Davidson takes on Blues challenge
Former television personality wants blue-collar team

One month after assuming the presidency of the St. Louis Blues, former Hockey Night in Canada personality John Davidson went house hunting around the Missouri city on the banks of the Mississippi.

Davidson didn't say yesterday whether prices were to his liking, but he didn't hesitate in predicting the Blues will become a blue-collar team with a sooner-the-better outlook for rebuilding a franchise that finished dead last in the National Hockey League.

Newly minted St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts has guaranteed the team will win its home opener October 12 against the Boston Bruins.

Davidson's day for "reporting for duty" was July 1, the opening day of free agency for the 2006-07 season. His bosses, headed by Chairman Dave Checketts, had recently purchased the Blues and wisely retained General Manager Larry Pleau, coach Mike Kitchen and much of the administration. Pleau had built the Blues into one of the NHL's better teams before being asked by the previous ownership to pare payroll for a team sale.

Manny Legace, Curtis Sanford and Jason Bacashihua have been given no promises as to who will be the starting goalie.

"When you look at it all three of our goalies, they have a lot to prove, and the spot and the opportunity is there for somebody to jump up and be that No. 1 guy," Blues GM Larry Pleau said this week. "So the competition has got to be key for us . . . I think they all understand, there's really no promises, it's wide open. Come and show everyone in the hockey world that you're the No. 1 goalie."

Keith Tkachuk hit the ice Friday on the first day of St. Louis Blues training camp some 30 pounds lighter after a summer which saw the veteran winger rededicate himself in the gym.

"Feels like my first training camp," he told The Canadian Press between on-ice sessions.

ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: reports Blues forward Scott Young announced his retirement on Friday after 17 NHL seasons and two Stanley Cups. Young scored 342 goals in 1,181 games.

The St. Louis Blues named former star defenceman Al MacInnis their vice-president of hockey operations on Tuesday.

"Thank you, fans," the greeting painted on NHL rinks the year after the lockout, rang hollow coming from the St. Louis Blues. New ownership really means it.

Revamping a roster that led to a last-place overall finish last season, raising payroll and changing coaches in midseason was the first step in the franchise's effort to put people back in the seats. On Sunday, players, coaches and management fanned out to nine area rinks for a meet and greet, and on Saturday the team is offering free concessions.

They mean to make inroads both on and off the ice.

how 'bout "Blows"

how 'bout "Blows"

They could even be all proud of where they are from... I mean, NJ has the NJ Devil... why not just call this guy "St. Louis Blows"

lol i voted for Bubble... i don't care how it's "pronounced"... that says bubble

A lot of Blues failed last year. Some of them, like defenseman Christian Backman and goaltender Hannu Toivonen, are long gone. Others return, seeking personal redemption and the opportunity to lift this team back into playoff contention.

Kariya produced 161 points in 164 games as a Nashville Predator. He scored 55 goals during that span. As a first-year Blue, he scored 16 goals, added 49 assists and earned a minus-10 rating.

Getting him back to the point-per-game range is one of Murray’s top goals for this season.

Center Andy McDonald scored 163 points in 164 games during his last two full seasons in Anaheim. Last year, he was a wreck -- producing just 52 points with a minus-21 rating splitting his season between the Ducks and Blues.

This team really needs a point-per-game playmaking center. McDonald should be that guy.

Rumors on cause of injury irk Johnson

Since an MRI confirmed that Johnson has torn knee ligaments in his right knee, which will force him to miss the 2008-09 season, rumors have swirled that the 20-year-old was involved in horseplay while attending a team golf outing...

Johnson on Friday acknowledged the damage to the golf carts but said he was not involved.

"The golf cart incident had nothing to do with me being hurt," he said. "We apologized for (the damage), but as far as my injury goes, there's no correlation with that at all." Link

Murray is displeased, and this time he names names

In his two-plus seasons as Blues coach, Andy Murray has steadfastly protected individual players who made mistakes that cost the team. He's identified culprits by their position rather than their name. And even then, he's softened his comments to the media in an effort to keep his criticism in-house.

