Minnesota Wild

Throwdown Lowdown – Rangers @ Blues 1-16-10

By Tyler Atwood on January 16, 2010

Something Aaron Voros is used to . . . GETING PUNCHED IN THE JAW! Image via nydailynews.com

There was testiness and physicality, not to mention slew-footing allegations, that sprang from Thursday’s Blues contest with the Minnesota Wild. Despite all that, there were no fighting majors “awarded”, so there were no “fights” to recap, meaning no records for the Blues have changed. And that’s OK, because unlike the Minnesota Wild, every once in awhile we draft skilled players that hit interesting corners of the net. Thank you, TJ Oshie. WINNING STREAK! YYYYYYYYES!!!!!

The New York Rangers, like many Eastern Conference teams, are no strangers to dropping the mitts. They’re in the middle of the pack amongst fighting teams with 25 bouts, sporting a decent-if-not-spectacular 7-8-10 record. Last year, the Blue Shirts were a goon’s dream – Colton Orr would take on anyone and it seemed anyone would take him up on it. With Orr fleeing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency, someone had to pick up the slack.

In steps Donald Brashear, who probably has “Professional Goon” printed on his business card (mind you, this is not meant as a put-down). Signed to a lucrative (by brawler’s standards) contract during the offseason, the rumbling winger (6′3″, 234lbs) is of course best known as the guy on the receiving end of a Marty McSorley “love tap” to the cranium back in the day. Like many hockey players, he shook that off and became one of the most noted fighters in the NHL (not to say he wasn’t on his way to that point before the head-slashing incident). According to Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights, Brashear sports a 3-3-3 record this season. He’s certainly doing what he’s paid to do.

Other Rangers to look for a fight from are Aaron Voros (6′4″, 215lbs, 2-0-3) and, if he plays, NHL’s Ultimate Pest Sean Avery (5′10″, 195lbs, 2-0-2, listed as day-to-day with a foot injury). Other possible fighters include Brian Boyle (6′7″, 252lbs, 0-2-1) and Ryan Callahan (5′11″, 188lbs, 0-1-1). Some of you may remember last year’s home tilt with the Rangers, when Cam Janssen essentially emasculated Voros. That’s where you may have heard THAT name before.

As far as David Backes’ evisceration of Team Canada . . . no one there, unfortunately. So we’ll move on to the dream matchup of the evening, if for no other reason than because it hasn’t happened yet EVER – Janssen and Brashear. However, Janssen was scratched Thursday, and he may get scratched again Saturday depending on who Davis Payne would like to go to battle with (and because Brad Winchester has elevated his game lately). So if Janssen won’t go, look for Winchester to take on Voros as they match up size-wise. I wouldn’t like a Brashear-BJ Crombeen matchup because it would seem a bit one-sided toward Brashear on paper. But if Crombeen is game for it, let’s hope he goes for it . . . and let’s hope for the best.

This is a great opportunity for the Blues to close out the home stand with a statement against a Right Coast foe. Time to take care of business.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights.

Posted in Articles | Tagged Aaron Voros, BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Brian Boyle, Cam Janssen, Colton Orr, David Backes, Davis Payne, Donald Brashear, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, Ryan Callahan, Sean Avery, St. Louis Blues, TJ Oshie, Toronto Maple Leafs | Leave a response

Recap 01-14-10: Blues vs. Wild

By Jeff Quirin on January 15, 2010

Due to a rather debilitating run in with a stomach bug in the last 24 hours, this will be a quick and dirty recap.

Blues win 1-0 over Minnesota to win their third straight and second straight in the House of Payne.

The Blues out shot the Wild 28 to 9 through two periods and 37 to 19 overall. Remember what I said in the Gameday about shots on goal? This is only the second time the Blues have topped 30 shots on goal since Payne took over.

This was a game that would have gotten away under Murray. A tired team travels in to St. Louis and neither team can find the net. The road team hangs around and gets a win in the third. Under Payne, that doesn’t seem to be a worry. The Blues are working hard in the third period, still pushing for a goal to widen their lead. The FSMW guys say this a lot, but the Blues do a good job of forcing the other team to play a 200 foot game. Minnesota didn’t have the legs to out work the Blues.

If not for Josh Harding stopping 36 of 37 shots, the Wild had no chance. You can see why Minnesota wanted top value in return for Harding during summer trade talks. They guy can play.

