Tonight, the Blues round out their current road trip with a game in New Jersey. In today’s Morning Skate, Jeremy Rutherford reports that Matt D’Agostini is suffering concussion-like symptoms and did not practice with the team today.  We should know more on D’Agostini’s condition after he sees doctors when the team returns to St. Louis.  Jason Arnott is still recovering from a shoulder injury and will also be unavailable for tonight’s game.

Game Info:

Location: New Jersey

Opposing Netminder: Johan Hedberg (per Daily Faceoff and Darren Pang)

Expected Line Combos: (per Jeremy Rutherford)

Perron – Backes – Oshie
Grachev – Berglund – Langenbrunner
Porter – Sobotka – Stewart
Crombeen – Nichol – Reaves

Jackman – Shattenkirk
Colaiacovo – Pietrangelo
Russell – Polak

Our winner is Lonnie:

"You suck Jackman. And the guy with the mullet yelling from 324 thinks so too." ~ Lonnie (Caption the Photo Winner 2-5-12)

As this week’s winner, Lonnie will receive a pack of Promotional Blues Trading Cards (Set 1) that were given away at the February 3, 2012 game.  This is the first of 3 promotional sets of cards the Blues plan on giving away.

Congratulations to our winner, and we can’t wait to see the next round of captions starting this Sunday!

**Winning Captions Do Not Reflect the Opinions of BlueNoteZone**

Word is that you MIGHT remember this guy. Image via BridgetDS/Flickr

Road wins are really cool, y’know. The St. Louis Blues were able to snag a big two points in Ottawa on Tuesday in Brian Elliott’s return to the place he called home to begin his National Hockey League career, earning a win over the Ottawa Senators 3-1. There was an early scrap between two familiar opponents, and it was recapped here. Zenon Konopka is ready and willing to throw down at a moment’s notice, and he did just that with BJ Crombeen, though the fight was largely unspectacular and ended in a draw. With that fight, the Blues move up to 26 fighting majors collected on the NHL season, still good for a 10th place tie with the Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild in that category. With the draw, the team’s record moves to 12-3-11. That is still quite impressive, I would say.

Welcome to the swamp! The Blues’ road train moves to Newark, NJ to face the New Jersey Devils. You may recall that a recent popular figure on Blues teams of the past signed with this squad in the offseason, and while I’ll mention him later, you can only imagine how fired up he will be to see his old squad. As a result of some tough veteran members of the team, some youngsters needing to play because of injuries and some other acquisitions through various sources, the Devils have themselves a fisticuffs-ready club, top to bottom. The Devils are tied for seventh in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks, each team having 28 fights. The Devils’ fight record is quite alright at 11-8-9.

You may recognize the Devils’ leader in fighting majors this season, as he is our aforementioned “Old Friend” (and one of my personal favorites due to his sheer perseverance). Yes, I’m talking about the one and only Cam Janssen (6’0”, 215lbs, 0-1-5), who has collected six fights this season. Following CamSmash is the veteran duo of Eric Boulton (6’1”, 225lbs, 4-1-0) and David Clarkson (6’1”, 200lbs, 3-1-1), who have each fought five times. Ryan Carter (6’1”, 200lbs, 0-2-1, Day-To-Day with a hand injury) has fought three times, but is not expected to play tonight. Brad Mills (6’1”, 195lbs, 1-1-0, recently sent to Albany of the AHL) has fought twice this season. Mark Fraser (6’4”, 220lbs, 1-0-0 as a Devil and 1-0-1 overall, traded to Anaheim in December and currently in the AHL) fits a special category as he HAS fought twice this season, but only one of them was with New Jersey. Other Devils “solo fighters” include another guy in that Anaheim trade, Rod Pelley (5’11”, 200lbs, Win, traded to Anaheim in December), as well as team superstar Ilya Kovalchuk (6’3”, 230lbs, Win), Tim Sestito (5’11”, 200lbs, Draw, currently with AHL Albany), Alexander Urbom (6’4”, 215lbs, Draw, currently with AHL Albany) and Calder Trophy candidate Adam Henrique (6’0”, 195lbs, Loss).

