cprice12

I'm curious as to why you feel Backes is a prick.

Dude, it was a clean, hard hockey hit. Backes was just playing hard. Huskins needs to pay attention to what is going on. Blues got jobbed. Don't try to rationalize the call. You can't rationalize the irrational. The Blues still may have lost the game if not for the PP...it just sucks that the call was horrible, it was made late in a tie game, and it resulted in the game winning goal for Detroit. In years past if the Blues were to lose a game like this to Detroit, I'd probably be more upset because we'd probably be trailing you guys by at least a few points at this point in the season...but being up by 3 points still...it makes it sting a little less. Still pissed though.

Well, the Blues seemed to take the 2nd & 3rd period off last night...so they shouldn't be too tired.

There was all kinds of hype around Tarasenko last year and this year, and I tried to keep my expectations in check because you never know what you are going to get when someone actually comes over here and starts to play in the NHL. But yeah, he's the real deal...at least it looks that way so far. He's much better than I thought he was going to be. He has great hockey sense, and always seems to be in the middle of things when he is out there. He plays with confidence, has a nice shot, good hands, finds open players, and he loves to hit. He has been a huge addition to the Blues, who struggled at times offensively last year. Stewart and Berglund have also gotten off to hot starts...which has also been key. Most Blues fans will tell you that for the Blues to be legitimate cup contenders, they needed more offense than last year, and Berglund & Stewart would have to step it up for that to happen. And they are doing it so far.

This will be a very interesting game seeing as how the Wings were embarrassed 6-0 the last time. Obviously they want redemption. I expect the Wings to really bring it offensively this time...and if the Blues are ready for it, this could be a heck of a game. Looking forward to it.

Yes, because the Red Wings have had such an unlucky history when it comes to the draft.

Poor Carlo. In the last 4 seasons he hasn't played more than 67 games in a season. And he's only played more than 67 games once in his 10 year career. He's a serviceable #5 or #6 guy when healthy...and I thought he was in St. Louis the last few years. The problem is that he always seems to miss at least a fourth of the season due to injuries. And that doesn't figure in the games he gets hurt in and returns 10 minutes, which happens a lot. I'm not sure why Detroit passed on Redden, saying they had no interest. He has looked fine the past couple games since being inserted into the lineup. For $800k, I thought Detroit could have really used him. Low risk, high reward type of situation.

Forgot about signing bonuses. That makes more sense. But $8 million is still way too high for Petro and where he is in his career. His next contract will be around the $5.5 million per year - 5 year range...assuming he continues to impress this year...and the Blues will resign him.

$20 million the first year?? WTF? That's almost 1/3 of the salary cap. Nobody is ever going to make that kind of money under the new CBA. And that kind of contract isn't even allowed under the new CBA. Salary variance from year to year can only be 35%...and the lowest salary in a year can be no less than 50% of the highest salary year on that contract. The Blues are much more likely to spend money on retaining their own players than they are in free agency. They'll pony up for Petro, but he won't make even close to what you are suggesting. He might make $5-ish million per on his next contract. And the Blues don't offer 7 year deals. They might offer him 5 years. He's still pretty young and might have to wait for his next contract for the massive contract, if he deserves it that is.

It's a nice gesture by Stillman, but in the end, they're just words. Talk is cheap. What are you going to do for me? Just win games. That is the quickest way to get any fans back that may have lost interest. They won't do free Center Ice. The NHL doesn't own that...they only take a small portion of the sales...I doubt DirecTV, DishNetwork, etc would be willing to give it away for free. The NHL has 100% control (or close to it) over GameCenter Live though. I can see them discounting that heavily, if they do anything. I doubt they give GameCenter Live away for free, as that would be way too much traffic on their servers. Everything would crash or slow to a crawl during big games.

The Blues aren't going to let him go. There was a push to get him Norris consideration last year and if his upward trend continues, he should get consideration this year. He's an elite defenseman with Norris potential and is the core of our defense. I seriously doubt the Blues even let it get to the point where anyone could offer him anything. The Blues don't spend a ton of money, but they are very smart about money and who they spend it on. They'll spend the money if they have to in order to keep one of their own...especially one of Petro's caliber. And I just realized my signature here is from when the last lockout ended. I never changed it. I should probably change it up...although, it applies again.

