The End of an Era

When I read that Nicklas Lidstrom had retired this morning, it made me smile from ear to ear. Not because I think he's a douche. Not because I think he's well past his prime and that he hung on too long. Because I think he's great and he played for a team I despise.

When a great player plays for a team that constantly stops your own from winning titles, playoff series, and lots of regular season games, you're going to hate him. This is how Bears fans feel about Brett Favre, how Cavs fans feel about Michael Jordan, and how Cubs fans felt about He Who Shall Not Be Named before he went to some stupid red team in California.

Lidstrom wasn't known for the bone-jarring hits of a Scott Stevens, the laser slap shot of an Al MacInnis, or even the vocal leadership of a Mark Messier. However, he made the proper checks in his own zone when they were needed. Lidstrom always found a way to get the puck to the net, either with his initial shot or with a deflection of the boards which he perfected, making him a menace on the power play. He led by example both on and off the ice and was described by teammates as a perfect person. Of course, if a guy helped me get into the playoffs every year and win a bunch of titles, I doubt I'd have many bad things to say about him either.

I'm thrilled that the St. Louis Blues will never have to kill another penalty with Lidstrom on the blue line, worry about him making an outlet pass, or have to try and dump it by him into the offensive zone. The Red Wings fell apart without him in the lineup for the 12 games he missed last year, which opened the door for the Blues to win the division. I'm sure Detroit will find a nice replacement with all of the money they have to spend towards the cap. Perhaps they'll lure Ryan Suter away from the Predators, but he's not Nick Lidstrom, nor will he ever be. And for that, I am very thankful. The door is definitely open for the Blues. They just have to step through it.

Completely Inexcusable

As we were walking into Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Kings, we walked past a bus with the Peoria Rivermen painted on the side. For those of you who may not know, the Riverment are the Blues' minor league affiliate.

Well, my friend Steve joked that he hoped they weren't playing. He then went a step further, joking about the South Park episode in which Ike's peewee hockey team plays against the Detroit Red Wings. The sad thing is, I think they might have put forth a better effort than the Blues did in the first period, even if the results would've been similar.

The Blues came out flat, right from the hop. They failed to get an early clear and after one save, goalie Brian Elliott was down, the Kings roofed it, and just 31 seconds into the game, it was 1-0. Midway through the first, while the Blues were on a power play, defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo coughed up the puck in his own zone, leading to the Kings second goal of the game and their second shorthanded tally in as many games. The worst part about this? Colaiacovo didn't even learn anything from his huge mistake, as he made a similar turnover in the third period while the Blues were on yet another power play. Luckily for him, this time Elliott saved his ass, but the score was 5-2 at the time and the goal would've been of little consequence.

After the second goal, the Blues just looked ready to accept that the game was over, even with two-plus periods to play in front of their home crowd, which to our credit, continued cheering throughout periods two and three. This attitude and lack of resilience led to two more Kings goals before the first was over. And at 4-0, with the way Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has played in this postseason, the game was already over. It was flat out depressing to have two more periods to watch, knowing that they were inconsequential. The Blues outplayed the Kings over the last 40 minutes and the score reflected that, with St. Louis registering two goals to LA's one the rest of the way. But it was too little too late.

If the Blues would've shown the effort in the first 20 minutes that they showed over the last 40, they almost certainly would've won the came. But alas, they head to the west coast down two games to none, with Alex Pietrangelo still questionable for Game 3. That's quite a hole they've given themselves to dig out of, but with the last two periods of Game 2 as evidence, they're capable of doing it. They just can't play another period in this series like the first from Monday night.

Many fans wanted to blame the officiating after the loss. I'll agree that they were pretty awful, with Dustin Penner being three feet offsides for the Kings' third goal, but they weren't the reason the Blues lost the game. Any time you go 0-for-9 on the power play, including a 1:35 5-on-3, you deserve to lose. The Blues got what they deserved in Game 2. They should be down 2-0 in this series. Hopefully,  they'll bring their A-game to SoCal, take back home ice advantage, and be back Tuesday for Game 5. Because after suffering through that mess on Monday, it's certainly what us Blues fans deserve.