St. Louis Game Time

A Late Night, Obsessive Poll

2009-11-07T06:27:12Z

I like hockey. Hockey is so ingrained in the day-to-day business of the Gallagher household that my four-year-old spent about four minutes explaining to me what she would do if she played hockey, even though she probably wants to play a different sport, but go Blues, and I like hockey but might want to do something else.

A conversation that some psychiatrist would probably dissect and turn against me. Or will, later, at great cost to me.

So, while I have an advantage over many of you in that I have offspring that I can force into liking the sport, let's see just how obsessed YOU are. By thye way, there are no wrong answers here tonight.

Poll

When it comes to hockey, you...

Brewerbot needs upgrade to vision program

2009-11-06T23:37:46Z

Brewerbot needs upgrade to vision program

Blues captain/goat breaks his media silence by informing the Post-Dispatch that he did not, in fact, see the puck he put into his own net. Seriously. He just took a mad whack at the goal area. Has that strategy ever worked? Seriously, you're not going to win fans over by just blindly flailing at things. The puck is not a pinata at a child's birthday party. See puck, hit puck — and not in your own goal.

Happy Birthday To Us.

2009-11-06T22:04:15Z

Sorry. We dropped the cake.

View full size photo »

Four years ago today we printed our first-ever issue of the gamd day paper. It was for a game against Detroit and the banner headline on the front said, "Satan Has A Hockey Team!" It was 24 pages and featured the first (and only) appearance of what was supposed to be an every-issue column under the heading of "The Rink Rat's Rant"; a column about the prospects that was not written by our own GT Prospect Department, but rather by someone else; a couple stories about the NHL's new rules and about the passing of Bob Broeg by Chris Gift (though not under the now firmly-established The Five Hole"); and some truly horrendous formatting.

We also learned an important lesson about headlines: Jokes about Satan make people think you're peddling religious materials.

Many thanks to everyone who bought that first issue and still stuck with us after that, and many thanks to everyone who works so hard on our little paper and it's sister, this smart-mouth site. Four years and now into our fifth season of bitching about Blues hockey, happy birthday to you all.

As a way to give back a little bit to our loyal readers, we have a birthday present for all of you. Thanks to the donation of our own DanGNR we have two tickets for Tuesday's game against Vancouver. They are upstairs seats, but you beggars know not to be choosers, right?

Birthday Contest:

Want to win the two tickets to the game? Email your most creative story about either:

Why the Blues are struggling right now
What the Blues can do to break out of their slump

And the most creative and/or humorous story out of the bunch gets published here on the ssite, possibly in Tuesday's issue of Game Time and you win the two seats. Notice that the emphasis is on creative and/or humorous, so if you send in simply "Brewer sucks and Andy Murray should be fired" you won't win. If, however, you come up with something unique and print-worthy, they shall be yours.

Deadline is going to have to be Sunday night at 5 p.m. Central so do not dilly-dally. Send your submissions to gallagher@stlouisgametime.com and we'll judge them. The format can be whatever works best for your story: Word documents, pictures and text, a video you shot, whatever. Any questions? Leave 'em in the comments.

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to you all.

Friday links: One goal? One damn goal? Edition

2009-11-06T11:15:18Z

It's kinda sad when the best thing you can say about a game is, "Well, at least they didn't get shut out."

Blues news

In case you missed it: Blues lost to Flames 2-1. [Associated Press]
Lars Eller, now known as Skeet, had a good season debut. [Belleville News-Democrat]
In this gamer, we learn the Eric Brewer wasn't available for comment after the game. That's what a captain does. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
It's Darryl Sydor day for Blues beat writers. [Belleville News-Democrat]
Sydor is providing depth and all that. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Two players who fucked over the Blues get together to talk about fucking over the Blues. Oh and hiring a hit man to kill his agent. [News Wire]

Hockey news

Thursday night was hockey night. [Yahoo! Sports]
Here is your Friday night schedule. [Yahoo! Sports]
Peter Forsberg, right now, doesn't have a deal in place with the KHL.[TSN]
Alex Ovechkin is practicing, but no word on his return. [TSN]
David Krejci has has the Swine flu. [TSN]
Tuukka Rask, best known for his meltdown last season, signed an extension with Boston. [ESPN]
A former Blues d-man is the best defenseman in the KHL. [Puck Daddy]

Other links

I think this list was either made by RFJCC or for him. [Cracked]
BleedBluecp2 found this and uhh ... well it's Barack Obama (and others) dressing for the weather. [Obama Weather]
Glen Quagmire offers advice. [Sloshspot Blog]

Video

RFJCC knows me all too well. Ladies and gentlemen: "Thunder Busters." I guess you drink on Thunder and Ghostbusters on this version.