Few fans talk about Mike Weaver, but how good is this guy? He had 6 blocked shots, a takeaway and numerous zone clears. He came in to St. Louis as a journeyman traveler, no better than a 7th defensemen. Over the last two seasons he has developed in to a safe and steady 3rd pairing penalty killing specialist. I could see a team taking a chance on him as a UFA this summer to fill that 6th man gap, but I would love to see him stay in St. Louis.

Lots of people have complained about Brad Boyes (myself included). There is no room to complain since Davis Payne came on board. Boyes has done a 180 flip in terms of his effort and compete level. It appears Payne has put him out there with reliable Alex Steen and Jay McClement in an effort to get his work ethic up and his confidence back. So far it is working. He is working for pucks more and trying to get in to open areas for scoring chances. The points (and goals) will come back.

I love the physical edge this game had. Especially a bloodied nose Backes laughing in James Sheppard’s face. Was the Oshie play a slew foot? Some seem to suggest that. Looking at it twice, I didn’t see one.

I was a little concerned with Winchester dropping off of the Patrik Berglund line with David Perron, but it seemed to work out ok. Andy McDonald got his legs working better as the game went along. Kudos to Berglund for keeping the high level of play up. Keep the power moves to the middle coming. Perron also had multiple nice moves down low to get open and get to the net. As far as David’s new visor? I think he needs a pair of white skates to go along with it.

Chris Mason was solid even though his work level was extremely sporadic for 2/3 of the game. He was fresha and ready in the third stopping all ten Wild shots. For as good as Guillaume Latendresse had been in the few Wild games I’ve seen since he was acquired, he wasn’t so effective in this game. Martin Havlat had chances but couldn’t finish them.

Speaking of Finish…I like that Backes had a little run in with Mikku Koivu who will play for Finland in the Olympics.

How fun is it to watch TJ Oshie play? Every time I see him make a sweet play or back heck hard, I see another late first rounder, Mike Richards. I just hope TJ doesn’t turn in to a head hunter. TJ netted the game winner on a nice shot around the defender and across Harding’s body up high. Looked more like an NHL10 goal than a real life NHL goal.

Next up for the Blues is the New York Rangers lead by a healthy Marian Gaborik. Coming in tonight’s action he was tied for 3rd in the NHL with 28 Goals.

Blues Player of the Game

TJ Oshie

TJ notched the Game Winning Goal in the Third Period (We've heard that before). He also worked tirelessly in all three zones.

Posted in Articles, GameBlogs | Tagged Chris Mason, Josh Harding, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, TJ Oshie | 1 Response

Throwdown Lowdown – Wild @ Blues 1-14-10

By Tyler Atwood on January 14, 2010

Wade Belak feels the wrath of Derek Boogard . . . image via si.com

Wade Belak feels the sting of Derek Boogard's monster fist . . . image via si.com

Before we start . . . if you haven’t seen it already, from Puck Daddy via The Riverfront Times, this may be the funniest thing you’ll see all day. I wouldn’t put this past some of my brethren at St. Louis Game Time. Absolutely incredibly funny.

On to the report . . . as anticipated, the Blues and Blue Jackets dialed up the truculent behavior Tuesday night, leading to FOUR fights. Admittedly, one of them wasn’t really a fight, and both guys got kicked out for doing it, but still . . . FOUR fights! It was enthralling to say the least. BJ Crombeen worked a draw with Alexandre Picard to bring him to 6-4-2, Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights voters say Rick Nash defeated David Backes (which I do not agree with . . . the linesman stepped in and basically let Nash have a free run at Backes when they should have let them both go) to drop him to 2-2-0, Erik Johnson’s first-ever NHL fight earned him a game misconduct and a draw with Mike Commodore to start his record at 0-0-1, and Cam Janssen earned a victory over Jared Boll in the one PREDICTED fight of the evening sending Cam up to 7-1-2. Additionally, the Blues have shot up to a tie for 3rd in team fight leaders with 40, with only the Calgary Flames (49) and the Philadelphia Flyers (42) ahead of them and the Anaheim Ducks even with them. The attitude adjustment is in full effect, and when you’re fighting for every inch, gloves are sure to be dropped. It’s a welcome change!

The Minnesota Wild are on the lower end of the NHL list of fighting teams, shedding the gloves a total of 22 times on the season thus far. However, three of those fights came last night against a division rival and one of the “punchiest” teams in the league, the Vancouver Canucks. Minnesota went 1-1-1 in those fights. Also, the Wild’s overall 10-7-5 record in fights on the season suggests a team that is wise in picking its targets, and one of the eight fighters the Wild have had this year has four of those seven losses. However, they may not get to use their smarts to their advantage against a Blues team that has cranked up the physicality in the last two weeks. It will be interesting to see what plays out.

