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After seeing the club they constructed in such a calculated fashion squander a 2-0 first round series lead to the LA Kings fans hoped the brain trust of the St. Louis Blues would take accountability. You know, apologize for yet another promising regular season fizzling out in late April/early May and offer ideas for how clear deficiencies will be resolved. For building the type of team on paper that could push through on the ice in to June… and couldn’t.

Alas, it was not meant to be as complacency is as pervasive in the organization as worshipers of insanity.

General Manager Doug Armstrong has gone on record that his offseason task list is full of re-signing Restricted Free Agents. All of them to be exact. Why? The team is not that far off. The right pieces are in place they just didn’t get it done, but they will being another year wiser.

Obviously I’m paraphrasing and extrapolating. However, that doesn’t change the perception among some fans (and finally some in the MSM community) that the Blues are fine with always looking towards next season… and that’s not kosher. Season after season the heavily insulated (aka protected from scrutiny) core of David Backes, Alex(ander)Steen, TJ Oshie, David Perron, Patrik  Berglund and now Chris Stewart have failed to deliver when and where it counts. On the scoreboard in the playoffs.

Maintaing the status quo and expecting different results is… yeah we all know…

If there has ever been a summer to make difficult decisions and tinker with the roster, this is it. In all honesty the Blues aren’t that far off. They had LA down 2-0 and nearly won every game they lost. Their style of play was where it should be. Similar to the Kings and the Boston Bruins. Both of which have won a Cup in the last four years and made it to the Conference Finals this season. All that was missing was the execution needed to net more than a goal per game.

Who didn’t execute? The roll of names is pretty long and most were already mentioned above. With Andy McDonald retiring the list is smaller, but only by one. Backes and Oshie can be taken off because their the principal reasons why the Blues get to where they are in the regular season. Steen actually made a difference in both ends so he deserves reprieve.

That leaves us with Berglund, Stewart, and Perron.

Jumping on the whipping boys? There is a reason why.

Those three combined for just one goal and five points with a Minus-6 rating in the 6 game series versus LA. In the regular season they were the only three to score 10 or more goals. Stewart led with 18, Berglund second with 17, and Perron bagged 10. When the going got tough against one of the toughest teams in the league these guys got going in the wrong direction. Considering the Blues will need to beat teams of the Kings’ caliber to make it to the promise land, those who go AWOL should be given their marching orders.

See the problem?

With Jay Bouwmeester’s salary on the books, the need to ink Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk long term on the back end, and a decreasing salary cap there isn’t much wiggle room to import salary upfront without exporting some of their own.

Perron makes the likeliest candidate as his playstyle matches Ken Hitchcock’s philosophy the least. Think like Phil Kessel in Boston. Clearing out his $3.8 mil AAV contract plus McDonald’s departure should cover the extensions for Nos. 27 and 22.  What about Berglund and Stewart? With young depth on the wings (Schwartz, Tarasenko, Jaskin) and not much down the middle (McRae?) Berglund is a more likely candidate to stay than Stewart if changes are made.

That said, the Blues are a different team when Stewart is playing to his size and ability. So much more difficult to contain two big men who can score than one. Even harder to handle three than two. As much of a threat as Tarasenko is to score he remains largely unproven at the NHL level and isn’t a power force like Stewart.

Stewart must be replaced if he doesn’t return, but by whom?

The Blues need Jarome Iginla.

At age 35 and with a declining performance in the Pittsburgh Penguins post season run questioning of Iginla’s ability to be the high impact difference he has virtually always been is understandable. Predictable even. Reason to steer away from making a change. But is it a good reason? Is that alone enough?

Going back to 1998-99 Iginla has scored goals at a clip no lower than .32/game. That’s a 26 goal season over 82 games. The Blues have had two players score than many goals in the last 7 years. Backes with 31 in 2010-11 and Brad Boyes in 2007-08 and 08-09. The Blues don’t score much. Iginla does.

In terms of playoff success Iginla has been a solid contributor with 32 goals and 61 points in 69 career post season appearances.

Further, “Iggy” is known as one of the most respected captains in the game today. While Backes has come a long way with the letters on his sweater, there is much he could learn. Both in leading a successful team in good times and a struggling team through the bad. Those quick to point out his lack of transparent leadership in the Pens demise this season should look closer. They suffered an identity crisis at the worst time when their star players weren’t acting like ones. In St. Louis Iginla could be one of THE guys and not just a guy who got added. Enough of a difference to be a difference.