Poor College Student here this weekend. Send him stuff at gametimelinks(at)gmail.com

Blues Fall Again At Home: Disturbing Trends

2009-11-06T05:31:14Z

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

St. Louis Blues' Lars Eller (61) is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the third period of his first NHL hockey game, against the Calgary Flames. Erik Johnson (6) did not kiss Eller.

Browse more photos »

I had a buddy who used to intentionally put off every assignment until the last possible second. He said he'd done the same thing all through college, too. He'd get to the last possible instant that he could potentially start a project, go into total freak-out mode, curse himself, pull on his scalp in an overly aggressive way and then proceed to wail away on the project until it was done, usually seconds before the deadline.

"I know myself," he'd say, "I do my best work when my back is against the wall."

I'm starting to think that the Blues have the same mentality as a team. They are now 5-6-2, eight losses in their first 13, on the year. Last year they started 5-7-1, eight losses in their first 13 games. It wasn't until almost the last possible second last year before they went on the tear that put them into the playoffs... on the second-to-last day of the season.

The Blues grabbed the first goal of the game only five times this season: in the three wins against Anaheim, Minnesota and Carolina and the two losses to Phoenix and Atlanta. The Blues have given up the first goal in the other eight. Clearly, this isn't the way Andy Murray wants his team to play, but think back to the end of last season. How many times did the Note give up the first goal? Forty-seven times, friends. Forty-seven.

It may not be the mentality they want to have, but it clearly is the mentality they have. This team puts pressure on itself time and again by giving up the lead and having to battle back. It happened 57% of the time last year and it has happened 62% of the time this season. The only difference? Last year the team was getting scoring from all of their lines. This year the Blues are averaging 1.00 goals per game in their eight losses.

How do you fix it? No idea, but clearly the Blues need a new pre-game ritual to get their intensity ratcheted up.

A couple other notes from tonight:

Lars Eller/Lars Ulrich/Skeet Ulrich comes up from Peoria, dons Cory Stillman's number and gets his first NHL goal. Great to see it and glad to see the new guy from the AHL is the one who breaks the scoreless streak. Can we call up someone else from Peoria to get the team another goal in Philly on Saturday?
The team got plenty of shots tonight, went to the goal hard, won puck battles and didn't shy from any contact. And still they lost. At some point you have to stop saying, "Just ran into a hot goalie tonight," but it does just seem like the Blues can't pull an easy draw in net: Miikka Kiprusoff, Tomas Vokoun, Ilya Bryzgalov. All three are good golaies and all three stymied the Note on this homestand.
There's plenty of underachievers to point a finger at right now, but the play of T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund is so incredibly different from last year that it stands out. Seems like it's time for those two to become roomies again, fire up Rock Band and play "Wonderwall" all night again. Don't screw with the hockey gods. Especially when you're a sophmore.
Eric Brewer kicked in the first goal of the game to put his team down. For a guy who would probably want nothing more than to get off the list of the fans' "Most Hated Player" he sure isn't finding a way to help himself.
Sometimes a golatending controversy is good for a team. Look what happened last year when Chris Mason played well enough to get Manny Legace to push the self-destruct button: the Blues wound up with one of the hottest goalies in the league and rode him to the sixth seed in the playoffs. Mason has been good, don't get me wrong, but if Ty Conklin has a couple more quality starts, maybe it'll jump start Mason's defense mechanism and he'll get even better.

Flyers up next in Philadelphia on Saturday night. Should be an entertaining game with a good, hard-hitting team. let's see if the Blues can rise to the occasion.

Here's your post-game interviews with Eller, Oshie and Johnson, the assumed future of the team:

Burning For A Win: Blues Host Flames GDT

2009-11-06T00:30:26Z

by Larry MacDougal - AP

Yes, please. Flames golatender Miikka Kiprusoff has been streaky this season.

