Return of the Zambon-I

Two Sundays ago, at a little after eight A.M., I received the news via text message from my friend, Tyler. Hockey is back. 

I was pretty much having a completely shitty day at that point, as it was eight A.M. on a Sunday and I had already been at work for over five hours. And with one text message, that changed. I had my favorite thing in the world back. I'm still all for my Gary Bettman needs to die in a fire (#DIAF on twitter) campaign, but I was beyond happy at this point. 

I don't have any plans to purchase a jersey this year like I was originally planning, but I want my hockey team to be there for me, so I will be there for them in the stands. After all, I'm well aware that Tom Stillman and the rest of the Blues' new ownership group didn't want any part of this lockout. The Blues were recently listed as the least valuable NHL franchise, so losing money by not playing 34 games and alienating fans would be about the worst thing they could do. Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of the Boston Bruins and just a handful of others were the reason for this lockout, the third work stoppage under Bettman (#DIAF), and it was completely unacceptable. Their greed cost us fans roughly half of a hockey season just eight years after it cost us an entire one. But since the St. Louis owners weren't the problem, I can't boycott them like I did the Cardinals' owners during the 2012 regular season for messing up the Albert Pujols situation. 

When Saturday rolls around, I will be in the stands ready to yell "Let's go Blues!" at the top of my lungs, decked out in a jersey and cap. I'll heckle the Red Wings just like usual (I once yelled at Pavel Datsyuk while he wasn't even on the ice. Alcohol may have been involved.) Maybe it's due to the longest withdrawal I've had in years, as hockey is my crack, or maybe it's because many pundits are picking the Blues to go far in the playoffs this year, but this may be the most excited I've ever been for a hockey season to begin. 

 

The Blues stellar goaltending tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott that propelled them to their first Central Division title in 11 years is back and healthy, after Halak injured his ankle in the first round of the playoffs last season. Overall, the Blues are bringing back 22 of the 25 roster players from last season. Carlo Colaiacovo left in free agency to join Detroit, but for me, that's addition by subtraction. He would make gritty, solid plays at times, but he would often make silly, careless mistakes that would cost the team. And that was when he could actually manage to stay healthy, which wasn't often. The other blueliner that won't be back is Kent Huskins. His play was consistent when he was in the lineup, but nothing special that can't be replaced. The Blues added veteran Wade Redden to fill the void left by Huskins. Ian Cole appears like he will be stepping into a full time role with the Blues for the first time as a replacement for Colaiacovo, so Redden's signing will be more for depth than anything else. The 35-year old D-man may bring some additional leadership as well, but this hockey club isn't short on that either. David Backes will resume his captaincy with the team for the second season and the same four alternates of Andy McDonald, Alex Steen, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Barret Jackman.

The only forward of last year's roster that won't be returning is veteran Jason Arnott. He was a great player for the Blues last year, recording 17 goals and 17 assists with six of his goals coming on the power play, tying him with Alex Pietrangelo for second on the team. Arnott simply didn't fit into this year's roster for the Blues, as they had to make room for perhaps their most exciting addition, rookie Vladimir Tarasenko. After spending his past two season in the KHL in Russia, Tarasenko's contract was up and he decided to make the leap to the NHL. David Perron, T.J. Oshie, and Backes certainly have offensive firepower, but not the same kind that Tarasenko wields. He could really bring an offensive punch to the roster that the team was missing at times last year. Personally, he is what I'm most looking forward to seeing this season live. He's great to watch on Youtube, but I'd much rather see the real thing (here's a video of him scoring a hat trick in the KHL anyway). 

And now that this is a possibility, the possibilities for this Blues team are endless. They have the goaltending, the defense, and the offense. They have head coach Ken Hitchcock returning, last year's Jack Adams Award winner for coach of the year. They have general manager Doug Armstrong, whom they just signed to a five-year extension, who was last year's NHL executive of the year, who is willing to add whatever little pieces the team may need, like Redden. And they certainly have the fans behind them again, as it appears that Saturday's opener against Detroit will sell out. Bring on hockey season and let's go Blues!

Labor Day

Both the NFL and NHL don't seem to get it.

The NHL is on the verge of its second lockout in under a decade and the owners and Players' Association are supposedly still very far apart on a new CBA. The NFL announced earlier on Wednesday that it will begin the 2012 season with replacement referees. Both of these situations could be greatly damaging to the leagues.

Only in the last couple of years has the NHL truly started to get back its fans in most of its markets. Most of the Canadian teams, Detroit, Boston, and New York, got their fans back either right away or pretty quickly. But even Chicago, an Original Six team, didn't see their fans come back until a few years after the lockout. This was partially due to their now deceased owner, William W. Wirtz, running the franchise in a very non-fan friendly manner, but the lockout certainly didn't help matters. St. Louis, which is a historically strong hockey town, also dealt with ownership problems in the post-lockout era and frankly wasn't a competitive team again until the 2008-09 season when they rallied to make the playoffs, before being swept by Vancouver in the first round. And like in any city, even when the fans are there, the tickets sell better when a team is winning. The Blues have raised ticket prices the last two years, which is certainly a signal that their fans are back strong. This is the case in many NHL cities at this point. But there are still franchises that are struggling as well.