What could this team look like?

Schwartz, Backes, and Oshie were solid in the playoffs, so why mess with what was working.

In the movement of Perron and possibly Stewart a second line center could be fetched. Steen with the new center like a Paul Stastny type and Iginla sounds nice doesnt.

Vladimir Sobotka, Berglund and Tarasenko would make for an interesting “2b” line.

No questioning the CPR line.

Will this happen? Likely not as the Armstrong seems intent on running heads in to walls (or driving them in to the sand), but the possibility is lovely to imagine. Doing something different to hopefully get different results.

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Image via Flickr (BridgetDS)

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The era between the the last two lockouts that claimed the lives of countless NHL games won’t be referred to as one where those dolling out dollars on the free market were “wise”. Half a lost season was supposed to “fix” the problem. The opening bell hasn’t even rung yet and in pre-open trading prices remain inflated.

Utilizing a KHL contract offer likely to be lucrative, Eastern Conference veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar gave the okay for his rights to move west. The Ottawa Senators happily shipped them to the Dallas Stars and now the 39 year old has a two year, $10 million contract.

There is an “I told ya so” joke there, but let’s just move on…

The Chelyabinsk, USSR (that’s Russia for you youngsters)  native has had quite the career. In 1,177 games Gonchar has racked up 217 goals and 775 points while logging an average no less than 21 minutes per game. In 135 playoff games spanning three different decades he has amassed 22 goals and 90 points. Taken 14th overall in the 1992 entry draft by the Washington Capitals and payed there till he was traded to the Boston Bruins in 2004. After the 2004-05 lockout he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and was a major reason why they made back to back Stanley Cup Finals appearances (2008 & 2009) and won one (2009). Excessive contract demands per declining production and increasing age lead Gonchar to Ottawa. The same circumstances have led him elsewhere again.

Now this is a St. Louis Blues blog, so why discuss the signing in any great detail?

With all that’s happened between September 2012 and now it’s understandable to have forgotten that realignment will take effect next season. That means the Stars will no longer just be a conference rival, but a divisional rival. More games against and a greater influence on the Blues’ ability to qualify for the second season.

Therefore, discussion…

In his heyday Gonchar was one of the top offensive defenseman in the league. In the 10 years between 1999-2000 and 2009-10 the never failed to register 50 points or achieve a points/game ratio lower than .70. While the ending bookmark was the season he left Pittsburgh it was on a high note statistically: 11 goals and 50 points in 62 games. However, his production was become a by product of who he played with more so than his own abilities. Moving to a team with far less firepower emphasizes the point. From that lofty run described above to just 15 goals and 91 points in 186 games (.49 points/game ratio).

Injuries have not made the aging process easier. Since the knee to knee hit from Alex Ovechkin in the Pens 2009 Cup run Gonchar hasn’t been the same. From the 2009-10 campaign forward he’s played in just 84% of  the games possible and seen his offensive output totals hit uncommon lows.

Under Ken Hitchcock the Blues have become known for an aggressive forecheck, persistent puck hounding, and below the goal line cycling (before popping the puck back to the point) to generate scoring opportunities. Gonchar’s mobility is not what it once was and in general Dallas is not known as quick transitioning team or exceptionally strong in their own end save for their Finnish netminder.

Do the math…

Older defenseman + team lacks depth + logging too many minutes + facing wave after wave of pressure = profit

… at least for the Stars’ opposition…

One area Gonchar is very likely to help the Stars (and justify his paycheck) is on the power play. The Texas based club finished 18th in the NHL last season at a mundane 17% conversation rate on the man advantage. In 2011-12 they were in the basement at 30th (13.5%). Pretty far removed from an 18.5% clip that was 7th best in 2006-07. That’s when Eric Lindros donned the black and green and Phillippe Boucher lead the team in PPGs with 12.

Yeah, it’s been that long.

For those curious, Dallas is 3 for 23 (13%) on the power play versus the Blues over the last two seasons.

Certainly new GM Jim Nill isn’t trying to just improve his chances of beating the Blues, but he does know that their road to the playoffs in the new division goes through St. Louis. He knows more offense is needed from the back end to do so and the pickings are slim on the market. With only one significant core member to re-sign, Stephane Robidas, between this summer and next, the risk is relatively low to try to win now while simultaneously insulating and challenging prospects like Joe Morrow and Jamie Oleksiak.

