I was thinking of going down to see this game in person, but I stayed home and watched it on TV.
I will stick with my opinion that the Blues have no better than the 4th best talent in the Central Division. And their goaltending with a couple of 33 year old, average NHL goalies, isn't as strong as the other teams in the upper half of the Western Conference.
I though Andy Murray did a tremendous job last year to get the Blues into the playoffs after their terrible record in the first half of last season. They were 16-22-3 in the first half, and an NHL best 25-9-7 in the second half. And they hadn't been to the playoffs for 3 years before last year.
He even got some consideration for Coach of the Year. But now he is fired a half year later. I really doubt Murray was the problem, but when you can't win at home, and the fans get angry, the team has to change something. It remains a mystery why they play so well on the road (Conference best 11-4-3) and so poorly at home (NHL worst 6-14-3).
The only problem I had last night with the Blues under new coach Davis Payne, is that the message apparently was to play tougher, take cheap shots at the Blackhawks, and try to give the fans some entertainment by getting into fights, even if you can't beat the other team. The Hawks skated circles around the slower and less skilled Blues all night, and the outcome was never in doubt.
Hawks get down and dirty against Blues
Enforcing the issue: Blackhawks don't back down vs. Blues
This writer goes even a little farther than I would in ripping the Blues for their thuggish tactics last night-
....my biggest issue with Gary Bettman's NHL is the inconsistencies between the way the game is marketed and the lack of integrity his referees displayed during tonight's contest. Jackman's raised elbow to the face of Kane at center ice is an infraction that needs to be called everytime. Call me a homer if you must, but allowing shots to the head will only snowball into greater calamities as the game ensues. As an example, late in the third, Janssen was clearly headhunting with a raised elbow aiming for Sopel's skull.
The Hawks showed again tonight that they can respond to tough scenarios, yet the Blues showed they are nothing more than a low-class organization willing to go the cheap route to get in their kicks.
While games like tonight's are entertaining to watch, the NHL has fairly successfully elimated the Blues' style of hockey. Credit the Blackhawks for their character and refusal to drop their standards to level of the Blues. While Hawks' captain Jonathan Toews displayed his team's toughness by dropping the gloves with the Blues' David Backes, Weaver showed St. Louis' true pussy nature by refusing to engage with a swinging Barker. After Campbell shocked Hawks fans with a clean hit that leveled Oshie, Tkachuk responded with a cheap shot on the Chicago defenseman. The Hawks were more than willing to throw down with the Blues. Instead, St. Louis prefers to work cheap and dirty. Sounds like an apt description of their city.
Hawks outclass Blues in old-fashioned slugfest
By the way- the first article says this-
Keith Tkachuk deflected in a power-play goal for the Blues while catching a stick in the face from Huet. Tkachuk was rushed off the ice for treatment before the final seconds ticked away.
But that's completely wrong. It suggests Tkachuk purposely deflected the puck in for the goal, and that Huet was responsible for Tkachuk's injury.
In actuality, the puck was shot from the point by the Blues' T.J. Oshie, and hit Blues' star Keith Tkachuk directly in the face and inadvertantly deflected to the ice next to Huet, and slowly rolled into the goal, while Huet was concerned about Tkachuk's injury. He was not hit with Huet's stick. Tkachuk got credit for the Blues' 3rd goal, but he was helped off the ice bleeding profusely from his facial wound.
