TM never ending PR spins and desperation to make headlines is sickening. The Stars, led by the out of place and over-matched Brett Hull, gave Avery that ridiculous free agent contract over the summer after he had already worn out his welcome in Detroit, Los Angeles and New York. And he put himself in the spotlight with the harmless yet headline-grabbing ―sloppy seconds‖ joke guaranteeing that he would never play for Dallas again. Finally after some bullshit anger management and time off, Avery‘s back in the minors. But because the Stars somehow don‘t have a minor league team this season, their prospects are parceled out through- out the backwaters of the American Hockey League. So when Avery was sent down to the minors as part of his banishment, he was assigned to the Hartford Wolfpack…the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers. He made his debut with the Wolfpack Friday night. It had been nine years since he last played in the AHL and two months since he played in a real hockey game. ―I feel good that Dallas has given me an opportu- nity to come here and play and that the team in Hartford has allowed me to come in and play,‖ Avery told reporters. ―I probably could have had a few points if I had buried a few chances or a couple other guys had scored, but other than losing, it was a pretty good night.‖ It‘s just too bad the Rangers haven‘t pulled the trigger on a deal and brought him up before tonight. The front page of this rag would have written itself, I tell you. Instead, I have to mention something about the 1-0 shutout win over the Blackhawks and (Continued on page 26) By Brad Lee While everyone at the Drinkscotch Center who was rooting for the Bluenote Friday night was desperate for a win, the guys in the suits who write the checks would relish a victory tonight even more. Lead owner Dave Checketts, some of his business partners and team president John Davidson all have strong ties to the New York Rangers organization and Madison Square Garden. Now I‘m not going to say there‘s definitely bad blood there, but I would guess they probably don‘t exchange Christmas cards. When the Blues played there the first time after Checketts and his group took over the Blues, Davidson was treated to a warm reception and an on-ice ceremony thanking him for his time as a player and broadcaster with the organization. Checketts and his group were part of the crowd standing and applauding during the ceremony. In fact, they were part of the paid crowd out in the stands. You know when you‘re watching a game and the other team‘s leadership is in attendance, if they make it on TV it‘s usually from a luxury box or at least the press box. It‘s a common courtesy kind of thing. Checketts wasn‘t given any courtesy. I bet he had to go to a scalper outside the stadium for tickets. So Mookie, if you‘re reading this outside the arena, get off your bike and look for some dudes from New York. They can afford the mark-up. And tell them to take Sean Avery from Dallas. That‘ll end well. I‘m glad I‘m not a fan of any New York teams. The drama, the Four Dollars of Unemotional Analysis The Game Day Guide To St. Louis Blues Hockey Established in 2005 Today’s Records, Injuries & News Today’s Team Records: Blues: Rangers: 23-25-7 (53 points) 30-21-6 (66 points) 5th in Central 3rd in Atlantic 14th in Western 6th in Eastern Last Ten Games: Blues: Rangers: 5-2-3 3-5-2 Season Series: All-Time Series: 0-0-0 35-72-18-0 Today’s Injuries: Blues: LW Paul Kariya (hips), LW Yan Stastny (thumb), D Roman Polak (foot) and D Eric Brewer (back surgery) are out. Rangers: D Dmitri Kalinin (back) is day-to-day. D Paul Mara (shoulder) left the game yesterday. Today’s News & Notes: Mike Green (WAS) sets NHL record for defensemen with goals in eight straight games. With a 3-on-5 goal yesterday, the Flyers now lead the league with 14 short-handed tallies. Game Time staff willing to bite the bullet and get drunk early on a Monday. CAUTION: St. Louis Game Time contains extreme sarcasm and less-than-gentle language. But it is a hockey paper, so you should fucking just get over it. Volume 4, Issue 30 February 16, 2009 Game Time St Louis
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Transcript
TM
never ending PR spins and desperation to make headlines is
sickening. The Stars, led by the out of place and over-matched
Brett Hull, gave Avery that ridiculous free agent contract over the
summer after he had already worn out his welcome in Detroit,
Los Angeles and New York. And he put himself in the spotlight
with the harmless yet headline-grabbing ―sloppy seconds‖ joke
guaranteeing that he would never play for Dallas again.
Finally after some bullshit anger management and time off,
Avery‘s back in the minors. But because the Stars
somehow don‘t have a minor league team this
season, their prospects are parceled out through-
out the backwaters of the American Hockey
League. So when Avery was sent down to the
minors as part of his banishment, he was
assigned to the Hartford Wolfpack…the AHL
affiliate of the New York Rangers. He made
his debut with the Wolfpack Friday night. It
had been nine years since he last played in the
AHL and two months since he played in a real
hockey game.
―I feel good that Dallas has given me an opportu-
nity to come here and play and that the team in
Hartford has allowed me to come in and play,‖
Avery told reporters. ―I probably could have had a few points if I
had buried a few chances or a couple other guys had scored, but
other than losing, it was a pretty good night.‖
It‘s just too bad the Rangers haven‘t pulled the trigger on a deal
and brought him up before tonight. The front page of this rag
would have written itself, I tell you. Instead, I have to mention
something about the 1-0 shutout win over the Blackhawks and (Continued on page 26)
By Brad Lee
While everyone at the Drinkscotch Center who was rooting for
the Bluenote Friday night was desperate for a win, the guys in the
suits who write the checks would relish a victory tonight even
more.
