Why The Offseason raises My Blood Pressure

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/id/4350334/blogging-nation

It's been a while since I've written one of these. Oh well, there are a few things concerning the state of the Blues that have made me, well, concerend. I've been getting increasingly worried about my boys in blue lately, and so far very little has happened to ease my mind.

First and foremost, Jay McKee is now a Pittsburgh Penguin. Just thinking about Jay in a 'Pens jersey raises my blood pressure. In the past several years, McKee has been among my favourite defencemen to watch. He is one of the best shot blockers this league has ever seen. There's a reason he was named alternate captain of the Buffalo Sabres during his last season with them. Sure he may be injury-prone (he's suffered a leg infection, knee injury, other various lower-body injuries, and almost had his finger taken off during a shot block), but when he's not injured, he does his job, and does it well. Ever since joining the Blues, his +/- rating has steadily improved, his biggest improvement coming this season, jumping from a +2 to a +11. So what if he was slightly overpaid, he's worth it. Unfortunately, the powers that be sure didn't think so. Bad move.

Since we're on the subject of defencemen, why have the Blues not re-signed Roman Polak yet? Our defence situation is rocky to say the least. Brewer might come back next season, but that's a pretty big "maybe." McKee is Pittsburgh-bound. Pietrangelo might... MIGHT... make the squad. Cole is staying in college for one more year. Peluso still has a ways to go. It's safest to keep Wagner in Peoria for at least one more season. Signing Polak would be a big step in securing our defence lineup. The front office needs to get on it and make the deal happen. Now. I know sometimes these things take a while, but seriously, stop beating around the bust and get this done.

At first, I didn't care whether we re-signed BJ "Breadcrumb" Crombeen or not. But now, I can't help but wonder why we did. We already have enough young, talented forwards to hang onto Breadcrumb any more. But now that he's a sealed deal, I think it would be best to send him to Peoria for now. That likely won't happen, but I really think it would be in the team's best interests.
The man, the myth, the Lagace... oops! Oh well, it won't be the first time someone mispelled his name. Like when he won the Stanley Cup in 2002, and his name was spelled "Lagace" on the 'Cup. At least he took the news better than Adam Deadmarch... I mean, Deadmarsh.Manny Legace has been a huge question mark since he got demoted to Peoria. When you have a goalie who has won Olympic silver, played in an AHL All-Star Game, won the Holmes Memorial Trophy and the Bastien Memorial Trophy (best AHL goalie and AHL goalie with the fewest goals against, respectively), played in an NHL All-Star Game, and won a Stanley Cup, and win over a city like St. Louis in the process, and his performance slips so badly he is demoted to the AHL, that can leave his future in the NHL uncertain. Despite injuries, he hasn't done a a bad job in St. Louis. That is, until the 09 season. I'm all for second chances, but I'm just not sure about Manny. With the exception of losing to Curtis Sanford twice, and having to be bailed out by Ben Bishop and Chris Holt, he did an okay job in Peoria. Although he couldn't get past the first round of the AHL playoffs, still, he had a 2.00 GAA (10th in the AHL playoffs) and a .935 save % (12th in the AHL playoffs). As much as I'd like to see him get a second chance, I'd also like Bishop to get more time in net, and resume development, with Holt backing him up, who did a great job of it this season. With Jean-Phillippe Lamoureux gone, perhaps signing Legace can leave more possibilities for filling the void in Alaska?

Why the hell did we let Trent Whitfield get away? He was everything the Rivermen could want in a veteran leader. So what if he never was NHL material? He was an invaluable piece of the system in Peoria. With so many talented up-and-comers, it was a no-brainer to keep Trent. He said himself he liked the way things were in Peoria, his family was comfortable there, and he trusted the coaching staff. There was nothing wrong with him or what he was doing. To say he did a tremendous job is an understatement.

I know some of the other teams have bigger issues than these, and this likely is the least of the Blues' worries, but I just don't understand the moves this organization has made recently. Signing Conklin and Tkachuk were some of the best moves made so far, but other than that, it's been quite questionable. I don't want to lose faith and confidence in this team all over again, but it's getting harder and harder not to. The Blues better start making better moves, I want to actually believe in my team when the season starts. And right now, the outlook for that isn't very bright. Here's hoping that can change by the time the Blues hit the ice in October.