From an outsider's view... If Detroit can remain a puck possession team and keep the puck out of their own end for most of the game, they'll be fine. It's the ol' the best defense is a good offense line of thinking. But if the puck possession isn't there, and the offense regresses some, I don't see your defense winning you many games. And what if you don't get Carlo? Then what? I'm thinking a trade of some kind? I'm very curious as to what Detroit's defense is going to look like when/if the season starts.

Come on...really? You like that? What he did there was dirty...and that's a perfect example of why Tootoo is a POS. After the clean hit by Tootoo, Reaves skated over to him and gave him a shoulder or whatever, probably trying to get him to fight...or at the very least get in his face. But right after the shoulder, Tootoo sucker punched Reaves when he wasn't even facing him and Reaves still had his gloves on and both hands on his stick. Had Tootoo squared up like a man and fought like fighters are supposed to do, Reaves likely would have destroyed him. He's much bigger and a much better fighter. So, it's no surprise that Tootoo threw the sucker punch, otherwise he gets pummeled. I actually laughed when Detroit signed Tootoo. Blues fans, along with most NHL fans, can't stand Tootoo. So it will just make the games that much more fun because you know sooner or later Tootoo is going to do something stupid/cheap/dirty to cause a ruckus and more message board fodder....assuming there is a season that is.

Unjustified condescension? Hmmm...let's see... My comments stem from the fact that: 1) Detroit has lost Stuart and Lidstrom. 2) The Blues (who were already superior to Detroit defensively last year), have only lost Carlo (a depth guy) if he signs elsewhere. 3) The Wings have yet to sign anyone to replace Lidstrom and Stuart...so they seem to be in greater need of defensive help than the Blues are. 4) Carlo may be the best of the remaining FA defensemen...hence, it would stand to reason that he would be a good signing for Detroit at this time...in other words, their best option outside of a trade. One could easily deduce that Detroit needs Carlo much more than St. Louis does. It's not unjustified condescension. It's just true. Is it not? Geez, God forbid Detroit actually be in that situation.

Things to know about Carlo... He's very injury prone. He's never played a full season...and with St. Louis, he has missed about 15-20 games each and every season due to injuries. Every few games, he'll leave the game with an apparent injury and it will look like he is really, really hurt. He'll have this grimace on his face like he is in severe pain and leave you wondering, uh oh... but he usually comes back or only misses a game, or two, or three. But yeah, that kind of thing happens all of the time with him. He will have defensive lapses more than you would like. He'll also make you pull your hair out in the offensive zone at the blue line. He should also score more than he does given he has a decent shot. I like Carlo, I'd like to have him back as a depth guy. But no huge loss as the Blues have some guys ready to make the step into the NHL. Any higher than #5 or #6 on the depth chart for Carlo, and you're asking too much of him. Seeing as how you guys have lost a chunk of your defense, he'd be a decent sign for Detroit. But don't expect a whole lot from him.

What is the definition of "better fans"? It always kind of annoyed me how a successful team's fans are, for some reason, automatically labeled as "great fans" or "the best fans in the league". Why is that the case? Makes no sense. It's pretty damn easy to root for a successful team. Fans will rally behind a team that wins for years, that team acquires a huge fan base and then claims some sort of elite status as fans? I'm not sure how that works...but whatever. Quantity does not necessarily equal quality. I'll say this... Fans who stick by their team and support their team to the death when their team hasn't won anything...ever...I think that says a whole hell of a lot more about the quality of a team's fan base than fans who root for a team who has won a bunch of cups and seems to always be a contender. I speak of which I know. The Blues haven't won anything, except a few trips to the finals early on...and the fan base here is pretty rabid and loyal. I think it's kind of lame to, as a whole, claim some sort of superiority over another team's fan base, based on how good the team is. I get that it's all in fun...but it's still kind of weird to hear folks get pissed off about it.

