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Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:34 pm
by DaDitka
Despite new ownership, Blues face challenges
Jason Brough Jul 18, 2012, 3:48 PM EDT
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If you didn’t hear, it’s St. Louis Blues day on PHT. (Fireworks show to follow.) As part of our look at the surprise team of the 2011-12 season, we’d be remiss to overlook its new ownership group.

In May, a collection of local investors led by former minority owner Tom Stillman was formally announced as proprietors, thus closing the book on a tenuous time in franchise history.

“We know the future is extraordinarily bright,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman at the announcement. “The balance sheet looks much, much better, much, much stronger.”

But a better-looking balance sheet isn’t expected to turn the small-market Blues into big spenders.

“I don’t see us being a cap team any time soon, but we definitely can compete,” Stillman told the St. Louis Dispatch recently. “If I thought we couldn’t put a contending team on the ice, I wouldn’t have done this.”

Perhaps the Blues can get closer to the cap if the new CBA includes more revenue-sharing, i.e. big-market teams increasing their subsidies to small-market teams.

However, there will always be a divide of a certain size between rich and poor in the NHL.

Not that the Blues are poor – cost-conscious is probably a better way to put it.

St. Louis reportedly pursued defensemen Jason Garrison and Matt Carle in free agency, but was unable to sign either. Whether money played a part in that, we don’t know. There were certainly other factors at play. For example, Garrison took a hometown discount to join the Canucks.

Another challenge for management in its pursuit of free agents is location. There’s nothing wrong with St. Louis, but if a player want to live the glamorous life, it’s hard to compete with New York City. If he wants to be recognized on every street corner, a Canadian city is the place to go. And if he doesn’t like freezing in the winter, there are warmer places than eastern Missouri.

Ken Hitchcock’s conservative coaching style may also be a deterrent, particularly for players with an offensive bent.

But that’s not Stillman’s responsibility.

“My responsibility is to the franchise and its health today and its stability long-term,” he said. “I have to make decisions based on that. That shouldn’t be read to mean that we’re not doing anything because we’ve got to be safe. Part of those considerations are ‘What do we have to do to put a competitive, contending team on the ice?’ But I believe we have provided a budget level to the hockey guys that enables them to put a competitive, contending team on the ice. At the same time, as (Blues GM Doug Armstrong) always says, we’re always looking for ways to improve our team and we will continue to do that. But we are in a good position.”
I think Hitch's system would be much more of an obstacle than location....for a scoring forward. But the two players mentioned above are defensemen and I think the system/coach may actually be a plus when trying to pursue them.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:38 pm
by thedoc
If location is such a turn off to players, why do so many decide to live here after they are done playing? I guess it's just the Midwest getting no love.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:04 pm
by philco_3
Cheap housing.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:43 pm
by WaukeeBlues
I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:23 am
by DaDitka
WaukeeBlues wrote:I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.

However, that said....if a guy is more concerned about the off ice details then he is the on ice detail....I'm not sure that is a guy I'm looking to break the bank for.

I believe where it does hurt is with wives........many pro-athletes are no different then us 'average men' and if mama aint happy, no body is happy. Unless she has an emotional attachment or family in the area...not many wives are going to want to move to St. Louis if the dollars are the same to go to even Chicago, DC, Dallas or Denver. We're probably more inline with Columbus and Minnesota with some of the least desirable cities to live in (with NHL teams).

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:35 am
by glen a richter
DaDitka wrote:
WaukeeBlues wrote:I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.
Obviously you've never been to North Jersey. Or is St. Louis just the other armpit?

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:43 am
by DaDitka
glen a richter wrote:
DaDitka wrote:
WaukeeBlues wrote:I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.


Obviously you've never been to North Jersey. Or is St. Louis just the other armpit?

There's always two......or at least more often then not.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:39 pm
by fargoblues
DaDitka wrote:
WaukeeBlues wrote:I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.

