Andy McDonald skated in a regular "yellow" jersey at practice yesterday, instead of a red no-contact jersey. Why does this fill me with dread?

Let me say from the start: Andy McDonald has been a very good hockey player. As a Blue, he's produced at nearly a point-per-game pace (189 points in 235 games, or 0.8 ppg--compare to the Blues current "best" offensive player, David Backes, at 0.6 ppg), and is probably their best offensive player in terms of consistency. He also brings to the ice one of the things that plagues the Blues, and will hold them back from being a legit playoff contender: power play production.

God, I wish he would retire.

Andy McDonald is 34 years old. He has two young kids. He has four (known) concussions in his medical history. Since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2002-03, he has played a full slate of games (75+) four times. Four. In ten seasons (counting 2011-12). You hate to hang the "injury-prone" label on anyone, but it is medical science that, once you've had a single concussion you are "concussion-prone." To repeat: McDonald has had four of those.

I am 38. I also have two young kids. The other night, I banged my head on some ductwork in the basement. This was a cause for some mild cursing and a few minutes of moderate pain. If I were Andy McDonald, I would have been terrified that I'd bruised my brain again.

Andy McDonald doesn't owe the Blues, Blues fans, the NHL, or the game of hockey a damn thing at this point. He does owe his kids a dad. A dad who will be able to remember their future spouses' and his future grandkids' names. Does Nik Kronwall's elbow give a damn about that? Dion Phaneuf's shoulder? Any molecule of Todd Bertuzzi's body? I'm afraid to even look at the schedule and see if the Blues have any games left against the Sabres and Patrick Kaleta.

I know he's not reading this, and I know that even if he were he wouldn't but...

God, I wish Andy McDonald would retire.

LeNoceur used to write hockey nonsense at Melt Your Face-Off. He retired from that gig wealthier than you can possibly imagine, and promptly blew it all on Dr. Pepper futures. As always, he is grateful to hildymac for the opportunity to post occasional Blues-related thoughts here.

It's always swell when half of your team's leadership is concussed.

"What if?" That's a question that usually has a negative connotation. What if the starting goalie goes down? What if the team's leading scorer gets knocked out of the season? What if the defense gets so decimated that half of the corps is made up of AHL guys? What if, what if what if. A hockey fan asks that question about a million times a season, especially a fan of a squad like the Blues who are constantly facing injuries. Last season enough people were hurt at the same time to derail an attempt to get into the playoffs. The defense and the bottom two lines were half of the Peoria Rivermen; kids who needed the experience but who weren't nearly as solid as the players that they replaced.

This season started off the exact same way. Pre-season saw B.J. Crombeen dislocate his shoulder. Kent Huskins went down with a broken ankle. Andy McDonald suffered yet another flukey concussion, then Alex Steen suffered one last month. Tiny bumps and bruises were here and there, threatening the team -- at least to the paranoid fan who expects the worst. A weird thing happened, however: players started to heal. David Perron came back after being out for a year, Crombeen's back to banging and smashing and fighting, and Kent Huskins is getting stronger on his ankle. The Blues haven't had to call up many forwards -- Chris Porter's the only one with the team now -- and all four lines are either legit scoring threats or they're out there creating chances and shutting down teams. The team without Steen and McDonald has been a successful powerhouse at home and are sitting second in the Central Division. Heck, they're sitting at third in the NHL.

I had no clue as to if I should post this here or at Puck Drunk Love, but I figured this was my blog - I feel awkward about posting political stuff anywhere else.

Tim Thomas skipped yesterday's meeting with President Barack Obama to honor the Bruins' 2011 Stanley Cup Championship. Teams go to the White House all of the time, and Thomas was the team's only American. He backed out due to his political beliefs; he's fairly conservative and is disgusted with the direction that the nation's moving in, and released a statement to that effect on his Facebook page:

"I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.

"This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.

"Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.

"This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT"

Heck, ok. That's his opinion, and he's entitled to it. I agree that the government's bloated and run by idiots of both parties -- I think most everyone does. But most everyone would have put team above politics and gone to the ceremony. That's not the point, though - the point is that after Thomas' statement came out, people jumped on him for his political beliefs.

