Especially when they result in ANOTHER loss to the Preds. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Even the Game Time guys discussed the shootout just last night. Here’s the thing. I have never known hockey without a shootout. Never ever. Being a recent fan, it’s tough to have the same kind of perspective afforded to those who’ve bled blue their entire lives.

That said, I still hate the shootout. Always have. It seems counterintuitive to me to have a team sport decided by a skills competition. As I’ve discussed with countless friends, they should at least make the shootout more entertaining.

Maybe they could go ahead and do something like HORSE. One guy makes a stupidly good spin-o-rama goal, the other team has to copy or loses a letter. They could even call the game PUCK or something like that. Perhaps it’s just me, but knowing that Halak was in goal, I had a feeling if it went into a shootout, we could chalk this one up as a loss. Some goalies are good at shootouts. Some aren’t. It sucks knowing that.

Not only that, but seriously, our boys should beat the Preds. Every time.

But, it’s time to move on. Tonight’s game against the Red Wings (at 6pm CST on FSMW) is a big one. Last game of 2011. Second game against the Scum this week.

On Tuesday, our team handed the game to Detroit, gift-wrapped with a pretty little ribbon and everything. Two minutes of poor play and weak turnovers, two goals in just under a minute, and what had been a game solidly controlled by our team disintegrated into a remote-throwing, yelling at the TV, scaring the neighbors kind of game.

I do not want to see that again.

As of right now, there’s no confirmation of who’s in the net for Detroit, but like Tuesday, if it’s Howard, our boys have to elevate their damn pucks. There were a couple shots against Jimmy on Tuesday that had they been shoulder level instead of knee, they’d have been goals.

There’s been speculation that it was exhaustion of the team that caused such a meltdown, as they’d played the night before at home and then traveled to Detroit, but guess what? Same situation here. These points are absolutely, without the shadow of a doubt critical.

The Blues are tied with Detroit in points. They’ve played the same number of games. This game is so important there aren’t really any words for it.

Last game of the year. Let’s make it a win in regulation. Let’s take home two points, and show Detroit that ours is not a team willing to give up. Goonies never say die, and all that. And above all else:

LET’S GO BLUES!!

This, but in St Louis

Predators at Blues, airing at 7pm CST on FSMW.

Quickly today.

-As reported by Lou Korac, Alex Steen is out tonight dealing with concussion-like symptoms dating back to the game against Dallas on Monday.

-Also from Lou, Oshie, Sobotka, and Langenbrunner are all expected back in the lineup tonight.

-Lose a forward, gain three.

-Nashville is without their captain Shea Weber. Concussions blow.

-The Blues are four points ahead of the Preds. Let’s make it six, shall we?

-LET’S GO BLUES!!!!

I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps there’s some sort of scale that the Blues are being held towards. Lose a forward, gain a forward. Lose a D-man, get another forward.

The injuries this year have been as untimely as ever, though really, is there any good time for an injury? Andy Mac, Beener, Splodey Bones, Kent Huskins Cares, TJ, Sobe, and now the new guy Russell.

Last season, this type of streak might have crushed our team, DID crush our team. This season? That’s not so much the case.

The Blues are showing the depth they have right now, which is absolutely a good thing. TJ goes down for a few games? No big deal, bring up Adam Cracknell. Russell hurt? Come on down I-55, Ian Cole, you’re the next contestant on The Price Is Right The Blues defensive corps!

There’s still so much season left, and I love that this year the Blues aren’t collapsing. There’s no sinking into the funk that robbed the Blues of damn near any dignity like what happened last year. No, this team is stepping up, filling in the gaps that are left by injured players taking to the press box.

So we’re down another D-man. It’s ok. Eventually all these players, the sick and the injured, will come back. And until they do? The team will be just fine. Of that I’m sure.

Though that final score of 5-3 over the Stars by our Blues doesn’t entirely indicate it, there were quite a few good things about tonight’s win. Let’s list them.

• Our Blues went 2-for-2 on power plays. You read that right. Two-for-2. Awesome.
• Chris GD Stewart had one of those PPGs as well as the empty-netter at the end of the game.
• Perron is super generous with assists that go along with those empty nets.
• Jason Arnott scored again, and he now has four goals in the last five games.
• Rivermen Captain Adam Cracknell got in on the action tonight as a call-up with Oshie sidelined, and scored his own goal.
• And that super-tall Russian we all like so much, Grachev, finally got his first career NHL goal.

Happy holidays, everyone! I’ll see you and our boys back here in a couple days.

So I don’t really want to talk about last night’s game. It made me ragey during the first period and then I was just kind of meh about it. I’m pretty glad that CGDS finally scored a goal (hey, CGDS, keep doing that), but it is rough to lose to the Avs EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Ok, so it’s not every time, but it feels like it.

Instead, today we’re going to take a trip down memory lane. Let’s take a look back at some of the amazing things our team CAN do. Here we go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQfWACHhLYg

I love this team.

No Blues game today, obviously, so let’s talk a little bit about fantasy hockey.

This year’s the first year I’ve ever tried to play, and I ended up in a league with sixteen other girls. My only goal going into this season was to not lose. As of right now? I’m in third. How awesome is that?

Anyway, I’ve learned quite a few things as I’ve done this fantasy thing. Let me tell you about them.