Will Gonchar be overpaid? Probably. Will he be a liability at even strength? Likely. If utilized correctly, will he help Dallas win games? You bet. The Blues and other teams will just need to adjust accordingly. Target him five on five and limit his chances up a man.

On last thought…

Don’t expect this contract to have bearing on the new deals Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk are due. It’s far more likely that the deals Erik Karlsson, Cam Fowler, Kris Letang, and Alex Goligoski received are used as comparables. WHo it does impact is Jordan Leopold. General Manager Doug Armstrong has said bringing back the veteran defender is on his to do list. As the list of available names of defenseman who can log 18-20 minutes and contribute on the power play dwindles interest in his services will rise. The likes of Carolina, Ottawa, and others searching for depth on the blueline could come calling. With Ian Cole under contract and Kris Russel’s rights restricted, it makes more economic sense to let him walk rather than overpay when Nos. 27 and 22 are due big raises.

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We’ll see more of this next season.

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In case you missed it over the last couple weeks the St. Louis Blues have been moderately busy. No, not just prepping for the draft, Race for the Cure, and setting tee times… but generating genuine headlines.

Certainly their preference is to do so because of actions on the ice… but beggars can’t be choosers.

Defenseman Ian Cole and forward Adam Cracknell each agreed to new contracts. Two years and one year in length respectively. Both one way deals. Veteran forwards Andy McDonald and Scott Nichol decided to go a different direction. One being the exact opposite. They’ve decided to hang up their skates after lengthy NHL careers.

For those seeking demographic info,  basic statistical data and quotes feel free to hit the links and read all about the comings and goings.

For those looking for a honest assessment and discussion of “what’s next”, please read on below.

Re-Signings

What has Cole done to become the black sheep of the organization? Not sure if the public will ever know, but one of the Blues’ three 1st round picks in 2007 has taken a peculiar developmental path with the organization. Being a conductor on the AHL train isn’t uncommon. Playing fairly well to only have other players acquired to fill a spot he seemed to fill well enough is not. Unless there is something else going on.

Not to say bringing Jay Bouwmeester and Jordan Leopold in was a bad move. Nor that flipping Nikita Nikitin for Kris Russell was ill advised. But why should a highly touted draft pick be constantly put in the corner and told to wait?

A multiple year, one way, deal may signal it’s time for No. 28 to schedule his hair appointment. It just might finally be time to bleach the fur.

For Cracknell getting the Chris Porter treatment is a positive sign for his future. The burly western Canadian served his time in the minors and jumped on every opportunity presented in the big show. No, he’s not scoring a ton of goals with his rather nice shot, but he has proved to be more than serviceable energy line contributor. With The CPR Line all under contract Ken Hitchcock’s 4th line looks set months before camp.

Retirements

How will fans remember the Nichol era? The probability of recalling it without the help of TV analysts or HockeyDB is pretty low. Other than seeing a loose correlation to two post season flare-outs. Kudos for winning face-offs and giving Vladimir Sobotka a run for the “little guy with gumption award”, but he won’t be missed. If he wanted to continue playing it wouldn’t have been at 14th & Clark with the CPR Line locked up anyways.

The news that carries the most weight just happens to come from probably the smallest player on the roster. McDonald’s departure opens up an immediate need in the Blues’ top 6. The question worth $3-$4 million is who gets the promotion?

Jaden Schwartz laid claim to such a spot late in the season and didn’t let go through the Blues first round loss to LA. David Perron found his playstyle not in sync with the team’s direction and it showed as the season wore on. Does Alex(ander) Steen’s reputation keep him logging big even strength minutes?

Steen’s skills and will more closely match what Hitch is looking for compared to Perron’s. Schwartz has shown to be more like Steen and McDonald than Perron. While I’ll surely be flamed and have eyes rolled at me for the suggestion that Perron is on the outside. Maybe he is and maybe he isn’t. Doesn’t change the fact that he probably should be.

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Come join the St. Louis Blues/FOX Sports Midwest team as they help raise funds for the Komen St. Louis Race For The Cure

The Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure is a great event that helps raise awareness of breast cancer, research and treatment by raising funds for the St. Louis area.  Funds raised during this benefit will be used to assist with breast health and cancer screenings, treatment, education and support programs.  The remaining funds are applied towards breast cancer research programs, including programs conducted in the local St. Louis area.