Lead owner Dave Checketts, some of his business partners and
team president John Davidson all have strong ties to the New
York Rangers organization and Madison Square Garden.
Now I‘m not going to say there‘s definitely bad
blood there, but I would guess they probably
don‘t exchange Christmas cards. When the
Blues played there the first time after
Checketts and his group took over the Blues,
Davidson was treated to a warm reception
and an on-ice ceremony thanking him for
his time as a player and broadcaster with
the organization. Checketts and his group
were part of the crowd standing and
applauding during the ceremony. In fact, they
were part of the paid crowd out in the stands.
You know when you‘re watching a game and the
other team‘s leadership is in attendance, if they make it
on TV it‘s usually from a luxury box or at least the press box.
It‘s a common courtesy kind of thing. Checketts wasn‘t given any
courtesy. I bet he had to go to a scalper outside the stadium for
tickets. So Mookie, if you‘re reading this outside the arena, get off
your bike and look for some dudes from New York. They can
afford the mark-up. And tell them to take Sean Avery from
Dallas. That‘ll end well.
I‘m glad I‘m not a fan of any New York teams. The drama, the
Four Dollars of Unemotional Analysis The Game Day Guide To St. Louis Blues Hockey Established in 2005
Today’s Records, Injuries & News Today’s Team Records:
Blues: Rangers:
23-25-7 (53 points) 30-21-6 (66 points)
5th in Central 3rd in Atlantic
14th in Western 6th in Eastern
Last Ten Games:
Blues: Rangers:
5-2-3 3-5-2
Season Series: All-Time Series:
0-0-0 35-72-18-0
Today’s Injuries:
Blues: LW Paul Kariya (hips), LW
Yan Stastny (thumb), D Roman Polak
(foot) and D Eric Brewer (back surgery)
are out.
Rangers: D Dmitri Kalinin (back) is
day-to-day. D Paul Mara (shoulder) left
the game yesterday.
Today’s News & Notes:
Mike Green (WAS) sets NHL record for
defensemen with goals in eight straight
games.
With a 3-on-5 goal yesterday, the
Flyers now lead the league with 14
short-handed tallies.
Game Time staff willing to bite the
bullet and get drunk early on a
Monday.
CAUTION: St. Louis Game Time contains extreme sarcasm and less-than-gentle language. But it is a hockey paper, so you should fucking just get over it.
Amy Benoist, Becky Benoist, Billy Cash, Clarence Walker
Columnists
Chris Gift, Duke, Brad Lee, Answer Man & Brian Weidler
Contributors Jeffio, Jeff Browning, LosBri,
Childhood Trauma, Dan Doke, Jeff Fahrenkrog, Jeremy Pratte & Chris Reed
Photographer
Andrew D‘Angelo
Mission:
Game Time will provide prospect information, up-to-date statistics, articles
that spark discussion and humor that points out the best and worst about our
favorite team and sport. We are all fans of the Blues and our opinions will reflect
those of subjective fans.
The paper is published for every home game, excluding the pre-season, which we
all know sucks.
Rights & Permissions:
All material printed herein is copyrighted and protected. Do not reprint in any format without expressed, written permission from Game Time LLC.
Logos & Photos
Team logos and pictures used herein are the property of the individual teams
and/or the NHL and are used solely for identification and editorial purposes.
Today’s Thought: A weak team that battles is better than a skilled team with no heart.
The firing of Penguins coach Michel Therrien
yesterday has hockey fans everywhere
buzzing. That man took that team to the
Stanley Cup finals just last season. The team
is one winning streak away from regaining
their confidence and being a legitimate
playoff threat. If that guy can get fired, goes
the conventional wisdom, who is safe?
Closer to home, if that guy can get fired at
this point of the season, how safe is Andy
Murray in his position with the Blues?
While I don‘t think that very many
NHL head coaches sleep that well
on an everyday basis anyway, I
have to say that I think Andy
Murray‘s job is pretty safe. The
obvious reason that we can point to is the
injuries. The Blues have been the top two
teams all year in terms of man-games lost to
injury and if that could be undone, we‘d be
talking about one of two topics: the Blues
and their playoff chase or the imminent
firing of Andy Murray. If he‘d had Paul
Kariya for more than 11 games and Erik
Johnson for more than 13 holes of golf and
hadn‘t missed big chunks of time with Andy
McDonald and the Teej and Eric Brewer
(sorry, haters, the Blues record with him in
the lineup is better than their record without
him) then I have no doubt they‘d be right in
the mix of the playoff bubble teams right
now.
Take away that variable and people are
still trying to find a reason to call for Andy
Murray‘s job. Personally, I think those
people are as crazy as anyone who wears
airbrushed articles of clothing in 2009. One
of the best coaches in NHL history, whether
you‘re talking pure numbers or you‘re talking
about a Svengali-like hold over well-paid and
presumably jaded professional athletes, is
Scotty Bowman. And one of Scotty Bowman‘s
greatest attributes, from the time he was the
rookie coach of Bobby Plager and the other
early Blues to the time he drove a veteran
and well-seasoned Detroit team to yet
another Stanley Cup, was his ability to get
into his players‘ heads.
The stories abound in books and in verbal
histories of the players themselves; Bowman
didn‘t care if it was a fresh-faced rookie or a
veteran leader, he sent messages to his team
and kept them on their toes any way he
could.
