Why The Offseason raises My Blood Pressure

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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.

A Calder Cup In Peoria?

The Rivermen's last win (vs Chicago, 3-2) was Peoria's 4th straight win. That's their longest win streak all season long. On friday, the Rivermen will trek to Grand Rapids and try to make it a 5-game win streak when they face the Griffins.
The 'Men are within one point of a last-seed playoff spot. If they keep up the good work, they can try to overtake Chicago for a playoff spot. It won't be easy, the AHL's Western Conference, much like the NHL's own, has been quite competitive all season long. At the start of the season, Peoria had been hovering around the middle of the standings, both in the West Division and Western Conference. After the All-Star Classic, they started to lose ground, but they could be well on their way back up.

Let's take a look back, shall we?

3/8/09
PEO 3, CHI 2
- The latest in Peoria's 4-game streak. Chicago had the fans at the Allstate Arena smelling victory after scoring 2 quick, back-to-back goals in the 1st, but it was nothing the 'Men couldn't overcome. Manny Legace made 30 out of 32 saves, including 13 in the 3rd period, one of which was a pont-blank on the powerplay. This was merely minutes before Nicholas Drazenovic scored the game-winning goal. Also worth noting is Ivan "Vish Out Of Water" Vishnevskiy has scored 3 points in the last 4 games, this time tying the game in the 2nd period.

3/7/09
PEO 4, RFD 3
- If you're against the shootout, this wasn't a game I advise you look back on. Even though the Rivermen did win it, scoring on all 3 chances in the SO.
This was a close game from the opening faceoff. Goal after goal after goal after goal up until the end of the 3rd period. A nail-biter of an OT if there ever was one, the shootout-haters were quite unpleased. But even the most die-hard skeptics must have been pleased with peoria's effort, forcing 3 allowed goals out of AHL superstar goalie Corey Crawford. He isn't an easy goalie to beat by any means, but beat him the Rivermen did. More specifically, Nicholas Drazenovic, Carl Corazzini and alternate captain Steve Regier.

3/6/09
PEO 4, CHI 2
- All it took was a little over a minute for Julian Talbot to score to take the lead, which the 'Men never let go of. Chicago's Andrej Pavelec made some quite impressive saves this game, but it wasn't enough, simple as that. Not tonight. Especially that 2nd period one-timer started by Carl Corazzini, which led to a very beautiful goal by Ryan Reaves.
This game evened the series between the two teams at 4-4-0, at least until a few days later.
It's worth noting that during the 1st intermission, the Rivermen Hall Of Fame was introduced to two new inductees, Joe Rybar and Don Granato, the latter of which coached the 'Men to a Kelly Cup in 2000 during their ECHL days.

3/2/09
PEO 5, QC 2
- The game that started the streak. The powerplay was at it's best tonight, with 3 PP goals being scored tonight. The Rivermen's save of the year was tonight, as Manny Legace caught a David Van der Gulik slapshot between his head and shoulder in the 1st period. Unfortunately, he was injured in the 2nd. But thankfully, his backup, Chris Holt, was able to hold down the fort, making 12 out of 13 saves. This game made the R-Men's record against the Flames 7-1-0.

So can the Rivermen keep up the good work and achieve a playoff spot? If so, can they hold onto it until the playoffs begin in April? And if they can, will they be good enough in the battles to possibly come against the best teams in the Western Conference in a bid to bring a Calder Cup to Peoria?

I am not one for optimism, and maybe this is just wishful thinking, but the Rivermen have been playing greatly this month, and they're seemingly showing no signs of stopping. They're scoring, making the most of powerplay time, and Manny Legace is doing everything an AHL goalie should, not to mention having a great backup in Chris Holt. Whether it's good enough to make a post-season run is questionable, but it's not looking as bleak as it was. And it was looking really, really bleak.
It can be done, but the Rivermen will really have to work harder than ever and pull a few rabbits out of their hats, because the division and the rest of the conference is going to be working just as hard.