The Blues and Wild have fought once this season – Crombeen was able to subdue Nathan Smith at a home contest on October 23rd. This was one of only two fights for Smith on the season, the other being a draw. Since then, Smith has been sent down to Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros. Mind you, Smith is a former 1st round pick. Bust? Yeah, you could say that.

If the Wild want a fight, they want it to come from either winger Derek Boogaard (6′8″, 257lbs) or defenseman John Scott (6′8″, 258lbs), both absolutely massive human beings. Boogaard is a noted NHL brawler, and his 4-0-2 record on the season is hard not to be impressed with. However, Scott has done just about as well at 4-0-1. The only other Minnesota player with more than two fights is defenseman Shane Hnidy (6′2″, 204lbs), who is an ugly 0-4-0 on the season. Young defenseman Clayton Stoner (6′4″, 212lbs) would be another fighter to look out for as he’s 1-0-1 in only eight games played, but he’s listed as day-to-day and probably won’t play tonight.

Unfortunately, the Wild do not have any members of Team Canada on their squad, so don’t look for a scrap from Backes. So the dream matchup of the evening would be either Janssen or Crombeen taking on Hnidy. If so, let’s hope the “due factor” doesn’t come into play. If the Blues MUST fight Boogaard or Scott, hopefully it’ll either be Janssen – not afraid of anyone – or someone who at least comes close to matching up size-wise, such as Brad Winchester (who even then STILL gives three inches and nearly 30 pounds to both of them).

Can the Blues win two games in a row? If they play the same physical style that helped them to a win Tuesday night, then there’s no doubt it CAN happen. Let’s get it done!

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights.

Posted in Articles | Tagged Alexandre Picard (CBJ), Anaheim Ducks, BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Calgary Flames, Cam Janssen, Clayton Stoner, Columbus Blue Jackets, David Backes, Derek Boogaard, Erik Johnson, funny videos, Jared Boll, John Scott, Mike Commodore, Minnesota Wild, Nathan Smith, Philadelphia FLyers, Rick Nash, Shane Hnidy, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks | Leave a response

Gameday 01-14-10: Blues vs. Wild

By Jeff Quirin on January 14, 2010

Game Info

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
Game-time: 7:00 pm Central
TV: FSMW (HD)
Radio: KMOX 1120 AM

Stat Pack

St Louis Blues: 13th in Western Conference & 4th in Central Division – 45 Points

Minnesota: 10th in Western Conference & 4th in Northwest Division – 51 Points

Power Play:
Minnesota: (Road): 15.1%, (21st)
St. Louis (Home): 14.1%, (28th)

Penalty Kill
Minnesota: (Road): 82.8%, (13th)
St. Louis (Home): 83.7% (13th)

Goals Scored per Game vs. Goals Against per Game
Minnesota: (Road): 2.17 GF/G(29th) | 2.88 GA/G (T-13th)
St. Louis (Home): 2.46 GF/G (26th) | 3.21 GA/G (28th)

Hot & Cold
Minnesota: Guillaume Latendresse (4 Goals and 9 Points in Last 5 Games) | Andrew Brunette (1 Point in Last 5 Games)
St. Louis: Jay McClement (1 Goal, 6 Points, & a Plus-5 Rating in Last 4 Games) | Erik Johnson (1 Assist in Last 10 Games)

Food For Thought

In the third of four season meetings both teams face each other trending up.

Minnesota is a hot team. They are the winners of Four straight agiains the likes of Calgary, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Vancouver. In those games they have scored 18 Goals and allowed 11 Goals. That is 4.50 Goals For per game and 2.75 Goals Against per game. Minnesota played last night against Vancouver. Now they are flying to St. Louis for a game about an hour and a half earlier than what they are used to. Minnesota needs this game, its a kick off of a 3 game road trip where they could end up right at #8 in the West. The Blues must take advantage of their fatigue from playing last night and flying in today. The fisrt period must have the same Davis Payne jump we’ve seen in four of the last five games. Jump on Minnesota early and bury them. Just cannot allow a hot team to come in tired and hang around till the third.

