Send downs and Red Wings

Blues fell last night 4-3 to the Stars. Today the Thrashers try not to do the same to the Detroit Red Wings. They sent down quite a few players to the Wolves (and Espo to Juniors), which allows some of our big boys to come up and start playing preseason games. Kovy makes his first start tonight. Bogosian is also making his preseason debut, and he'll be competing against Kulda for what is basically the last defense spot. The d-parings are Kudla/Havelid, Bogosian/Enstrom, and Valibik/Ostryck. Kari apparently is starting with Pavs to back him up.

The Blueland Blog will be live blogging the game as usual, since it won't be televised or apparently on the radio.

Hossa, Datsyuk, and Lindstrom are all out for whatever reasons. Hopefully we'll get a chance to welcome Hossa back to Blueland on Wednesday night. I am seriously looking forward to that game.

Blues 9, Thrashers 4

Yeeeeah... not a good night for Moose. At all. 9 Goals on 37 shots? Shades of last year's Buffalo game. Sterling scored twice for the Thrashers, and Boults and The Todd each scored one as well.


Perron had a hat trick, and MacDonald had 5 (!) assists on the night. The Post-Dispatch has a good breakdown of the lines going into last night.

Tonight's Blues game is live from the Dallas and can be "watched" (or whatever) on the Blues website. The Thrashers are not televised or on the radio in either market, sooo... Yeah. Looks like we're still going to have to wait until Wednesday to catch the action. God... preseason starts. I can't wait to use my first season ticket.

In other Blues News: they're allowing people to set their ticket prices through October 5th. Interesting.

And... Puck Daddy has a good team in review up for the Bluenotes.

Thrashers Acquire D. Mathieu Schneider

Um, our team got a lot better... I really hope that the naysayers stop saying nay now.

Per the press release:

Thrashers Acquire Defenseman Mathieu Schneider from Anaheim

Defenseman Ken Klee and Forwards Brad Larsen and Chad Painchaud Sent to Ducks in Trade

Atlanta Thrashers

Sep 26, 2008, 4:09 PM EDT

The Atlanta Thrashers have acquired defenseman Mathieu Schneider from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Ken Klee and forwards Brad Larsen and Chad Painchaud, according to Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell.

Schneider, 39, is a veteran of 19 NHL seasons with the Canadiens, Islanders, Maple Leafs, Rangers, Kings, Red Wings and Ducks, recording 702 points (212 goals, 490 assists) in 1,197 games. A Stanley Cup Champion with Montreal in 1993, he has appeared in 109 NHL playoff games over 13 playoff seasons with Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, Detroit and Anaheim, tallying 53 points (10 goals, 43 assists).

The 5-11, 195-pound defenseman, who has played in two NHL All-Star Games (1996 and 2003), has scored 93 power play goals, 28 game-winning goals and has earned a career plus-73 rating while averaging 23:21of ice time (since the statistic began being tracked in 1998-99). Since the beginning of the 2003-04 season, he has the third highest plus/minus rating (plus-89) in the league (behind Nicklas Lidstrom and Marek Malik) and is one of only six NHL defensemen to earn a plus-rating in each of the last seven seasons.

Last season with Anaheim, Schneider appeared in 65 games, recording 39 points (12 goals, 27 assists) and earned a plus-22 rating while averaging 22:18 of ice time per game. He tied for first among team defensemen in goals and ranked second among team defensemen in points, assists and plus/minus rating. He recorded a plus- or even-rating in 32 straight games from Dec. 18 to March 5 (plus-17), the longest streak in the league last season. In six playoff games with the Ducks, he tallied one goal and eight penalty minutes.

The native of New York, N.Y., represented the United States in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano and the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin. He has also represented the United States at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, helping win the Gold Medal, and the 1988 World Junior Championships.
Originally selected by Montreal in the third round, 44th overall, by Montreal in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Schneider played three seasons with Cornwall of the Ontario Hockey League from 1986-87 to 1988-89, where he was named to the OHL First All-Star Team in 1988 and 1989.

Klee, 37, has played one season for the Thrashers since signing as a free agent on July 2, 2007, appearing in 72 games and recording 10 points (one goal, nine assists) during the 2007-08 season. In 13 NHL seasons with Washington, Toronto, New Jersey, Colorado and Atlanta, he has registered 184 points (54 goals, 130 assists) in 863 games.

Larsen, 31, was acquired off waivers from Colorado on Feb. 24, 2004 and has appeared in 202 games for the Thrashers, recording 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists). In eight NHL seasons with the Thrashers and Avalanche, he has tallied 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists) in 294 games.

Painchaud, 22, was selected by the Thrashers in the fourth round, 106th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He spent last season between the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, where he recorded three points (one goal, two assists) in 22 games, and the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL, where he registered 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 10 games.

Thrash at Blues.

Wish I could live-blog, but seeing as how I'm not currently in StL, that would be difficult. No TV or radio from either market, but the Blueland Blog will have a live-blog going tonight. Per that site, the Thrash lines are this:

Stuart- White- Thorburn
Sterling- Esposito- Armstrong
Boulton- Holzapfel- Machacek
LaVallee- Little- Hoffman

Hainsey- Lewis
Oystrick- Rivers
Valabik- Exelby

Hedberg (Starting?)
Pavelec

He doesn't have the lines for the Blues up, but he does have the roster:

Brewer, Jackman, Tkachuk, Kariya, McDonald, Stempniak, McClement, King, Boyes, Woywitka, Porter, Backes, Wagner, Pietrangelo, Perron, Berglund, Strachan, Oshie

It looks like the Bluenotes are putting the big boys out against the Baby Birds. It looks as though the Blues have already made their roster cuts and know, for the most part, who will be the team this year - the Thrash are still experimenting with lines, etc. This isn't going to be an easy game for the Thrashers.

