Bluenotes 2-21-11: Pardon My Speculation | Playoff Race Update
A Daily does of news and views from around St. Louis Blues nation
- – -
Army Ain’t Done
So far so good on the trade front. General Manager Doug Armstrong has re-tooled the lineup and two wins have been the reward. Don’t doubt for a second that he is done.
Penguins GM Ray Shero may have his hands tied till more of their injured forwards return to action. The most important being Sidney Crosby. If he does before the deadline, they are likely buying. Rumors and speculation always seem to run between the Blues and Pens. They’ve got a history. Brad Boyes is a likely topic of conversion.
Adding fuel to the fire, Spector’s Monday morning update should perk the attention of those reading between the lines. The rumored interest in Edmonton Oilers forward Ales Hemsky could be nothing but that. The asking price for the oft injured and highly skilled winger appears to be a 1st and a NHL player. Shero won’t pay that price for a rental. Will he for more. Reading a little in to Lyle Richardson’s comments, Id say yes.
Brad Boyes is under contract for 2011-12. He may not fetch a 1st and a NHL roster player, but a 2nd (or 3rd) plus a near ready forward like a Dustin Jeffrey perhaps? Someone who can replace an exiting Brad Winchester or Jay McClement. As a bottom 6 winger or center.
I know, I know. Lots of speculation… that I don’t normally entertain. I’m not claiming insider info or anything of the sort. I follow both teams very closely and am connecting dots. I’m personally a Jeffrey fan and wouldn’t mind seeing him in a bluenote.
Once Jaroslav Halak returns from injury, Ty Conklin goes back on the block. Don’t think they’ll treat this lightly. The Peoria Rivermen are hurting. With injuries of their own plus call-ups, their depth is being tested as well. They’ve lost three in a row. Getting Bishop back to Peoria may help, but so could adding AHL filler in the Conklin deal. The Rivermen are in danger of going from atop the conference to out of the playoffs. It’s pretty tight up in Ptown.
Scout(ing) Reports
Per reports across the Twitterverse, the Blues have had a scout at a recent Toronto Maple Leafs game as well as the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals match-up. Some have asked me about targets. Pure speculation here, but my list would include: Nikolai Kulemin, Clarke MacArthur, Eric Fehr, Drew Stafford, Tim Connolly.
More than likely, just home work assignments for teams who have called asking about some of our guys as well.
Standings Watch
The Blues are currently in 13th place with 63 points. Colorado trails them by 6 points and Columbus is ahead by 1 point. They are 7 points behind 5th place Nashville and 5 points behind 7th place Los Angeles, 8th place Dallas, 9th place Minnesota and 10th place Anaheim.
The Blues have at least two games in hand on every team above them, except for Columbus. They have 4 games in hand over Calgary and 3 over Anaheim.
Scoreboard Watching
The Blues and Blackhawks are the only game on the schedule impacting the Western Conference standings. A win puts the Blues 3 points behind the playoff cutoff. A regulation win puts them just one point behind the Hawks.
A more more in depth and critical night of scoreboard watching is coming Tuesday.
FYI – Sports Club Stats has the Blues at a 22.7% chance at making the post season.
-
As always, you are invited to follow @618_STLBlues and @BlueNoteZone on Twitter and on the BlueNoteZone Facebook Fan Page for in game updates and Blues news.