However, that said....if a guy is more concerned about the off ice details then he is the on ice detail....I'm not sure that is a guy I'm looking to break the bank for.

I believe where it does hurt is with wives........many pro-athletes are no different then us 'average men' and if mama aint happy, no body is happy. Unless she has an emotional attachment or family in the area...not many wives are going to want to move to St. Louis if the dollars are the same to go to even Chicago, DC, Dallas or Denver. We're probably more inline with Columbus and Minnesota with some of the least desirable cities to live in (with NHL teams).
Don't forget where most of these guys come from. Minneapolis/St. Paul >>>>>>>> STL for desirability. Hate to say it but it's true.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:57 pm
by glen a richter
fargoblues wrote:
DaDitka wrote:
WaukeeBlues wrote:I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.

However, that said....if a guy is more concerned about the off ice details then he is the on ice detail....I'm not sure that is a guy I'm looking to break the bank for.

I believe where it does hurt is with wives........many pro-athletes are no different then us 'average men' and if mama aint happy, no body is happy. Unless she has an emotional attachment or family in the area...not many wives are going to want to move to St. Louis if the dollars are the same to go to even Chicago, DC, Dallas or Denver. We're probably more inline with Columbus and Minnesota with some of the least desirable cities to live in (with NHL teams).
Don't forget where most of these guys come from. Minneapolis/St. Paul >>>>>>>> STL for desirability. Hate to say it but it's true.
All one has to do is look at a historic record of how many times Bon Jovi has performed in a particular city to choose which is most desirable. Isn't that right, Fargo? :lol:

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:37 am
by fargoblues
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
DaDitka wrote:
WaukeeBlues wrote:I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.

However, that said....if a guy is more concerned about the off ice details then he is the on ice detail....I'm not sure that is a guy I'm looking to break the bank for.

I believe where it does hurt is with wives........many pro-athletes are no different then us 'average men' and if mama aint happy, no body is happy. Unless she has an emotional attachment or family in the area...not many wives are going to want to move to St. Louis if the dollars are the same to go to even Chicago, DC, Dallas or Denver. We're probably more inline with Columbus and Minnesota with some of the least desirable cities to live in (with NHL teams).
Don't forget where most of these guys come from. Minneapolis/St. Paul >>>>>>>> STL for desirability. Hate to say it but it's true.
All one has to do is look at a historic record of how many times Bon Jovi has performed in a particular city to choose which is most desirable. Isn't that right, Fargo? :lol:
Very true. One could also look at proximity to Stratford, Ontario, Canada as an index of how happy wives (and tween girls, and Glen) will be. Say, that's not terribly far from New York, is it?

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:41 am
by glen a richter
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
DaDitka wrote:
WaukeeBlues wrote:I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.

However, that said....if a guy is more concerned about the off ice details then he is the on ice detail....I'm not sure that is a guy I'm looking to break the bank for.

I believe where it does hurt is with wives........many pro-athletes are no different then us 'average men' and if mama aint happy, no body is happy. Unless she has an emotional attachment or family in the area...not many wives are going to want to move to St. Louis if the dollars are the same to go to even Chicago, DC, Dallas or Denver. We're probably more inline with Columbus and Minnesota with some of the least desirable cities to live in (with NHL teams).
Don't forget where most of these guys come from. Minneapolis/St. Paul >>>>>>>> STL for desirability. Hate to say it but it's true.
All one has to do is look at a historic record of how many times Bon Jovi has performed in a particular city to choose which is most desirable. Isn't that right, Fargo? :lol:
Very true. One could also look at proximity to Stratford, Ontario, Canada as an index of how happy wives (and tween girls, and Glen) will be. Say, that's not terribly far from New York, is it?
I've never been, there is nothing and nobody in or from Stratford, Ontario, Canada who is of any interest to me. You must know someone there, though. :P

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:48 am
by fargoblues
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
DaDitka wrote:
WaukeeBlues wrote:I call BS on the location thing. If you're a GOOD team, and a good player, you're a rock star, regardless of where you're at because people care and the fans go to the games.