The Phoenix Coyotes have been in financial trouble for years in the desert, and the vultures have certainly been circling the Jobing.com Arena for a while. The Coyotes are still currently being run by the NHL itself and are constantly being discussed as a team that could possibly move cities. The same can be said about the Florida Panthers. The Dallas Stars used to sell out routinely, but they've struggled in recent seasons both in the standings and in attendance. Even the New York Islanders, a historical franchise that had a dynasty of four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 80's, have been talked about as a potential franchise that could move. The Islanders haven't won a division title since the 1987-88 season and have rarely been in the playoffs since the 80's. Their crosstown rivals, the Rangers, are bigger draw as they win more often, have the more famous arena, and have more history.

It is situations like these that could make the average fan side with the owners on the CBA. Teams like the Islanders, Panthers, Coyotes, and Stars can't afford to see the salary cap creep closer and closer to where it was before the 2004-05 lockout. But franchises like the Red Wings, Rangers, Flyers, Maple Leafs, and Canadiens certainly can. These teams might not like the revenue sharing, but they have to play someone and without all of the other teams, it just wouldn't be the same league. On the players' side, the owners and the league were completely unreasonable in their first proposal to the NHLPA. In addition to a steep drop in revenue sharing between the players and owners, they asked for salary rollbacks, a lower salary cap, and extended entry-level contracts, which was probably the worst part. There is absolutely no way that the NHLPA would agree to that and the NHL had to know that.

I understand asking for a lot in order to get a little in a compromise, but when another season is at risk and the deadline for negotiations is this close, this was a waste of time. The first proposal should have been more fair and with that, they could have expected a better first proposal from the NHLPA. We're now on the league's second proposal, with under three weeks to go until a potential lockout and things don't sound like they're coming to a head any time soon. I quite honestly don't think the NHL, which is miles behind the NFL and MLB in popularity, can survive another lockout, especially the franchises that are already struggling. I'm not sure I would want to keep following a league that will continue to shoot itself in the foot every time it starts to turn things around again. And if a hockey fan like me won't be in the stands, then who will?

As far as the NFL's referee situation goes, I again will side with the little guy, but mostly for my own sake as a fan. People complain about officiating all the time, no matter the sport. But in the country's most popular sport, the one that is talked about more than any other, does the league really want poor officiating from inexperienced referees to be what is talked about the most? Probably not. Talking about how bad the refs were on Sunday afternoon doesn't sell jerseys. It doesn't sell tickets either, except maybe on Stubhub when the fans get so frustrated with blown calls that they don't even want to go to the game anymore. By bringing in replacement refs, the NFL is downgrading its product, a product that has become the most popular sport in the United States, passing even America's past time of baseball. Why on earth would you want to give that up? Commissioner Roger Goodell will make $20 million this season. Are you honestly telling me that a league which can afford to pay its commissioner that much money can't afford to make a few concessions to  appease its top officials? Especially when it will help keep its brand as the king of American sports? Please.

The NFL and NHL both need to do what is best for the fans and get these matters settled quickly before they do extensive damage to themselves. After all, the fans are the ones actually paying the salaries.

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.

Blues' Offense Continues to Sputter

Just when it looked like the Blues were turning a corner with what had been a struggling offense, they returned to form on Tuesday night, being limited to one goal in a 2-1 loss at lowly Columbus.

After the Blues managed to score a total of six goals in back-to-back home games over the weekend, four of which came on the power play, they turned in an abysmal offensive effort in Ohio. St. Louis' lackluster offense has been a problem for the majority of this season. However, the amazing goaltending that the team has gotten from both Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott had kept the problem under wraps most of the time. The goalie tandem has combined for 11 shutouts this year, which leads the NHL. It's a good thing that the pair are keeping the opposition off of the scoreboard so often, because in four of those 11 games, the Blues still only managed one goal for 1-0 wins.

Even when the Blues are getting fantastic play in the crease, it often leads to problems later as they have found themselves in shootouts which usually have resulted in them being stoned three times and taking the one point. It's only been recently, twice in the past five weeks, that the Blues have managed to win in shootouts and in both of those games, they still scored just once in the breakaway competition. Getting Andy McDonald back could help this phase of their game, as he has been one of their better shootout players for the last few seasons. T.J. Oshie has had some decent success too, going 3-8 on the year.

The biggest problem for the Blues still has to be the power play. It's not just failing to score on the power play, but they're failing to create power play chances for themselves most nights. They only had one opportunity in Columbus and it ended with more than 14 minutes remaining in the first period. The Blues have to start getting more attacking and more buzzing around the net. There have been times this season when they've done that, it simply has to be more consistent. This especially has to be the case on the road, where they'll be playing the majority of their games for the remainder of the season. The Blues only have 10 games left at Scottrade during the regular season, compared to 16 out of town contests.

This team has an offensive punch, it just needs to get focused. David Perron has really turned it on lately. He made a beautiful pass on a shorthanded break to David Backes in Columbus, resulting in the team's only goal and in the four games before that, he scored six goals. Backes and Oshie have been strong on the forecheck as well. It's really Chris Stewart and Patrik Berglund that need to pick it up. Stewart was dropped to the fourth line today in practice, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the Post-Dispatch. Hopefully that will light a fire under him, because if he doesn't get going soon, he might get going out the door as the trade deadline looms.