Jason Millen: Blues open the season against rival Blackhawks Blues open the season against rival Blackhawks

Might be the weakest line up the hawks have dressed for some time. Panik on the 1st
line jeez that's crap depth!

Rutherford said its Parayko and Edmundson on the same pairing. Borts is with Shatty.

Should be a good game though. Lets Go Blues!

yeah and it looks like we have kempny playing 2 defensive spots

yeah and it looks like we have kempny playing 2 defensive spots
- waitforawhistle

already was working on fixing it while updating the charity thing

This site would be a lot nicer to its bloggers if it allowed them to preview their post but we can't but rather have to submit it and then go back and edit it later. Always found it odd that a comment can be previewed but not an actual blog.

Might be the weakest line up the hawks have dressed for some time. Panik on the 1st
line jeez that's crap depth!

Rutherford said its Parayko and Edmundson on the same pairing. Borts is with Shatty.

Should be a good game though. Lets Go Blues!
- cuethenoise

Considering Panarin-AA-Kane was the best line in the NHL last season I'd say Panik-Toews-Hossa is actually the 2nd line. Not a bad 2nd line all things considered.

Its the bottom 6 and overall depth like you said that looks scary. Gotta hope a few of these kids pan out, wait for Desjardins to come back from injury, and probably make a move at the TDL before the Hawks can get to rolling 4 lines.

Chicago won't have Svedberg and Gustaffson helping the Blues out this year

Considering Panarin-AA-Kane was the best line in the NHL last season I'd say Panik-Toews-Hossa is actually the 2nd line. Not a bad 2nd line all things considered.

Its the bottom 6 and overall depth like you said that looks scary. Gotta hope a few of these kids pan out, wait for Desjardins to come back from injury, and probably make a move at the TDL before the Hawks can get to rolling 4 lines.
- SimpleJack

Line listing was as posted by Chicago writer Chris Hine and I never care about the order of the lines listed in an article/posting. The Bottom six definitely looks weak.

A few more fun facts - Blues were 2-1 vs Hawks on the road last year with Tarasenko getting both game wining goals.

Other game winning goals in the other 3 games last year -Shattenkirk, Panarin, Kane......so in this series, the stars decided the games, lol.

Blues are only 46-79-28-2 on the road against Chicago

Line listing was as posted by Chicago writer Chris Hine and I never care about the order of the lines listed in an article/posting. The Bottom six definitely looks weak.
- stljam

And Panik is pretty much a career AHL guy...

More tidbits....the is the first road opener for the Blues since 2009 (a game I happened to attend and may be one of my best hockey experiences to date). The Blues are 11-9-6 in those road openers.

any blues fans worried about allen as a starter?? seemed like every time hitch has given him the chance to take the reigns he ended up going back to elliot.. just curious

any blues fans worried about allen as a starter?? seemed like every time hitch has given him the chance to take the reigns he ended up going back to elliot.. just curious
- gopherwildfan

I'm not worried at all. Its time. Plus Hutton seems capable if Allen gets hurt or gets in a rut. I think Elliott will show that he isn't really that elite this year in Calgary. Team defense is a big part of his success. I think Elliott is a good goalie just not top 5 like his stats showed.

It only went back to Elliott because of injuries. Not because of play by Allen.

Personally, not worried.

And Panik is pretty much a career AHL guy...
- cuethenoise

All speed..no hands.

Hawks are two left wings short of a complete team

All speed..no hands.

Hawks are two left wings short of a complete team

Sounds like Paajarvi...except he is being scratched tonight.

Yeah and that is before injuries. Not going to be an easy season for the Hawks. Salary Cap Sucks!

yeah and it looks like we have kempny playing 2 defensive spots
- waitforawhistle

Let's go easy on J. He's a great guy.

That being said, any Hawks fans looking to troll the Blues thread - or vice versa - will not be tolerated.

I think Backes grew a lot as a player in the playoffs last year, much like Crosby, but at his age and mileage I think STL did the right thing by not going long term with him.