I’m pretty sure if Janssen plays, he will be fighting someone. Expect the opponent to be the guy who basically took his job, Ryan Reaves, if anyone. It would be hard to imagine him fighting anyone else.

Two wins in a row over the Eastern Conference would be mighty fun, for sure.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Suppose I should mention who’s scouting in the building: CHI, TOR, TB, PHX, PHI, NSH, NYR, STL. Not going to read anything into it.

— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) February 9, 2012

For those who don’t know Eric Stephens is the Orange County Register beat writer. Not exactly the kind of guy to make stuff up.

Certainly the conspiracy theorists will say this is a sign that the Blues are hot on the tale of Tuomo Ruutu, Brian Allen or even Eric Staal. Maybe even Bobby Ryan!

Those with agendas much the opposite look ahead to the schedule and see Anaheim coming up on March 8th and the Hurricanes a week later on the 15th. They’ll also point out that Dave Taylor, Director of Player Personnel, lives near LA and likely takes in many Ducks (and Kings) games.

Team Yearbooks are so useful…

Honestly, reports of scouts typically don’t mean much. Teams do advance scouting quite frequently. It’s a staple of the business. A scout’s presence is just magnified in the stretch of games connecting the All Star Game and the Trade Deadline. Something must be going down if they’re there because those in the know say so.

No. Not always.

Yes, eyes are always open. Notes always taken. These guys are not fools. They don’t get where they are by being one. But going to a game to solely look at trade targets like raw meet on the slab at the corner butcher shop is not their job description. Seriously.

For those like me, who just want to see the connections, its pretty obvious in this case.

A tough stretch of games lies ahead over the next 6-8 weeks. The Blues need to be as prepared as possible. Advance scouting is a must. No games can be taken lightly in March. That said, Doug Armstrong is not the type of GM to be ill-prepared for February 27th. Two teams out of the playoff race are playing in LA and a pretty important person in terms of personnel evaluations and decisions (if you can’t tell by the man’s title…) lives near by the location.

Two birds. One stone. Makes a lot of sense.

Provided by Brood_Witch

Blues fans everywhere last night cringed at the site of Blues forward Matt D’Agostini going down on a hit that knocked the winger out of the game and has beat writer Lou Korac tossing around the dreaded C-word. This morning there has been no update on D’Ags status and whether or not it was just precautionary to keep him out the rest of the game. Evgeny Grachev has officialy been recalled from Peoria per Jeremy Rutherford’s twitter feed. Grachev has spent an extended stay in Peoria after having a very sluggish and non-productive few months with the big club.

With St. Louis already short top 6 talent, the Blues may be pushed a bit more into a trade or aqusition type situation if Andy McDonald, Alex Steen, and now Matt D’Agostini miss too many more games. The Blues can ill afford to take a swing in the wrong direction at this point on account of lack of scoring depth. Keep your eyes and ears open on the trade wires as Army takes a good look at his available options. This in no way shape or form is a calling of any sorts by me for the Blues to make a trade that is not necassary. That being said, if we are truly in a “win now” situation as Army has stated, you have to wonder if he will sit idlely by this time of year.

The Blues have cancled practice for today and will fly from Ottowa to New Jersey to take on the Devils in another East vs West showdown tomorrow night. Former Blues Forward and tough guy Cam Janssen will look to get into the line up against his former mates and stir up a little havoc. Cam has said he has relaxed his fight to stay in games attitude and has tried to round out his game and be a more versitile player in a phone interview on the Thom and Jeff show pod cast. The Blues will look to stay on the winning track tomorrow night and keep pace with the elite teams in the West as the conference makes the turn for the home stretch toward the playoffs.