Jay McKee, a 12 year veteran of the NHL
wars, was benched on Saturday after he
contributed two assists to the Nashville
Predators in their come from behind
victory. McKee, predictably, was (as we
call it in the business) pissed. He even
told the media that he stopped hearing
what Murray was saying to him as he
processed the information.
Good.
Actually, better than that. Great.
Fucking beautiful, in fact. It‘s about time
that Jay McKee starts getting pissed
off around here. And whether he
takes to the ice pissed off at
Murray about the benching or
pissed off and ready to teach a
Ranger a lesson doesn‘t matter.
Just as long as he hits the ice
pissed off and ready to have a
performance that makes people recog-
nize that he is an NHL talent who is not
to be fucked with, I‘ll be happy.
Wouldn‘t that be great? To have a big,
angry, motivated Jay McKee in the
lineup? I‘ve waited a couple years to see
that. Hopefully tonight is the night. And
Andy Murray will be the man to thank
for that, not Jay McKee.
Likewise, fans have gone Christian
Bale with the recent demotion of David
Perron to the fourth line. For those of
you who like to make yourself crazy by
hanging around irrational people, try
checking in on some of the Blues
message boards to see what‘s being said.
For every ‗Drunk History‘ the internet
has given us, there is the polar opposite,
and sports fan message boards are the
seventh level of hell as far as I‘m
concerned.
David Perron is 20 years old. He is
going to lose his focus. He is going to
take certain aspects of his job less
seriously than those of us who have
actual work jobs would take them. He is
going to need to be woken up from time
to time. If a kid who is in the NHL is
given a pass when he slacks off, the
message is loud and clear: you are
special. You can do whatever you want.
Just give us an assist every other game
and you‘ll be fine.
That is a sure-fire way to wind up with
a Nikolai Zherdev on your hands. A kid
who has a ‗special‘ set of skills and is
given a different set of rules so that he
feels comfortable and happy.
(Continued on page 22)
Volume 4, Issue 30
February 16, 2009
Top 11 Reasons That
New York Sucks
11. All the murders and mayhem of Detroit without the Midwestern charm.
10. Eating the pizza involves origami.
9. Brett Favre who hasn‘t missed a game in a couple decades doesn‘t even want to play there again.
8. The Mets play there. Nuff said.
7. Sean Avery left some of his sloppy seconds in the New York dressing room.
6. Hard to tell when the garbage workers aren‘t on strike.
5. The sludge in the Hudson River is thick enough to support landing an airplane.
4. Has the stink of New Jersey all over it.
3. Statue of Liberty is not supposed to be green.
2. Remember, the Islanders play there too.
1. They call it the City That Never Sleeps because of all the gunfire.
From the Empty Beer Cup of Brad Lee
Tonight’s Trivia
By Childhood Trauma
G AME T IME Pag e 3
Game Time would like to apologize for making those
Blackhawks fans so upset on Friday. Who knew they
were so touchy about
their mothers?
[This apology is listed
as day-to-day.]
Game Time printed the
wrong picture of the
world’s second
biggest baby in the
last issue. The correct
picture is shown here.
Corrections & Clarifications
First Period (true or false):
1. Having tragically lost Alexei Cherepanov the Rangers are
trying to get a compensatory second round pick this summer.
2. Scott Gomez and Chris Drury both wore number 23 before
they signed with the Rangers on the same day. Scott wears
No. 23 as a Ranger because he won a coin toss.
First Intermission (T/F):
3. New York‘s current governor, Warren Hearns, is the first
legally blind person to become a governor.
Second Period (multiple choice):
4. Henrik Lundqvist could become the second goalie to win
30 or more in his first four seasons. Who did it first: Ron
Hextall, Mike Vernon, Tom Barrasso, or Grant Fuhr?
5. Which player did not play for Mike Keenan in both New
York and St. Louis: Glenn Anderson, Craig MacTavish, Doug
Lidster, or Darren Turcotte?
Second Intermission:
6. The song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas first
appeared in which film: The Pride of the Yankees, Meet Me
in St. Louis, Holiday Inn, or Miracle on 34th Street?
Third Period:
7. Who was the first goaltender to jump from juniors to a full
season in the NHL?
8. What current NHL head coach owns the Rangers‘ record
for goals by a rookie (36)?
9. Rangers captain Chris Drury is an American. Name the
previous American captains of the Rangers and/or Blues.
Overtime!
10. Three New York Rangers first round picks have played for
the Blues. The most recent is the father of another 1st round
NHL draftee. Name him.
1. True. The Rangers would get the 17th pick in the second round.
2. False. Drury that won the toss.
3. False. While he is the first blind person to hold the office, his name is David Patterson.
4. Ron Hextall. Four is the longest NHL streak.
5. Darren Tucotte joined St. Louis post-Keenan. Other Keenanites were Greg Gilbert, Esa Tikkanen, Mike Hudson, and Jay Wells.
6. Meet Me in St. Louis.
7. John Davidson. He played juniors in ‗73, and started here in ‗74.
8. Avalanche head coach Tony Granato set that record in 1989.
9. Brian Leetch.
10. Andre Dupont, Steve Durbando and Bob MacMillan are the former Ranger first-rounders. MacMillan‘s son, Logan, was the first round pick of the Ducks in 2007.
www.stlouisgametime.com
One Goal: Total
Domination.