View full size photo »

The Blues need to change some things tonight. They need to make the simple play more often. They need to crash the net hard. They need to win puck battles. They need to score a damn goal. They need a win at home.

If they don't accomplish these things, they've got a hard path ahead of them. Their next game is in Philadelphia against a tough Flyers squad on Saturday. They play again the next day in Atlanta and while the Thrashers are a bit more banged up than when they beat the Note last month, that's still a better team than most of us thought.

The Blues do have a few things going for them, though. T.J. Oshie will return to the ice after recovering from his emergency appendectomy and will likely have very vocal support from the home crowd. And we all know that a fired-up Oshie aint, as Old Dirt Dog would say, nothin' to fuck wit. Additionally it looks like Carlo Colaiacovo has recovered from the Steve Ott flu and will retrurn to the lineup. And finally, we get a glimpse of yet another jewel in the Blues' prospect crown, rookie Lars Eller should suit up for the first time tonight, reportedly wearing No. 61.

Hopefully the team has had a come-to-jeebus meeting and are ready to go out, kick ass and take some names tonight.

And those names really come down to two when we talk about the Flames: Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff. The pair are so good at their individual jobs that they give their team a chance to win almost every night. When the Flames role players all kick in, their odds improve dramatically (Rene Bourque and your team-leading 11 assists and 16 points, we're looking at you).

To put to bed any thoughts of exaggeration on our part, consider this: Iginla already owns the Calgary career records for games (955), goals (415) and points (863). And that's for a franchise that employed the likes of Theo Fleury, Joe Niewendyk and Al MacInnis for significant stretches. Kiprusoff, for his part, is the franchise leader in shutouts (27), goals against average (2.44) and save percentage (91.4%). He beat out Dan Bouchard (who played 398 games for the Flames and is third on the team in wins) and Mike Vernon in each of those categories.

Beat those two guys and you probably beat the Flames.

*****

On an unrelated note, the stickers are in, the stickers are in! That's right, we just got a new shipment of the circle GT stickers similar to the ones that have appeared on signs in Dallas and subsequently on Blues TV commercials. Want one? There are two easy ways:

If you're going to the game, ask your GT vendor for one. If they have one left, it's yours.
If you're not going to the game, email me (gallagher[AT]stlouisgametime.com) and I'll give you the mailing address. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to that address and I'll send one back to you. Feel free to drop a buck in the envelop if you're so inclined, I'd be happy if I could find a way to break even on these things.

Then, once you have your sticker affixed, bask in the glow of wearing your GT colors, just like in a real gang! If you've got a particularly interesting use for yours, feel free to post a picture on the site or email the shot to us.

*****

The game is a 7:30 central start because the game was originally to be broadcast nationally in Canada. Since that time the network has decided to pass on this particulat contest. And yes, that's a slap in the face. FSN-Midwest will buck the Canadian convention and go forward with the broadcast. KMOX will also cater to you radio folks and the internet will likely provide for you piracy types.

This is your game day thread.

Blues Play Tonight: You Write The Comedy Today

2009-11-05T19:49:46Z

More photos » by Bill Boyce - AP

"I don't know what it is, but it's got to be a penalty of some sort."

Browse more photos »

You might have to click on the picture to get the full-size glory of it all, but we need some captions for this picture.

What, exactly, is David Perron up to?
What could Nathan Horton be thinking?
Surely David Backes and cam Janssen have a take on this situation...

Let us know in the comments what you think...

Game Time on the AOL Fanhouse

2009-11-05T18:24:47Z

Game Time on the AOL Fanhouse

Want to see what we had to say to questions about why the Blues have disappointed so far this year?

Here's a hint: We name the names. Here's a surprise: We don't blame Sweden (for once).

Thursday links: Where we hope the Blues can touch a Flame even if it's red hot

2009-11-05T11:15:24Z

What a shitty Wednesday. Arrived an hour early for a football game I was covering. The team I cover lost making kids and grown men cry. I had to drive to freaking Iowa to get WiFi and, oh, I got pulled over for doing 35 in a 30 -- even though I though the speed limit was 45. Then the WiFi wouldn't work. Sigh. You know what can make things better? Blues hockey.

