Monday and hockey don't mix.

Honest to goodness, what was up with everyone last night? Almost shut out by Toskala, blanked by Budaj. Unpleasant. The Blues lost at home again... there's something about playing in front of the Scottrade crowd that just sucks the life out of the team. This isn't the same problem that the Thrashers have - we don't have as many people in the seats as we should here. We have a fanbase that's extremely loyal, but small (we're the ones who don't sit around and watch football, Antro - thanks for that last night, BTW), but come on - playing for 8000 people who love ya versus 20,000 people who do... or even 10,000 that do and 10,000 who got the tickets from their boss... the cellphone chatter in the ACC last night could have been louder than the stands during the last home game. The Thrashers (usually) play better on the road because they have people to play to, and they feed off that noise. The Blues also feed off of the opposition crowd. Both teams have outstanding road records (9-3-1 for the Thrash, 7-2-3 for the Blues), presumably because they like to make other fanbases wallow in the misery that their own have been subjected to in recent years.

But the Blues have fans in the stands. I don't get it... are these the bandwagon fans that hopped on during our playoff push? Bandwagon fans can suck the life out of an arena. They only cheer when a good, obvious play happens. Anyone make a smart defensive move? Silence. Trying to set up for a shot during the power play? They scream at you because you're cycling the puck. Guys that sit in the stands, call out individual players, and then sit silent when they do something productive - gosh, I'm describing the people who sit behind me at games again, aren't I?

Anywho, maybe that's it at Scottrade. Maybe Jackman's tired of taking the ire in Brewer's absence. Maybe the team just really wants some people in the stands to actually back off in sending out the bad vibes. Who knows, but homecomings for the Blues and Thrashers are oftentimes not happy.