1. Draft plans are worthless, especially in leagues with so many people. You might as well go in just ready to go with the flow. It seemed to work for me.

2. Setting one’s lineup a week in advance is one of the fastest ways to annoy yourself when you realize the guy you had in the starting lineup is in fact day-to-day and not playing, whereas the guy you benched scored two goals and had three assists. Not that this has happened to me just a few weeks ago or anything.

3. Sticking to drafting just those people from your favorite team, or those who used to play for them, will not end well for you. I started this season with zero Blues. I now have Vladimir Sobotka, and happened to pick him up right before he went onto IR. This is not anywhere close to awesome.

4. Making friends with people from opposing fan bases if for nothing more than fantasy tips is probably the best idea ever. I have a Canucks fan and a Lightning fan I can go to daily to find out about those guys who’ve been hurt from time to time.

5. Having Marc-Andre Fleury and Cory Schneider as my top two goalies has definitely been a good choice.

6. I have learned more about other teams’ players participating in fantasy than I would ever have just watching games. It has been fascinating to somehow care about outcomes of games with teams I have no strong feelings about, simply because they could get me fantasy points.

7. I’m turning into a bit of a fantasy freak and may or may not check (and change) my lineup daily.

What have you learned playing fantasy hockey?

Let’s chat really quickly. Back to back games against division rivals, one win against Columbus, one loss against Nashville, one whirlwind trip to cheer as a member of the opposing fan base.

During this entire game, the announcers have been mentioning how Hitchcock has said recently that the favorite part of his team was that “when [they're] pushed, they push back.”

For the most part, he’s absolutely right. This team has been scrappalicious lately, and it’s been paying off for the team. Things seem to be clicking, with the exception of the power play, but you know? The Bruins won a Stanley Cup with an absolutely abysmal power play. Maybe it’s what works.

This weekend found many of us Blues fans taking over Bridgestone Arena to see the game against the Preds. It was a pretty awesome experience, and though there’s a blossoming division rivalry with that team, Preds fans are actually pretty cool. We enjoyed many conversations about hockey in general, as well as a healthy bonding time over a mutual dislike of Detroit.

As much fun as it is to be an opposing fan, it is frustrating to watch your team stop playing their game and play to a lower level. Going one-for-six on power play opportunities is just not going to cut it, even if that team happens to be one of the most defensive minded in the division. Having to come back from a goal deficit to a team who’s been the joke of the Central all year? Well that’s just annoying.

I want Hitch to be right all the time. I want our team to push back, especially if they feel like they don’t need to. Not pushing back leads to the need to play catch-up. Eventually, teams won’t let our boys catch up. That can’t happen.

The next couple off days should be good for the team. They’ll be able to reflect on the Nashville game and harness the momentum from tonight’s win. Here’s hoping they take that with them to a win against the Avs Wednesday.

Last night’s Blues win over the Rangers was, in a word, awesome.

How much of that game do you think will end up on HBO’s 24/7?

A couple thoughts. When Steen scored that third goal, we at the other end of the rink couldn’t even tell what happened. The crowd rose as a wave (but not THE wave which I hate and should be banned from all major sporting events period). The attacking side rose, followed by us, just to follow suit. I’m still not entirely certain how it went in, but then, I’m not going to complain either.

Semi-relatedly, that last empty net goal. I just…I don’t even know what happened there. I mean, Lundqvist was out and then there was the shot against the post and then ALL THE DEFENSEMEN EVER showed up and it STILL took six tries to get that stupid puck to get to the back of the net.

What. Even.

Regardless, beating one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference while going 4-1 in this last home stand has been everything this team and this fan base needs. Look! We’re desirable!! Someone buy us!!!!

Now we look forward to two division rivals this weekend, Nashville and Columbus. There will be a contingent of Blues fans IN Nashville tomorrow (for the highly touted #EpicDec), and that will make all the difference.

Guys, I love this season.

"@brendanmburke: All sewn on and ready to go for Friday night. #rivermen"

Today, a full 28 games into the season, the Rivermen named Adam Cracknell captain of the Rivermen and I, for one, could not be more pleased.

Per Dave Eminian’s article, Cracknell’s statement was as follows:

It’s a great honor for me. It was a bit of a surprise, because there’s a great deal of players on this team who are leaders. I’ve been trying to lead, and there’s a lot of help in here with that task.
I play the game with intensity and I get vocal, and I know that’s how I have to play to succeed. By getting the ‘C’ it means taking on more responsibility and accountability. I’m fine with that. We know how we need to play, and I’ll do my part to make sure the team is ready every night.

Way back on October 10th, which was after the conclusion of opening weekend for the Rivermen, I gave Cracknell some due praise. Everything still applies.

I enjoy watching Cracknell for many reasons, one of which is the obvious determination with which he plays the game. He plays with consistent intensity and often inspires others to do the same, the mark of a true leader. He is a multi-faceted player who can not only score, but get a little gritty, throw good and hard hits, occasionally drop the gloves to stand up for himself and his teammates.

When Adam Cracknell scores a goal, there is an expression of such joy on his face; such that tells everyone who sees .that he is doing the exact thing with his life that he was meant to. And not only that, but that he knows it as well. It is immensely enjoyable to watch and makes it easy to root for such a player.

Once again, congratulations Adam Cracknell!