Ken Hitchcock has officially ruled goaltender Jaroslav Halak out for the second round of the playoffs, as reported by Jeremy Rutherford. Questions arose about Halak after the Blues got battered in Game 2, but Hitchcock brushed these questions aside stating Halak is out for the series. If, and this if is growing larger by the day, the Blues advance to the third round Halak’s status might change. Read more.
Typically these game recaps run between 500 and 1,000 words. Tonight we need just one word to summarize – Dreadful. We’ve seen the Blues look sluggish out of the gate. We’ve seen them make some mental errors and look like a shy, timid team at times during the regular season. Then there’s whatever that was in tonight’s first period. The Blues were dominated in the first period. Dominated with a capital “D”. Use any cliche you like, it applies to the Blues in the first period. This first period debacle puts the Blues in one big hole as the series shifts to Los Angeles. Read more.
Matt D’Agostini will be in the lineup tonight, taking the place of Chris Stewart as the Blues try to bring the series level against the Los Angeles Kings. The news, as reported by Lou Korac, doesn’t come as much of a surprise given Stewart’s rather uninspiring effort in Game 1. If you recall, coach Ken Hitchcock used a similar tactic in the first round against San Jose, benching Stewart in favor of D’Agostini in an effort to get a spark from that portion of the lineup. Read more.
In what might be the least surprising news you’ve heard this week, Ken Hitchcock has officially been named one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams award. The award is given to the coach that has “contributed the most to his team’s success”. Hitchcock will be up against Ottawa’s Paul MacLean and New York’s John Tortorella. Read more.
City of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay officially declared Friday, April 27th to be “St. Louis Blues Day”, as reported by the St. Louis Blues official site. In his address today, Slay encouraged citizens of St. Louis (and the surrounding areas, of course) to show their pride on Friday by wearing their St. Louis Blues gear. Read more.
It took several days but the St. Louis Blues vs. LA Kings second round schedule has been released. The Blues will open the series with two consecutive games at home, the first on Saturday, April 28th with the second coming on Monday, April 30th. The Blues then will hit the road with Game 3 on Thursday, May 3rd and Game 4 on Sunday, May 6th from the STAPLES Center. Read more.
Ty Rattie had an enormous 2011-12 season in the WHL with 57 goals and 64 assists (121 points) in 69 games. When the regular season concluded and the WHL playoffs kicked off, Rattie showed no signs of slowing and has been arguably the most productive and most threatening forward at the WHL level. What lies ahead for the 2011 first round pick? Read more.