St. Louis is half a state away from Chicago. Prior to their recent explosion very few people cared about the team. The Hawks get decent, signed Hossa, Huet and Campbell to mega term contracts. And Chicago is far from the only example on marginal locations. Pittsburgh? D.C.? They're retaining their big names and unless you like 100% humidity all year I don't know why you'd live in D.C. The location thing is a crock of sh*t IMO.

I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.

However, that said....if a guy is more concerned about the off ice details then he is the on ice detail....I'm not sure that is a guy I'm looking to break the bank for.

I believe where it does hurt is with wives........many pro-athletes are no different then us 'average men' and if mama aint happy, no body is happy. Unless she has an emotional attachment or family in the area...not many wives are going to want to move to St. Louis if the dollars are the same to go to even Chicago, DC, Dallas or Denver. We're probably more inline with Columbus and Minnesota with some of the least desirable cities to live in (with NHL teams).
Don't forget where most of these guys come from. Minneapolis/St. Paul >>>>>>>> STL for desirability. Hate to say it but it's true.
All one has to do is look at a historic record of how many times Bon Jovi has performed in a particular city to choose which is most desirable. Isn't that right, Fargo? :lol:
Very true. One could also look at proximity to Stratford, Ontario, Canada as an index of how happy wives (and tween girls, and Glen) will be. Say, that's not terribly far from New York, is it?
I've never been, there is nothing and nobody in or from Stratford, Ontario, Canada who is of any interest to me. You must know someone there, though. :P
:D Nope, but I'll be your wife does :okman:

:firedevil:

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:31 am
by cprice12
After players retire, they can live anywhere they want. They've seen the entire country and have the cash to live anywhere.
But an unusually high number of former Blues players choose to live in St. Louis when they retire.
The St. Louis area is a perfectly fine place to live. Every city has trouble spots are not so nice areas...St. Louis is no exception, but just like in a lot of other cities, there are plenty of nice areas to live in the St. Louis area too.
I guess some players like the small town feel that St. Louis has. It also helps that the city is wild about sports and the athletes that play here.

I always find it humorous how some folks seem to think that wherever they are, kinda sucks compared to most places when that honestly isn't really the case most of the time. Grass is greener syndrome I guess...except if you live in Detroit, then your grass is brown and dead, making all grass everywhere much greener...even in this drought.

I've lived in the St. Louis area most of my life. I like it here. 8)

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:04 pm
by kodos
St. Louis falls in a pretty nice sweet spot between big city and small town.

It's big enough to have nice restaurants, stuff to do, concerts, etc... but not so big as to have insane traffic, ridiculous real estate, etc...

Plus hockey is big enough here that you can feel like a celebrity, but small enough that you can probably put on a hat and just go about your business most of the time.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:19 pm
by cardsfan04
kodos wrote:St. Louis falls in a pretty nice sweet spot between big city and small town.

It's big enough to have nice restaurants, stuff to do, concerts, etc... but not so big as to have insane traffic, ridiculous real estate, etc...

Plus hockey is big enough here that you can feel like a celebrity, but small enough that you can probably put on a hat and just go about your business most of the time.
That's exactly why I love St. Louis. I went to college in Quincy, IL and, while it's a nice town, it's too small for me to live permanently. But, Chicago/New York/LA are too big.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:35 pm
by glen a richter
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
DaDitka wrote:
I don't know...I buy into it a bit......St. Louis isn't the gateway to the west, it's that armpit of America.

However, that said....if a guy is more concerned about the off ice details then he is the on ice detail....I'm not sure that is a guy I'm looking to break the bank for.