How correct was the decision? The Blues seem to be happy with how things have turned out, as their current record and Elliott’s numbers are pushing the team toward heights unseen by the club since before the lockout. Elliott seems to be happy with how things have turned out, as he signed a two-year, one-way, multi-million dollar extension with the team to continue being not a backup, but a “1-A” option behind Halak, and perhaps playing behind the strongest defensive hockey team he has ever played behind. All reports seem to be that Halak and Elliott seem to have a great working relationship, and it appears they will continue to be a tandem for a couple more years.

But this raises the issue of what the future holds for Bishop, the tall St. Louis native who would love to have a shot to hold a job long-term with the club. The prospects of that happening seem to be diminishing quickly, and it isn’t only because of Halak and Elliott. Yes, Bishop’s backup in Peoria is central to this whole situation, as it is widely considered that Jake Allen is the Blues’ “Goaltender Of The Future™”. It is considered that Jake Allen COULD be ready for the big club in . . . you guessed it, two years. At that time, both Halak and Elliott will have contracts that will expire. Further complicating the issue is Bishop’s Restricted Free Agent status, which will be cancelled if he does not make a certain amount of NHL appearances this season, which will not be possible if Halak and Elliott stay healthy.

With all that considered . . . what is the club to do with Bishop? It is an interesting conundrum, with many possible scenarios, but I am of the mind to believe that Bishop will be moved ahead of the February 27^th trade deadline.

He will not go by himself. I think it would be part of a package to bring in a scorer or a playmaker to help down the stretch drive, and the other pieces of such a package would be difficult to speculate on at the moment. Such a trade would most certainly hurt the Peoria Rivermen and their stretch drive toward the American Hockey League playoffs, sure, but Doug Armstrong – while mindful of their situation – is the general manager of the Blues, not the Rivermen, and big club success always trumps minor league success. He cannot risk losing a prime asset in Bishop – one that is widely considered to be NHL-ready – to unrestricted free agency when he can use him as part of a trade package to help the Blues THIS season . . . and possibly in seasons upcoming.

Keep in mind . . . I would LOVE to see Bishop succeed with this franchise. I just don’t think it will happen that way, unfortunately, and trading him now – when he’s arguably at the peak of his value and when the franchise could lose him in the offseason – as part of a package deal for an asset that can help the Blues seems the best option for both parties.

What say you, dear reader? Are Bishop’s days numbered with this franchise? I’m sure not all of you agree. Have at it in the comments.

Both men performed admirably here, but it wasn’t the greatest fight it could be. Part of the problem is that the two men got themselves a bit tangled in trying to punch each other AND protect themselves all at once. While it makes for worse fights, you have to protect yourself in a fight or else you’re going to get destroyed. The fight ended when Konopka gave Crombeen a bit of a “snap-mare takeover” (to borrow a wrestling term) after Crombeen’s final punch. This was a definite draw.

Could’ve been worse, I suppose.

Roman Polak might not be everyone's first choice to score, but the way things are going... who knows?!

Better late than never, am I right? Here is tonight’s Pick Goal Scorer post. Put your guess to tally the St. Louis Blues first goal in the comments below. some sort of Blues themed prize awaits the season’s best picker after Game 82.

Game Info

Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at Scotiabank Place.

Opposing Netminder: Craig Anderson (Daily Faceoff)

Expected Line Combos: (Per Jeremy Rutherford)

Forwards
Jamie Langenbrunner – David Backes – T.J. Oshie
David Perron – Patrik Berglund – Matt D’Agostini
Chris Porter – Vladimir Sobotka – Chris Stewart
B.J. Crombeen – Scott Nichol – Ryan Reaves

Defensemen
Barret Jackman – Kevin Shattenkirk
Carlo Colaiacovo – Alex Pietrangelo
Kris Russell – Roman Polak

Goalie
Brian Elliott

He’s a badass fighter, he’s a entrepreneur, he’s a face-off wizard and he has an awesome Polish name. This is the current NHL leader in fighting majors, Zenon Konopka. Image via BridgetDS/Flickr