Blues news

Here's a preview for tonight's tilt between the Calgary Flames and your St. Louis Blues. [Sporting News]
As Gallagher said: the Danes are coming. Lars Eller will make his debut tonight. Over/under on minutes played set at 5 -- the Cam mark. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
T.J. Oshie is back and, presumably, a few pounds lighter. [Belleville News-Democrat]
I gotta agree with Bernie, the Blues big names need to step up. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
For the first time in links history, a Today show interview is linked. David Backes teaches Meredith Veira how to play hockey. [Today]
For more on the Flames go here. [Matchsticks and Gasoline]

Hockey news

Six games last night means six winners. Find out who by clicking. [Yahoo! Sports]
Thursday night must be hockey night. [Yahoo! Sports]
Peter Forsberg might be going to the KHL. [The Denver Post]
Much ado about blackface. [Puck Daddy]
Once again, it appears sports teams are getting preferential treatment. [TSN]
An OHL player is suspended for the season after a boarding hit. Yowza. [TSN]
Shane O'Brien and Dane Byer received lighter suspensions. They will both miss one game. [TSN]
Thrashers goaltender Kari Lehtonen is out. [ESPN]

Other links

Our favorite horse fucker is going to prison. [Associated Press]
Dodge Viper ... or Daffy Duck?[Buzz Feed]

Video

After getting a ticket tonight, there is only video that sums up how I feel: (Language NSFW)

Note: If you're a cop or friends of a cop, please know I'm just kidding. Another video after the jump.

Maybe, maybe the Blues can play like this tonight.

gametimelinks(at)gmail.com GO BLUES!

Blues Call Up Lars Eller

2009-11-05T02:22:14Z

View full size photo »

Stand by for a new stream of Lars Eller/Lars Ulrich jokes: as Jeremy Rutherford reported this afternoon and our own Dr Frankenweed posted in the FanPosts, the Blues have re-called center Lars Eller from Peoria. The first round pick from the 2007 draft is expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Calgary Flames.

On the strength of eight assists, Eller has posted 11 points in 11 AHL games with Peoria. He is a slick, playmaking center with good ice vision.

While it hurts to see Andy McDonald out of the lineup after mashing his face into the boards on Saturday night, it is good to see that management is going to replace a skill player with a skill player rather than trying to force a grinder into a scoring spot on the top two lines. In the recent past the move might have been to push Silent Jay McClement or another checking-line guy up to fill the gap on a scoring line. Persoanlly, McClement is doing such a great Selke-like job as the third-line anchor, it'd be a mistake to take him out of that role.

Finally, it seems, the Blues have enough skilled young talent, and management has enough confidence in them, that we'll see them injected into skill-line jobs when the opportunity presents itself.

The Blues have struggled at home this year and no one, not even the staff or players, seem to know what's wrong. Here's hoping that some fresh blood on one of the top lines is a key to a new attitude. The return of T.J. Oshie and carlo Colaiacovo tomorrow couldn't hurt, either.

With a full season of experience in the Swedish Elite League playing against that country's best competition (12 goals and 17 assists in 48 games) as well as performing well against AHL talent, it seems likely that Eller will be able to play a skill game in the NHL, the only question is whether that begins tomorrow or if he ends up back in Peoria to develop more once McDonald returns.

Blues One Act Theater: It's Time For A Wake Up Call

2009-11-04T16:30:35Z

A figure enters the Blues locker room....

I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your new senior drill instructor. I am your new mother. I am your new father. I am your whole goddamn world from now on.

If you ladies survive my training, if you go on to play again for the Blues, you will be a weapon. You will be a Minister of Death praying for war with another NHL team. But until that day, you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on earth. You are not even human fucking beings! You are nothing but unorganized grabasstic pieces of amphibian shit!

Because I am hard, you will not like me, but the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I am hard, but I am fair.

There is no bigotry here. I do not look down on Frogs...

Wha?

...idiots...

Huzzah?

...pussies...

(Meep.)

...head cases...

Uh.. what?

...robots...

0010011010001.

...mutes...

that seems fair, I mean sometimes i might be somewhat.....

...or girls with frosted-tip hair.

