Good Wednesday morning everyone.
September is finally here. That means were counting the days, not weeks or months, till Blues action kicks off.
Here are some dates to keep in mind
Traverse City Tournament: 11th – 15th
Training Camp: Starts 17th
Pre-Season Games
21st – vs. Avalanche
22nd – @ Wild
24th – vs. Wild
25th – @ Stars
26th – @ Avalanche
30th – vs. Hawks
Oct. 2nd – vs. Stars
Oct. 3rd – @ Hawks
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Speaking of the Traverse City Tournament, the Blues officially released their roster. The rosters were leaked by a red Wings blog a couple weeks ago.
The Blues are dressing a one of the better rosters, featuring six draft picks from the first three rounds.
The team will be lead by Alex Pietrangelo and Ian Cole. They will look to impress at the tournament in hopes of improving their chances at grabbing a full time job at training camp. There is no better pairing than those two in the entire tournament.
Jake Allen will likely start in net. This will be his first chance as a professional player to make his mark on the Blues. A solid Tournament and training camp could lead to more starting time in Peoria for the Blues 2nd Round pick in 2008.
The group of forwards going are not the top group that they could send, but will still hold their own. A great opportunity is presented to guys like Phl McRae, Sefan Della Rovere, and Tyler Shattock. Players with a winning pedigree from their Junior days about to step in to the world of professional hockey with both feet. Pietrangelo and Cole are the big names, but these three can really step up and lead the team as well.
Wild card to watch? Mark Cundari. His winning history and level of play with the Windsor Spitfires are a great asset to the line up. Should Pietrangelo and/or Cole falter, Cundari can step in.
Add in Brett Ponich and the Blues team has the best blue-line in the tournament.
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Verizon Hockey Night is primed and ready to go tonight. Joining KMOX Play by Play voice Chris Kerber and crew tonight is Alex Pietrangelo. Head out to Harpo’s in Chesterfield for the festivities. Catch them on the air from 6pm to 8pm Central on 1120 AM KMOX.
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Brian Haenchen profiles Jaroslav Halak for Hockey Independent.
Brian also posted another set of predictionsin his Blues Preview series. Check it out to see some of my thoughts.
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Do you rememberthe “attack” on the Blues media? The hockey media personalities of St. Louis were questioned by their peers for soft reporting on a failed Blues season.
The Cardinals season stands on the edge of a ocher knife. A crabby old manager and a slumping team are throwing away the playoffs.
With 80% of their season in the books and posting a 3-7 record in their last 10 the Cards are likely done. Losing four straight and falling 7 back of the Central leading Reds likely seals their fate.
Yet, mathematically they are not out of the race.
The Blues were in a similar position. At roughy 80% of their games played (about 65 games), the Blues were out of contention with a lot of uncertainty. They would go on to take 70% of the points possible in what remained of March.
This kept the Blues in the race and nearly got them in. The media kept the faith and took fire.
So let’s say the Cards pull it out and win 70% of their remaining games to keep the race close.
Will BernieM, Joe, Jeff, Mike, Derrick, etc refrain from cheerleading or will they succumb to what sells papers and gets hits?
I don’t foresee Chris, Kelly, Bernie F, Darren, Jeremy, Andy, Lou, Norm etc calling them out.
I gave some trouble and took some heat for my POV back in April. The hockey guys do their job. They report what’s there. At the time the Blues were in the race, they reported and commentated as such.
Time can only tell what happens…if the Cards can even win a game to make it an issue.
I’ll be back later with more Blues goodies and randomness. Keep an eye out for the Breakdown on Blues goaltending for 10-11. Coming up tonight or tomorrow.