Rarely does the #8 seed go anywhere after knocking off the #1 seed. Since the current playoff format was adopted (and prior to this year), there have been ten #8 seeds that have knocked off a #1 seed But only the 8th seeded Edmonton Oilers in 2006 & 8th seeded Montreal Canadians in 2010 made it out of the 2nd round...and neither played a #2 seed in the 2nd round. So a #8 seed has never beaten a #1 & #2 seed in rounds 1 & 2. I'm not saying LA can't do it...I'm just saying it's never been done before...so maybe there is a reason for that. Maybe a team letdown after the big upset or simply running out of magic...or whatever. LA is going to be tough. Their performance against Vancouver is exactly why I was hoping to stay away from them in Rd. 1. Quick is a shut down goalie, but I wouldn't say that LA has better goaltending, as others have mentioned here. Elliott has been better than Quick all year long and has the numbers to back it up...and he's going to start at least the first 2 games due to Halak' injury...and Halak may be the backup if/when he does return. I think this will be a long and low scoring series. If LA had home ice, then I'd be a little more concerned about winning this series. But with all factors considered, including home ice advantage for St. Louis, I think the Blues can get it done in 7.

See St. Louis 2006 and 2011 when the Cardinals won the WS recently. Imagine that, with a lot more emotion & excitement since it would be our first Cup. St. Louis has always been well behaved when winning championships. But if/when the Blues win a cup, it will be the first one, so a bunch of long time die-hard Blues hockey fans will obviously be pretty damn excited...so you never know what will happen. If it ever happens, and it happens at home...I've heard some loud crowds in my day, but the roof would be blown off Scottrade for sure.

I fail to see how this should warrant a suspension or fine. Kind of overreacting here guys. It's an unsportsmanlike play and could have drawn an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but that's about it. If I'm a Wings fan, I'm pissed. If I'm a Preds fan, I'm laughing. But I'm neither...so I'm just impressed that he was able to get away with it.

Elliott looked good last night. San Jose got a couple late ones with the Blues being a bit lax with the game in hand and their goalie pulled. Elliott isn't the same goalie he was back in '09-'10. Hard to compare that year to this one. Great question. It wasn't even reviewed.

That's not what I said at all. Keep the hits clean, and just hit them back to let them know that if they dish out a hard hit, they are going to get one of the same or worse in return. Otherwise, your guys will be getting run all game long. Sure, there will be some fights when it's your 3rd and 4th line guys getting hit, but that's more their role.

Oshie tried that exact thing in overtime this year when the Blues were killing a 4 on 3 against Vancouver. He had broken his stick and he tried to get off the ice for a change since the Blues bench was in that end, but Vancouver scored on the 4 on 2 before the change could be completed. It was a ballsy try, but it ended up being the wrong decision at the time. After the game, Hitchcock took the blame and said they called Oshie over to make the change...but still.

Apparently, Andy McDonald's helmet was almost cracked completely in half from a shoulder to the head hit against the glass in game #2. truehockey.com said McDonald showed it to the reporters after the game. That's two in a few days?? Damn...I guess I stand corrected. I've played hockey a long time and I have never seen a helmet crack as badly as Zetterberg & McDonald said their helmets cracked. I've never had a helmet crack, and I've taken some shots, even a couple that left me a little whoozy. I also can't recall ever hearing about a helmet cracking like that in an NHL game until these two. I'm not saying it's never happened, but I don't remember hearing about it. And to answer a couple comments... I never said I didn't think helmets weren't designed to crack to displace a severe blow. I had just never seen it happen and didn't think they could crack that easily. I wish they'd publish photos of these cracked helmets. I'd love to see how they cracked. If you google "cracked nhl helmet" the first two links are the Zetterberg & McDonald incidents from the past few days. McDonald's cracked helmet from an elbow he took in Game #2 vs. San Jose. Crazy. Again...I stand corrected.

I'm glad Elliott is in. Not that I wanted Halak to get hurt, but I wanted Elliott to start the series. Elliott has been better than Halak on the road anyway this year.

The rough stuff after a clean hit is fine...and often necessary. You have to let the other team know know that if they do that stuff, they are going to have to answer for it. Clean hit or not, you don't want the other team thinking they can dish out hard hits all game long without repercussion...so next time, maybe they think twice about dishing out a hard hit. It's all about team toughness and sticking up for your teammates.