Per the Komen St. Louis website, www.komenstlouis.org, this year’s overall campaign includes a healthy goal of $3,000,000.00. The St. Louis Blues/FOX Sports Midwest team specifically includes a goal of $80,000.00.

Feel free to join the St. Louis Blues/FOX Sports Midwest team to help join the local fight against breast cancer.  All team members will receive a commemorative team t-shirt and a Race for the Cure participant t-shirt.  The cost to enter the race is $30.00 per person with all proceeds benefiting the Race For The Cure.  The first 1,200 people to register for the Blues/FOX team will receive a free ticket to a 2013 St. Louis Blues pre-season game.

As a team member, you are invited to partake in activities scheduled prior to the race outside of Scottrade Center, including meeting our lovable St. Louis Blues mascot, Louie and many other activities.

All survivor team members will receive a special pink team t-shirt versus the normal team t-shirt and will be recognized during the activities occurring prior to the race at Scotttrade.

Per the St. Louis Blues website, last year’s team included more than 2,300 fans and raised more than $80,000.00.

Click here to register with the St. Louis Blues and FOX Sports Midwest team and learn more about this important cause.  Help save a life, spread awareness and help fund breast cancer research!

Follow the Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KomenStLouis

Follow the Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Twitter: @KomenSTL

Will Marc Staal return to the lineup full time for the Blue Shirts in Round 2?

Okay, so I’m cheating a little bit since the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs actually started last night with Pittsburgh’s 4-1 victory over Ottawa, but I can promise you that game won’t affect the prediction I have already made for this series.  Since the New York-Boston series was the only one I didn’t accurately forecast in Round 1, I figured it was most important to get this up prior to that series beginning.  In the East it’s a parade of team of that NBC would love to see in the Stanley Cup Final, alongside one team who would be their nightmare scenario.  Who’s moving on to battle it out for the Prince of Wales of Trophy?  Let’s take a look.

1 Pittsburgh Penguins (36-12-0, 72 pts-Atlantic Division Champions/Def. NY Islanders 4-2 in Round 1) vs. 7 Ottawa Senators (25-17-6, 56 pts-4th Place Northeast Division/Def. Montreal 4-1 in Round 1)

Season Series

January 27 @ Ottawa: Penguins, 2 Senators, 1 SO
February 13 @ Pittsburgh: Penguins, 4 Senators, 2
April 22 @ Ottawa: Penguins, 3 Senators, 1

Why the Penguins Will Win: Things were beginning to look a little dicey for the Vegas favorite to win the Cup in Round 1 against the spunky New York Islanders, but that all changed once Dan Bylsma made the gutsy decision to sit down his struggling, but Stanley Cup Winning, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in favor of Tomas Vokoun.  Once Vokoun got the net the Pens won the final two games only allowing 3 goals, including a huge Game 5 shutout.  If the Penguins get solid goaltending, they won’t be beat.  They have too many offensive weapons.  The only way to defeat this team is to outscore them, so even above average goaltending should get the job done.  Even scarier for the other teams in the Eastern Conference is that Sidney Crosby is just now finding his game after sitting out the final month with a broken jaw.  If the Kid gets going, along with the rest of the weapons in that lineup, no one is beating this squad.

Why the Senators Will Win: I certainly don’t want to compare the Senators to the 2011-12 Kings, because I’m not sure this is a Cup winning squad, but they do fit the profile of “not your average 7 seed.”  The “#peskysens” (side note: it’s kind of annoying that they stole the Blues hashtag thanks to a player they ended up trading anyway, but whatever) have most of their stars back on a team that probably would have taken the Northeast Division had everyone been healthy.  Erik Karlsson has now been back for a couple weeks, Craig Anderson is 100% and the best goaltender left in the playoffs not named Quick or Lundqvist, and even Jason Spezza is skating again and could return to the lineup at any time.  Anderson can do his part to keep the Penguins scoring down to a manageable level, and if Vokoun ever comes back down to Earth this series is Ottawa’s for the taking.

