Hockey is much more interesting than soccer. Maybe we should start something there. Rams and other pro football talk already has a spot on the football pages.

There are certainly reasons to be excited.  I'd still love to see this team add a #1 center and a top-notch sniper.  I have a feeling that our kids are going to be much more of the Patrick Sharp (i.e. 60 points/year) mold than Patrick Kane.  There's something to be said for balance, but I wish they had at least one guy that the other team truly had to fear.

alz wrote:

When I first read that, I thought you were saying the Blues were only going to net 60 points this season, and was in the middle of my passionate argument of how a 90 point team loses 30 points on the season when they add a good netminder, and a lot of the kids are getting more seasoned.

Then it hit me that points is also a reference to the number of goals and assists that a player accumulates during a season, and the entire paragraph became valid, thus the argument was scrapped. Let me just tell you though that you had 2 minutes of Alz-Assault going on there a little bit ago, and I was totally winning!!!

I think Boyes will have a better year, and I think Oshie will have some decent numbers too. Kariya is a shame, to be honest, and not having Tkatchuk still hurts. I miss the guy. Would be sad if we did win the Stanley Cup the year AFTER he retired.

LMAO!!!

I'm sorry I didn't get to read the Alz-Assault. 

As a team, I think they are headed in the right direction, but I hear a lot of people try to draw the comparisons to the Black Hawks and I'm not sure I buy that.  Eric Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo should be fine players, but it's just bad luck that in the couple of years that the Blues drafted near the top of the draft, the drafts were loaded with defensemen, not forwards.  If we had to finish last in the NHL, why couldn't we have done it in a year when someone like Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Stamkos or Kane was available.  From what I've read, the Tarasanko kid they drafted this year could be that type of player in a few years, but who knows.

I agree that Boyes can't be as bad as he was last season.  I wish they had a true #1 center so Backes could move back to the wing.  I don't think he can score 30 with the defensive responsibilities of a center.  Perron is the guy I expect to step up and have a big (maybe 30 goals) year and I would expect improvement from Oshie and Berglund.  I don't blame them for not getting crazy and offering a stupid contract to Kovalchuk, but that's the kind of guy they need.

I was never a big Tkachuk fan.  I'm not sure why, but he never struck me as the kind of player who would lead you through the playoffs.  My son loved him, though, so I bit my lip a lot.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Geez, the Blues win a couple of games and everyone gets excited. The Blackhawks are going to win the West, and the Bruins are going to win the East. Hawks take the Cup, 4-2, this year, but the Bruins take the next three in a row after that.
Tyler Seguin is going to win the Calder Trophy this year, the Ross Trophy next year, and the Hart Trophy the year after that.

Artie, I don't want to put this too bluntly, but did you read the posts, or just like the first couple sentences, and then hit the quickdraw? Let me recap some of the highlights that blatantly go against what you replied with.

"It's early, but I love all aspects of the hockey I'm seeing."
"I'm not saying we're hoisting the cup, there's still Detroit and Chicago to deal with, just in the division. I'm just sayin this team is starting to look pretty damned promising."
"As a team, I think they are headed in the right direction, but I hear a lot of people try to draw the comparisons to the Black Hawks and I'm not sure I buy that."

Perhaps you read my Tkatchuk clip.
" not having Tkatchuk still hurts. I miss the guy. Would be sad if we did win the Stanley Cup the year AFTER he retired."
That was simply a musing, not a prediction. The man gave his legs, face, teeth, and everything else to stand in front of shooters on a subpar club year after year, it would be sad to see us finally grow enough to compete after he gave so much and finally hung up his skates.

Alz-Assault incoming. For the rest of that "conclusionary" post. I hope you don't mind if we go ahead and play out the season (in addition to the next 3 as well), just to see where it takes us. It seems very hypocritical of you to blast in here about optimism (which really was little more than a "I like how they are playing to this point"), then go on record to predict the next half-decade don't you think? Seriously?

"Artie, I don't want to put this too bluntly, but did you read the posts, or just like the first couple sentences, and then hit the quickdraw?"

Pretty much. What I know about hockey could fit in a thimble. I was just giving you guys shit.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (10/12/2010 9:07 pm)

"lol no problem Artie. I can understand that."

Translated: I've become accustomed after all these years to you being a dick.
I used to follow the NHL as closely as you guys do, but hockey was one of the things I had to forgo for parenthood. I can name the entire roster from the Bruins team that won the Cup in 1969-70 better than I can name this year's roster.

Are Blues fans still upset about Captain Eric Brewer?

The reaction to Brewer being named captain was widely panned by fans, so I wasn't sure how they felt after a 2-0 start.

APRTW wrote:

alz wrote:

That DirecTV dropping of FSMW is thankfully just a Missouri thing it looks like.

Living in Illinois, I haven't missed a game, thank god. They need to fix that crap though, all the Cardinal games are on FSMW as well as some cool college football games.

Fox and dish are in a pissing match.  Fox wants to double the cost for dish.  In the end I am sure they get it worked out but while they are playing hardball I dont get FSMW or FX.  We watch alot of FX.

Yeah a buddy of mine at work told me about that shit. I would seriously be mutinous if that happened in IL.

alz wrote:

APRTW wrote:

alz wrote:

That DirecTV dropping of FSMW is thankfully just a Missouri thing it looks like.

Living in Illinois, I haven't missed a game, thank god. They need to fix that crap though, all the Cardinal games are on FSMW as well as some cool college football games.

Fox and dish are in a pissing match.  Fox wants to double the cost for dish.  In the end I am sure they get it worked out but while they are playing hardball I dont get FSMW or FX.  We watch alot of FX.

Yeah a buddy of mine at work told me about that shit. I would seriously be mutinous if that happened in IL.

It did.  I live in the middle of this god for saken state.