a myriad of questions.</p>
<p>If you e-subscribe to Game Time the paper (DO IT - gtbradlee at gmail dot com), you may have caught something in Brad Flick's Power Rankings that raises an eyebrow:</p>
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<p>Brett Hull, who has experience as a superstar in Hitchcock’s system, told Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday that, "For Stastny and Tarasenko to be successful and do what they want to do, they have to go against the grain of Hitchcock hockey. It’s another thorn they have to go through to be as successful as they can." When someone from your own front office calls the coach’s system a "thorn," that instills a mass of doubt in me.</p>
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<p>It certainly raises a myriad of questions. What does the FO really think about Hitch? How much support does he and his system have at the expense of players like Tarasenko and Stastny?</p>
<p>The biggest question it seems to answer, however, is the one regarding why the <a href="https://www.stlouisgametime.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Blues</a> keep trying to not fit into Hitch's system.</p>
<p>When you have two stars who do well when allowed to play their game being stifled by a coach's system, what message does that send to the rest of the team? "How much better could I be," they may be wondering. Of course, a team full of guys all wondering that makes for disjointed play, sloppy passes, and basically what we've been forced to sit through for the past few weeks.</p>
<p>I would suggest letting their subconscious have a crack at the puck, but I don't know if we want to see 19 ids skating around the ice tonight. Steve Ott's out. Let's leave the team id on the bench.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.fiveforhowling.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Coyotes</a> have been fighting through a bit of a rough patch as well, losing their last four. Scoring hasn't been their problem, discipline has been. If the game on Sunday afternoon against the <a href="https://www.canescountry.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Carolina Hurricanes</a> is any evidence, they need to watch inopportune penalties. The Coyotes far outpace the Blues in goals a game, with 2.74 versus 2.48. The Blues slowly improving power play should be able to handle the Coyotes' goaltending. Their league GAA sits at 27th, with an .897 GAA between <span>Mike Smith</span> and <span>Anders Lindback</span>.</p>
<p>Smith is in net for the Coyotes tonight, with <span>Jake Allen</span> for the Blues. Allen, let's all keep our fingers crossed, will not be pulled for a third straight home start.</p>
<p>The last three seasons, the Blues have gone 8-0-1 against Arizona. Then again, they also saw extended winning streaks against the <a href="https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Maple Leafs</a> and <a href="https://www.litterboxcats.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Panthers</a> handily snapped within the last week, so let's not put too much emphasis on streaks.</p>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2015/12/8/9871746/coyotes-at-blues-game-preview-rorschach-testhildymac2015-12-08T11:00:02-06:002015-12-08T11:00:02-06:00Lighting the Lamp: Howling At The Moon
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<img alt="Old-style Phoenix Coyotes Keith Tkachuk (signed on back number 7) jersey circa 1998" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dpOxObeuEZevMzFGxSdBnGKRfh8=/0x381:2878x2300/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47825023/Coyotes_001.0.0.JPG" />
<figcaption>Old-style Phoenix Coyotes Keith Tkachuk (signed on back number 7) jersey circa 1998 | Rick Ackerman</figcaption>
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<p>You might recognize the "Lighting the Lamp" feature from the Game Time paper. Rick Ackerman has been nice enough to send over his column for the website. "Lighting the Lamp" will be featured every home game day.</p> <p><b>Lighting the Lamp <span>with Rick Ackerman</span></b><span><span> </span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Well, that's two refund games in a row for the Blues now. "What's a refund game?" you ask. A refund game is a home game in which the Blues barely manage to show up and play with no passion or pride,<span> </span>somehow forgetting how to pass, shoot, clear their own zone and overall just plain suck at simple hockey basics. A refund game is one in which an opponent with far fewer points and worse record makes the Blues look like a bad high school hockey team waiting for the holiday break. A refund game is one in which you wish management would refund your money, truly regretting that you<span> </span>spent around $200 for tickets (and almost $100 for two crummy hotdogs, two lousy beers, a new Blues hat and a Parayko #55 t-shirt) since it was a total waste of your time and you could have watched some decent hockey at home on Center Ice and spent the money on Christmas gifts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Out scored and out played by the lowly Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs on home ice, the Blues are apparently doing their best to get Coach Hitchcock fired before Christmas so he will have plenty of time to spend with family and friends for the holidays. If the Blues can manage to play down to the visiting Arizona Coyotes tonight for yet another refund game, Hitch's Christmas present from the boys just might become a reality. Historically, the Blues like to fire good coaches to remedy a poorly performing team. Just ask Scotty Bowman, Red Berenson, Brian Sutter or Joel Quenneville. Unfortunately, you can't ask Al Arbour or Jimmy Roberts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>(Trivia question: what do Berenson, Sutter and Quenneville all have in common with Ken Hitchcock? Answer: they have all won the Jack Adams Award while coaching the Blues and have all been sacked by the Blues, except Hitchcock, who could easily be fired by the time this article is actually printed and distributed.