In America today, GOD FORBID someone disagrees with what you believe in. Instead of asking policy questions regarding Thomas' beliefs or having a discourse on why Thomas would believe that, people immediately started to insult him. Look at the comments section of any website: "Boycott Thomas!" "Thomas is a commie!" "Thomas is a stupid Republican!" All of those are chock full of intellect, but absolutely NOTHING tops the winner that TSN's Dave Hodge came up with last night:

Don't know if it's fair to point this out, but Tim Thomas has three children named Kiley, Kelsey and Keegan.

— Dave Hodge - TSN (@TSNDaveHodge) January 23, 2012

Oh, wow, really? Yep. Dave Hodge insinuated that since Thomas is a Republican, and since he didn't go shake the hand of an African American president, that he's racist. Apparently Tim Thomas is a grand wizard in the KKK. Who knew?

Absolutely nowhere in Thomas' statement does he say anything inappropriate, nor (to my knowledge) has he ever said anything of that ilk. This whole "oh, you disagree with the president so you're a RACIST CROSS BURNING HOODWEARER!" bullshit has to stop. It kills intelligent debate of issues. It kills political discourse between individuals. It kills people's faith in politics in general.

Mud slinging is nothing new, though it's gotten considerably worse as of late. Insults are what you do when you lack the brain-power to think about a situation, an issue, or a person. I can only assume that Dave Hodge lacks the linguistic skills to properly communicate his point of view that Thomas should have put politics aside and gone with his team to the White House.

God willing TSN puts their foot down on this kind of slander, or else I'm going to have to assume they're just as incapable of intelligent discourse as their employee.

EDIT: Hodge tweeted this outstanding not-an-apology tweet yesterday regarding his original statement:

To clarify, yesterday's tweet was simply a satirical, tongue-in-cheek observation meant to be humourous and not intended to be offensive.

— Dave Hodge - TSN (@TSNDaveHodge) January 24, 2012

If that's your version of satire, you're certainly no Voltaire, Dave.

The Blues close out their first half tomorrow night with a matchup with the Penguins.  Thanks to "Pick Your Price" from our partners @ TiqIQ you can get into Scottrade tomorrow night for below face.  For the cheapest deal, make an offer of $40ea on two "1-star" tickets and save over $10 of the full price of each ticket.  If you want to take in the game from some better seats, make an offer of around $70ea on two "3-star" tickets and you can save more than $15 off the total price.  As with any "Pick Your Price" offer, this deal comes free of service & shipping fees.  But act fast, this offer ends @ 8 PM ET.

Admit it - their All-Star jerseys are nicer than the NHL's've been in years.

This past weekend was the KHL's all star game, and much like the NHL they have the perfunctory skills competition. The trick shot of course was worked in to this, because fans like seeing players do nifty things with sticks and pucks without embarrassing the goaltender during a game or shootout situation. Alexander Ovechkin used flags and hats and sunglasses and looking like a Russian tourist at Disney World as his trick.

Blues prospect Vladimir Tarasenko? Fishing line. That's it.

Tank's an excellent hockey player, but it's his personality as much as his skills that're getting Blues fans excited about his (hopeful) migration to the NHL within the next couple of seasons. He represented Team Fedorov this year. Whose team will he represent over here? The league has to get this personality on a national stage, stat.

Not a security blanket per se. It was as close as I could get.

I had a bit of an epiphany last night on my way home from somewhere. I was in a meh mood. Not a terrible mood, but I just didn't feel particularly hot. I flipped on the radio, hunted down KMOX, and listened to the Wild/Blues game a bit on my way home. It always has amazed me how I can get KMOX here in Atlanta clearer than nearly any Atlanta AM radio station. The second I flipped it on and heard Chris Kerber and Kelly Chase calling the game, the irritations of the day went poof. Horrible drivers? Moms in minivans who can't drive in grocery store parking lots? A collapsed cake that I had to re-assemble like a jigsaw puzzle? Gone. I calmed down and made it home with yelling at a minimal amount of drivers.