Who Will Win: The Senators are a great story, and are also playing amazing hockey right now.  If they were playing either of the other two teams in the East I’d likely be picking them to advance, because they were awfully impressive in their five game dismantling of Montreal.  Still however, when they want to be the Penguins are the best team in the tournament.  There will be nights when Pittsburgh’s goaltending and defense betrays them, and they lose a game 6-5, but I can’t see it happening 4 times in 7 games.  Not against Ottawa anyway.  Penguins in 6

4 Boston Bruins (28-14-6, 62 pts-2nd Place Northeast Division/Def. Toronto 4-3 in Round 1) vs. 6 New York Rangers (26-18-4, 56 pts-2nd Place Atlantic Division/Def. Washington 4-3 in Round 1)

Season Series

January 19 @ Boston: Bruins, 3 Rangers, 1
January 23 @ NY Rangers: Rangers, 4 Bruins, 3 OT
February 12 @ Boston: Rangers, 4 Bruins, 3 SO

Why the Bruins Will Win: It took about 50 minutes into the seventh game against their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs for the sleeping giant that is the Boston Bruins to finally wake up.  After giving up a 3-1 lead, and facing a 4-1 deficit in Game 7 at home the Bruins were dead.  Absolutely, positively, dead.  At least everyone but the 20 guys in their locker room thought so.   One of, if not, the greatest comeback in NHL Playoff History later and the Bruins would take Game 7 5-4 and move on to Round 2.  It was as if the Bruins, a team a lot of people have been touting as quietly the best in the East, finally realized it right before it became too late.  Now as they move on to the semifinals against their Original Six Rivals from New York there seems to be a bit more pep in the step of the black and gold.  The Bruins still boast one of the most dangerous forward groups in the league that can score at any time.  When future hall of famer Jaromir Jagr is grinding away on the 3rd line you know you’re dealing with a deep team.

Why the Rangers Will Win: A lot of the key to winning in the playoffs is riding a hot goaltender.  Well, the Rangers have arguably the best goalie left in the tournament in Henrik Lundquvist, and a pretty stingy defense to boot.  They came back from down 2-0 and 3-2 in their series against Washington with Lundqvist pitching shutouts in both Games 6 and 7.  The team even scored some scoring punch in Game 7 picking up 5 goals, with only one of them coming from one of their “likely” sources in Captain Ryan Callahan.  Rick Nash is also bound to find his scoring touch eventually, and if the Rangers score they’re awfully tough to beat.

Who Will Win: There are so many variables in this series that makes it incredibly difficult to predict.  On paper, the Bruins are the better squad, but Tukka Rask is no Tim Thomas. Rask had dropped six consecutive elimination games, and was certainly in line to drop a seventh until his teammates got him off the hook with TWO goals while he was sitting on the bench.  No such question exists for the Broadway Blueshirts, who are now brimming with confidence after winning 4 of the last 5 against Washington and King Henrik taking his game to the next level.  This seems like a series that will go the distance, and while the Bruins have home ice advantage the Rangers did just finally win a game 7 on the road for the first time in their history.  I think that number goes to two when it’s all said and done.  Rangers in 7

So there you have it, do with it what you will.  Just remember that myself or Bluenote Zone is not responsible for any lost gambling money from taking my picks to the bank.  There is no money back guarantee here.

Enjoy the balance of the race for Lord Stanley, and we’ll see you for the Conference Finals.

The Red Wings enter round two as decided underdogs to the top seeded Blackhawks

It might tough for us St. Louis Blues fans to understand, but despite being eliminated the Stanley Cup Playoffs will go on without us.  If you can get past that disappointment however, there’s some pretty fun matchups for the hockey fan in you.  In the Western Conference especially we get a pair of divisional rivalries, one of which being an Original Six matchup that is in it’s last ride before re-alignment ends the divisional rivalry.  The other is an all-California matchup between last year’s Stanley Cup Champions, and a team who has been “next year’s” Stanley Cup Champions for the better part of a decade.  Who will move on to play for the Clarence Campbell Bowl?  Well yours truly did go four for four in picking the West’s Quarterfinal Matchups, so I guess that makes me pretty qualified to tell you.

1 Chicago Blackhawks (36-7-5, 77 points-President’s Trophy Winners/Def. Minnesota 4-1 in Round 1) vs. 7 Detroit Red Wings (24-16-8, 56 points-3rd Place Central Division/Def. Anahaeim 4-3 in Round 1)

Season Series

January 27 @ Chicago: Blackhawks, 2 Red Wings, 1 OT
March 3 @ Detroit: Blackhawks, 2 Red Wings, 1 SO
March 31 @ Detroit: Blackhawks, 7 Red Wings, 1
April 12 @ Chicago: Blackhawks, 3 Red Wings, 2 SO

Why the Blackhawks Will Win: The Hawks were 4-0-0 against Detroit in the regular season, including one absolute shellacking at the Joe on the final day of March.  The Red Wings are an aging team, that is certainly on the downhill slide, while the Hawks have been better for quite a while now.  Also, history will tell you that teams that breeze through the first round tend to have a lot of success in the second round.  Especially against teams that were pushed to the limit as the Red Wings were against the Ducks.  The Red Wings had to win 4 straight to end the regular season just to get in, and then went the distance against the favored Ducks, going to overtime in five of seven games.  It would be easy to see why the Wings could be out of gas, and it will likely show against a team who’s class they just aren’t in.