Volu me 4, Issue 3 0 Febru ar y 16, 20 09 Pag e 4
G AME T IME Pag e 5
The Five Hole
With Chris Gift
After a few games played, every team in every sport on every
level, from the NHL to a week night no-check league at
Brentwood always looks back and says ―if we‘d only beat
this team,‖ or, ―if we would have scored against them,‖ or ―if
that doesn‘t happen then our record would be this…‖
Thinking about woulda, shoulda, coulda can almost drive
a team crazy.
But as the Blues play regular season game 56, eight
points out of a tie for eighth place and only nine points out
of a tie for fifth, to find only woulda, shoulda, couldas that
resulted in losses or overtime losses wouldn‘t be fair.
Sure, the team is in 14th place, and there isn‘t much
further down to fall, but while the 23-25-7 record could be
much better with a few breaks, it could also be a hell of a lot
worse.
This season for the Blues can be sectioned off in two eras:
the Manny Legace era, and the Chris Mason era.
And because Mark McGwire reminded us to not talk
about the past, it doesn‘t make sense to rehash things that
happened during the Legace Administration.
Oddly enough, the unofficial transition to the Mason
Administration took place over the course of the games at
Boston on January 19th, and at Chicago on January 21st.
Wasn‘t there some sort of transition of power going on
around that time in Washington DC? I wonder if the
Legaces had the Masons over for dinner and if Manny was
given a ride to Peoria in the team‘s helicopter. Maybe he
came out and did one last ceremonial circle around the ice
while Tom Calhoun announced him as the number one star
for the last time.
As much as we‘re still seething over the Blues loss in
Nashville this past Thursday, when the team thought the
league started playing third periods that were three seconds
shorter than the other two periods, we have to look at that
lost point, and the two points given to Nashville objectively.
Looking back on it, since Mason has taken over, the Blues
have played 11 games. The team‘s record is 6-2-3. Fifteen
points in 11 games isn‘t too shabby. Playing that out over the
length of a season would give the Blues around 112 points.
But even those five losses woulda, shoulda, coulda gone
differently. Going back to Manny‘s last decision (the 2-1
overtime loss at home to Chicago) the Blues have
squandered four points in overtime in the past 30 days.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda? How about if the Blues woulda
won those four games it woulda given the Blues 57 points,
Edmonton 59 (instead of 60) and Nashville 56. The Blues
shoulda been four points out of a playoff spot.
In the name of fairness though, that game at Boston
shoulda been a loss.
A win at Boston, after losing to them 6-3 at home in a
game that was about as one sided of a loss that the team has
had all season, after being up a goal at the end of two periods,
but then allowing three goals in 99 seconds, then scoring on
the power play with 1:20 left, then scoring on David Backes‘
crossbar high tip with three-tenths of a second left to force
OT, and then winning in a shootout? Add to that that the
Blues had lost nine of ten on the road prior to that game.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda? Lady and gentlemen, that
shoulda been a loss.
Games are supposed to be taken one at a time. The thrill of
the 1-0 win against Chicago should be out of our minds by
now, and the back-to-back road games on Wednesday and
Thursday against Columbus and Nashville shouldn‘t be in our
minds yet. The team had a marathon road trip last March and
was so uptight about collecting points before the trip that it
screwed up two months for the team. February wasn‘t worth a
damn attempting to get points on home ice, while March
sucked because of the trip that had the team playing just
about everywhere but Sri Lanka.
The Rangers just had it fed to them 5-2 yesterday by
Philadelphia on home ice. The Blues tarred and feathered
Philadelphia three weeks ago in this building 4-0. The
Rangers are in a tailspin, the Blues have been playing better.
This is probably going to be a win for the home team. But
don‘t be surprised if there are wouldas, couldas, and shouldas
all over Game Time on Saturday about this game and the trip
After their cruise ship sank in the ocean, three Blues were
stranded in a lifeboat. They floated around for days without
food or water. One afternoon a bottle
floated up to the boat. They grabbed the
bottle and when they pulled the cork out,
a genie appeared.
‗I‘ll grant each of you a single
wish,‖ said the genie.
―I wish I was home,‖ said Barret
Jackman. Poof! he disappeared.
―I wish I was home, too,‖ said Alex
Steen. Poof! He disappeared too.
Roman Polak looked around. ―Man, I‘m kind of lonely,‖ he
said. ―I wish my friends were here with me.‖
The Roman Polak Joke of the Day
In a small cathedral a janitor was cleaning the pews between
services when he was approached by the minister. He asked
the janitor, ―Could you go into the con-
fessional and listen to confessions for
me? I really have to go to the bathroom
and the Widow McGee is coming. She
tends to go on but never really does
anything worthy of serious repentance,
so when she‘s done just give her 10 Hail
Marys and I‘ll be right back.‖
Being the helpful sort, the janitor
agreed. Just as expected the Widow
McGee came into the booth and started her confession. ―Oh
Father, I have done the unforgivable. I have given into carnal
thoughts and gave a BJ to a man.‖
Stunned, the janitor had no idea how to handle this. Surely
10 Hail Marys would not do. So, in a moment of desperation,
he peered his head out of the confessional and asked an altar
boy, ―Son, what does the minister give for oral sex?‖
The altar boy replied, ―Two Snickers bars and a Coke.‖
The BJ Crombeen Joke of the Day
G AME T IME Pag e 9
Advanced Hockey Statistics
This table shows the Blues roster‘s Corsi Rating.