That said I love that Hitch is showing he's adaptable, at least behind the microphone, and pivoting to more speed and possession utilizing the hand he is dealt. Minus the nonsense I was/is a fan of Hitch's north-south knock you down style.

Agree Allen is a question mark to a degree not due to talent but because he's never been the #1 without a safety net before.

Asking Yak to play 3rd line is reasonable. Thought Berglund took a big step last year and when Schwartz returns knocking Perron down the the 3rd line the Blues could very well have 3 legit scoring lines.

Have to say every time I saw rookie Edmundson live last year he impressed with his mobility. A sign that Hitch really does plan on opening the game up a bit?

I think you guys actually have one of the most fascinating teams to watch this year. Going to be a bloody fight to the finish again in the central.

Replying to cuethenoise' 1st post:

Salary.
Cap.
Hell.

Price to pay for three titles and two more WCF appearances over an 8 season span.

Bubble team unless a lot of players step up most the season. That, and a crafty move by SB for another top 6 forward.

So wrapped up with the Cubbies I almost forgot tonight's game. Now the baseball boys gotta match the hockey boys success and follow their rival baseball franchise, the Red Birds.

any blues fans worried about allen as a starter?? seemed like every time hitch has given him the chance to take the reigns he ended up going back to elliot.. just curious
- gopherwildfan


I'm not worried at all. Its time. Plus Hutton seems capable if Allen gets hurt or gets in a rut. I think Elliott will show that he isn't really that elite this year in Calgary. Team defense is a big part of his success. I think Elliott is a good goalie just not top 5 like his stats showed.

Agree. I read something elsewhere today where the author pointed out Allen's Save% has gone up last 3 seasons: .905, .913, .920. If that trend continues, maybe his stat line looks something like this next year:
G W L OT MIN SO GA SHA GAA SV%G A PIMS
61 35 21 4 3585 6 123 1672 2.06 .926 0 1 4

I don't think that's too far out of line, either. That's Ben Bishop's stats from last season, and the Blues' valued Allen over Bishop when push came to shove (although Moose made it hard to keep Bishop as the NHL backup). I just hope they don't try running Allen out over 65 games in the regular season. 62 is a nice number for him with Hutton backing up, IMO. Nothing you can do about injuries, that's just luck.

Love hearing the beginning of the broadcast and the song to kick off a another season. Gets me pumped!!!

LGB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Replying to cuethenoise' 1st post:

Salary.
Cap.
Hell.

Price to pay for three titles and two more WCF appearances over an 8 season span.

Bubble team unless a lot of players step up most the season. That, and a crafty move by SB for another top 6 forward.

So wrapped up with the Cubbies I almost forgot tonight's game. Now the baseball boys gotta match the hockey boys success and follow their rival baseball franchise, the Red Birds.
- blackhawk24

Hawks have too many money players. The only issues really for them is depth.

Anyone concentrating on their young players will be disappinted. It will take an injury or two to expose them in the regular season, and they will have some off nights because of young players--guess what? Every team has off nights. The difference is say the Leafs or the Coyotes have a bad spel; well they have a lot of young players who will be more likely to panic. The Hawks have winners that can calm the kids and teach them.

Well hate to see the first game broadcast with the homer eddie, who is a good broadcaster, but just a homer which is annoying.

Perron looks solid and like he has simplified his game. Yakupov looks like he is afraid to make a mistake positioning and like he does not know where to go or when.

Parayko looks great except when he blew his coverage on the pp goal against.

Allen has looked good besides the one goal where I did not care for his rebound placement.

Beautiful goal by Matthews. Four goals already!! But I hate Canadians when they talk about hockey. For our American viewers the Leafs are like....shut the hell up Bob. Bob the game has St. Louis involved which had about as many first round picks this year as the entire country of Canada.

Also if that was a slash on Fabbri and a strong of hold by Parayko to deserve a penalty how does Keith not go to the box with his slashes on Perron just now?

It's weird seeing Perron out there. I don't like it.

Unless his back skate was in the air that ref was a way, way, way off on that off side call.