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Blues vs. Stars Game 4 Preview and Quotes

May 5, 2016, 3:33 PM ET [65 Comments]
Jason Millen
St Louis Blues Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


As a refresher, the highlights of the Blues roping the Stars in game 3 can be seen here. Blues fans, coaches and players aren’t likely getting too overconfident from that game lest they forget the meaningless 6-1 victory over the Wild in last year’s first round playoff loss. Look at some of the players’ quotes for evidence. Brodziak said he expects tonight to be “one of the hardest games of the series yet”. Backes believes “they’re going to be a hungry team”. Hitchcock said that “we think we’re getting better. We were better in game three than we were in game two. Can we get better? That’s the focus.” The players and coach are saying the right things. Hopefully they can back those up with actions tonight.

The Blue will likely bring the exact same lineup and lines back for game four. The Stars are likely going to have a different lineup. Kari Lehtonen will start and McKenzie looks to be scratched after his first playoff game. Expect either Nichushkin or Ritchie to replace him with the decision likely coming around warm-ups. Fiddler may also be scratched, allowing them both to play tonight. I can’t see any shuffling of the Stars lineup making any real difference unless someone gets hurt or Tyler Seguin is back, healthy and ready to contribute.

If the Blues stick to winning 3 or 4 of Jammer’s Keys, I like their chances tonight.

Quotes from the last couple of days
Hitchcock – “I know we’re playing hockey but a lot of us that are born in Alberta, our thoughts and prayers right now are for the people of Fort McMurray. The fire’s in the town, and obviously [Scottie Upshall is] from there. We’ve all been there many times. So as much as this is a hockey game, a lot of our thoughts, especially us born and raised in that province, are with the people in that town.” Note tonight’s auctions and 50/50 raffle proceeds will be used to help the people of Fort McMurray.

Pietrangelo on his health – “No. I’m good, just a scratch on my eye. That’s all.” – Wait. What? Uh, should we concerned?

Hitchcock – “Adversity matures you or rips you apart. It brought us closer together.”

Hitchcock – “I don’t worry about what the opposition is doing. We expect to get their best and we’re going to get it. It’s all about us.”

Hitchcock on Tarasenko kissing his stick – “He does that all the time. He’s either kissing it or chewing on the tape. It’s an awful tasty stick.”

Ruff on Hitchcock commenting that the game was closer than the score – “Hitch is like the peanuts on top of the bar. They’re complimentary. I’m not buying into that part.”

Reaves about Benn saying the Stars will remember his “kiss” – Did he catch and put it in his pocket? I don’t know why it’s a big deal to him.”

Steen about Elliott – “He’s our backbone”.

More Steen – We’ve talked about our roles here in the playoffs, and the number 1 thing is getting wins.”

Upshall – “We still need to elevate our game if we want to be a championship team.”

Stastny – “We know they’ll forget about it. We’ll forget about it and get ready for tomorrow.”

NHL Champions for Charity
In what I hope becomes a hockeybuzz tradition, Bill Meltzer and I placed a wager on the series. If the Blues win, Bill has agreed to make a donation to Safe Connections (@SafeConnections on twitter) whose mission is to reduce the impact and incident of relationship violence and sexual assault through education, crisis intervention, and counseling services. If the Stars win, I will donate to Snider Hockey ( @SniderHockey on twitter) whose mission is to build lives and unite communities, helping educate young people to succeed in the game of life.

I'm going to work on starting NHL Champion for Charity which I hope will get players and fans to pledge donations for each win their team makes in the NHL playoffs. For the players, it would be great if they would agree to donate a small percentage of their playoff bonuses to charity while fans could donate an amount per win, perhaps both upping it if their team won the Stanley Cup. As a simple example, a player could pledge 0.25% per win with a bonus 1% if they win the Cup, bringing their total to 5%. I likely won't get any traction on this until next year if ever but at least wanted to put the idea out there now.

It’s a great day for hockey.
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