Let's Go Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Ken Hitchcock admits he's a teacher when it comes to the NHL and the players that represent it.

But for the St. Louis Blues veteran coach, it's natural to be a fan Saturday when the NHL announces at 6 p.m. ET the remainder of the lineup for the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game, which will be played Jan. 25 in Columbus.

With right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (22 goals, 21 assists) leading the Blues with 43 points in 41 games, and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk tied for the lead among NHL defensemen with 36 points (seven goals, 29 assists), they seem to be logical choices for selection.

"To be honest with you, I've learned that … first of all, it's a great event, but selfishly, we've had a number of players who have had all-star years," Hitchcock said. "I know the way it works. You've got 30 teams; everybody's got to be representatives. There's always people that are legitimately disappointed. That's the only thing that bothers me. There's always players that richly deserve to go who don't get a chance because we're representing all the teams. I'm hopeful the guys I think deserve to go get a chance."

No Blues were voted in by fan selection. Those picks went to five Chicago Blackhawks (forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook and goalie Corey Crawford) and Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons.

The Blues (25-13-3) will host the Carolina Hurricanes (13-24-4) on Saturday, and on paper, the Blues have a decided edge in points (53-30). But after seeing the Hurricanes play the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, Hitchcock is making his players aware these are not the same Hurricanes who labored through the couple months or so decimated with injuries.

"Well, which team, the one that was banged up or the one that's on the ice now," Hitchcock said when asked about Carolina. "The one now's a good team. There's implementation of 90 percent Detroit [Red Wings] here, which [Hurricanes coach Bill Peters] was with them a long time. You can see all the principles that the Red Wings have sitting there in Carolina. Very difficult when top players are out to manage the game, manage minutes, stay afloat. The team that's played the last couple games, especially the game that they played in Nashville's very impressive. I'm sure Bill would have liked to have this lineup from Day One. It's unfortunate, but this is a lineup you can win with and I think he knows that."

Carolina center Jordan Staal, who has played in five games after returning from a broken right leg, said things are headed in a positive way.

"It's been difficult," Staal said. "Every team goes through it at times. We're not the only ones. But it's nice to have the team back for the most part, fully healthy and feeling good. As of late, we've played some pretty good hockey. We've done a lot of good things. I think we're starting to head in the right direction with the way we want to play."

Peters, in his first season, is finally getting a chance to see a full lineup.

"It's made a big difference," Peters said. "Getting Jordan back in has allowed us to do some different things obviously. We have Jordan and Eric [Staal] playing together, and that's a real good line. Whether it's [Elias] Lindholm or [Jiri] Tlusty, whoever's on the right side, but it's freed Eric up to be more of a power forward. He's responded offensively.

"We've got so much work to do. We've got a lot of room for improvement, and we know that. It's all about us and how we play. We obviously know what the other team's going to do. We have to get out team game in order at a high level and have it at a high level consistently. We haven't done that we well as we would have liked. We've just got to focus on our own game right now."

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:I thought Bouwmeister won it in the OT period. Why was that called back??

sparty09 wrote:

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:I thought Bouwmeister won it in the OT period. Why was that called back??

Goalie interference

ViPeRx007 wrote:

sparty09 wrote:

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:I thought Bouwmeister won it in the OT period. Why was that called back??

Goalie interference

Yea...except I've seen way worse goalie interference not be called. That was pretty weak.

flyingnote38 wrote:Made the mistake of saying something positive about Butler being ok this year and he goes out plays himself out of the lineup.

ViPeRx007 wrote:Regarding the All-Star vote, I guess I should say that I don't really have a problem with the fans doing it, I just wish you could only vote 1 time. I think the unlimited voting is dumb. When you have a large market team like Chicago of course you're going to be able to get everybody voted in. With 1 vote at least others would have a slightly better chance.

glen a richter wrote:When you're -4 on a team that won the game, something went horrible wrong.

That said, I don't mind pissing away the point to a crap team like Carolina for a couple of reasons. First, they're out of conference so it's not like we're helping a team behind us stay close or a team ahead of us stay ahead of us. Second, it serves as a reminder that even though things have been going really well the last few games, no opponent no matter how high or low in the standings should ever be taken lightly. Escaping with two points was a gift, Tarasenko again showed that he can come through with the important goal when it's needed, and they can get to work on fixing their mistakes heading into the next game: a game which I don't expect to be as much a nailbiter as this one. Lesson learned, come out flying on Tuesday. And yeah, I know it's just the Oilers up next but this was just the Hurricanes and they still almost lost. Barely winning against a shit team when you have so much talent on your own roster is sometimes more useful a learning tool than embarrassing them 10-0.

cardsfan04 wrote:

ViPeRx007 wrote:

sparty09 wrote:

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:I thought Bouwmeister won it in the OT period. Why was that called back??

Goalie interference

Yea...except I've seen way worse goalie interference not be called. That was pretty weak.

I was pretty pissed. There are few times I've seen that place more pissed at an official. When they showed the replay I thought people were going to start throwing stuff.

I heard Berglund say after the game that it was the right call though. Not sure if that's him being tactful in the press or if there's something I'm missing.

glen a richter wrote:Lesson learned, come out flying on Tuesday. And yeah, I know it's just the Oilers up next but this was just the Hurricanes and they still almost lost.