I love the Cardinals. You wear that bird on a bat on your chest, and you have a pass from me for life. Albert Pujols, Tom Pagnozzi, Yadier Molina, Jack Clark, Ozzie Smith, Terry Pendelton, Willie McGee, Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Brian Jordan; I don't care who you are. You represent St. Louis baseball, and you're fine with me. 

But I live and die St. Louis Blues hockey, and this season is killing me. What are my most prized posessions, in order? Brett Hull's autograph, Brendan Shanahan's autograph, Curtis Joseph's autograph, and a puck from the first season that they introduced that trumpet logo. To watch a team make it to the playoffs 25 or so years in a row, and then only make it once in the past six... to watch a team go from great potential to mediocrity back to a youth movement that has been felled by injuries and circumstance? I feel like someone's kicking me in the gut.

The way to make me feel better? Oh, gee, I don't know. Move to Atlanta, wait seven horrible years with only NHL94 to get me through, and then start going to Thrashers games. I have two tickets from the first game that they played here in Atlanta - the home opener of 1999. I have a program; I have the commemorative magazine. For God's sake, I own a Patrick Stefan jersey. Being away from St. Louis, and loving the sport as much as I do, I couldn't not pull for the scrappy Thrashers, and I still feel the same way. The Blues are my guys, but the Thrashers are like the little brother team that you want to do well, because they deserve it. Both teams do - they try, they fight, they kick, they play their asses off, and then whoomp.

Done.

The Blues and Thrashers aren't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet, but it's dangerously close. It's another season that's over in April; another season without playoffs. Yet another one without a Cup, and one for both teams surrounded by ownership issues. Atlanta's fighting to stay put; the Blues'd like an investor to allow them to sign someone for a decent salary. It's frustrating. And it'll probably repeat next year - or at least that's how fans of the two teams feel, because we're conditioned to feel that way.

It's ok. I'll be in my seat at Philips next year. I'll spend money on Center Ice to watch the Blues. I'll be keeping track of my God awful law that I'm sure will continue just to spite me. One of these years, fellas, though, you're going to have to give me a cookie. One of you will recognize that I've been a loyal fan for eleven seasons in a region where many say that hockey can't exist - and there are thousands of people like me who feel the exact same way. We want you to win; we want Atlanta to be the hockey hotbed that we know it can be.

The other of you will have to come to realize that you've made me a pariah in my hometown. The Cardinals - they're my first sports love. They have been since I was five years old. But you, Blues?  You are, without a doubt, my favorite sports team. I want you to succeed more than baseball, more than the hometown kings of St. Louis. How about you give it a real solid go, then?

I have faith that you can do it. Next season. 

Peace out, Brad. Thanks for your couple years of high-production, the fact that you tried to be a plus player, and the fact that you enjoyed being in STL. It's appreciated.

Some folks on St. Louis Game Time noticed that The Whipping Children of the Blues were being traded away for picks today - does that equal a fire sale? Well, when you trade roster guys for calling up AHLers, yes. Here's the run-down:

• Eric Brewer to the Lightning for a 3rd rounder and Brock Beukeboom... a pick and a twice concussed prospect two years out.
• Brad Boyes to the Sabres for a 2nd rounder... a former 42 goal scorer who won't crack 20 this year, if he cracks 15. Blues fans will be saddened by the departure of the Brad Boyes drinking game, where you take a drink every time he shoots wide or high of the net. That alcohol was the only thing helping us cope with the season.
• Brad Winchester to the Ducks for a 3rd rounder... Winny's been scoring well this year for him, but it's a bit of a fluke. Most noted for concussing his own teammates and being effective on the PK. He'll fit in with the Ducks' typical gritty offense.

What does this all mean? Fire sale? Not making the playoffs? Stockpiling picks for a trade at the draft?  Duh. The chances of making the playoffs are dwindling, especially with the teams ahead of the Blues winning. The West might be a logjam, but injuries have taken their toll on the Blues this year. Unless a miracle happens, they're not playoffin'.

Hell, for all intents and purposes, the season's over, right? Here's a palate cleanser with Big Buff. Focus on the shoes. Oh, and his laugh. Totally not what you would ever expect.

Love this guy.

 

From my good bud @ChadATL on Twitter comes this outstanding graphical representation of the Thrashers' season:

 

These two players were once part of the Blues organization. One, the team's first overall pick in 2006 and futurue #1 defenseman; the other, some guy off of waivers. Here, they reminiscnce. 