The highlight of the drive was when David Perron scored his goal, and the goal horn blasted through my speakers. I was off of the highway at that point, and at a stop-light. Generally speaking, I listen to music loudly, and I do tend to listen to hockey broadcasts that way. Perron scored, the horn blared, and I screamed "YEAH" at the top of my lungs. Scared the bejesus out of the guy next to me. But you know what? It put me in a great mood.

I finished watching the rest of the game when I got home. The Blues winning - not just because it was a shootout win - absolutely had me smiling ear to ear. And then I realized it - that was my security blanket. Hockey is my Prozac, my "happy pill," so to speak. If I am ever in a meh mood, a foul mood, or have troubles that I'd rather not pay any attention to, I flip on a game. It doesn't have to be the Blues - I'll watch any game that's on TV - but it just calms me down like a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel does with a puppy. I veg out, I may or may not have a few glasses of cider, but the nuances of a hockey game and broadcast snaps me out of whatever's going on.

This is why I tend to throw myself into writing so much (though you might not see it here due to the sporadic nature of whenever I write). If I focus on hockey, and then focus on how to express my thoughts and opinions, there's not enough time to dwell on anything else. If I'm having a terrible day at work, taking a minute or two to type up the gameday preview on SB Nation St. Louis clears my head. The other day, a post about the Florida Panthers over at Puck Drunk Love was my time-out. I set my fantasy line-ups every morning as a metaphorical mind-clearing cup of coffee, and I read Puck Daddy during lunch when the news websites I read make me irritated with the world.

The numbers, the stats, the characters who populate the game, the rivalries - it's all very leveling to me in a zen-like way. I am disappointed still that my hockey-season after work ritual is gone. I miss getting off work, going to the CNN Center, grabbing an issue of Creative Loafing or maybe bringing a book, and sitting in quiet drinking my jumbo Newcastle or Bass before the crowds started to show up. The people-watching and the stats checking before the game was great, but there's something tremendous that I miss about putting on the jersey a few times a week, wrapping my Thrashers scarf around my neck, and going to my own personal safe place. Yes, most people's "safe places" don't encourage drinking in excess like the Thrashers tended to do, but that's neither here nor there.

Without them nearby and the ritual broken, I find myself watching more and more on TV and reading more and more on-line. The couple of games I headed up to Nashville to go see reminded me of how great it was to be in an arena filled with hockey fans, and it made me miss what I used to have. I will say though that the drive to Nashville - the nice, quiet three and a half hour drive with me, my thoughts, and my music - could be a very easy substitute for the mind-clearing at the CNN Center. The hotel, the game, everything that goes with heading out of town... that was the best overnight trip I've taken in eons because it helped me center myself for the last week of work in 2011.

Everyone has their own security blanket, or thing that they turn to when times are tough or moods are dark. Hockey is mine. Please, someone let me know this is normal. Not that I care or anything, but confirmation's always nice.

Doomed from the start.

These "fan pulse studies" were sent out to Thrashers fans and season ticket holders, so it's no surprise that fans of the Atlanta Hawks got them. What is surprising, as pointed out by my good bud Everett Duke, is that they asked about the relocation of the Thrashers. This is impressive. Like Jeff Schultz noticed, they changed their employee's e-mail domains from @atlantaspirit.com to just @hawks.com. They want to re-brand themselves completely. No, not just by image, but by name - so the first thing you think of isn't the most dishonest owners in sports. They actually want you to think of them as leigitmate sports owners. As competent individuals. After exhibiting their asses in the bungled sale and eventual re-location of the Thrashers, and after a terrible tenure of ownership of that team that really demonstrated that they had no clue what the hell that they were doing, well, now they want to be cuddly.

The approximate chance of that happening is one of a snowball in hell - or hockey coming back to Atlanta after these jokes killed it.

I suggest taking the survey and maybe answer how you feel about them and how they handled the sale of the Thrashers. Schultz thinks they're concerned that might have a bit to do with poor attendance numbers. There're probably a ton of reasons that people aren't going to Hawks games, and all of them except the lockout can probably directly be traced back to the Octocluster.