The Corsi Rating was initially developed by Jim
Corsi, the goaltending coach for the Buffalo
Sabres.
The Corsi Rating measures a player by tallying
the number of shots for his team during his shift
minus the number of shots taken against his team
during his shift.
Shots that miss the net and/or goaltender are
not counted, just like any shots that are blocked.
This gives us a new way to look at the effective-
ness of a player, whether playing forward or
defense for the team.
Additionally, we have included a statistic
labeled as +/- vs Team. This stat shows each
players‘ plus/minus rating relative to the team‘s
overall rating.
This +/- vs Team gives us a picture of which
players are above the average and which are
below the average for the team.
These statistics show the total number of
Penalties Drawn by each player as well as the
total number of Penalties Taken by the player.
As we‘ve noted all season, David Perron has
become pretty adept at drawing penalties and
avoiding taking retaliatory minutes. He leads the
team in both number of penalties drawn and in
differential, at plus-12.
On the opposite end are David Backes, whose
physical style of play has garnered him a
negative-11 differential and rough-and-tumble
blueliner Barret Jackman who has a minus-9
differential.
As you might expect, defensemen fare worse in
this analysis than their forward counterparts. The
blueliner with the best differential is Mike
―Dream‖ Weaver at minus-1. In 33 games he has
somehow managed to take only two penalties.
Name Pos GP Drawn Taken Diff
David Perron LW 52 25 13 12
BJ Crombeen RW 53 14 13 1
Jay McClement C 53 12 7 5
David Backes RW 53 12 23 -11
Patrik Berglund C 48 11 7 4
Brad Boyes RW 53 10 6 4
Keith Tkachuk LW 51 10 13 -3
Alexander Steen C 54 8 9 -1
TJ Oshie C 30 8 3 5
Brad Winchester RW 36 6 10 -4
Eric Brewer D 26 5 10 -5
Jay McKee D 41 5 9 -4
Andy McDonald C 18 4 4 0
Carlo Colaiacovo D 45 4 7 -3
Barret Jackman D 53 4 13 -9
Roman Polak D 42 2 10 -8
Steve Wagner D 20 1 8 -7
Mike Weaver D 33 1 2 -1
Jeff Woywitka D 37 1 5 -4
Tyson Strachan D 25 1 6 -5
Paul Kariya LW 11 0 1 -1
Rk NAME POS CORSI +/- vs Team
1 Keith Tkachuk LW 6.3 -5
2 David Backes RW 4.0 -2
3 Brad Boyes RW 3.1 -14
4 Paul Kariya LW 2.5 2
5 Carlo Colaiacovo D 0.7 0
6 David Perron LW 0.6 8
7 Alexander Steen C 0.3 -6
8 TJ Oshie C -0.3 6
9 BJ Crombeen RW -1.3 -7
10 Patrik Berglund C -1.4 17
11 Tyson Strachan D -1.7 4
12 Andy McDonald C -1.9 -11
13 Barret Jackman D -2.1 -12
14 Roman Polak D -2.3 2
15 Eric Brewer D -2.7 -8
16 Mike Weaver D -3.3 -7
17 Jeff Woywitka D -4.6 -2
18 Brad Winchester RW -7.6 -1
19 Steve Wagner D -8.4 -2
20 Jay McClement C -9.5 -10
21 Dan Hinote RW -15.8 -6
22 Cam Janssen RW -18.2 -6
23 Jay McKee D -18.3 -6
24 Yan Stastny C -25.4 -11
By far the biggest name tying these two teams together is
someone who is not a player, not a coach, not a general
manager, not a…to tell you the truth I‘m not even sure what
he does. John Davidson was drafted by
the Blues fifth overall back in 1973. In
hindsight, if we really wanted a workhorse
player with future front office aspirations,
we should have picked Bob Gainey who went
three picks later, but that‘s the past. Regardless,
he was at the time the highest drafted goalie ever,
and the first goalie to go straight from Juniors to the NHL.
He only spent two years with the Blues, his first being the
first year ever that the team didn‘t make the playoffs, but
that‘s not where he became famous. He went to the New York
Rangers, where he was the team‘s best netminder for five
years. He may be most remembered for his 1979 Finals
appearance where he stole game one on an injured knee, but
that‘s not where he became famous either.
It wasn‘t until after his injury-ridden career that he took to
the camera. From 1986-2006, he was the Rangers color
commentator for MSG, and it was there when he rose to be
the best in his business for any sport. His résumé lists numer-
ous Finals, All-Star games, Olympics, and more for every
network under the Sun: NBC, ABC, FOX, ESPN (they used to
televise hockey?), CBC, Outdoor Life Network (OK, that's
more like it) and more. He won the Lester Patrick Award in
2004. I‘m not exactly sure what that entails, but Larry Pleau
won it too, so it‘s unimportant to me. But Davidson has also
won an Emmy and a CableACE award. CableACE? Now he‘s
famous.
Then he became the president of the Blues. There went his
fame. But in his defense, how many other team presidents can
you name?
Glen Sather, New York‘s GM and president (so that shot my
last sentence), and best known as Edmonton‘s coach during
their glory years, actually had a long NHL playing career. His
best season was 1973-74 with Davidson and the St. Louis Blues.
