Volume 7, Issue 44 April 21, 2012 Four Dollars of Pure Street Cred Nothing In Moderation Established in 2005 By Brad Lee emotions. And their clear colors show. When a guy goes out of his way to not shake an opponent’s hand…well I’m not sure if it says There is only one guarantee tonight. The San Jose Sharks are not more about the guy who refuses to shake or the guy whose going to go quietly into the offseason. out-reached hand is ignored. But for just a moment, it gives us a If you were in this building three years ago when the glimpse inside the NHL fraternity. The guys on either team have Vancouver Canucks eliminated the Blues in four games, St. Louis more in common than with almost anyone sitting the stands or gave its strongest performance in that fourth game. It went to watching on TV. Often they’ve been teammates in juniors, college, overtime. They had chances to extend the series. And national and all-star teams. The hate subsides and the Vancouver played just a bit better and made the Blues victors want to congratulate the fallen on a good effort the first team eliminated from that season’s and the losers just want to go home. I think it’s playoffs. Well that can’t happen this year cowardly that other sports don’t end playoff because those motherfucking Detroit Red series the same way. Wings have already been sent packing. Can I These playoff games are odd to write for. get an Amen? Make no mistake, this will not There’s a lot of emotion and analysis packed be an easy game. around a small number of games in a short I have to admit, I’ve been anxious to drop period of time. When the game rolls around, the first puck since about 12:05 a.m. Friday everything has been covered. At least with this morning when the Blues finished off the series, the late starts have hampered some of Sharks 2-1, sending the series back here to that. The flip side is that this series is probably St. Louis with a 3-1 lead in hand. The Sharks are the most anonymous of all the first-round a cornered animal. They’ll claw, bite and scratch matchups. It doesn’t have a sexy, historic or really to stay alive. Joe Thornton might even show up TM big market team. They’ve started and ended late. before the final five minutes of the game for a change and And then there’s that opinion that the Blues are score an actually meaningful goal. Okay, that might be an boring. I get it. Just don’t be surprised when the exaggeration. This is a rare opportunity we hold in our hands, Blues are on the verge of making another elimination soon friends. Only 12 times in their history dating back to the 1967-68 enough, Canadian media and people who think the Eastern season have the Blues closed out a series on home ice. The last Conference is better. time was actually the most recent time the Blues advanced in the Let’s talk about the B.J. Crombeen goal in the first period playoffs, at the end of the 2001-02 season. Thursday. Brandon is not a goal scorer. He is not paid to be a goal I love to see the end of a series. The joy on one side, the scorer. But he sure looked like a goal scorer Thursday night. On sudden anguish on the other reduce players to their basic human (Continued on page 26) Today’s Records, Injuries & News 2011-2012 Team Records Today’s Injuries: Today’s News & Notes: Blues: Sharks: Detroit Red Wings are the first team 49 -22-11 (109 pts) 43-29-10 (96 pts) Blues: G Jaroslav Halak (lower body) is ejected from the playoffs with a Game 5 1st in Central 2nd in Pacific out, questionable, day-to-day, probable or loss last night. We know that you know 2nd in Western 7th in Western available. that already, we just wanted to see it in Season Series: Playoff Series: print. 4-0-0 Blues lead 3-1 Sharks: None to report. Franchise Playoff Records Game Time editor, publisher and head Blues: Sharks: Head-To-Head: smart-ass-in-charge celebrating his birthday tonight. Which is why his kid is 141-170 68-76 11-11 buying him shots. CAUTION: St. Louis Game Time contains extreme sarcasm and less-than-gentle language. But it is a hockey paper, so you should just fucking get over it. Volume 7, Issue 44 April 21, 2012 The last time I wrote an article for this space, I enough of them. brazenly guaranteed a Blues win. Which seems And not to get presumptive, but if the Blues St. Louis Game Time stupid because I have literally zero influence don’t choke away this lead, the rest of the Established: November 6, 2005 on the game. I certainly can’t play, I can’t help playoff picture is getting interesting too. St Louis, Missouri the coaches and if any of the players were to People have commented that they think the www.StLouisGameTime.com read this paper, they wouldn’t be looking at my first round this year has been so crazy because www.twitter.com/StLouisGameTime article for inspiration. Let’s be honest: if any of literally every team in the playoffs thinks they the players are reading the paper, they’re have a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Godfather skipping to the dirty jokes and then scanning Cup this year. That seems to be bearing Jeffio the rest for curse words or their own out in the West, where the Kings are in names. the midst of pulling off an upset over Publisher & Editor-in-Chief But after just one game played at Vancouver, as are the Coyotes over Sean Gallagher that point, I knew the Blues were lower-seeded but better talented [email protected] going to win. Because they are Chicago. The Wings, as you’ve simply the better team. The Sharks clearly already celebrated, are out at Coppy Editer won Game 1 because they were lucky enough the hands of the Predators. to get it to overtime, where anything can Maggie Ryan The common thread among the teams happen. Over the course of the average leading their series right now is that they all Distribution 60-minute game, though, the Blues are too big are winning with good defense and better John Nicolay and tough and, most importantly, committed, goaltending. All are using their “best” players to lose four out of seven to the Sharks. The Amy Benoist, Becky Brittingham, to shut down the other teams’ star offensive Clarence Walker coaching is better and the depth is better and studs. Get ready, because it’s coming; the goaltending is better. Which is why we are everyone is going to say that the teams that Columnists where we are tonight, hoping to see our team advance in the West are boring trap teams. Rick Ackerman, Joe Barker, close out a playoff series for the first time in 10 The Blues will be pointed at as the worst Nate the Great, Chris Gift, Brad Lee, years. offenders. Answer Man & Brian Weidler Which is not to say that I’m guaranteeing People love to say it and they have been another win tonight – as we’ve said over and Contributors since Coach Cock took over – the Blues play Jeffio, Tyler Atwood, Jeff Browning, over, this should be the game that the Sharks boring trap hockey and it’s Hitchcock Hockey. Childhood Trauma, Melvin & Chris Reed put up their best effort of the series. This could You can assume that anyone who says that to Photographers be their last game of the year and that’s a long you isn’t watching the games. This team flight home if they lose. They’ll be coming as Angela Vincent doesn’t play the same game as his 1990’s hard as we’ve seen from them all year. So Dallas teams did, it’s just easier to grab onto Holistic Therapist guaranteeing a win tonight would just be little the stereotype and ride it. Hitchcock and the Patrick Shaw more than hopeful guessing. Blues (as well as the Coyotes and Predators), But the Blues are definitely winning this they’ll say, are killing hockey by strangling the Mission: series. Again, it’s no big leap to say that now, life out of the game. To keep on . you know . keepin’ on. That and we’d like to think we can, you as the Blues own the series three to one, but I disagree. Keep saying the Blues are know, be a good boyfriend or whatever. while San Jose has the manpower and the will playing a trap, but the Left Wing Lock and its to push back hard for one more game, they offspring are dead. Yes, the Blues like to play Rights & Permissions: don’t have the ability to do it for three games sort of a 1-3-1 across their blueline, but so do All material printed herein is copyrighted in a row. Honestly, watching the last three the Hawks and Wings and Canucks. The Blues and protected. Do not reprint without wins, the Blues looked like men against older, expressed, written permission from St. Louis Game Time, LLC. slower, less disciplined men. San Jose has (Continued on page 10) some good players, they just don’t have Logos & Photos Team logos and pictures used herein are by Sean Gallagher the property of the individual teams On The Concourse and/or the NHL and are used solely for identification and editorial purposes.