Observing the funny stuff in sports while being an avid fan of the Blues, Cardinals, Steelers, and several other teams. Here's the link to my old site: http://www.stlouiscardinalsnews.com/nehechow/weblog/
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.
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.
The Blues have taken a bit of a skid as of late, winning just three of their last ten. They certainly laid an egg in the game last Saturday when they hosted Columbus. The Blues didn't respond well when the Blue Jackets got physical and they spent the majority of the third period with at least one player in the penalty box because of it. It's difficult to score goals when you're constantly outnumbered on the ice.
That said, St. Louis did play a much better game on Wednesday when they hosted Detroit. They may have lost, but they did pick up one point before succumbing to the Red Wings in the skills competition...err... shootout. The Blues have struggled for most of the season in shootouts, posting just a 4-10 record in them. Luckily, only two more games this season, tonight's and tomorrow's, have the possibility of going into one. After that, ties after regulation will result in the most beautiful thing in sports: sudden death overtime hockey, play until someone scores. This comes from a guy who watched the third longest game in NHL history when the Penguins and Flyers went five overtimes back in 2000. And it was a school night. I'm pretty sure my mom had thought I went to bed, but I stayed up until I saw Keith Primeau end it for the Flyers. I was disappointed, since I was cheering for Pittsburgh, but it was an amazing hockey game just the same. I hope for a few similar contests this spring.
Even with the Blues' struggles as of late, they got a nice gift from the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. Calgary trailed the Vancouver Canucks 1-0 heading to the third period, but the Flames managed to light the lamp three times in the third and held on for a 3-2 win over the Canucks in regulation. This kept Vancouver within two points of the Blues with one game remaining, while the Blues still have two left to play. Based on tie -breakers, the Blues will take the top seed in the conference if they win out, regardless of what Vancouver does in their final game. That is a huge opportunity for the Blues, seeing as they've posted a 30-5-5 record at home so far this season, with the 30 home wins being a franchise record. Their 65 points at home this year are the best in the league, one point ahead of Detroit, who has gone 31-7-2 at home. The Wings have their home finale tomorrow afternoon against Chicago, who would take the five seed from Detroit with a win. I'm not sure either team wants the five seed, as they will end up playing Nashville in the first round, who is certain to me a tougher opponent than the winner of the Pacific Division. So for those watching on NBC, you may see a game of "who's better at throwing this game without making it look too obvious." The current leader in the Pacific is the Los Angeles Kings, who have a tremendous goaltender in Jonathan Quick, but other than that, aren't nearly as threatening as the Predators.
The Blues will host Phoenix tonight. The Coyotes have already been assured a playoff spot, but they could win out and take the division title from the Kings, so they have a lot to play for still. The Stars, on the other hand, have nothing to play for but roster spots and contracts on Saturday. It shouldn't be a walkover game for the Blues, but they should definitely win it. Hopefully, with their first regular season conference title since the 1999-2000 season within their grasp, the Blues will show up more like they did against Detroit than they did against Columbus. The Canucks do finish up tomorrow night at home against Edmonton, one of the worst teams in the league, so the Blues should count on needing to win both to win the conference. I'm certainly looking forward to watching it all unfold tomorrow night, especially if the Blues win tonight.
It's official. The Blues are practically unstoppable at the Scottrade Center.
On Thursday night, they improved to 28-4-4 at home on the season and have lost just once in regulation in their building since a December 3rd loss to the Blackhawks. The one loss was to the Bruins of the Eastern Conference and with the rest of the team's home games being against the Western Conference, that should give Blues fans a big reason to smile. The team finishes a brief three game home stand on Saturday night against Columbus, who the Blues defeated in the teams' only previous meeting at Scottrade by a score of 6-4. Overall, the Blues are 2-1 against the Blue Jackets this season with a decisive 2-1 win in Columbus, a furious comeback 6-4 at home, and a rather deflating 2-1 loss in their last trip to Ohio that was a tenth of a second from at least going to overtime, as that's how much time remained in the period when Colubmus scored their first goal.
