Blues vs Red Wings, Tonight!

Here's a little something to get us going...

We already know they have tremendous sex...

Central Issue

The Blues must improve their play against their division rivals if they are going to maintain a top spot in the West.

Their recent relapse against the worst team in the league, the Columbus Blue Jackets, is showing a concerning trend with the Blues: they have a horrible record against their Central Division rivals.


That record is 5-7-2, and it is trending downward quickly. In the last seven games against the division their record is 1-5-2. Although the Blues play against the rest of the league overshadows this flaw, it is quite troublesome.


To start, half of the teams in the Western Conference playoff bracket will more than likely be from the Central Division: Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, and St. Louis. If the Blues do not win the division, they will more than likely face one of these rivals in the first round.


Of course, that is assuming the Blues make the playoffs. They have ten games remaining against the Central, four on the road and six at home. The fact that a majority of these games are at home gives some hope to a better record. Those twenty points are crucial to the Blues position in the playoffs. Obviously it has become apparent that home ice advantage would be a huge advantage for the note, and a goal they will strive for as they charge towards the playoffs.

The Blues were 12-8-4 against the Central last season, including 5-5-2 on the road. They are 1-4-1 on the road this season. That lone win was a 2-1 tilt against the Blue Jackets. The Note is 0-3 in Detroit and 0-1-1 in Nashville. They have three games left in Chicago. The club needs to perform better in their division and on the road.


"We've got to play 60 minutes on the road," Jamie Langenbrunner said. "For whatever reason, we haven't been doing that. We've had breaks in our game where we've allowed the team to take control. We can't do that."

Blues Beat Stars, Lose Late to Wings

The Blues played back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday with mixed results. They did score two power play goals in each game.

Monday, they beat the Stars at home 5-3. Jaro Halak got the start and the win, not having to do much to outplay  Dallas netminder Richard Bachman who was chased from the game after letting in a couple of easy goals.

Some significant tallies were scored by the Blues. Chris Stewart scored twice, which hopefully will spark his sniping ability. Adam Cracknell, who was called up to St. Louis on Christmas Eve, scored the second tally saying, "I'll take that Christmas present any day." Evgeny Grachev scored his first ever NHL goal and added a great celebration. Jason Arnott scored his 3rd power play goal of the season, which leads the team.

Highlights:


The next evening, the Blues dominated the Wings for the first two frames and lead 2-1 late. But Detroit struck fast in the third to steal the game. Pavol Datsyuk scored on a world-class deflection for the go-ahead goal.

The Blues were swarming the Wings through the first two and only goalie Jimmy Howard kept it from being a 4 or 5 goal deficient for the home team. Maybe he should back-up Brian Elliott in the all-star game. Elliot got the nod for the Blues, played a strong game, but took home the loss.

With the two points Detroit leaped over St. Louis to 4th place in the West. The Blues sit in 5th. The top 3 point-getters in the West are from the Central Division (Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis).

The Blues will get a quick shot at revenge as they are right back at Joe Louis Arena Saturday night.

Highlights:

Nothing But Blue Skies...

The Blues are a little baffled by the "no call" on Red Wings' Goalie Jimmy Howard Tuesday night after he pounced on a vulnerable David Perron and threw several punches. Perron was pushed into Howard by Defenseman Brad Stuart, who later said Perron had done little wrong. Perron, and only Perron, made his way to the box for goaltender interference.

The Post-Dispatch ran a story about how the Blues are "questioning" the no call. What's the bid deal? This is nothing new to Blues fans.

The Red Wings have long been atop the NHL and had their way with the Blues. The tide seems to be turning, with the first two games of the 11-12 season going to the Blues, even with the boost from the refs that Detroit receives.

Since 1997-1998, Detroit has only had one season where it did not finish in the top 10 in "least amount of penalty minutes per game" and it usually finishes near the top. The perception of the NHL is that the Red Wings are a skilled team and they play the game the "right way."

The right way?

Blues fans know differently.

Watch this video from last season when Tomas Holmstrom dives as if he was shot by a cannonball after a nudge that Backes gives him. This kind of thing happens consistently on the way to the bench, and if you are an NHL caliber player with any respect for the game you would take it in stride:

Granted, Backes should not have shoved him, but it hardly warranted the reaction from Holmstrom.

A similar situation occurred Tuesday night when Backes got a clean hit in on Holm-chump, who proceeded to throw a punch. Backes got the penalty, the chump got off scott-free. Minutes later, Detroit lead 1-0.

David Backes plays the game the right way: fast, hard-nosed, with an edge, and respectful on and off the ice; which is why he is the 20th captain of the St. Louis Blues, and the 2012 Frank J. Selke award winner (calling it!). You will never catch him taking a dive, one of the most disrespectful actions of ANY hockey player at ANY level.

Thankfully the Blues scored twice on the power play in the third to nullify the injustice in a 3-2 win. The Blues' curse of the Red Wings is seemingly coming to an end, winning each of it's first two games against Detroit this season. In the past, the note was unable to overcome such inequalities, but they have overcome as of late.

The Note shall expose these fiends for who they are and started it Tuesday in front of a nation-wide television audience on Versus.

The day of reckoning is upon them. The evil empire that is the Red Wings has had many victories in the past, but the future looks bright. We have been forced to the outside of the NHL elite but have made our way back in with shear will power, leadership, playing the game hard, and some pretty good goal tending.

The day of Detroit's domination is over. One can hope that they make the playoffs (the NHL will make sure of it) and we can meet them there to right those post-season injustices and heartaches of the past as well.

Breath easy Blues fans, those Red clouds that we have had to live under for so long are clearing making way for Blue skies. Nothing but Blue skies...

Blues' Power Play Comes Alive Against Wings

The Blues scored two power play goals Tuesday night as they beat the Red Wings 3-2. The note improved to 2-0 against the wings this season.

The Blues' special teams played a huge roll in the victory, after letting them down in Saturday's 5-2 loss against Chicago.

After Detroit scored on a (bogus) power play, the Blues bounced back with a power play tally of their own from Alexander Steen. David Backes added another power play goal in the third. Patrick Berglund continued his dominance against Detroit, scoring on a rush and the Blues fended off some more bogus calls late to win 3-2.

The victory gives the Blues 33 points, tied with Detroit and several other teams for Third place in the Western Conference.

Highlights:

We've known it all along...

Thank you Versus for stating the obvious...