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Blues Hope New Sweaters Make Fans Forget Playoff Failures

August 25, 2014, 5:16 PM ET [30 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT


Why lookie here. The St. Louis Blues are going back to the future with the re-design of their new threads.

I like these sweaters because they transport me back to the vintage Blues sweater of the Gary Unger and Al MacInnis Era.


I wonder if these sweaters have the ability to perform a Heimlich Maneuver on the Blues so that they don't choke again in the first round of the playoffs.

Catchy new slug line, too:


Our Town. Our Team. Our Recent Playoff Failures.









****


Mention the words “tanking” and “Connor McDavid” to Buffalo Sabres power forward Chris Stewart and he may fight you.

Seriously, Stewart, 26, has seen his two former teams the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues rise from the outhouse to the penthouse in fairly quick fashion. The consummate pro, Stewart recently bristled at the notion of his Sabres finishing dead last in the NHL standings this season in order to get the inside track on crafting wunderkind McDavid. Stewart told The Hockey News that there is no way in H-E-double-hockey sticks that he’s going to be onboard with a deliberate Buffalo tank job this season in order for the Sabres to select MaDavid first overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Stewart says that quitting like that isn’t in his DNA.

“Look at the Colorado Avalanche two years ago,” Stewart said. “They were a last-place team, and they were arguably one of the best teams in the league last year. So the past is the past. You look at our team now and there are 13 or 14 new faces. So we come in and think of last year as an anomaly. There’s nothing we can do now. We can worry about the future. I hear everybody talking about tanking for Connor McDavid. That’s not in my DNA, personally. I was with St. Louis for four years, and we were Stanley Cup contenders every year. So that’s how I’m going to approach it. It’s playoffs or bust.”

Frankly, I applaud Stewart for his opinion on the whole “Dishonor For Connor” idea that has been floating around Buffalo for the past six months. Its fun for fantasy sports geeks and barstool GMs to throw the “tank for McDavid” card, however, the grown men who coach and manage the game are not wired that way. You don’t become an NHL player or coach by talent or attitude alone. You get there by making ultimate sacrifices like leaving home at age 14 to move to the other side of the globe to live with your billet. You get there by riding buses, getting bag skated until you puke, getting screamed at by coaches that you can’t stand; playing in the minors until your mid-20s; fighting all comers; playing out of character; blocking shots with your face; and most of all NEVER quitting. Losers never win. Winners never lose. Do you honestly think that Stewart was the kind of kid growing up who let his little brother beat him in whiffle ball, road hockey or Sega Genesis? Hell no. Moreover, do you think that Ted Nolan would have ever achieved his dreams of playing and coaching in the NHL by allowing his teams to lay down and give their 55% each practice and each game? Hell no.


Stewart and Nolan are cut from the same cloth in that regard. They will not be buying into the romanticism associated with an 18 year old junior hockey phenom riding into town on his stallion and pearly white smile to save the Buffalo franchise. Many other current and former Sabres that I know feel the same way The current guys feel like they are the solution to fixing all that ails the Sabres. Many NHLers take it as a slap that many fans would rather ride an unknown, unproven 18 year old junior rather than relying on the proven commodity that a group of veterans can provide. The NHL is a man's league and the special one play a mature game. Is McDavid the next Crosby or MacKinnon, or will there be an NHL learning curve for him? Matters not because he won't impact an NHL roster until he is drafted 10 months from now. Right now, vets like Stewart are telling their clubs to dance with who brung them. Most NHLers take extreme pride in fine tuning their bodies and minds at their local rinks in the dog days of July and August while the some of their peers are sipping on Stella Artois and tearing up the Muskokas on their tricked out Sea Doos . That’s not Stewart’s modus operandi. In off season’s past, he would train with his NHL friends at home in Toronto. Not this summer. Stewart’s wife gave birth to twin sons earlier this summer and he has opted to live in Buffalo and train with the grey beards and kids. Stewart has joined Sabres and Amerks vets Matt Ellis and Cody McCormick in his daily workout routines and the 6’2” 235 lb. hammer says that dedicating himself to his conditioning and repairing his injured body certainly agrees with him. Stewart says that he has adopted the Buffalo work ethic by participating in excruciating workouts with his fellow veterans. Talent gets you into the NHL. Your iron will and your work ethic keeps you in the NHL for multiple years.