Well, that sucked. The St. Louis Blues were hoping to break their struggles with the Nashville Predators, but instead found out how good Pekka Rinne really is . . . AGAIN . . . in a 3-1 regulation loss in Tennessee on Saturday. A great fight happened, and it was recapped here. Sure, Ryan Reaves performed admirably AND bloodied fight veteran Brian McGrattan, but McGrattan won by landing more quality punches. So the Blues move up to 25 fighting majors collected on the National Hockey League season, which is good for a 10th place tie with the Minnesota Wild in that category, and with the fight loss, the team’s record moves to 12-3-10.

Now, back to Canada, and in this instance it’s Canada’s national capital to face Brian Elliott’s former team, the Ottawa Senators. The Sens were hot to begin the 2011-2012 campaign, but since have cooled to the tune of losing six straight games leading into tonight’s match. Not only that, Elliott played well enough to earn an All-Star Game appearance in his old stomping grounds, and now he’s back. That said, this could be a trap game, but who knows? Anyway, the Sens are one of the top fighting teams in the league, largely due to one man (he is pictured above, but more on him later). They are in fifth by themselves with 36 fighting majors collected on the NHL season. Their fight record? It is perfectly even and average, at 12-12-12. (No, that is not a typographical error.)

The Sens’ leader in fights also leads individual fighters in the NHL and is a face-off wizard, Zenon Konopka (6’0”, 209lbs, 6-7-3), with 16 fighting majors collected on the season. Following him is Chris Neil (6’1”, 215lbs, 3-1-1) with five fights. Noted league meathead Matt Carkner (6’4”, 237lbs, 2-1-0) and Zack Smith (6’2”, 212lbs, 0-1-2) have each fought three times. Nick Foligno (6’0”, 210lbs, 1-0-1), rookie Colin Greening (6’3”, 212lbs, 0-0-2) and Jesse Winchester (6’1”, 206lbs, 0-1-1, on IR with a concussion) have each fought twice. Solo fighters include Brian Lee (6’3”, 205lbs, Draw, on IR with the dreaded “Lower Body Injury”), former Coyote Kyle Turris (6’1”, 195lbs, Draw) and recent top-ten pick Jared Cowen (6’5”, 230lbs, Loss).

My guess is that if there IS a fight, it would be between Reaves and Konopka, despite Konopka giving two inches and about 30 pounds to Reaves. Konopka is one tough S.O.B., and he commands respect just about every time he drops his gloves.

Time to get back to some winning, don’t you think?

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Last night, we witnessed a scrap between young St. Louis Blues brawler Ryan Reaves and Nashville Predators enforcer, veteran journeyman pugilist Brian McGrattan. This was perhaps Reaves’ stiffest test of any man he’s squared off with in the past, and while “The Grim Reaver” passed with flying colors, he did not win the fight. Let’s go to the video, shall we?

What an EXCELLENT fight this was. It looked as though McGrattan was going to breeze by Reaves in this one after the first 15 seconds or so, but Reaves came CHARGING back. Both landed a great deal of rights, including a whole bunch of overhand rights from McGrattan that popped Reaves in the back of the dome. The biggest punch was landed by Reaves, one that cut McGrattan on the forehead (perhaps because the impact was on the edge of the helmet), but because of the sheer volume of punches landed, McGrattan gets an easy decision in this one.

The precursor to this fight was very important. Right before this fight started, there was a whistle and a scuffle by the benches between these two. Sensing what was coming, it seemed both Ken Hitchcock and Barry Trotz just simply decided, “Y’know what? They want to go at it. Let’s just keep ‘em out there and let ‘em handle their business.” I commend the two coaches for this . . . as a result, we witnessed two men handling their business like men and giving us a great fight to boot. This is one MAJOR reason why I will weep if the National Hockey League ever decides that fighting should be banned.