cprice12

The voice of logic in the crowd. How is this a big deal? This kind of thing is normal. The only reason it got some attention, is because it is Gretzky. If this were ANY other coach, nobody would think twice about it...this is quite normal.

I've heard a few of you say this. You guys do realize it was the Blues 4th game in 6 days as well, right? There was no advantage for the Blues in that respect. Or...call me crazy...but maybe, just maybe, some of the Central division teams got a little better. I do believe other teams besides Detroit are capable of improving once in a while...but maybe that's just me.

That doesn't change the fact that if you go poking around the goalie, you are going to get roughed up. Jesus. It's not the ice capades. It's hockey. If you're going to cry about it, you need to find a new sport to watch. Maybe it just seems that way to you because Detroit's whole lineup is filled with non-fighters. Hmmm... Center Ice, eh? Good for you. However, I am from St. Louis and have FSMW and CW11...I also split season tickets with two other guys. I see Jackman play every game, and you're wrong. Sorry. But, hey... why take my word for it? I've only seen him play in just about every game since he came into the league. What do I know? If you want to pick on Jackman, pick on his defensive play, which has lacked this year...but he's ALWAYS going to stick up for his goalie and players taking liberties after the puck is covered. Good day.

I'm sorry you felt one of your ballerinas was roughed up a bit. It comes with the territory. If you don't want to get shoved around...then don't take late stabs at the puck after it's covered. It's that simple. And Downey has to actually be in the lineup to fight. Healthy scratches usually aren't that intimidating. And FTR, Jackman would have done the same thing to ANYONE, including "press box" Downey, if he had done what Datsyuk did. Just as your D-men would have done the same if a Blues player took a late swipe at the puck after being covered. Maybe Downey will play next game...we'll see.

WRONG. Jackman got in Datsyuk's face because he was poking at the puck after it was covered. If you poke at the puck after it's covered, or try to dig the puck out from under a goalie's pad, you're going to get roughed up. That's hockey...that's the code. Always has been. Blues / Wings games are fun again. St. Louis is 6-3-1 in their last 10 games against Detroit. That's more like it.

John Davidson said tonight that Doug Weight is not in the future plans of the St. Louis Blues and they would NOT pursue him next year if he was available. Very good trade for the Blues. We got younger and we got a little better. It's really a win win situation for St. Louis. McDonald has 61 goals over the past two seasons and we traded an over the hill, slumping, struggling, Doug Weight for him. I know McDonald is struggling this year as well...but the upside for St. Louis is pretty big. We'll see how it goes.

Ummm...Detroit's record against the Central hasn't been good lately. 2-4-1 in their last seven...and they haven't beaten Chicago in four tries. You would have a point if the Wings were actually beating the teams in the division on a consistent basis. Detroit's good record says more about how they have played against teams outside the Central.

Detroit is fortunate they got off to such a great start, because they have cooled off quite a bit. The Wings are 2-4-1 in their last 7 games against teams chasing them in the division. I wouldn't think they could keep that up and still win the division. We'll see if they turn that around. The only thing that is stopping St. Louis from being neck and neck with Detroit (besides having played 2 less games than the Wings), is the Blues power play...which needs work. It's hard to go on long win streaks without a good power play, yet the Blues have done it going 8-1-1 in their last 10 and moving into 2nd place in the Central. Having a great PK and solid goaltending has been the key. And if the PP was any good, they'd probably have at least a couple more wins. From what I remember, the Wings had trouble beating the Hawks when the Hawks sucked...so this is nothing new. I think it's great the Hawks are competitive again. Detroit is due to finish 3rd in the division for a change....behind St. Louis and Chicago.

The Blues are in last place in the Central...but don't forget that they have played far fewer games than anyone else. Chicago - 4 more games played than St. Louis Columbus - 3 more games played than St. Louis Nashville - 3 more games played than St. Louis Detroit - 3 more games played than St. Louis The Blues trail Nasville, Columbus and Chicago all by 5 pts.

I bet you did. The year before the lockout, the Wings had the highest payroll in the league at over 77 million. Sheesh. Must have been nice.

