St Louis Volume 4, Issue 13 Game Time December 6, 2008 Four Dollars Just Like Yesterday The Game Day Guide To St. Louis Blues Hockey Established in 2005 By Brad lee caught deep in the Calgary zone. The Flames skated hard on the breakout, but the surprisingly fast Roman Polak caught up and It seems like every year the Blues have one shitty team that evened things up. Regardless, defenseman Eric Brewer decided to they struggle against and just can’t solve. During the 2007-08 go prone and slide in an attempt to take away the pass or break up season, the Phoenix Coyotes were that shitty team for the Blues. the play all together. Flames forward Mike Cammalleri shot the There couldn’t be a better time to drag these desert dogs into puck over a skidding Brewer and hit the near side of the net past a St. Louis. The Blues should be red hot pissed over blowing Friday shell-shocked Mason. night’s game against Calgary. The Blues led by two goals before It was the second time in two home games where the Blues surrendering two power play goals in the third period have blown two-goal leads. Allowing power play goals is and losing 4-3 in overtime. It sucked big time. killing the Blues. In his postgame news conference, In the third period, St. Louis led 3-1. On their coach Andy Murray talked about that, but tried to second goal of the game, Calgary’s first on the temper his criticism of the team. power play, Todd Bertuzzi held the puck “We need every single point we can get. We behind the St. Louis net. His first pass didn’t realized that 82 games this season, there make it to the front and came right back to would be 82 battles for us. Nothing will come him. Just before Bertuzzi’s second centering easy for us. We got a point,” Murray said. attempt, both Jay McKee and Jeff Woywitka “We could sit and whine about being up 2-0 reached for poke checks behind the net. and letting it slide, taking unnecessary With both defensemen out of position, penalties. Our penalty killing group that has Jarome Iginla found the gap between the been very good for us up to this point this season defensemen and the forwards and was wide hasn’t gotten the job done the last few games. open for the pass. After scoring 50 goals a season Those are the things we can talk about or we can ago, he wasn’t going to miss less than 10 feet from the TM say we need to get ready for Phoenix tomorrow net. That brought the Flames to within one at 3-2. night.” On the Flames’ third goal of the game with less than five The Blues were much better on the power play Friday night seconds left on a power play, Dion Phaneuf threw the puck at the after getting shutout 4-0 in Minnesota Wednesday. The return of net from the left point. A crowd of three players screened TJ Oshie gave Murray some flexibility he’s missed in recent weeks. goaltender Chris Mason. Somehow the puck bounced off a The key to an effective power play for the Blues this season has Flames forward, hit the post and bounced in. Mason barely been fast, crisp puck movement. flinched. On the game winner in overtime, three Blues players were (Continued on page 26) Today’s Records, Injuries & News Today’s Team Records: Today’s Injuries: Today’s News & Notes: Blues: Coyotes: Blues: C Andy McDonald (fractured • Canucks general manager Mike Gillis 10-11-3 (23 points) 12-11-2 (26 points) ankle) is out. LW Paul Kariya (lower meeting with Mats Sundin and his 5th in Central 3rd in Pacific body) and RW Dan Hinote (lower body) agent to try to convince him to come 15th in Western 10th in Western are still day-to-day. play for Vancouver. Last Ten Games: Coyotes: C Olli Jokinen (strained • San Jose Sharks on a six-game winning Blues: Coyotes: shoulder) is out. streak. They have scored 100 goals in 5-3-2 4-4-2 26 games. Yikes. • Game Time Staff starting to get really, Season Series: All-Time Series: really tired of back-to-back games. 0-0-0 46-46-20-1 (incl Winnipeg) 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 13 From The Editor December 6, 2008 I really like our new ownership group and plateauing Flames team is. St. Louis Game Time their management team. Especially since our Similarly, the Blues made a good Established: November 6, 2005 first year as a paper was the last year of the choice when designing their new third St Louis, Missouri Bill and Money Laurie regime, when they jerseys. I’m not a fan of third jerseys in Phone: 402-2266 were basically bunkered up in Columbia and general, and I won’t be ponying up to www.StLouisGameTime.com doing everything they could to alienate buy one of the new ones with the Arch on anyone who cared at all about this team. it, either, but I can recognize that they Godfather The new owners and decision-maker have are pretty nice looking. Jeffio made a lot of good decisions. Not all of them On the other hand, I’ve heard some have been perfect (anyone remember that people suggest that they become the new Publisher & Editor-in-Chief unannounced cannon-shot at the home primary design for the team. As Sean Gallagher opener last year?), but I’d have to say Hall & Oates once said, “Oh, I can’t that they get it right more often than go for that, no can do.” [email protected] they get it wrong. This year’s That’d be a mistake as big as schedule, for one, has been a nice Advertising creating a new jersey with change. Emphasizing weekend [email protected] games and staying away from as clown-costume colors, slanty [email protected] many Monday and Tuesday night games as numbers and trumpets on the shoulders. possible was a great move. It did, of course, It’s a nice third jersey and let’s just keep have some unintended side effects, such as it at that. The traditional look of the Distribution we’re experiencing right now. existing jerseys is damn-near perfect and John Nicolay I think it matches up with any of the Amy Benoist, Becky Benoist, Not to get all conspiracy-theory on you, strongest jerseys in the league. The Billy Cash, Clarence Walker but sometimes it feels like a three-games-in- single, strong Bluenote, classic colors four-nights run is written on a dry-erase and simple lines is the way to go. board inside the bowels of 14th and Brett Hull Columnists Way as the ‘Let’s Try To Kill The GT Guys Speaking of the clown-costume Chris Gift, Duke, Brad Lee, Answer Man & Brian Weidler Weekend!’ jerseys, one of which I do own, the white ones really aren’t that bad, but I think if So, in accordance with GT Standard you have the right player and number on Contributors Operating Procedures, at least one of my there it goes a long way to making it Jeffio, Jeff Browning, LosBri, articles in this stretch will have to be a more respectable. The Gretzky 99 ones I Childhood Trauma, Jeff Fahrenkrog, hodgepodge of unconnected thoughts. Guess never really got into, mainly because The Jeremy Pratte & Chris Reed what? Tonight’s the night. Great One was so not that great when he Photographer Possibly the biggest decision the franchise was here for those 12 days back in 1996. Andrew D’Angelo has made since changing hands three years Instead, give me a good ol’ Chase 39 or ago was the choice to stop chasing endless Twist 18 or Courtnall 14 and I think it’s a Mission: unfruitful playoff runs and to finally, totally good look. I’ve always been partial to the Game Time will provide prospect commit to a rebuilding of the team. So far, it Hull 16, too, but recently I saw one that I information, up-to-date statistics, articles has been going nearly perfect. And yes, that’s liked even better. that spark discussion and humor that hard to say when the team is struggling along points out the best and worst about our Our writer Chris Gift just picked up a favorite team and sport. We are all fans of below the .500 mark. But management said Corson 9 version of that jersey and I the Blues and our opinions will reflect it explicitly: this will not be easy and it will think it’s pretty good. Not just because those of subjective fans. not be quick. They were right, because this you don’t see that one a lot, but also The paper is published for every home certainly isn’t easy. because the simple look of the 9 on game, excluding the pre-season, which we all know sucks. When we see a team like Calgary come in there. You don’t see a lot of people going like they did last night, though, I feel better out to get new clown suit Blues jerseys, Rights & Permissions: about where our team is going than where but the Five Hole pulled it off.