That Andy Murray was nowhere to be found after Sunday's 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins.

"I didn't think (Patrik) Berglund was good, I didn't think (David) Perron was good, I didn't think (Keith) Tkachuk was good ... I didn't think (Brad) Boyes was good," Murray said. "I thought (David) Backes was all right."

Right down the line, Murray named names, sometimes duplicating players.

"I expect Jeff Woywitka to be a lot better than he was today," he continued. "David Perron ... where's he? Berglund, I expect him to be better. Am I being a little hard on them here? That's just the way that it is."

The Blues lost for the sixth time in their last seven outings. After a game in which they came inches from tying the score 4-4 in the second period, only to see Boston go down the ice and take a 5-3 lead nine seconds later, several players admitted to their sloppiness. But one took exception to Murray's comments.

"The last time I checked, we're all in this together," Tkachuk said. "We've got a young team. It's easy to put the blame on each other. I don't need the coach to tell me through the media, or any other player through the media ... if that's what he's searching for, it's a very young and fragile team to be doing that right now in the middle of the season. But if that's what he has to do, that's his decision. He's the coach."

STLtoday Link

Good to see a Veteran like Tkachuk stick up for his locker room. I don't like it when a coach calls players out via the media.

Blues put Legace on waivers

"It's extremely tough," Legace said this morning. "You play your heart out for a team, and the minute you hit a little bit of a rough patch, they dump on you.

"It was very hard to hear."

The Blues will recall Chris Holt from Peoria of the American Hockey League to back up No.1 goalie Chris Mason...

Link

The 32-year old Mason told FSN that he attributes his recent string of play to the fact that he feels lighter after getting his eyebrows tweezed and nose hairs waxed on January 15th.

Here's the TSN Article

Blues Ink McDonald to 4-Year Extension

Blues Ink McDonald to 4-Year Extension

Anyone hear how much $$ the deal is for?

Andy McDonald has signed a four-year, $18.8 million contract extension with the NHL team.

BLUES' JANSSEN FINED FOR HIGH HIT, BUT NOT SUSPENDED

St. Louis Blues forward Cam Janssen has been fined $2,500 for his high hit last night on Zbynek Michalek of the Coyotes, but he will not be suspended.

The incident happened in the first period behind the Phoenix net. Janssen jumped up during a check and got his elbow up on Michalek.

No penalty was called on the play.

Janssen was suspended for three games while with New Jersey in 2007 for a hit on Toronto's Tomas Kaberle.

TSN

BLUES NAME BELFOUR AS GOALTENDING CONSULTANT

The St. Louis Blues President named former NHL goaltender Ed Belfour as a goaltending consultant on Thursday.

''Ed is one of the winningest goaltenders in National Hockey League history and we're thrilled to have him on our staff,'' said Blues President John Davidson. ''His knowledge of the position will be invaluable for our goaltenders in Peoria and our young goalies in our organization.''...

TSN

Here's a head-scratcher:


STL must also have an in-house psychiatrist... along with on-site AA meetings.

Andy Murray has been fired as the St. Louis coach, according to many sources. Looks like some GMs actually do their jobs around the league when the perceive their teams underachieve.

Amazing concept. Team is struggling, coach might (and I say might very strongly) be expendable??? Crazy, just plain crazy talk.

Davis Payne, 39, was named the 23rd head coach of the St. Louis Blues on Jan 2, 2009 after serving as head coach of the team's AHL club, the Peoria Rivermen...

Blues.NHL link

Amazing concept. Team is struggling, coach might (and I say might very strongly) be expendable??? Crazy, just plain crazy talk.

Blues forward Keith Tkachuk went almost 20 NHL seasons before losing any teeth but took a puck in the mouth against the Chicago Blackhawks and lost four Chiclets. The shot bounced into the net, so Tkachuk got credit for goal No. 534, one more than Frank Mahovlich. It meant lots of root canal work, but as Tkachuk said, "I'm surprised with all the games I've played, this didn't happen sooner."