The Jackets have picked it up as of late, posting a 5-4-1 mark in their last ten games which includes a current four-game winning streak. However, the club is still just 9-20-4 on the road this season and that figured coupled with the Blues' ridiculous home record doesn't bode well for Columbus. I wouldn't expect the Blues to have much trouble with the Jackets on Saturday night.
Both teams will have a quick turn around as they head back to Ohio for a 5 pm central start on Sunday on the other end of a home-and-home series. With things so tight at the top of the conference between the Blues, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis really needs to pick up both wins since they'll be at an even disadvantage with the Blue Jackets as far as travel goes, and they'll still clearly be the better team. The Columbus game kicks off a seven-game road trip for the Blues and while they showed on the last trip with a 5-1 record that they can win on the road, it still won't be as easy as at home. The following game is in Chicago on Tuesday, against a Blackhawks team that probably won't be too happy about the way St. Louis pushed them around in a 5-1 win at Scottrade just a week earlier. I'm not saying that the Blues will lose in Chicago. I just think they should take advantage of playing weaker teams like Columbus right before that game and Carolina, the worst team in the east, right after the Blackhawks. That would certainly soften the blow of a potential loss in the Windy City.
The Blues need to use their current momentum to keep pressure on Vancouver and Detroit. The Canucks finish with nine of their last 14 games at home after a win over Winnipeg on Thursday, so they have a leg up on St. Louis. And while the Red Wings still have their injury problems with Pavol Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom, they certainly won't lay down with home ice and the right to avoid a first round series with Nashville on the line. Detroit has been just as dominant as the Blues have at home, so earning home ice through at least the two rounds is quite a prize for whichever team can win the Central Division, even if neither can keep pace with Vancouver.
For the first time in quite a while, the St. Louis University basketball season hit a snag.
They dropped a game at Rhode Island, the last place team in the Atlantic-10 Conference. The itself would be bad enough on its own, but how it happened made it even worse. SLU had a 10-point lead with 10 minutes remaining against a team that had won just five basketball games all season coming into the tilt against SLU. The Billikens even lead by two with under two minutes left. But the team settled for three-pointers and jump shots the rest of the way, rather than going to their senior and leading scorer, Brian Conklin, inside. Threes are great when they're falling. A team can live off of them, like Duke did against North Carolina a few weeks ago, when they attempted 38 shots from beyond the arc. However, when they're not going in, a team has to look for other options, especially inside. The Billikens didn't go that route and it cost them.
The Rhode Island loss transformed the Billikens' home finale, senior night against Xavier, from a win that would be nice to have into a game that they probably needed in order to still make the NCAA tournament. The Bills came out sluggish in the first half. Maybe it was jitters. Perhaps it was just a fired up Xavier team that needed the win even more than SLU just working the home team. But whatever it was, the Billikens found themselves 10 points behind the Musketeers at halftime. SLU went from a six-game winning streak and a practical lock to make the tournament to a bubble team in big trouble in just three short halves.
Xavier came out and scored the first point of the second half, getting a free throw to expand their lead over the Billikens to 40-29. The senior, Conklin, then took over for SLU on senior night. The Billikens went on a ridiculous 24-2 run and like magic, an 11-point SLU deficit became an 11-point lead. During that run, Conklin scored 11 of the Bills' 24 points. He would finish with 23 points for the game, picking up 15 of them after the break. Seniors are supposed to carry a team and Conklin certainly did that Tuesday night. Winning at Duquesne would be a nice boost for SLU heading into the conference tournament in Atlantic City and could certainly help their seed. However, earning a sweep of Xavier, one of the league's top tier teams, the Billikens will probably get an at-large bid for the first time in over a decade if they fail to win the conference tournament.