I love and hate these games... I always feel like I have such a conflict of interest... thank God my 2 favorite teams are in different Conferences. I can't stomach this more than 3 times a year.

That being said... Go Blues!

Toby Back for 4 Years

The Thrashers have re-signed their sophomore d-man Tobias Enstrom to a 4 year contract extension that begins at the start of the 2009-2010 season.  He had 36 points in 82 games last season and was named to the NHL-All Rookie team.  The terms of the contract aren't out, but it should be more than his $750,000 rookie contract.

Good - the li'l guy was a vital part of our D last year until the end, where he was overused and wore himself down.  

In other news, Christensen's shoulder's MRI came back ok... he should be good to go for this season.

Erik Johnson out for the season?

Damn that golf cart... apparently he has a torn ACL and a damaged MCL. Current guestimations have him out for between 3 to 6 months... which basically means the season. St. Louis GameTime has a good point, though. Maybe our team has more going for it than our old #1 draft pick. Maybe, I don't know, we have Pietrangelo, to pick up some slack? He certainly did so last night with assists on two of the three goals that the Blues scored last night in their 3-2 win over Dallas. We have Chris Mason offering solid back-up potential so Legace doesn't overwork his knee - no Ears to cost us about 10 games this year will help us in the standings. I honestly do not think that there is a guarantee that we will end this season the same place that we ended last season. If we start this season like we did last season, and KEEP IT UP THIS TIME, we could be a contender. God willing.

New uniform is up!

I do believe I like it, if not just for the color scheme and uniform design in general.

The new logo? Well, it's one of the better ones out of the 3rd jerseys this year.

The nice folks at Puck Daddy are wondering when it's going to replace the usual uniform. I don't know about that, but they could just slap the Blue Note on the front of it and it'd be good to go for a regular home uni.

FYI, Blues' preseason starts tomorrow against the Kings. Wow... hockey's back! Since training camp's still ongoing for the Thrash, their first preseason game isn't until Thursday against the Preds... followed by a game against the Blues. Wow... looks like I'll have 3 of my Sybill games this year. Always fun to figure out who to cheer for... Blues win, of course. I just hope that I don't get booed at Philips this year again. I'm a STH... I want to make sure that the people around me like me.

Blues Stuff...

Some important questions for the Blues this year from the Post-Dispatch, and some leaking of the details of the 3rd jersey. Sounds sharp!

Also, the Baby Blues, while impressive at the tourney this past week, did not do as well as expected. The Baby Thrashers, on the other hand, came in 2nd, losing only to Dallas in the final game.

I am really feeling positive about this year, especially with Anderson in charge. From the AJC:

"I don’t give a damn what everybody says, because for me, I didn’t come here to freaking lose,” he said. “They hired me to help this team win. I don’t want to lose. Losing stinks. I’ve been on teams like that. I don’t want that here. I don’t want that creeping in. I want the fear of losing.”

That's what we heard at the Town Hall meeting basically, and that's exactly what we need.

Traverse City Prospect Tourney

Keep your eyes peeled... the tournament is being shown (albiet on about a day's delay) on NHL Network. Atlanta won their first game 1-0 (Bogo=solid) and St. Louis is up 2-0 with about 5 left in the first as I watch. Yes, I know... the game's already over, but I want to find this out on my own. I am so far more impressed with the hustle and competitiveness of the Blues' prospects than the Thrashers'. The Baby Birds did well and played hard, but these new Blues, well... give us a couple of years and we are going to be a major contender in the West. Heck... depending on which of these kids we call up, we're going to be stronger this year than we could have ever been last year.

Keep an eye on the NHL Network's TV listings for the tournament... 8:00 ET is the next Blues game against the Wild. 10:00 ET Wednesday is the next Thrash game against the Wings.

Stick a fork in 'em...

... they're done. The 2008 Cardinals have exceeded expectations, but with them sitting 6 games back in the WC race, and with the bullpen blowing games (aren't we up to 30? THIRTY?) I doubt that we can catch the Brewers.

There are some high points... Ludwick's 30HR 100 RBI season... another one of those for Albert (9 in a row)... Glaus being a Gold Glove contender... us having a record that would lead other divisions when we were supposed to be in the basement of the league... Albert leading the league in batting average, slugging percent, and on-base percentage...

There is a lot to smile about if you're a Cardinals fan. Yeah, we won't win the Series again this year, but that's not really all that matters.

And we have ten of those pesky banners anyway.

Slow off-season...

Lots of work at, well... work... haven't been able to really update the site like I'd like to.

But there is pleasant news on the horizon that's better than those "team in review" postings that are starting to pop up... we signed Bogosian! Really all that's been released is that it's a multi-year entry level contract. He has 10 games to try out with us at the beginning of the year before we figure out if we want his services. DW has said that there is a strong chance that Bogy makes the opening night roster. I'm not a betting woman, but... well... I'd continue that trend because I wouldn't bet against him making the team.

Hope abounds for the Blues, too. They've signed Alex Pietrangelo!

Same basic contract as Bogy, same basic expectations. The youth movement for the Blues and for the Thrash is alive and well... give us a couple of years and those two teams are going to be forces to reckon with. Have patience, Young Skywalker. I mean, heck, according to HF.com, the Bluenotes have the best youth movement in hockey.