“They’re (Ellis and McCormick) two guys who’ve been in this league purely based on work ethic,” Stewart told the Hockey News. “The way they work is second to none, and that’s something I can add to my game. Working with those guys, really pushing me throughout the summer, has been great."



***


Stewart is looking to rebound from the 2103-14 season that saw him slump in Ken Hitchcock’s system in St. Louis. He scored only 15 goals and added 11 assists. He’s a 30-35 goal scorer who should be playing in the top six group. In St. Louis, he’s was a fourth line winger who lost the confidence of his head coach and was sent packing. Do you think that he has a massive chip on his shoulder? I do. His struggles led him to be included in the Ryan Miller and Steve Ott trade at the NHL trade deadline. Stewart was humbled when he was traded away from one of the top teams in the NHL to the 30th place team. He played only five games for the Sabres after suffering a season ending knee injury. Stewart wants to prove once and for all that last season was just the exception, not the rule. He’s had time to have conversations and spend quality time with Ted Nolan this summer. Stewart likes the Buffalo situation a lot. So much so that he’s comparing this Sabres vintage to his former Colorado Avalanche team of a few years back.

“It was kind of frustrating,” Stewart said. “Being traded from the first place to the last place team in the league, that was definitely a surprise. But I got there, and I’m willing to go anywhere a team wants me and is going to show me that respect, give me a chance to showcase my talents. So I’m excited to be there. We made a lot of changes in the off-season. We’re going to have a team next year with Teddy Nolan leading the charge. We’re going to be ready to compete and surprise a lot of teams.”




Stewart is looking through his windshield now, not his rear view mirror. His past is in his past. He’s entering a contract year on a team that respects his game and his leadership qualities. He’s living an hour away from his family in Toronto an d his quality of life has increased in value due to the birth of his twins. Stewart has a lot to be thankful for and he doesn’t want to let this opportunity to be a leader on a young, talented team pass him by. Ted Nolan loves players like Stewart who have chips on their shoulders. Nolan is all about proving people wrong and making them eat their own negative words. Stewart could not have asked for a better mentor at this juncture in his life and pro hockey career than Ted Nolan.


“There’s no doubt in my mind that I can be an elite power forward in this league,” Stewart said. “There’s things I can do that guys can’t. When I got to St. Louis I had a pretty good start there, and then the next year they brought in a bunch of older guys. That’s nothing to complain about. There are good hockey players there. It was definitely team-first and I took a backseat to some of the guys there that had been there longer than me. Going to Buffalo with a young team, it’s up to me to grab the bull by the horns and just demand that ice time.”

I can't wait to see the Marcus Foligno-Tyler Ennis-Chris Stewart line in exhibition games. Stewart and Marcus will bring the heavy and the finish and Enzo will provide the sauce. Nolan should give this line 20 minutes TOI and special teams work per night and watch the offensive production occur naturally.






I pity the poor fools who choose to take liberties with Stewart in the Buffalo lineup every night. He may wind up with 30 goals and 200 PIMs this season having to protect Reinhart, Girgensons, Ennis, Hodgson, Moulson, Gionta, Ristolainen, Pysyk, et al. Stewart is fine with chucking the knucks. He's better than good at it. He's great at punching opponents in the face. Its an integral part of his well rounded game. He'll step up and represent teammates at any given moment. That's what makes him so valuable to a young team like the Sabres who will be icing a largely young, inexperienced lineup on most nights this season.



If Stewart plays his cards right, he'll earn himself a long term contract extension after this season. If his dedication to his summer training is any indication of future performance then I'll say that he's going to shut the mouths of a lot of his haters this season.
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