Everything Else

He Left It Out Back On The Highway, On 55: Hawks at Blues Preview/Online Driving Class

By 1497

 vs. 

RECORDS: Hawks 20-8-4  Blues 17-10-4

TV: CSN

THINK DEXTER FOWLER HAS TOO MUCH FUN: St. Louis Gametime

PROJECTED LINEUPS

ADJUSTED TEAM CORSI %: Hawks – 50.1 (15th)  Blues – 52.4 (10th)

ADJUSTED TEAM xGF%: Hawks – 47.5 (21st)  Blues 51.9 (13th)

POWER PLAY: Hawks – 19.0 (15th)  Blues – 21.9 (7th)

PENALTY KILL: Hawks – 73.3 (30th)  Blues – 88.2 (2nd)

TRENDS: Tarasenko has 14 points in his last eight games… Allen has made over 30 saves just twice in 25 appearances

After getting a couple looks at one of the East’s best over the past week in the Rangers, the Hawks will spend the weekend amongst the West’s aristocracy, or at least what’s supposed to be the aristocracy. The Blues tonight and the Sharks tomorrow are both teams, along with the Hawks, that are supposed to be around longer than it takes at the DMV come the spring.

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Blues Spotlight: Jay Gallon

By 1551

There are arguments to both sides of the Blues trading Brian Elliot during the summer. He was in the last year of his contract, and if he matched his performance with his entire Blues career he was going to get awfully expensive. The Blues have wanted to give Jake Allen the job for a few years, or more to the point they wanted Allen to take it, and no better way than simply tossing him in the deep end.

On the other side, the Blues had just made a trip to the Conference Final, which might as well have been Mars for them considering their recent history, and a lot of that was on the back of Elliot’s play last spring. The Blues aren’t playing for the future. This is their window, and it isn’t getting any wider. Both Shattenkirk and Parayko are due large raises after the season and they’re both not going to get it from the Blues. So there was serious thought they should go for it with everything this year.

How’s it all going for Allen? Not great, Bob.

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Blues Q&A With Arkham Asylum Escapee Brad Lee

By 1509

Now that I’ve grown up (ha!) and given up the printed program, at least for the year, there’s only one goofball doing it and that’s Brad Lee in St. Louis. You can find his work at StLouisGametime.com and follow him on Twitter @GTBradLee.

Interesting summer for the Blues, let’s try and parse it out one at a time. Is Jay Gallon really ready to be the #1 on this team and take them farther than Elliot could? Because it seems like they’ve tried to give him the job forever and he’s never seized it with both hands. 

If he’s not ready to be the No. 1, the Blues will miss the playoffs by a wide margin. The front office can say whatever they want, but the pedigree of each goaltender was on display at every turn. Brian Elliott arrived in St. Louis signing a league-minimum, two-way contract. He was designated as the backup — if he wasn’t playing in the AHL. And then he pushed Jaroslav Halak for playing time, he won a playoff series, he got picked for the All Star Game twice. Now mixed in were some up and down seasons including one where he sat for a long time and had to go to the minors for a week to get his act together. But he did. When they had to choose between goalies, they always chose not Elliott: Halak over him, Ryan Miller over him and two playoffs ago Allen over him. And then they traded him for a second round pick. But Elliott leaves as the franchise leader in save percentage, goals-against average and shutouts. He’s fourth in wins. And all that was never enough to have the Blues forget that they drafted Allen in the second round of the 2008 draft. They remember how he was the starting goalie for Team Canada at the World Juniors. They know he was an AHL All Star. His resume is awesome. He’s been an elite goaltender at every level. So it’s easy to forget the goals he’s allowed on the faceoff because he wasn’t ready or how one goal in Game 5 against the Wild in the first round made him crumble when the Blues had the momentum. And that’s ignoring the fact that he gets injured. Frequently. Like Saturday night. But I’m sure it will all work out fine. 

Everything Else

Ready To Fall – Blues vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Rise Against Concert

By 1188 0

bluestrumpet_jersey vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, TVA, WGN-AM 720
Fatso + St. Paul Sandwiches + Toasted Ravs, Man: St. Louis Game Time

With the annual Circus Trip now in the rearview mirror, the Hawks will get a brief two games back on West Madison before heading out east for another four game trip. And there will be no respite in coming off of two victories against Pacific contenders in the forms of the Ducks and Kings, as the Hawks face a Blues squad in their usual December slot just ahead of the Hawks in the Central Division standings.