That just happened naturally. It's not my fault the ladies love it.

You are all equally worthless in my eyes. My job here is to weed out all non-hackers who do not deserve to wear my beloved Note. Do you maggots understand that? What's your name, scumbag?

Paul. Paul Kariya, sir.

Paul? Paul Kariya? That sounds like royalty. Are you royalty, Paulie?

Royalty? Well, no. But you see, I am pretty good, so I do get treated a little...

Bullshit, Kariya! You look to me like the kind of little softie who deserves his own little chamber and his own little room and his own little man-servant! Kariya, the first time I see you take a hit to make a play this year will be the first time I have ever seen you take a hit to make a play! Be a man, boy!

You had best square your ass away and start making some goddamn plays or I will fuck you up! You're making $6 million a year and you're playing like Gary Suter is still looking to take your head off. It's a man's game! Start playing like you're one of them!

Is this you, John deWaynes? Is dis me?

Who said that? Who the fuck said that? Who's the communistic, twinkle-toes, Red Wing-wannabe pussy who just signed his own death warrant? Was it you?

Was dis who?

Well. No shit. What have we got here? A fucking comedian. Mister Joker. Hell, I like you. You can come over to my house and fuck my sister.

Oh, Really?

No! Not really! Listen here you little scumbag, I got your name, I got your ass! You will not laugh! You will not cry! You will learn by the numbers, I will teach you! You will become a killer! You will have no mercy! You will not take shifts off! You will become a top-line player!

You. What's your excuse?

Excuse for what?

Excuse for walking around here like you're Chuck fucking Norris and putting up miserable totals in the meantime. How tall are you, Invisible Giant?

Sir, six-foot-three, sir.

Six-foot-three? I didn't know they stacked shit that high. It looks to me like the best part of you ran down the crack of your momma's ass and wound up as a brown stain on the mattress! You're big and nasty and you should be the kind of guy out on the ice to fuck a goalie in the ass and not even show the common courtesy to give him a reach-around! Do you understand me?

I... uh... wait, what?

AAAHHHH! Time to be better, son! Time to be way, way better! You are a nightmare! You are a killer! Start being a fucking nightmare!

Listen up, all of you. You had best unfuck yourselves, or I will unscrew your heads and shit down your necks! Why did you sissies want to be hockey players?

To win?

To win.

You wanna win, I gotta see some sort of war face. Let me see your war face!

aaaaaahhhhhh?

Bullshit! I said, Let me see your war face!

aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHH?

That's fucking terrible. Work on it.

(departs)

Holy shit, Walts. What the fucks was dis?

Are you kidding me, Frenchie? I'm the one who asked him to come here.

Wednesday links: Still waiting for a game to be played this week edition

2009-11-04T11:00:44Z

Why do the Blues have this many days off this early in the season?

Blues news

Get to know the Blues in this fancy multimedia page. [STLtoday.com]
Happy Meal Andy McDonald is improving and Carlo Colaiacovo is back. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Hockey news

Your winners last night? Atlanta, Detroit, Vancouver, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh. [Yahoo! Sports]
Six games tonight. My game of the night? The surprising Avs vs. the surprising Coyotes. [Yahoo! Sports]
Phil Kessel is back and he shows just how bad the Leafs are. [Down Goes Brown]
David Backes, T.J. Oshie and Eric Johnson will find out that they will be donning the red, white and blue during the Olympics during the Winter Classic. [ESPN]
It's final: The NHL owns the Coyotes. [ESPN]
Steve Yzerman is still deciding on what players will make the Olympic roster. [TSN]
Privileged people getting special treatment? I've never heard of such a thing. [TSN]
Like I said yesterday, the NHL is a group of walking wounded. [TSN]
Ottawa would like some money back from Dany Heatley. [ESPN]
A look at backup goalies. [Orland Kurtenblog]
An insightful look at gay slurs in the NHL. Warning: the comments are devolve into a discussion of if gay is a choice or not. [Puck Daddy]

Other links

From Gene, a guy struggles with what to say to his fiance when he wakes up in the middle of the night. It's pretty funny. [Skippy’s List]
From Chris Gift: Athletes who are very, very good at reproducing. [FanIQ]
Mmmmm waffles ...[Recipezaar]

Video

I found this video last night in the ole e-mail. Donut King presents Muse, Knights of Cydonia. He can explain: Awesome video. Yes, it's a bit long. Yes, Muse is an acquired taste. But seriously, if I ever had a hockey team of my own, I'd take the first two or so minutes of this song and use it as an intro. It gets me all sorts of jacked up for reasons unknown."