Despite his 44 points being third on the team, that was his only
season here.
Scott Gomez was the first Alaskan native to make the NHL,
and he is proud of his heritage as he spent the lockout playing
for the Alaska Aces, a team St. Louis would make their secon-
dary minor league team the next year. His 73 assists was the
best out of any out-of-work NHLer, but
none of his teammates were with the
Blues. As for what was probably the best
team during the lockout, it had to be the
Ornskoldsvik Mordo Hockey of the Swed-
ish Elite League. Hometown boys Peter
Forsberg, the Sedin Twins, and current
Ranger Markus Naslund played alongside
non-Swedes Alex Steen and Dan Hinote.
New York‘s leading scorer, Nikolai Zherdev, just came to the
team during the offseason in exchange for former Blue
Christian Backman. Good to see him provide for some team.
The Ghost of the Blues With Jeff Browning
Volu me 4, Issue 3 0 Febru ar y 16, 20 09 Pag e 10
Blues Record When… With LosBri
Playing at YetAnother"Premium"Game 14-11-4 Walt Jr for Captain 23-25-7Playing on the road 9-14-3 Leading after the 1st 9-4-4Need one more strong Monday game 23-25-7 Tied after the 1st 8-8-2They score first 13-5-4 Trailing after the 1st 5-13-1They score 4 or more goals 16-2-1 Hinotes' wife's measurements are 34D-24-34They score on the PP 17-11-5 Leading after the 2nd 14-2-1The other team scores on the PP 8-18-4 Tied after the 2nd 5-7-3They score shorthanded 2-1-1 Trailing after the 2nd 3-16-3The other team scores shorthanded 1-3-0 They take 30 or more shots 7-10-2A Blues players has multiple goals 7-2-1 They allow 30 or more shots 8-13-3IceBerg for Calder 23-25-7 Fight! Fight! Fight! 12-12-3They played the day before 6-5-1 They are called for 7 or more penalties 10-10-2The other team played the day before 5-4-2 Other team called for 7 or more penalties 7-10-3Playing on Sunday 1-3-1 Emmanual Legace starts 12-11-3Playing on Monday 3-0-1 Chris Mason starts 9-13-3Playing on Tuesday 2-5-0 Ben Bishop Starts 1-1-1Playing on Wednesday 1-6-0 Chris "Steve Holt!" Holt works the door 2-1-1Playing on Thursday 2-4-3 Playing the Eastern Conference 5-9-1Playing on Friday 5-2-1 Playing the Atlantic Division 1-3-0Playing on Saturday 9-6-1 Playing the Northeast Division 2-3-1Playing in October 5-4-0 Playing the Southeast Division 2-3-0Playing in November 5-6-2 Playing the Western Conference 18-16-6Playing in December 4-10-1 Playing the Central Division 9-2-3Playing in January 6-4-1 Playing the Northwest Division 5-7-2Playing in February 3-1-3 Playing the Pacific Division 4-7-1Game is on VS 1-1-1 Free cheap cups for all! 1-0-0
Franchise Foundations
Pag e 11
What’d McGrath Trade For These Guys?
St. Louis Game Time
Year Player1999 Barret Jackman ~ Drafted 1st rd (17 overall) by STL
2001 Jay McClement ~ Drafted 2nd round, 57 overall by STL
2002 D.J. King ~ Drafted in 6th rd (190 overall) by STL
2003 David Backes ~ Drafted in 2nd rd (62 overall) by STL
2004 Roman Polak ~ Drafted in 6th rd (180 overall) by STL
T.J. Oshie ~ Drafted in 1st rd (24 overall) by STL
Eric Brewer ~ Acquired from EDM with Jeff Woywitka
and Doug Lynch for Chris Pronger
Jeff Woywitka ~ Acquired from EDM with Eric Brewer
and Doug Lynch for Chris Pronger
Erik Johnson ~ Drafted in 1st rd (1 overall) by STL
Patrik Berglund ~ Drafted in 1st rd (25 overall) by STL
Jay McKee ~ Signed as Free Agent (BUF)
Dan Hinote ~ Signed as Free Agent (COL)
Yan Stastny ~ Acquired from BOS for 5th rd pick in
2007
Brad Boyes ~ Acquired from BOS for Dennis
Wideman
David Perron ~ Drafted in 1st rd (26 overall) by STL
Keith Tkachuk ~ Signed as Free Agent. Originally
acquired from PHX in 2001 for a 1st rd pick in 2002,
Ladislav Nagy, Michal Handzus and Jeff Taffe
Paul Kariya ~ Signed as Free Agent (NAS)
Andy McDonald ~ Acquired from ANA for Doug
Weight, Michal Birner and a 7th rd pick in 2008
Tyson Strachan ~ Signed as Free Agent (CAR)
Cam Janssen ~ Acquired from NJ for Bryce Salvador
Mike Weaver ~ Signed as Free Agent (VAN)
Chris Mason ~ Acquired from NAS for a 4th rd pick in
2008
Brad Winchester ~ Signed as Free Agent (DAL)
Chris Holt ~ Signed as Free Agent (NYR)
B.J. Crombeen ~ Claimed off waivers (DAL)
Alexander Steen ~ Acquired with Carlo Colaiacovo
from TOR for Lee 'Dutchie' Stempniak
Carlo Colaiacovo ~ Acquired with Alexander Steen
from TOR for Lee 'Dutchie' Stempniak
2007
2006
St. Louis Blues
2005
2008
Year Player2000 Henrik Lundqvist ~ Drafted in 7th rd (205) by NYR
2002 Petr Prucha ~ Drafted in 8th rd (240) by NYR
