Bill Meltzer: Blues Striking High Note Early

[DaDitka]

Blues Striking High Note Early

By Bill Meltzer

October 12, 2010

I know it's only two games into the 2010-11 regular season, but the St. Louis Blues appear ready to take the next step in their journey back into contention in the Western Conference. For one thing, they are arguably among the top top skating clubs in the NHL. In the opening game OT victory against the defending Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers, the opponent had a difficult time adjusting to the pace the Blues set in the first and second periods.The same thing happened Monday afternoon, as St. Louis flew past an overwhelmed Anaheim Ducks team, 5-1.

The young core of St. Louis forwards, led up front by the likes of T.J. Oshie, David Perron, and Brad Boyes and supplemented by still-capable veterans like Andy McDonald seems to picking up where they left off in the latter part of last season after a poor first half of the season. On the blueline, Erik Johnson has another year of experience under his belt and appears healthy, while 20-year-old Alex Pietrangelo now looks ready for the NHL after seeming overwhelmed in previous cups of coffee with the big club. Last, but not least, the addition of Jaroslav Halak in goal appears to have emboldened the club as a whole, knowing they have a goalie who proved last spring that he's capable of stealing games against even the most formidable of foes. In short, this team is for real.

Monday's tilt against Anaheim was as lopsided as the score appeared. The Blues came out flying from the opening faceoff and, in a six-second span, grabbed a 2-0 lead before the game was even four minutes old. Bang-bang tallies by Backes and McDonald put St. Louis in early control, and the club never looked back. The Blues went on to win both the second period (2-1) and third period (1-0) on a pair of tallies by Matt D'Agostini and a Brandon Crombeen shorthanded goal. Halak had an easy afternoon in goal, seeing just 14 shots for the entire game. As often happens in these sorts of the games, the losing side began to get frustrated and rough stuff ensued. In this case, it did nothing to change the momentum.

Again, it's real early in the season. The Blues will have their rough spells during the season and they will have to battle through the adversity. But this club is for real, and I expect them to be a playoff club when all is said and done come next April.

Meltzer's Game of the Night: Avalanche at Red Wings (Versus, 7 ET). Colorado has a rough schedule this week, having played in Philadelphia last night (a hard-fought 4-2 loss that saw the Avs battle back from a 2-0 deficit) and then flying to Detroit for tonight's tilt. The advantage for this one seems to be in the Red Wings favor. After tonight, the Avs have to swing back east again for games against all three New York metropolitan teams in the Atlantic Division.

I'm not into posting every article I read on the Blues here, but I did think it was nice to get some national pup. This can only help the confidence of a young team, and the disappointment of missing the playoffs last year should keep them from getting over-confident.

[philco_3]

Didn't we do the same thing last year at this time too?

[northwest dave]

Didn't we do the same thing last year at this time too?

Yes...but at least this time we are in a normal timezone. And now we have nice and dapper young coach!

[DaDitka]

Didn't we do the same thing last year at this time too?

No.....we sucked at home.

[abc789987]

Didn't we do the same thing last year at this time too?

We didn't exactly dominate those games. We were very lucky to come away with those wins.

[thedoc]

This press is nice. But we and more importantly the guys on the ice don't need to be drinking the Kool-Aid just yet. I am over joyed that we are 2-0, but we still have 80 to go. I think the big test will come Thursday and the weekend after next. Get a few division games under our belt and see how we compare then.

[DaDitka]

This press is nice. But we and more importantly the guys on the ice don't need to be drinking the Kool-Aid just yet. I am over joyed that we are 2-0, but we still have 80 to go. I think the big test will come Thursday and the weekend after next. Get a few division games under our belt and see how we compare then.

I think it was big confidence wist to score 5 on Monday. All offseason the talk has been how this team would struggle to score and then in the first game of the year they did. I still think we will struggle some, but confidence goes a long way in young players.

I still contend that we made the playoffs two years ago because the young kids 'didn't know' they weren't good enough.

He's hoping they believe they can score this year.

[big d note]

We won the first two games last year too, and we know how well that turned out for us. In reality we barely managed to beat the Flyers in OT with a whopping two goals, and then lit up a Ducks team that has been horrible to start the season.

To quote the Wolf: "Let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet."

[abc789987]

I really think the trip back from Sweden last year and the 5 days we had in between games really slowed us down. There's no way we can lose this momentum in only 3 days this year? Right???!!?!?!

[DaDitka]

There's no way we can lose this momentum in only 3 days this year? Right???!!?!?!

Dude, you said it out loud. You are going to jinx us.

To show remorse, and for possible forgiveness from the hockey gods, you shall spend 40 minutes of watching tape of Jackman and Brewer from last year as penance.

[fargoblues]

There's no way we can lose this momentum in only 3 days this year? Right???!!?!?!

Dude, you said it out loud. You are going to jinx us.

To show remorse, and for possible forgiveness from the hockey gods, you shall spend 40 minutes of watching tape of Jackman and Brewer from last year as penance.

Cruel and unusual punishment to be sure. That said,

[glen a richter]

You can't blame a trip to Sweden on an entire season of suck.

I will say that Payne has very clearly instilled a work ethic in this team that was missing under Murray. That is, they appear to be playing as a team and defending each other as a team. Even the Brewer is playing right.

Whether or not this continues remains to be seen.

[abc789987]

Okay, I apologize. I will now retreat to the box for 40 mins of hell. I hope I make it out alive..

[TheoSqua]

I've only watched one blues game so far, and it was against a team that couldn't even get the puck out of its own zone, but I can't one single time in the game where they did the dump and chase instead of pushing into the zone.

[glen a richter]

Okay, I apologize. I will now retreat to the box for 40 mins of hell. I hope I make it out alive..

Where's the box? Detroit?

[fargoblues]

Okay, I apologize. I will now retreat to the box for 40 mins of hell. I hope I make it out alive..

What's her name? And no way you go for 40 minutes. 40 seconds, that I can see.

[ViPeRx007]

It's THE HAT.

|
|
|
V

[glen a richter]

Okay, I apologize. I will now retreat to the box for 40 mins of hell. I hope I make it out alive..

What's her name? And no way you go for 40 minutes. 40 seconds, that I can see.

Is that how long you lasted before your wife accidentally called you Bon Jovi?

[fargoblues]

Okay, I apologize. I will now retreat to the box for 40 mins of hell. I hope I make it out alive..

What's her name? And no way you go for 40 minutes. 40 seconds, that I can see.

Is that how long you lasted before your wife accidentally called you Bon Jovi?

Is that how long your wife lasted before you called her Justin Bieber?