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>The visiting desert dogs from Arizona have seen a substantial improvement in on-ice play this season, hovering around the .500 mark and on the bubble for qualification for the upcoming playoffs. Last season the Coyotes finished dead last in the Western Conference with 56 points, 26 games under .500, outscored by 102 goals. Only Buffalo had fewer points (54) in the entire league. Led by rookie wingers Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, rejuvenated center Martin Hanzal and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona was in third place in the Pacific Division as of last Sunday.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Problems abound at home in Phoenix, or more accurately, in the city of Glendale. On June 10 of this year, the Glendale City Council voted to end their lease agreement with the Coyotes at Gila River Arena. Previously, the Phoenix Coyotes had played at the downtown America West Arena (now Talking Stick Resort Arena) since 2003, seven years after the team moved to the Valley of the Sun from Winnipeg. In July a new resolution was reached. Under the new two-year agreement, Glendale would pay the Coyotes $6.5 million annually to manage the arena, a price reduction of $8.5 million per year. In exchange, the Coyotes would keep roughly $6 million in formerly shared ticket, parking and naming-rights revenue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>The relationship between hockey club and city has been contentious and strained, especially since Glendale has not received the amount of concert and parking revenue expected from the 2013 agreement made with the team. In the two years since that deal, the city has lost over $16 million in projected revenue. Coyotes President Anthony Leblanc now says that he's uncertain whether the Coyotes even have a long term future at the Gila River Arena. Team officials are exploring the possibilities of a new arena somewhere in the metro Phoenix area after the new agreement reaches term in two years, adamantly declaring they do not desire to relocate to Las Vegas or Seattle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>And that is mostly because of the Phoenix metro area's vast potential for professional sports. The Valley of the Sun has now reached around 5.5 million in population, making it the 12th largest metropolitan area in the nation. It is also one of the fastest growing areas, gaining around 1.5 million inhabitants since 2000. The Coyotes are valued by Forbes at $220 million, ranked 29th in the league, substantially more than the team was bought for ($170 million) in 2013. Unfortunately, though, they are operating with a debt to value ratio (including arena debts) of 63%. In comparison, the Blues are worth $270 million (ranked 24th), purchased in 2012 for $180 million. And the Blues debt to value ratio is only 24%.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>(Note: A high debt to value <or> ratio generally means that a company has been overly aggressive in financing its growth with debt. Aggressive leveraging practices are usually associated with high levels of risk, which may result in volatile earnings as a result of the additional interest expense.)</or></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>The Coyotes and Gila River Arena are also hampered by no actual increase in attendance despite the improved play of the team. Arizona still averages 13, 300 fans per game, only 77% of capacity, almost the exact same as last year. Unless attendance increases dramatically and soon, the hockey team could well be on the way to bankruptcy and a new location much sooner than anticipated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>In the meantime, the Blues are now 7-6-3 since Halloween, outscored 43 to 39 in that 16-game span. When will the boys of October (8-2-1; 30-23) return?</p>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2015/12/8/9869260/lighting-the-lamp-howling-at-the-moonhildymac2015-12-08T08:00:02-06:002015-12-08T08:00:02-06:00Coyotes At Blues Morning Open Thread: Someone Wins
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<figcaption>Cute. | Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Blues have consciously been playing bad hockey. They Coyotes haven't been playing well either. Someone has to win.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.stlouisgametime.com/">Blues</a> have been flatter than flat recently. In their 4-1 loss against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/">Toronto Maple Leafs</a>, they were so flat they managed to play exactly 15 minutes of Blues Hockey before they gave up and went "pffft, Toronto." Then lost.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/professional/blues-offense-has-gone-dry/article_0c08718d-fa33-53fd-b130-2e7545699bfc.html" target="_blank">As Troy Brouwer said to Jeremy Rutherford after the loss</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><span>"We think it’s going to be easy, we think that because we have such a good quality hockey team that teams are not going to want to play us or make it easy on us to play. We excel when we play that tough, hard-nosed game down low. Limit our turnovers, try and create offense behind the goal line and … the last couple games, turnovers have been extremely higher than they need to be and it’s been biting us."</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Blues have a bit of a knack for playing down to the competition. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fiveforhowling.com/">Coyotes</a> are in the midst of a four game losing streak, having defeated themselves in their 5-4 loss to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.canescountry.com/">Carolina Hurricanes</a> Saturday night. Now would be a time for the Blues to snap their skid. <a href="http://blues.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=791508&navid=DL%7CSTL%7Chome" target="_blank">Hitch has promised an improved product tonight.</a> Why? Because something is wrong with <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/professional/blues-offense-has-gone-dry/article_0c08718d-fa33-53fd-b130-2e7545699bfc.html" target="_blank">how they're consciously playing</a>.</p>
<p>Well, someone sit them down on Freud's couch and see if their subconsciousness has a clue.</p>
<p>This is your morning open thread. Check back soon for a Lighting the Lamp, your game preview, and the GDT shortly before puck drop. While you're waiting, head over to <a href="http://www.fiveforhowling.com/">Five For Howling</a> and say hello to our friends out in the desert.</p>
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2015/12/8/9869186/coyotes-at-blues-morning-open-thread-consciously-unconscioushildymac