Why the Red Wings Will Win: Can the momentum continue to carry over?  The Wings are getting healthy for the first time all year, and while they did fail to win against the Hawks during the regular season they did push them to overtime three times, and twice to a shootout which obviously wouldn’t apply in this series.  The Hawks have been on cruise control since about the first of March, and with all due respect to the Wild this will be their first true test.  The Wings just beat a team that seemed to have Chicago’s number in the regular season, and could have some surprises in for the heavily favored Hawks.  You just know the Wings want to go out with a bang in their last hurrah in the Western Conference.  What better way than eliminating their longtime foe.

Who Will Win: It’s been a truly remarkable run for the Wings the past few weeks to get to this point, but one has to think that they’re about to run into a big dose of reality.  The Hawks appear to be on a mission, and should be able to run around the older, less talented, Red Wings.  The Hawks were the whipping boy of the Red Wings for quite a while in the Central Division, and that should prove to be all the motivation they need to dispatch their old foe one last time.  Blackhawks in 5

5 Los Angeles Kings (27-16-5, 59 points-2nd Place Pacific Division/Def. St. Louis 4-2 in Round 1) vs. 6 San Jose Sharks (25-16-7, 57 points-3rd Place Pacific Division/Def. Vancouver 4-0 in Round 1)

Season Series

March 14 @ San Jose: Sharks, 4 Kings, 3
March 16 @ Los Angeles: Kings, 5 Sharks, 2
April 16 @ San Jose: Sharks, 3 Kings, 2 SO
April 27 @ Los Angeles: Kings, 3 Sharks, 2

Why the Kings Will Win: After falling behind 2-0 to the Blues in Round 1 the Champs started to look like the Champs again.  Four straight one goal victories, and goaltender Jonathan Quick found his Conn Smythe Trophy form.  The home team took every game in the regular season meetings, and the Kings have home ice by virtue of their season ending regular season win over the Sharks on April 27 in Los Angeles.  Until someone slays the dragon that is the Los Angeles Kings it’s tough to pick against them.  And until the Sharks can prove that they can get it done over the course of an entire post season it’s tough to pick them.

Why the Sharks Will Win: Everyone has seemingly forgotten about the Sharks who have been perennial contenders for quite some time now, but always seem to wilt under the pressure of being constant favorites.  This year they are flying under the radar, and dispatched the Vancouver Canucks with ease in Round 1.  The Sharks have been very streaking in 2013, and seem to be on a hot streak right now, and also no team knows the Kings in these playoffs better than the Sharks.  They certainly won’t be intimidated by Los Angeles, as they are the last team to defeat the Kings in a playoff series.  A 4-2 Quarterfinal win in 2011.

Who Will Win: I’d imagine the Sharks will give the Kings quite a test, just as the Blues did, but the Blues series showed that the Kings can battle adversity and come back from it.  That was the one remaining question mark about this team, who breezed through the playoffs last year.  This series could prove unpredictable, as most divisional rivalries are in playoff series are, but I think the Kings are just a bit better than the Sharks and if that doesn’t prove the difference home ice probably will.  Kings in 6

Eastern Conference previews coming tomorrow.  I only went 3 for 4 in the East series (dang it Washington!) so I’m not quite as big of an expert on that conference as the West, but then again…they don’t play real hockey over there anyway.

NHL Green

In April 2013, NHL Green and the non-profit organization, Restore Hockey, announced that their partnership would soon have a greater way of reaching more NHL fans who are willing to donate used hockey equipment to those in need, so everyone has the opportunity to learn how to play the port that all of us hockey fans love.

The Recycle the Game campaign will be accepting equipment donations to the Restore Hockey/NHL Green Drop Zone at the NHL shop. Look out for the green net to donate equipment.

Restore Hockey will help collect the donations and aid in the swapping of the equipment across the country.  The donated equipment is never sold, only donated.