I believe where it does hurt is with wives........many pro-athletes are no different then us 'average men' and if mama aint happy, no body is happy. Unless she has an emotional attachment or family in the area...not many wives are going to want to move to St. Louis if the dollars are the same to go to even Chicago, DC, Dallas or Denver. We're probably more inline with Columbus and Minnesota with some of the least desirable cities to live in (with NHL teams).
Don't forget where most of these guys come from. Minneapolis/St. Paul >>>>>>>> STL for desirability. Hate to say it but it's true.
All one has to do is look at a historic record of how many times Bon Jovi has performed in a particular city to choose which is most desirable. Isn't that right, Fargo? :lol:
Very true. One could also look at proximity to Stratford, Ontario, Canada as an index of how happy wives (and tween girls, and Glen) will be. Say, that's not terribly far from New York, is it?
I've never been, there is nothing and nobody in or from Stratford, Ontario, Canada who is of any interest to me. You must know someone there, though. :P
:D Nope, but I'll be your wife does :okman:

:firedevil:
She can hang out with your wife fangirling over no-talent hacks.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:39 pm
by glen a richter
cprice12 wrote:After players retire, they can live anywhere they want. They've seen the entire country and have the cash to live anywhere.
But an unusually high number of former Blues players choose to live in St. Louis when they retire.
The St. Louis area is a perfectly fine place to live. Every city has trouble spots are not so nice areas...St. Louis is no exception, but just like in a lot of other cities, there are plenty of nice areas to live in the St. Louis area too.
I guess some players like the small town feel that St. Louis has. It also helps that the city is wild about sports and the athletes that play here.

I always find it humorous how some folks seem to think that wherever they are, kinda sucks compared to most places when that honestly isn't really the case most of the time. Grass is greener syndrome I guess...except if you live in Detroit, then your grass is brown and dead, making all grass everywhere much greener...even in this drought.

I've lived in the St. Louis area most of my life. I like it here. 8)
I enjoyed the brief few days I spent in St. Louis although I'm sure it would have been nicer if the whole city wasn't buried under a foot of ice and we had a rental car for getting to places away from the Metrolink. Yeah, there were definitely some hoods on the train, but that's no different than in New York, just that we have a much larger concentration of them on a much larger rail system. The nice people in St. Louis were definitely much friendlier and helpful than the nicest people in New York though, that's for shit sure. I couldn't even imagine being a tourist in NYC and trying to get help from some of the schmucks we have walking around. They're even dicks to the locals, forget about outsiders.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:32 pm
by fargoblues
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote: Don't forget where most of these guys come from. Minneapolis/St. Paul >>>>>>>> STL for desirability. Hate to say it but it's true.
All one has to do is look at a historic record of how many times Bon Jovi has performed in a particular city to choose which is most desirable. Isn't that right, Fargo? :lol:
Very true. One could also look at proximity to Stratford, Ontario, Canada as an index of how happy wives (and tween girls, and Glen) will be. Say, that's not terribly far from New York, is it?
I've never been, there is nothing and nobody in or from Stratford, Ontario, Canada who is of any interest to me. You must know someone there, though. :P
:D Nope, but I'll be your wife does :okman:

:firedevil:
She can hang out with your wife fangirling over no-talent hacks.
Does that mean we can get the hockey tickets? it's a deal!

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:30 pm
by glen a richter
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote:
fargoblues wrote:
glen a richter wrote: All one has to do is look at a historic record of how many times Bon Jovi has performed in a particular city to choose which is most desirable. Isn't that right, Fargo? :lol:
Very true. One could also look at proximity to Stratford, Ontario, Canada as an index of how happy wives (and tween girls, and Glen) will be. Say, that's not terribly far from New York, is it?
I've never been, there is nothing and nobody in or from Stratford, Ontario, Canada who is of any interest to me. You must know someone there, though. :P
:D Nope, but I'll be your wife does :okman:

:firedevil:
She can hang out with your wife fangirling over no-talent hacks.
Does that mean we can get the hockey tickets? it's a deal!
Works for me.

Re: Blues article on PHT..

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 8:04 pm
by sseagle
Psht, I'd retire to Salt Lake City, at least they can get a (Franking) Iron Maiden show... St. Louis OY!