Ooh, one of these. We never have one of these. We've been using the end of the previous GDT to discuss ahead, but a lot more traffic now. Seems appropriate. Will they go into the game having made a deal?
Calgary up 2-0 after a period against Philly. Flames have been playing some great hockey lately, and as you guys know I've been saying they're a likely playoff team for a few weeks now. Seen a lot of them recently and they will fight the full 60. This one's going to be tough. Wonder if Cole gets in. Huskins and Colaiacovo seem shaky right now.
If the Blues beat Calgary in regulation or OT (but not shootout), they and Detroit will be tied at 63GP, 85pts, Blues lead 35-34 in ROW.
This game with Philly is pretty entertaining. Flames went up 3-0 but Philly clawed back to 3-2. Hartnell getting scrappy, already had a fight with Giordano, shoved Glencross' head into the ice at the end of the second. If Calgary holds on that'll be the 10th time in 11 games they haven't lost in regulation (6-1-4).
Iginla has been clutch and Kiprusoff has been very strong. Lot of solid team effort. They're good defensively. Philly tied it but Bryzgalov is a seive. Was made a fool in a penalty shot. 39-17 shots in Philly's advantage but Calgary was leading until Philly just tied it. Entertaining game.
All of a sudden Detroit's lost two in a row...at home. If Detroit goes on any kind of prolonged losing streak, especially with Datsyuk and Howard still out, we could be looking at a Predators/Red Wings matchup in the 1st round. Blues just need to keep picking up points and regulation victories to keep that ROW stat as an advantage.
Also, Colorado, LA, and Dallas at 68 points, and Phoenix and San Jose jostling for 3rd, 6th or 7th in the conference. I'm hoping Dallas or Phoenix gets that 7th spot if the Blues finish 2nd in the conference. Either way, lots of good possible matchups. But, one game at a time though. Let's beat these gauchos on their turf.
Howard has come back but Ericsson broke his wrist tonight. Out about a month is the word. Quincey was pretty bad tonight too.
Calgary has only lost once in regulation their last 11 but has also lost three in a row at home. 5-1-5 but 0-1-2 are the streaks. Edmonton blew them out, Phoenix (who's very good right now) played a tight one and then this game with Philadelphia was a mess. A lot of teams like Dallas, LA, Colorado will be rooting for the Blues in this one. I expect this game against Calgary to be a tough one.
I love all the new Blues fans coming out of the woodwork. There is a little bit of buzz about this team in our city. Seeing more people wearing Blues gear than I have seen in a long time.
Seeing a DET/NSH matchup in the first round would be AMAZING for us. One can only hope.
This game and the Oilers game Wednesday are must wins against lesser teams. I think Hitchcock is probably still giving it to the guys and they'll be raring to go coem Monday. As long as we can solve Kipper. Maybe he'll take a night off for us
I haven't seen one of these since the days of looking forward to how great Peter Sejna was going to be in the Bluenote... Ah, memories.
It will be interesting to see if the teams look any different after the deadline. It looks to be a hard fought game. It'll be tough to come away with two points.
P.S. I'll be sacrificing a chicken to appease the hockey gods and avoid any more injuries.
Good feeling about this one after stealing 2 points in the Peg.
Calgary has coughed up a lot of leads lately and they never seem to be the most mentally strong team.
Blues feast on teams like that and will be slightly rested. They just need to be opportunistic offensively like they were on Saturday as Kipper seems to play us pretty tough especially in their barn.
Hitch was on KMOX this morning and said he was gonna put the guys through a short but detail oriented practice. Felt the players have been a bit out of rhythm lately due to lack of practice time.
The Edmonton game on their fast sheet scares me more than Calgary who I think we match up well against.
We're going to get a tough game from Calgary. They play good defense, kill penalties well, and Kiprusoff has owned the Blues far more than Rinne. They will also not likely be sellers, but when teams are on the edge and then the deadline passes and nobody's left, sometimes there's a boost.
For that reason, I think Edmonton might be still a bit of a mess Wednesday when the Blues play them, simply because they'll likely make trades today.
Calgary played a sloppy game against Philadelphia the other night, so we should get a clear idea in the first ten minutes of the game whether they're determined to bounce back from that or still reeling.
I don't think I'd ever predict an "easy win" for the blues on the road. Would like to see them get back to their disciplined game again, but I'm not holding my breath. It's good to see them getting the W's after getting outplayed, especially on the road, but I'm ready for them to start playing blues hockey again.
I'm guessing Elliot gets the Edmonton game and Halak gets Vancouver in the next two games since Halak is starting tonight.