Once the hockey equipment donation is received, Restore Hockey will ensure that the equipment is cleaned, sanitized, repaired and restored before donating the equipment to those in need.

Restore Hockey was co-founded by President, Mike Spengler, and Director, Carolyn Spengler.  Mike Spengler has loved the game since he started playing at the age of three.  He fully believes that the sport of hockey should be available to anyone who is willing to play.  Therefore, Restore Hockey was created and their non-profit organization strives to promote the sport of hockey, while providing the opportunity to learn and play the game, all while restoring the life of used equipment.

Learn more about Restore Hockey and NHL Green by following their progress on the web or social media, as mentioned below.

Follow Restore Hockey on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RestoreHockey

Follow Restore Hockey on Twitter: @RestoreHockey

Follow NHL Green’s progress at www.nhl.com/green

Observations:

Chris Stewart: Other than the clank off of the post tonight what did he really do in this series? Skate around in circles a few times and collect a paycheck? Sure seemed like it to me. I don’t see how Hitch didn’t see the fact that Stewie wasn’t contributing to the effort. Hitch might have said there was no one being carried along, but I think he’s wrong. Never mind what Stewie did in the regular season, that really didn’t matter in the now. In the now he was just invisible.

Jaden Schwartz: What a hockey player. The Blues have found something in this kid that you can’t teach. He had more chances again tonight. He’s earned a spot on that top line. He really worked his butt off the whole series. You gotta think he will be a core part of the team for next year. Just wish that he could have had the chance to get a little more experience in the playoffs.

Brian Elliott: Bad goals. No more, no less. He had a solid night. He kept the Blues in it when it counted. Not sure where he was on that play at the end of the second that turned out to be the game winner. Can’t entirely place the blame on Ells. I won’t. Considering on both goals, one was deflected and the other was a screen from his own guy. There was nothing he could do. If the puck hadn’t been tipped he would have been in the right spot. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Blues don’t make it as far as they do without him.

The CPR line: Played an outstanding game once again. They scored more than what certain other lines did tonight. Ryan Reaves had a great chance but was denied by Quick. I really hope that they keep these three together somehow. They kept the Blues in it. Not the top line guys that are SUPPOSED to do that. It was this line that was the best line for the Blues in this series.

The season ends for the Blues who played one helluva series. The 4-2 Kings series win, doesn’t show how hard fought this series really was. I am proud to say I am a Blues fan and that they will be back. What they will look like next year? Who knows, but until then, LET’S GO BLUES!!!

Three Stars:

1)Jonathan Quick 2)Drew Doughty 3)Dustin Penner

Brian Elliott played outstanding for 59:59.8. Unfortunately, the .2 sent his team home.

Dustin Penner can now take his place alongside Steve Yzerman and Owen Nolan in the St. Louis Blues playoff heartbreak hall of fame.  Another season, another disappointing end.  The 2013 campaign ended in the same building that the 2011-12 one did.  At Staples Center at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings.  The Kings showed why they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions, and the Blues showed why they are getting closer, but aren’t quite ready to take the next step.

The Blues knew they were behind the eight ball after dropping Game 5 at home.  A tall task now awaited them.  A must win game in a building they haven’t won in since March of 2010.  Many Blues fans were fearing a blowout loss coming, but as has been the case this entire series they endured a nailbiter.  The story was the same.  The Blues were controlling the play, but missing on scoring chances, and often times just plain missing the net.  Then for the fourth time in six games of this series, they found themselves down 1-0.  Drew Doughty entered the Blues zone with Roman Polak fronting him.  Polak had two options in this situation.  Either separate Doughty from the puck (a risky option, because if Doughty sidesteps him he’s in on Brian Elliott all alone), or get down to block the shot.  Inexplicably Polak chose neither option, and stood straight up screening his own goaltender allowing Doughty to snipe a shot past Elliott at 12:37.  Again the Blues would outshoot and outchance the Kings, but would find themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard heading to the first intermission.

The Blues came out strong again in the second, and their hard work paid off at 4:39 of the period when Polak redeemed himself for the time being with a huge slap shot that deflected off the leg of Chris Porter and past Jonathan Quick for Porter’s first career playoff goal knotting the game at 1.  The game seemed destined to be heading to the third period tied at 1, but with just .2 left on the clock Penner would deliver the killshot to the Blues season.