No parity? Ok, well... someone has to suck then, if you don't want parity. Do the Wings want to volunteer? I'll vote for them to suck it up for a while. That's fair. I'm guessing you guys would be in favor of parity then, eh? There was a time when the Wings were God awful, for quite some time. And I am sure people were saying, "you're going to play for the Wings when you grow up."...and that was an insult. Parity is a good thing for the growth of the league.

The Wings should just hire another marketing firm to deem them Hockeytown again, and then they will magically once again be Hockeytown. See how easy that is? Because, hey, if a marketing firms says so...it must be true. (fans in St. Louis don't actually bleed blue blood when cut...that's called marketing.) There is no trend. Detroit is still Hockeytown. The Joe has been sold out every game so far, and is sold out for the rest of the season already. The cup is ours. Funny. I think not selling out the home opener in Detroit is fairly significant and says things are not well with how the fans feel about the team. That would be like the Cardinals not selling out the home opener here in St. Louis...that would be unheard of.

Good Lord. Who cares? You lost a stupid logo voting contest...it's just for fun. Don't whine about it. You can't argue the two that made the finals though. Two of the best in the league. Go Blues.

I wasn't aware Detroit won a cup back in 1989. Wait...they didn't. They are also the most hated. So take that for what it is worth. I really don't give a rat's ass how good a team has been or how many people like them or what poll says what...my point has nothing to do with any of that. Once again...you are obviously not understanding what I am getting at, so I'll say it again just for you... It's assinine and arrogant for a team that represents a singular city or state to be labled, "America's Team". Tthe Red Wings are not America's team...no NHL team is. If people want to label a certain team, "America's Team", then it should be Team USA. Period. And how are certain Blues fans, "talking out of their asses"? Where did that comment come from? I think certain Wings fans are taking some stupid, pointless poll and making it out to be more than it is and running with it. Does the term, "unscientific" mean anything to you? And just to clarify...I am not bitter at all. What do I have to be bitter about? I've enjoyed my team's colorful and rich history, even though it doesn't include a cup. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. I couldn't be happier with my affiliation, which is why I run the website that I do. So the joke's on you...smart guy.

That is EXACTLY what I am saying. Detroit is not America's team in hockey...no NHL team is. Like someone just mentioned, Team USA is truly America's team. No team that represents a singular city or state should be discussed as America's Team. It's arrogant and stupid. Winners attract attention...no doubt. But that doesn't qualify them to be "Amerca's Team". Why? Because they don't represent America. It qualifies them to be a playoff team with probably a lot of johnny come lately fairweather fans jumping on the bandwagon...that's all. What's sad though, are the fans that wear the jersey of one of the best teams in the NHL, when they live half a country away from that city, weren't born there, and have never been there. It's sad that some people have some pathetic apparent necessity to be associated with a winning team. If you live in Detroit, near Detroit, have family in Detroit, vacation often in Detroit (why on earth...I dunno), or something like that...that's cool with me...root loud and cheer your team on, because you are linked with that team somehow...but latching on to a team just because they are good...I dunno...that screams lame and pathetic to me.

That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. 1) I've always though that labeling any team in any sport as, "America's team"....is stupid. And writing an article that discusses who is "America's team" in each major sport, is even more stupid. 2) And why in the hell does it make "perfect sense" that one of the more successful teams over the past 10 years, is "America's team"? Are you saying Americans are nothing more than bandwagon fans? 3) And I've got news for you...Detroit is also one of the most hated teams in the NHL as well...so I'm not sure where that figured into the equation. The whole concept is dumb to me. But whatever.

"Addition by subraction"...that's a term used by those who are trying to look on the bright side and searching for a silver lining. But maybe you guys are right. Maybe Detroit will be better than they were last year. But I seriously doubt it. I see them struggling to get to 100pts...and that still may win the division...but not by a lot. I think Schneider and Rafalski are a wash...they had similar stats last year but Schneider played in quite a few less games...and he also had a better +/-. I fail to see how Rafalski is an "upgrade", other than that he is 4 years younger. That's why I didn't mention it as an upgrade...because it's more or less a lateral move after losing Schneider. And good luck with Drake. The guy is a warrior...but he should have retired before last season. He had nothing left in the tank last year and the only time you noticed him was when he caughed the puck up or made a big hit once every few games. If he gets a regular shift, that is subtraction by addition, imo.