Erik Johnson said that he was going to make Doug Armstrong regret the day that they traded Erik Johnson (third person his, not mine). He managed to do so by scoring go-ahead goal in tonight's game. The last team the Avs beat before their 11 game streak started? The Blues. They have a seven game winning streak going against St. Louis. They were (part) of the reason that STL missed the playoffs last season, and they're (part) of the reason that they'll miss them this year, barring another miracle run. To add salt in the wound, St. Louis native Paul Stastny scored the game winner.

That being said, Chris Stewart has three goals - one more tonight, and Kevin Shattenkirk has two assists - another one tonight. They're scoring a-go-go. Shame the rest of the team, aside from the Steen-Berglund-Oshie line, seems to want to play one period a game.

Does this mean more trades? Sell the farm? Who knows. The Blues were in 13th place when they made a trade to add firepower just like they were in 13th place when they made a trade to sell the team's best and most useful defenseman for a third round pick and a guy who's been knocked loopy twice.

Will there be a time when I sit down to watch a game and expect one of my two teams to win? Check back next season. Power of positive thought can kiss it. 

Apparently that trade worked out ok for St. Louis, who just got done drubbing the Ducks (and their two back-up goaltenders) to the tune of 9-3. A few players wound up with two goals: Andy McDonald, TJ Oshie, one of the new guys, Chris Stewart - one with the helo of the other new guy, Kevin Shattenkirk (David Backes, Carlo Colaiacovo and Alex Steen added the other three). This is the photo of the night (from St. Louis Game Time user spectr17):

I like this trade because I'll never hear about golf carts again.

Avalanche fans aren't happy about losing Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk. Blues fans aren't happy about losing Jay McClement and Erik Johnson. So, are we caling this a wash, here?

I'm actually kind of all-right. Not only does it streamline my following of the Stewart Bros (and my bud AverageJoe gave me a killer tag for my site - "The Official Site Of The Stewart Parents"), but it also gives the Blues scoring punch coupled with a player that no one wants to play against - and that we'll never have to play against again. Chris Stewart has 30 points in 36 games this year - he missed a few weeks after breaking his hand in a fight. He's a tenacious power-forward who can crash the net, score, irritate the opposition, and if he  winds up on a line with David Backes and TJ Oshie, will drive EVERYONE insane.

The EJ part of the trade surprises me. I do think that the golf cart accident hurt his development a bit and he's been under-playing, especially defensively, but the Blues just re-signed him to some huge contract, so it seemed like the had a little faith in taking time for his development. Granted, that faith was for two years, so maybe the patience just wasn't there. Upshot is that STL saves a ton of dough in getting a younger 1st rounder who still has 2 years left in an entry level contract. Also, the Blues get a scoring D man who actually has been scoring. Shattenkirk, a 14th overall pick from the 2007 draft, has been having an excellent rookie season. He has seven goals and 19 assists so far this season in comparison to Johnson's 5-14-19.

I think that the Blues got the better end of this deal depending on the development of Johnson. If he continues to stall out, and Shattenkirk keeps playing the way that he has been, STL wins. If not, well, there're always decent D men on the market, right?  At least the forwards'll be impossible, or at least unpleasant, to play against, and the Blues got Colorado's 2006 and 2007 first round draft picks who have been playing like first round draft picks. Other than emotional attachment and some shock, there's not a whole lot to complain about here.

Forget Arthur Blank. Chris Ciovacco wants other community businesspeople and civic officials to step up and give the Thrashers and their fans a reason to not research the weather in Quebec City. His site, ArthurBlankBuyTheThrashers.com, has been expanded to include pleas to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Georgia governor Nathan Deal. The tactic? Business and taxes, something that any good politician responds well to. Lost tax dollars? For a  city hurting for income? I'm pretty sure that Mayor Reed's ear could be bent. His open letter is eloquent and extremely convincing, and the perfect start to a grass-roots campaign to get the Thrashers to stay put in Atlanta. He has been interviewed on 11Alive news, and was on CBS 46 yesterday evening as well.

Local businesses such as Coca-Cola, Georgia Power, and Home Depot would have a serious marketing benefit from purchasing shares in the Thrashers. Businesses and resturaunts around Philips Arena, including within the CNN Center, would be negatively impacted if they lost the forty two regular season and three pre-season Thrashers games a year. No matter how you look at it, it goes back to tax dollars in the coifers of the city and the state. There's a legit reason to keep hockey in Atlanta, and Ciovacco's expressed this very convincingly and eloquently.