That'll do for today. gametimelinks(at)gmail.com

Late Night Poll: Time For Snap Judgements

2009-11-04T08:16:53Z

It's a straight-up given: people hate change. We looked at doing some fairly significant chnges to the paper this week and they were met with immediate negativity by virtually everyone we asked. Myself, I hated them at first, but after a couple hours I thought, "You know, that's actually better in some ways and we could work around the other shit."

But everyone else? Yikes. Not so much. If I'd just made the changes there would have been mass uprisings and many angry emails. And then, after a couple weeks, everyone would have gotten used to it. Because, you know, people buy our paper for the content, not the asthetics. Smaller in size, larger in font, more colorful everywhere? My guess is that it would have worked out.

Nevertheless, we decided to fuck all that noise.

Similarly, our webfriends who invited us to this big SBN party made some changes yesterday to the asthetics, but not our content.

Which brings us to tonight's poll:

Poll

What do you think of the new GT site appearance?

I thought my computer was screwed up at first, but I'll get used to it.

25 votes

BLEEEEAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!

15 votes

"Plain, meet Jane. Jane, this is plain."

17 votes

I'm just here for the content, man.

56 votes

It's not bad, but it needs some help.

12 votes

125 votes | Poll has closed

Tuesdays With Hildy: Letters to the Homefront

2009-11-03T22:33:02Z

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

Come on, Happy Meal! I mean, great save, Pavs! I mean... oh holy hell.

Browse more photos »

Special thanks to DanGNR for tweeting this idea to me in a moment of severe writers' block... it's fairly appropriate, I think, for this week.

It's hard. You're about 900 miles away from home. This new place you're at isn't a vacation destination. Actually, it's become more of a temporary permanent residence. You've been there for a little while, and it's a strange place. No one knows what the hell a real toasted ravioli is (you know, the kind with meat). People are fair weather fans who only show up to baseball games when the team wins... maybe. The oldest place to eat is the new Applebee's down on the corner, and stabs at tradition usually involve fire and a pissed off Northern guy.

But one thing about your new temporary permanent but still temporary place of residence actually caught your attention. There's something there that you like. It reminds you of something that you miss... something that you never dreamed that you would see for a very, very long time. You've, against your best judgement, fallen for another hockey team. They will never replace your hometown team. Ever.

But you still go to their games. You still cheer them on - know their players, know their stats, and know their quirks. You've been following them since the team's beginning (or maybe not, depending on the town you're now in), and you consider yourself a fan and emotionally invested in them.

And then the team that you've loved since childhood comes down to play.

Yes, this might only happen once a year, or every other year - if your new team is in the Eastern Conference and your old one is in the West. But mixed with the excitement of seeing your team, there's a small sense of dread. Are you being disloyal to your new team? By even HAVING a new team, are you disloyal to your old one? Can you, in fact, legitimately have two favorite teams?

As everyone, their mothers and their third cousins 5 times removed, and their cats know, I live in Atlanta. I am not a huge ginormous fan of the city (nothing bad about it, but it's not home and it really never will be), but I love the Atlanta Thrashers. Yes, they've sucked for a while, but they have some really good qualities that make them an easy team to like.

However, obviously, I write a weekly column here - I'm from St. Louis. I have been watching the Blues since I was 7 - that's over 20 years of Blues hockey. I might love the Thrashers, but I adore the Blues. I have no qualms about putting on one of my Blues jerseys once a year (or twice if preseason schedules align) and making the drive I make 41 times a year to Philips Arena, but as the dreaded "away team fan." I'm cool about standing down on that side of the arena during warm ups, and loudly applauding every single one of our guys.

And while I respect my fellow Thrashers fans, when the Blues are in town by God do I cheer for them. If we score, I stand up. I yell. If there are any other Blues fans around me (usually a few, though this year my company will include the Illustrious DanGNR, making his "Annoying the Blues WORLDWIDE!" tour and Will in STL) I'll probably high five them. I am also not above banging on the glass like a retarded epileptic when one of our Blues reaches a career milestone 5 feet away from me.