Minnesota’s power play has been converting. In the four game win streak they are 3-for-15 for a 20% conversion rate. Their road power play this year sits at 15.1%. Can Minnesota carry a clicking power play at home on the road when on the road they have been generally poor? We shall see, but the Blues PK will need to be on point to keep the Blues in this game. Their penalty kill is 12-for-14 in their last 4 games, an 85.7% kill rate. Their penalty kill on the raod has not been that good, only siting at 82.8%. The Blues power play must find ways to score since both teams are fairly match 5-on-5.

The Blues are a stabilizing team winning two of their last three and taking points with solid efforts in three of the last four. The system Davis Payne has put in to place seems to be taking root with the Blues players and they are working the hardest they have all season. The biggest difference comes in peculiar places. I think fans expected players like Patrik Berglund, TJ Oshie, David Perron to respond to Payne. However, the biggest change has come from Brad Winchester and Brad Boyes. Winchester is skating with purpose and is back to playing hickey, instead of just skating around. The stats aren’t there but what he does often doesn’t total up on the score sheet. Working the boards, getting to the net, creating traffic/screens. Brad Boyes compete level is much higher, maybe the highest its been since last spring. He actually took a hit to make a play and is fighting for pucks and winning battles. That’s not what we saw from him for the first 40 or so games. Boyes seems to be doing well and is getting the little things right. Hopefully that will continue on to his scoring game.

Who else looks like a new man? Chris Mason. Since Payne’s takeover he has allowed only 9 Goals in 4 Games a 2.25 GAA. He also has saved 114 of the last 123 shots against, a .926 Save%. He looks more like the Chris Mason of 08-09 and early 09-10 than what he was in December 09.

Keith Tkachuk is 3 Penalty Minutes short of 2,200 for his career.
T.J. Oshie is appearing in his 99th NHL game tonight.
Eric Brewer is 5 shots on goal away from 1,000 for his career.
Brad Winchester is 5 Penalty Minutes shy of 300 for his career.
Cam Janssen is sitting on 293 career NHL games played, 7 short of 300.

Difference Makers:

The Grinders

Players like Brad Winchester, BJ Crombeen, Keith Tkachuk, Cam Janssen (if he plays), & Derek Armstrong (if he plays) are going to have a large impact on this game. Minnesota played last night and is traveling a timezone backwards to play today. The forecheck is going to be what keeps Minnesota from transitioning up ice and working the Blues over. Minnesota showed in the last few games that they can skate with the best of teams, the Blues need the physical presence up front to balance out that team speed. The Blues are rested and at home, there is no reason they shouldn’t come out flying and pound the Wild.

Player Notes:

Per multiple reports from the Blues media community, it sounds like Andy McDonald will skate tonight. It’s hard to imagine who is given the night off. I would imagine it would be Janssen. Minnesota’s most prevalent fighter is John Scott who has a whopping five fighting majors this season. I don’t think Minnesota wants to get in to a slugfest with Janssen, Crombeen, Winchester, or Backes. Tyler is likely to have some fighting goodies once his Thorwdown Lowdown is posted.

Since Niklas Backstrom played in Minnesota last night its possible the Blues see Josh Harding. Harding owns a 3-1-1 career record against the Blues witha 1.88 GAA.

I will be back with updates later as far as the line up goes.

Update 10:15am: Lou Korac says McDonald is on the ice for the morning practice and is still expected to play, but he will confirm later.

Keys to the Game

1. Take the Body
- No more power play as the #1 key. Tonight is all about being physical and initiating the play. Must be careful not to cross the fine line between aggressive and over aggressive and end up with bad penalties or odd man rushes.

2. Keep the Special Teams Play High
- The Blues have a power play goal in five of their last seven and have killed off 34 of their last 40 penalties (85%) in the same time span.

3. Shoot the Puck
- Keep getting pucks to the net, there is no simpler idea to boost your chances of winning. The Blues have topped 30 Shots on Goal only once since Davis Payne took over.

Who to Watch for?

Alex Steen

Steen dropped in two goals vs. Columbus and looks too keep his sold power play production moving along.

Posted in Articles | Tagged Alex Steen, Brad Winchester, Chris Mason, Guillaume Latendresse, Jay McClement, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues | 1 Response

McDonald had a pair of goals in the last meeting between the two teams and current has a goal in four straight games.

Recap 12-26-09: Blues vs Wild

By Jeff Quirin on December 27, 2009

Are the Blues suffering from the dreaded Holiday Dinner coma? Where your old uncles and dad pass out on the couch watch meaningless College Football games because they ate way too much? Then the next day you’re in and out of the bathroom trying to remove 3 servings ham/turkey and all the fixings…the Blues looked about that sluggish last tonight.