When the Bills make their long awaited return to the big dance, the 12-year old kid in me that ran circles around my house after SLU knocked of UMass in their last tourney win will probably be in the mood to do the Homer Simpson chicken spin dance. And with my apartment being pretty much completely hardwood floors, I wouldn't put it past me.
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.
I've witnessed a lot of amazing things in sports over the years. I've probably seen about 100 buzzer-beaters live either on TV or in person. But tonight's, was definitely my favorite.
With just over a second remaining, Austin Rivers finally went into his shooting motion. Swoosh! Game, Duke. The Blue Devils had erased a 10-point deficit by going on a 13-2 run in the last 2:10 to knock off North Carolina at Chapel Hill 85-84. I'm not sure if I woke up my roommate, but it certainly took all of my willpower to restrain myself from yelling. I had dreamed last night that Duke would win on a buzzer beater. But I've also seen the Blues hoist the Stanley Cup in my dreams, so I certainly didn't trust that vision. But here I am, having seen it with my own eyes, and I'm still having trouble believing it.
The Tar Heels dominated that game starting around 12 minutes into the first half and continued to do so until two and a half minutes remained in the second. Every time Duke would get a stop, they would turn the ball over, miss a three-point shot, or get to the free throw line just to miss one or both attempts. If the Blue Devils scored, Carolina would answer almost immediately. No matter what Duke seemed to do, they couldn't get the lead below seven points starting at the 17:35 mark of the second half. And then bang! In a 21-second span, Tyler Thornton and Seth Curry both knocked down treys and just like that, it was a two-possession game.
Duke then took a charge, Ryan Kelly bricked a three, but followed his shot just like we're all taught to do from age five and up, and got his own rebound. He faked a pass and nailed a jumper tow make a two point game out of it. Kelly hit another jumper on the next possession that followed a Tyler Zeller 1-2 free throw trip and cut it to one. Zeller got fouled again and repeated the previous trip, going 1-2, setting up Duke to tie it with a two or win it with a three after gathering the rebound. Rivers opted for the latter. With ice water in his veins and his dad, Doc Rivers looking on from the stands, he dribbled behind the three-point line for a couple of seconds and eventually took the biggest shot of his life over Zeller. Rivers with that shot created a three-way tie for first place in the ACC and a goat in Zeller.
From an objective stand point, it should be really difficult for UNC fans to be upset with Zeller. The guy is seven feet tall, so he's not exactly used to guarding out on the arc. He also posted a double-double with 23 points and 11 boards. So sure, he missed a pair of free throws down the stretch and gave up the winning shot, but Rivers was 6-10 from long range on Wednesday. As George McFly would say, making that shot was simply a part of River's density. At the end of the night, it was easy to see that North Carolina was the better team. If Duke had an off night shooting the three, the game would've been a blowout to begin the second half. The Blue Devils took 38 three-pointer shots tonight, making 14. UNC only shot six, making one. Threes are great and can change a game, but they're not nearly as reliable as taking the ball to the basket. Duke will need to work on their inside game if they hope to sweep the Heels on March 3rd when they meet at Cameron Indoor Stadium to close the regular season. But for tonight, they can enjoy a massive win over their arch rivals and Rivers can dream about it for the rest of his life.
SLU Update:
The Billikens embarked on their last tough road trip of the season on Wednesday night, beginning at St. Joseph's with a 72-60 win. SLU will remain in Philadelphia for their Saturday afternoon tilt with La Salle, who lost at Richmond on Wednesday, knocking them out of what would've been a four-way tie for second in the Atlantic-10 standings. That tie currently involves the Billikens, Xavier, and UMass, all of who are 7-3 in conference play, with Temple a half game ahead at 7-2. The game won't be an easy one for SLU, as the Explorers are undefeated at home this season, including non-conference games. However, just two weeks ago the Billikens became the first A-10 team to win at Xavier in six years, so nothing is impossible. A sweep in Philly would certainly set the Bills up nicely, though, as they would then roll home for a couple of home games against Richmond and Fordham respectively, who are a combined 4-18 on the road this year
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.