Evil ploy by Atlanta Spirit in signing Dustin Byfuglien to a five year contract extension. My oddly hopeful op-ed on the meaning of this signing got featured on NHL.com and Puck Daddy... in just enough time for the ownership group to completely fell the fanbase with an interview in the AJC:

“If we are faced with [moving] as the only alternative, that’s what’s going to happen,” Gearon told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an exclusive interview Tuesday. “I don’t think there is an ability to stomach another $20 million in losses. We just can’t do it.

“The reality is we need fans showing up and we need investors, or a primary investor.”

Thanks a bunch, Buzz Killington. Needless to say, fans are upset. I've said my piece over on SBNation Atlanta. It's long. It's drawn-out. And frankly, it's pissed off.

Apparently they have not put money into the ways to get fans into the seats, which is why fans aren't coming. You want season ticket renewals to go up? Don't give an interview to the AJC about how the team could move in a few years. You want people to come to the games? Tell people when they are and advertise the fact that this city has a hockey team.

In further proof that a PR and marketing department is non-existent, this interview was given and released the day after the team announced that they re-signed Dustin Byfuglien to a five year extension. The fanbase barely had a chance to celebrate, and my op-ed on the re-signing of Byfuglien and what it means to Atlanta was passe in about 15 hours. Why would you release this news right after you state that you signed your star defenseman to an extension? Did they think that less attention would be paid to this news? Also, why announce this when the team's trying to fight their way back into a playoff spot? Is this their new version of a morale boost? Any momentum the team must have felt about Byfuglien being re-signed went out the window of their charter flight to (hilariously) Phoenix.

Not only do they blame the fans, they take measures to ensure that marketing and sales to the fans fail, thereby ensuring they can blame fans some more. Brilliant!

Saturday night's loss to the Minnesota Wild(s) was mortifying in so much that the team didn't even appear to put forth an effort until the end of the game. That's been the case often this season; or, possibly worse, the Blues forget that they have to play three periods of hockey and blow good games in the third period. You know, like they did on Friday night, again to the Wild(s).

The Blues are 3-4-3 over their last ten games, a record only surpassed in badness by the slumping Dallas Stars (3-6-1) and the free-falling Colorado Avalanche (1-9-0). Their away record is 8-13-5; teams aren't intimidated by the Blues, despite the fact that they're third in the league in fighting majors. Of course, why should teams be intimidated - most of these fighting majors seem to come in the final seconds of games that the Blues have already lost. No one's intimidated by frustration. No one cares if, after you've lost a game, you want to rough up some guys from the opposition's team to "send a message." Heck, the only message that sends is one of "hey, we can't bring it when we need to, but by God, we will jump you when it doesn't matter!" Ooooooooo. Scary.

I love my team. I love the fact that the Blues don't back down, and that they're rough and tumble. I love David "All that is man" Backes, and Barret Jackman, and Cam Janssen, and everyone on the team who plays a good blue-collar brand of game. This is why I'm a Western Conference girl, and I can't stand Eastern Conference teams. I've always felt that they lack grit and character, and only throw down when things get out of control - look at last week's Habs/Bruins game, or the Pens/Islanders brawl. The teams only fought when they didn't need to anymore. That's what the Blues are starting to do, and it's embarrassing.

Fight during the course of the game. Stand up for your teammates, even after the buzzer goes. Don't all out line brawl. Yes, I know Backes was trying to protect Steen, but is skating away from a fight with three seconds in the game looking like THIS even necessary?

Ow.

Ok, so this isn't as bad as it looks, but why? Why do this to yourself? Why not put that oomph into the game and score a goal or two? I'm not calling Backes out for fighting or for not scoring, because he's very productive on the ice, and his fights are usually appropriate message senders. Saturday wasn't appropriate.

If you want to send a message, win the damned hockey game. Tonight they have a chance to rebound a little bit and send a message to the Canucks. I don't know what kind of message a 13th place team that's eight points out of the playoffs can send, but a message through play is a lot more effective than a message through a fight that still winds up with you losing the game. You at least don't look like a bunch of talentless goons, which is something that the Blues aren't - and don't need to look like anyway.