Ummmm....no. The Blues defense and goaltending are the best parts of their team. We have a surplus of defense at the NHL level, which is why there is talk of trading Backman for a scoring winger. The Blues defense: Jackman Backman McKee Brewer Eric Johnson Salvador Woywitka And look up Legace's numbers. After a shaky start to the season (in which the team had no direction and looked lost on the ice thanks to Kitchen's extremely poor preperation for games), Legace had a great run under Murray until he got hurt. Legace's stats last year: Wins: 23 Losses: 15 2.59 GAA .907 Save % He finished 8 games over .500 on a team that was under .500. Which is really quite good especially considering how bad the team was playing around him to start the season. And organization-wise...they are extremely deep in good goalie prospects.

Obviously you need some Central Division education. Let me help. First of all, Weight and Tkachuk are NOT the two best returning Blues players. (And technically, Tkachuk is not a returning player. He was signed as a free agent.) Stempniak and Jackman are the two best returning players, imo. You see "only two upgrades" over last season? ONLY two upgrades? Two upgrades is significant...especially when they are Paul Kariya (who is a big upgrade over Guerin. Mark my words...Guerin will not be able to reproduce his numbers from last year) and Eric Johnson, the #1 overall pick last year....whom many thought should have played in the NHL last year. And the hype behind EJ is greater than the hype was for Jackman, who beat out Zetterberg for the Calder. EJ should be fine...and if he challenges for the Calder, all the better. Will he be "great?"...I dunno, probably not quite...we'll see. How many upgrades did the Wings make? Try zero. They actually took a step backwards. While you guys seem to be downplaying the loss of Lang, Calder and Bertuzzi...that's a decent amount of scoring punch that has left the roster to be replaced by...nobody. The Blues should be significantly better than last year. Last year they had McKee, Rucinsky and Legace hurt for large chunks of the season. So getting them back into the lineup is a pretty big deal. And Hinote was out most of last year too. I know he isn't anything special offensively, but he is a heck of a checker when healthy. I'd much rather have Hinote than Drake. We got Boyes at the trade deadline last year, who is a good young forward. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in his 3rd year in the league. Backes is a big, strong kid and is coming off of a very solid partial first season. Having him a full season will be fun to watch. Stempniak keeps getting better. 'Nuf said. This could be a big year for him. And a full year of Andy Murray is huge. He is ten times the coach Kitchen was and had this team playing very, very well. Going through training camp with your team is huge. He didn't have that opportunity last year. It should only help things. If Andy Murray was the coach of the team from the start of the season, the Blues probably make the playoffs last year. I think you forget that the Blues have a handfull of good young players. And they should be improving each year...so another year of experience is an upgrade from the previous year as far as I am concerned. Now, with that said... I am not saying the Blues are going to win the division or challenge for the cup or anything. They still need another scoring winger or two...but with the improvements the Blues have made and with the way the Wings have regressed a bit...no way in hell do the Wings run away with the division. The Blues will hang around and make it somewhat interesting, assuming they stay relatively healthy and don't lose key players for long stretches like last year.

Yeah...poor Buffalo. And poor Detroit. The Rafalski signing was nice...but you guys have lost a lot. Lang Bertuzzi Calder Schneider and Markov doesn't seem to want to sign with Detroit What's the deal? That's a lot of offense that walked out the door. Are you guys going to sign anyone who can score?

Whatever you want to say to make yourself feel better about the head to head play vs. the Blues last year. The Blues did quite well against the Wings last year, which is what I was commenting on. I wasn't talking about s*** from 1990.

Yeah...like last year. Oh wait...

How do you figure? The Blues struggled offensively last year and were horrible on the PP. Signing Kariya should help quite a bit. They were quite good under Murray last year. And they are a better team than that right now. We'll see how it goes...but this was a very good pickup for St. Louis.

Assuming that the young players, Backes, Boyes & Stempniak keep improving...and of course if we get good goaltending... the Blues should be a team to watch. This team will be much better than last year.