Hours to the deadline: 27
So ... how many of you bet the following items tonight?
-- A pretty decent 4-1 Blues win at Minnesota
-- The acquisition of Jay Bouwmeester from Calgary for a 1st, a fringe prospect who may never make it to NA, and a guy who will probably top out as a 5/6 defenseman
-- That acquisition getting announced during the 1st intermission by the GM
-- Barret Jackman with a goal
-- Brian Elliott coming in to play in relief of Jaroslav Halak and (
gasp!) by all accounts playing pretty damn well
It's an understatement to say this was not the kind of night Blues fans expected to have by any stretch - but hey, we'll gladly take it. I can't offer a ton of insight into the game, as this was one of those blacked out by GameCenter (which means it'll be 48 hours before I can see it - at which point, something else more exciting may be going on ... but I can't remember what). The bottom line is simple though: tonight was all about getting 2 points, a big trade mid-game, and some optimism that maybe the team is better positioned for the postseason.
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The price for Bouwmeester is a bit ... what's the word, light? It's especially light given what we all thought it was going to be, and what was vaguely rumored to be the asking price. As much as it seems like there's more buyers than sellers going into the deadline, it sure feels like it's a buyer's market right now - especially when you realize the Kings got Robyn Regehr (pending a physical) for a pair of 2nd's (one of which is going to be in the 50s this year, and the other not likely to be much better next year), and there's not really a whole lot more out there on the blueline that's available, much less of decent quality.
For the Flames and GM Jay Feaster, it's a pretty stark turn of events from last January, when Feaster addressed comments about possibly trading guys with the Flames sitting outside the top-8 with his
"no interest in rebuilding or blowing [it] things up comment. Clearly, the Flames are going to have to rebuild - and by trading Iginla and Bouwmeester and letting Toronto talk to Kiprusoff (who gave up 3 goals on 5 shots tonight vs. the Oilers) as well as a couple other rumored players on the market, they're pretty close to "blow it up" mode. Even with 3 potential 1st-round picks at this year's draft, the prospect pipeline has a
long way to go to get re-stocked and position the Flames to be better going forward.
It's going to be an interesting summer in southern Alberta. Feaster wasn't brought in to rebuild, and head coach Bob Hartley wasn't brought in to guide this team to 14th in the West. There's an argument that neither survives this season; you could definitely make the cast that Feaster shouldn't, while I'm not sure what Hartley was really supposed to do with the aging crew he was handed.
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Three questions that immediately jump to mind on the acquisition of Bouwmeester:
1. When can we expect to see him in the lineup?
2. What happens to Bouwmeester's ironman streak, and
3. What happens to his (currently) 750 game, no-playoffs streak?
On #1: don't expect Bouwmeester to be with the Blues on Thursday night, unless he's got the same help Jarome Iginla had in securing a work visa and clearing immigration. Friday night might be pushing it yet - but we should see him by Monday of next week.
#2 appears to be OK, given that he was officially traded after the start of the Blues-Wild game but before the start of the Flames-Oilers game ... which meant that he didn't miss a game he was eligible to play in. Whether that's officially interpreted that way, higher powers can decide - but even if someone decides the streak is over, we can all attach an * and keep counting.
#3 is going to be interesting to watch. Bouwmeester's only playoff appearance in his hockey career from juniors on is an 18-game stretch with the Chicago Wolves (AHL) in 2004-05 - and that was only because he was transferred from San Antonio to Chicago late in the season. Otherwise, he would have missed the playoffs that year with SA as well. That means in 1,028 games between the NHL, AHL and WHL he has only played in the playoffs once (1 time). Sure, he's got an Olympics appearance in 2006, a World Cup appearance in 2004, 3 trips to the WJC's while in juniors, and 4 trips to the World Championships for 35 games (which is easy to go to ... if you're not playing in the playoffs) but save maybe the Olympics, that's damn little playoff-style experience.
Speaking of, his last goal in any kind of high-level postseason or world play was ... May 9, 2004. That was the day of the gold-medal game vs. Sweden, and JayBo's goal just 20 seconds into the 3rd period stood up as the game-winner in a 5-3 win. That's 9 years ago. Since then, in international play he's gone 0-2-2 in 27 games - those assists coming just last year. Let's hope he's
just a little more productive with us here, if we can actually get him into the postseason (for just the 2nd time in his career).
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The other thing to watch now will be the Blues roster, especially on defense. I would not expect an immediate recall of Jake Allen just yet; the Blues will likely wait until the deadline passes, then designate Halak for IR (if necessary) and call up Allen at that point - but with Elliott's play in net tonight, he may get the nod vs. Chicago (for better or for worse) and Allen gets the start the next night against Columbus.
Unless someone from the clear top-6 goes, then one of Redden, Russell or Cole is going to be the odd man out. Russell probably stays, given that he was playing regularly before these trades. People say Cole can't go to Peoria without clearing waivers, but all the research I've done suggests he's 11 games shy of being subject to waivers (has 69 GP, signed an NHL contract at age 21 and this is his 3rd season since first signing an NHL deal - which means he can play up to 80 games before he loses the waiver exemption). Unless something changed in the transition rules for this season, I don't see how Cole has to go through waivers.
If I'm correct on Cole, then what to do should be a no-brainer. If not, then the Blues may try to put Redden on waivers and see if anyone bites - and if not, then they'll have to decide if they really want him in Peoria and Cole in the press box. Of course, if there's another trade out on the horizon, ...
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Tomorrow: your guide to the trade deadline, no matter what team you're a fan of. Trust me, it's going to go a lot like what I describe.
St Louis Blues Blogger • 
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