The Octocluster's great-great granddaddy. Only instead of gaining property, the ASG is quite good at losing it to Canada.

*A note: if the videos don't load, please hit me up on Twitter at @hildymac and let me know.

I, obviously, watch a lot of Blues hockey - I think I've missed watching maybe one - possibly two - games this season, and schlepped all the way up to Nashville to catch a game. The more I watch, the more of an interesting trend I'm seeing: they frustrate the opposition. In the past they've frustrated them because of hits and physicality, but this season they've combined it with skill and good hockey, which drives other teams nuts. I take the fact that teams are having to step it up against the Blues as a compliment, frankly, because it means that the team's getting better.

Come to think of it, it's pretty obvious why Jackman irritates the Red Wings.

I've noticed that one of the (though not the only one) players who have been on other teams' radars fairly often recently is Barret Jackman. The former Calder winner has only played with the Blues in his NHL career, and has successfully transformed himself from a shut-down guy in the era of clutch-and-grab to a responsible stay-at-homer whose solid play allows Kevin Shattenkirk to roam all over God's creation. Shattenkirk has notched 22 points this season and is a +16 because he's allowed to be the offensive defenseman that he needs to be. Jackman himself has six assists and is a +12.

Of course, Sir Jaxx when he's not busy being awesome or being yelled at by drunk women in the cheap seats, is super busy annoying and shutting down the other team. This can get frustrating, as has been evidenced by these hits via...

By the time you read this blog post, these standings'll be passe. That's not the point.

Those of you who know me personally, or who follow me on-line, or even those who read this blog and things I write elsewhere know that I'm not an optimistic person by nature. I adopt the very Denmark-ian ideals of not expecting anything. If something bad happens, ok - but if something good happens you're pleasantly surprised. I've learned that when you expect things is how you get disappointed, and the more you expect them the more disappointed you get.

Take, for example, the Cardinals this year. I was pretty much sure they were toast in the Wild Card race. I was happy when they made the playoffs, but figured the Phillies'd take care of them. Then I was happier, but thought that the Brewers had their number. I was thrilled to see them make the World Series, but fatalistic that we had lost game six. Twice.

David Freese might've taught me to stop being so terribly pessimistic - and then Albert Pujols taught me that my pessimism has a place. Eh, you win some, you lose some. But hockey more than baseball has shaped my attitudes and expectations. I've been a Blues fan for forever, and I admit that I was spoiled by 25 years straight of playoffs. That can spoil a fan - but at least the Blues never won the Stanley Cup, so it still taught us to be humble. The Blues were good, but not too good. Apparently humility isn't enough, because the teams after the lockout - with the exception of the 2009 tease - brought fans down a peg. Yay youth, yay promise - but that only takes you so far when you're dodging golf carts come the second week in April.

Lars Eller, showing his ass.

I had an interesting conversation on Twitter the other night with a good buddy who is a Winnipeg Jets fan. It was the day after this spin-o-rama penalty shot goal by Lars Eller on Chris Mason that had the Montreal fans on their feet and Winnipeg fans up in arms:

 My initial reaction on seeing it was "damn, nice." And then I stopped to think about it for a second - was it necessary? The Habs were already taking it to the Jets 6-2, and Eller already had three goals an an assist on the night. At that point, this game is the pinnacle of his career hands down. To get a penalty shot and a chance to make it four goals is exciting - you probably don't care that it's adding insult to injury to the other team. By no means do you slack off out of pity - you go for that goal. You don't need to rub salt in the wound, though.

My friend mentioned that what Eller did was unnecessary and classless, and he's right. Goofing in practice, sure. In a shootout when it's part of strategy, uh, ok. But on a penalty shot against a team that's losing terribly and a goalie that's not known for excellence in one-on-one situations? Probably more than a bit show-boaty.

I'm not trashing Eller or calling him classless - he's a good kid and I'm happy for both his production and the chance he's gotten on the Canadiens. But it certainly wasn't humble. Kids make decisions that aren't rational, and Eller's only 22. To him, what he did wasn't classless; he was just having fun. That lack of differentiation is the problem.