2003 Nigel Dawes ~ Drafted in 5th rd (149 overall) by NYR
Blair Betts ~ Acquired with Jamie McLennan and Greg
Moore for Chris Simon and a 7th rd pick in 2004
Lauri Korpikoski ~ Drafted in 1st rd (19 overall) by
NYR
Brandon Dubinsky ~ Drafted in 2nd rd (60 overall) by
NYR
Ryan Callahan ~ Drafted in 4th rd (127 overall) by NYR
Marc Staal ~ Drafted in 1st rd (12 overall) by NYR
Michal Rozsival ~ Signed as Free Agent (PIT)
Colton Orr ~ Claimed off waivers (BOS)
Dan Girardi ~ Signed as Free Agent (undrafted)
Stephen Valiquette ~ Signed as Free Agent (playing in
Russia)
Paul Mara ~ Acquired from BOS for Aaron Ward
Chris Drury ~ Signed as Free Agent (BUF)
Scott Gomez ~ Signed as Free Agent (NJ)
Fredrik Sjostrom ~ Acquired with David Leneveu, Josh
Gratton and a conditional 2009 draft pick from PHX for
Marcel Hossa and Al Montoya
Aaron Voros ~ Signed as Free Agent (MIN)
Wade Redden ~ Signed as Free Agent (OTT)
Nikolai Zherdev ~ Acquired with Dan Fritsche from
CLB for Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman
Markus Naslund ~ Signed as Free Agent (VAN)
Dmitri Kalinin ~ Signed as Free Agent (BUF)
2009 Erik Reitz ~ Acquired from MIN for Dan Fritsche
2005
New York Rangers
2004
2006
2007
2008
NHL Leaders
Points Goals Against Average Shootout Goals
1. Evgeni Malkin, PIT 81 1. Steve Mason, CLB 2.06 1. Wojtek Wolski, COL 7
2. Alex Ovechkin, WAS 74 2. Tim Thomas, BOS 2.12 2. Ales Kotalik, BUF 6
PIM, plus-17 with the University of Michigan), Simon
Hjalmarsson (35 GP, 11-17-28, 24 PIM, plus-4 with Borås
HC) and Jori Lehtera (51 GP, 8-29-37, 24 PIM, minus-4
with Tappara Tampere) spring to mind.
At least two of these players, and perhaps all six, can be
expected to compete for NHL jobs in next year‘s training
camp, but if the Blues want to look to add some talent from
outside the organization, there are at least two relatively-
youthful unrestricted free agents out there who may be of
interest.
From the Calgary Flames‘ organization, RW David Moss
could be looking for a new home over the summer. Blessed
with NHL size at 6‘3, 203 pounds, Moss also has some ability
to put the puck in the net. Skating on Calgary‘s third line,
Moss has struck for 16 goals in 55 games this year, a success
rate that puts the Detroit native on pace for 23 goals this year.
Only recently turned 27 years of age (born Dec. 28, 1981),
Moss is making $575,000 this year from the Flames, and
should be able to be had for something in the $650-900K
range.
Looking to the east, Pittsburgh property Janne Pesonen
is another player who might benefit from a change of scenery.
(Continued from page 20) A veteran of six seasons in the Finnish Elite League (SM-
Liiga) where he racked up 94 goals and 216 points in 285
games played, the 5‘11, 180-pounder from Suomussalmi,
Finland has crossed the pond this year to try his hand at the
North American game.
In 44 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of
the AHL, the left-shooting Pesonen is better than a point-per-
game player with 15 goals (seven on the power play) and 31
assists for 46 points. He also has a plus-8 mark and 21 PIM for
the Baby Pens, and has had a cup of coffee with the big club
this year as well. Pesonen has a May 11, 1982 birthdate, which
will make him just 27 when the 2009-10 season opens, and he
is making a pro-rated $875,000 a year whenever he‘s up with
Pittsburgh. A small bump, and a shot at playing in the NHL on
a more regular basis, should get him out of the Igloo and into
the Note.
The forward signings will not have the impact that a major
overhaul in goal would have, but either or both of the players
mentioned here would make the Blues a more dangerous team
on their bottom two lines in 2009-10 and beyond.
Join us next time for more of the latest on the Blues‘
prospects, and until then, remember... ―if we do not prepare
for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left
but that of the anvil.‖
Auf wiedersehen.
Lauri Korpikoski
Shoots: Left
Height: 6' 1
Weight: 190
Birthdate: July 28, 1986
Birthplace: Turku, Finland
Yes, his name really is Lauri. And what‘s really
amazing is, he's not the first player in NHL
history with that, uh, unusual first name. Laurie
Boschman slugged his way out of the schoolyards and back-
yard rinks of western Canada and into a 14-season, 577-
point, 2,265-PIM career with Toronto, Edmonton, Winni-
peg, New Jersey and Ottawa. Lauri Korpikoski has a ways
to go to match those numbers, but he's off to a fine start.