The key word for fans to focus on with this game will be “frustrating”. Minnesota really took the Blues to task physically and mentally. Minnesota always seemed to have an answer for a Blues hit or scoring chance. They always seemed to have good coverage and really check the five guys on the ice very closely. If it wasn’t for great singular efforts by McDonald and Perron (ok, and a few from Mason early on) this game would have been a 5-0 or 6-0 wiping. Backstrom and Mason were not strong, but the five in front of Backstrom played much better than the five in front of Mason.

Case in point might be the 3rd Wild goal, scored by Kim Johnsson. Both Erik Johnson and TJ Oshie try for the big hit and miss. What happens? Out of position players and a Wild goal. I just laughed on the couch and wished my Coke had some adult flavor enhancers in it. Truly a comedy of errors.

The Quick and Dirty

Where did the Backes line go? – This has been the Blues top line for the last 7-10 games. The FSMW broadcast showed a statistic that those three combined for over 30% of the teams goals in the last 15 games. This lines effort and conversions were carrying the team. Last night there was no effort. Fans are right to feel very disappointed in Backes especially. TJ kept his feet moving most of the night, but Backes wouldn’t or wasn’t able to. I am a huge Backes fan and he had a great 10-15 game run, but last night he fell off the horse. This line deserves another shot, but Backes more so than Kariya needs to get his feet moving again.

Can’t Stop the Stretch Pass – Minnesita is not well known for moving the puck. They are not Detroit, San Jose, Washington, Pittsburgh, etc. They do not boast a top notch blueline. What they do boast is a quick thinking blueline who can all make an outlet pass. Multiple times the Blues were caught on a change where Minnesota stretched blueline to blueline passes. That is something that Detrot has really perfected since the lockout. Using one forward at the offensive blueline and using him to get pressure while you change. It doesn’t always result in chances or even sustained possession. What it does do is put the puck 200 or so feet away from your net and about 10-15 from your opponents. At the very least the other team is forced to go up ice all over again.

Where Are You Chris Mason? - I have defended Mason quite often lately. Last night was another example of the team not stepping up and helping their goalie. Mason is not the guy to steal you a game just on his effort alone. Few goalies can do that. He can steal games when you give him the chance to see shots. I’ll give him a pass on the Hnidy goal, but the Johnsson and Latendresse goals are stoppable. Mason continues to slide behind poor efforts in front of him. I know the Blues want to extend him, but the last month or so has gone far to change my mind in that regard. Anything over $3 or $3.5 million per is too much at this point. I’d have a hard time being ok with more than a 2-year deal as well.

Carlo the Inconsistent - Where has his play gone? He is becoming the Jeff Woywitka of the offensive zone. Carlo is struggling to get the puck away from the forwards covering him. He isn’t getting pucks down low. He isn’t rushing or lugging the puck. He isn’t pinching. What is he doing? I don’t know but he needs to not be paired with Weaver. Weaver should give him a safe partner to attack more often, but that isn’t happening.

The Effort of One – Was Andy McDonald the only Blues forward to give a &@^% about last nights game. He was the only forward skating with purpose and desire. He was all over the ice (as usual) attacking and creating openings. Honorable mentions go to Berglund, McClement, and Steen, but the Blues didn’t get much from anyone else. I know people questioned Andy’s contact and are so now since he had been struggling. I just don’t think you can do that anymore. The guy puts out 100% effort each game. He showed what he can do in Anaheim with a talented team, too bad the Blues aren’t close to matching that to get Andy with his full potential. He was a man among boys last night. Kudos for David Perron making a strong individual effort as well. This road trip has shown to me that Perron and Berglund deserve more ice time.

Boys vs Havlat – I thought this would be an important “match up” key producer vs key producer. Havlat was invisible…Boyes on the other hand? This was another game of minimal effort and multiple poor plays while still “earning” points. I am supposed to feel all warm and fuzzy about two secondary assists where he did none of the work? Some secondary assists are legit assists. However, neither one were on his effort. He lost several one on one battles and had at least one preventable give away. This team lacks physical play, it really does…Brad Boys is doing nothing to improve that deficiency. I don’t mean grinding it out, but the ability to win battles and fight to get in to scoring areas. I wish some of what David Perron does would rub off on Boyes.

No time to worry about this game, which is likely a good thing. The Blues face off against the Buffalo Sabres Sunday Afternoon. Buffalo is tops in the Northeast Division and 3rd Overall in the East. Can they resolve their home ice issues? It will be a very tough task against Ryan Miller.