Replay would confirm the goal did in fact beat the buzzer, and also that it deflected off Polak’s stick.  If looks could kill everyone on the Blues bench would have been dead thanks to their head coach Ken Hitchcock who looked understandably disgusted.  The Blues, who had played so well for the duration of the game, got caught not playing to the buzzer.  An absolutely inexcusable lapse in concentration considering the way things have gone in this series.  From Chris Stewart, who pulled a disappearing act in the series, loafing and giving up on his man Penner, to Polak halfheartedly putting his stick out causing the deflection, to Elliott being caught off guard before the horn sounded, the Blues have no one to blame for this one but the guys looking at them in the mirror.

To the Blues credit, they would not just lay down in the third period.  They fought, and clawed, and scratched to do anything they could to get the equalizer.  They outshot the Kings 8-3 in the third, but it was Quick again who showed the difference between a good goalie with a great defense and an elite goalie with a great defense.  Patrik Berglund was stonewalled twice on a mini breakaway midway through the period.  Then late in the period, in what ended up being their last gasp, Stewart hit the post with a shot.  Which was very fitting.  So many shots that just couldn’t get on net in the series cost the Blues, and it would prove fatal again in Game 6.  Time expired, again with the margin being just a single goal, and the Blues season would end in six against LA.

The coming months will be very interesting.  The Blues, in my opinion, lack two key components to take them from being a perennial playoff team who might win a round or two each year but nothing more, and being legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.  An elite goaltender, and a finisher.  Brian Elliott was a great story down the stretch, and he’s a terrific number two, but this team need a Quick, or maybe a Ryan Miller, to truly take them to the next level.  For the past two springs we’ve seen what an elite level goalie can do with a team that plays the style of the Blues.  As for the finisher, that still may be Vladimir Tarasenko, who we need to remember is only 20 years old.  The Tank appeared to run out of gas down the stretch in what was most likely a combination of a long season that started in the KHL, and the concussion he suffered in late February.  Goal scorers don’t grow on trees, so it may have to be him.  We can all agree changes are coming.  Andy McDonald has most likely played his last game in the Blue Note, and there’s a strong possibility that one of the members of the young nucleus could be moved in order to get that final piece.  A mistake would be “blowing it up” or making huge reactionary moves based on what we saw in a condensed season.

The Blues will learn a lot from this campaign.  While they didn’t rack up the gaudy point total (well point percentage in this year) that they had in 11-12, and they didn’t win a playoff series, it seems as if they took a small step forward.  A very small step, but a step nonetheless.  They ran into their nightmare matchup, but in doing so may have finally showed themselves that they can at least compete with the Kings who could very well go on to win a second consecutive Cup.  October is only five months away, and for those of you into this sort of thing, the Cardinals are having a pretty good year and can take your mind off this until the boys hit the ice again.  The 2013-14 campaign might be put up or shut up time for a lot of guys on this roster.

So while you’re likely as devestated as I am tonight, just keep telling yourself the future is bright.  There is still reason for excitement for Blues hockey, and series like this one will only make the team stronger and hungrier. Enjoy the rest of the playoffs, and your summer, and we’ll be back at it again before you know it.  Next season, they’ll even be here on time.  Congratulations to the Champs, who continue to sit on their throne for the time being, and thank you to the Blues for providing us another fun (frustrating at times) season.  Most of all, thanks to the Blues fans who’ve taken the time to read these columns and take this ride with me.  Note of the Game will return in October, and hopefully there will be a lot of High Notes.

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LGB! Time to get it done or play golf.

Who will score first for the Blues tonight? Give us your best guess!  Remember, you just need to comment on this post to be entered into the contest; the person with the most correct guesses at the end of the season will win something dripping with Blues awesomeness. *Comments must be dated/time stamped prior to the game start time*

Game Info:

Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

Opposing Netminder:  Jonathan Quick (Confirmed per Daily Faceoff)

Starting Goalie: Brian Elliott (Confirmed per Daily Faceoff)

Starting Line Up: 
Forwards:
Schwartz – Backes – Steen
McDonald – Sobotka – Stewart
Perron – Berglund – Oshie
Cracknell – Porter – Reaves

Defensive Pairings:
Bouwmeester – Pietrangelo
Leopold – Shattenkirk
Jackman – Polak

Scratches: Allen, Chorney, Cole, Grachev, Hakanpaa, Jaskin, Murray, Nichol, Russell, Tarasenko, Woywitka

Injuries: Langenbrunner

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