Drafted in the first round (19th overall) by the Rangers
in 2004, Korpikoski is a shifty speedster with a high degree
of creativity. He has excellent hands, both as a stickhandler
and as a faceoff man, and has a knack for making things
happen on the ice.
Not a big scorer in junior, Korpikoski‘s best season in his
native Finland was a 12-goal, 20-point effort with his
hometown TPS Turku junior squad in his draft
year. He played two years with the TPS senior
team beginning in 2004-05, and finished the
2005-06 season by crossing the pond and
playing five regular-season games and 11 playoff
tilts with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.
In 2007-08, his second season in North
America, Korpikoski racked up 23-27-50 totals
in 79 games for Hartford, served 70 minutes in
penalties, was a sparkling plus-20, and contrib-
uted six power play tallies and two shorthanded
markers. He made his NHL debut in the playoffs
for the Rangers that season, scoring in his first game.
In 43 games played for the Blueshirts this year,
Korpikoski has four goals and nine points, with eight
penalty minutes. He posted a goal and an assist in 15:00 of
ice time against Washington on Feb. 11.
By Brian Weidler
Remember Me?
Brian Noonan
DOB: May 29, 1965 in Boston, Mass.
Position: Right Wing
Played for the Blues: 94 games from 1995 to 1996
For the first time in 54 years, the New York Rangers won
the Stanley Cup in 1994. Mike Keenan brought in quite a few
players that were solid defensively, unspectacular but
capable offensively and bought into Keenan‘s system of play.
They were, for lack of a better of a term,
Storm Troopers. They did what their
leader instructed them to do and did it
fairly anonymously.
Once their leader went to a new fran-
chise, some of them followed, including
Brian Noonan.
Noonan actually played for Keenan
three times; in Chicago from 1989-1992,
then with the Rangers, and finally with the
Blues.
Noonan would best be described as a
glorified version of Dan Hinote. He wasn‘t
afraid to go in the corners, wasn‘t afraid to
mix it up (although he fought less than
Hinote does), and made a nice career out of being an at-best
third line player.
Signed as a free agent prior to the lockout shortened in
1995 season, Noonan came to the Blues as part of Keenan‘s
―embrace change‖ program.
While with the Blues, he scored 15 times and contributed
42 assists. In 13 playoff games he had four goals, an assist
and took five penalties. Those numbers are nothing
spectacular, but not awful.
Noonan was sent back to the Rangers
in exchange for Sergio Momesso early in
the ‘96-‘97 season.
Over the course of 11 NHL seasons, and
with stops in Vancouver and Phoenix in
addition to his time served with Keenan,
Noonan played in 629 games with 275
points and 518 penalty minutes.
He has returned to Bushwood Country
Club in Nebraska, where he works for
Spalding Smails, since the death of Lou
Loomis he has taken over running the
Caddyshack. He and Ty Webb are still
debating on whether this is Russia or not.
By Brad Lee & Chris Gift
Volu me 4, Issue 3 0 Febru ar y 16, 20 09 Pag e 22
From The Editor (continued)
Fuck that noise. David Perron, if he‘s anything like a lot of us
were when we were 20, is looking for a reason to fuck around.
Or fuck off. Or waste some fucking time. Or make a bad fucking
decision. Sometimes, when you‘re 20, you need someone to
shake your shit and look you in the eye and tell you to wake the
fuck up. It keeps you from letting a bad decision become a bad
habit and then become a bad character trait. Andy Murray
recognized some bad decisions becoming bad habits and
addressed the issue. David Perron is now receiving the message
and is answering his coach. The way it should be.
Both Perron and McKee needed what they got from their
coach this week. Andy Murray was either confident enough in
(Continued from page 2) his job or brave enough to lose his job over it to make the right
decisions on these guys. Both players should be better for it, the
team should be better for it and the franchise mentality should
be strengthened by it. Andy Murray‘s job should be more
secure because of it, not less.
-Sean “and using timeouts early is no big deal
anyway” Gallagher
Your Kids Gotta Learn Bad Words Somewhere.
www.stlouisgametime.com
Top 11 Facts About
David Backes
11. David Backes doesn‘t block shots. The puck veers away from him in fear.
10. Chuck Norris, wears David Backes pajamas.
9. The pilot for the TV show ―The Unit‖ was nothing but a chronicle of David Backes‘ penis.
8. David Backes‘ facial hair is considered currency in Cote d‘Ivoire.
7. Clint Malarchuk is forever thankful that it was Steve Tuttle who put a skate blade into his neck on that nearly-fateful night in Buffalo. If it been David Backes, poor Clint‘s body would have simply exploded on impact.
6. David Backes is one-quarter Chippewa. He wasn‘t born that way , the dude fucking ate Central Michigan University whole.
5. When in the presence of David Backes, European players become more Canadian, French-Canadian players become less French, Canadian players become more American, and American players become SuperAmerican.
4. David Backes wears a visor on his helmet not for eye protection, but as a tool to collect opposing players‘ blood to complete his Annihilation 3000 death robot prototype.
3. David Backes doesn‘t cross-check other players. Other players‘ bodies run into David Backes‘ stick.
2. During David Backes youth, Barclay Plager‘s ghost visited the Backes home and patted young David on the shoulder. We now know that moment as, The Death Notice To The Rest Of The NHL.
1. David Backes is God‘s apology for allowing the Chicago Blackhawks to happen.