But as that fan of the opposition, I have to be aware that I'm in someone else's barn. Away team fans piss everyone off by the mere fact that they exist. Heck, there's even some GT Heckling of people in the concourse in the other sweater, even if it's a team as random as the Isles or Preds. How annoyed do you get when some Red Wing scores and there's that guy standing up and drunkenly yelling at the Blues fans around them?

God knows other teams' fans (most specifically, Sabres, Rangers, and Habs fans) piss me off by being anywhere near Philips. It puts me in a weird position of self-evaluation. Do I have to be polite and considerate of Thrashers fans around me, since I'm in their barn? Am I morally obligated as a Blues fan to be as loud and supportive as possible since there are about 30 of us there total? What do I do if friendly smack-talk takes an unfriendly turn?

If any of you are in that weird position of being *that guy* in another city, what do you do? Does consideration of other fans and respect for the other team you follow win, or for that one night do you close your eyes (or drink a lot - our beers are $3 cheaper here - HA!) and pretend you're in DrinkScotch?

And, if you're pretending you're in St. Louis, does anyone know of some place to get some imaginary toasted ravioli and Imo's Pizza? I need some place to imaginarily eat after the game.

Poll

You're "that guy" in the arena - do you try to mind your manners?

Blues Desktop Wallpaper For November

2009-11-03T15:15:32Z

Damn appendix.

The month of October got off to such a great start for the St. Louis Blues. It was Sweden. Two wins over Detroit. And then back here in the states, things have been rocky at best. Up and down performances. Some injuries to unsung players and an appendectomy later at the Blues enter the month not scoring for more than 120 straight minutes. Wow.

But all that shit is so last month. It's November. There's a real home game against the Red Wings! Thanksgiving is coming. November can be a good month. So celebrate with our desktop wallpaper. Thanks again to friend Derek who is using our Game Time photographer's images. Look at the expression on Teeej's face. He's all about determination. Come back, young Osh. Hopefully early in November.

If you have a standard-sized monitor, go to this link and click the picture then right click it.

If you have one of them new-fangled wide monitors, go to this link and click the picture then right click it.

Tuesday links: Seeking the fire we had last year edition

2009-11-03T11:00:37Z

It's Tuesday. That's all I have to say today. Links? Links.

Blues news

Headline: Blues struggling to score goals. Deck: Pope remains Catholic. [Belleville News-Democrat]
But hey, at least Erik Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo are playing well. [Sporting News]
Seriously, EJ and Petro are living up to their potential. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Some notes on the Riverman and Ed Belfour. Good news, captain Yan Stastny isn't seriously hurt. [Peoria Journal Star]
The team is trying to find the fire it had last year. Yep, that's what's missing -- fire. Not goals or players like David Backes playing up to their potential, it's fire. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Hockey news

Results from last night. Islanders, Flyers and Kings all are winners.[Yahoo! Sports]
Five games tonight. My game of the night? Rangers vs. Cancuks. [Yahoo! Sports]
The Flames are 7-4-1, but could they be better? [Matchsticks and Gasoline]
Ducks' d-man James Wisniewski suspended for a hit to the head. [ESPN]
Anaheim Calling tackles hits to the heads. [Anaheim Calling]
OdinMercer rejoices: the NHL is buying the Coyotes. [Five for Fowling]
Alex Ovechkin is week to week. Not good times for the Caps. [ESPN]
Speaking of injuries, Simon Gagne is going to miss a few weeks. [ESPN]
Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen are close to coming back. [ESPN Dallas]
More injury news: Jason Spezza is out.[TSN]
In still injured news, Phil Kessel is still out. Still. [TSN]

Other links

Man gets caught cheating by standing on an a/c window unit in the nude. Seriously. [Blame it on the voices]
Big Ben, the clock, is on Twitter.[Twitter]
I know this Web site all too well. I think the only people that read newspapers anymore are the easily angered. [Angry people in local newspapers]
People google the dumbest fucking things. [gtards]
The Simpson's are famous for fake products. Here are some good ones. [Guyism]

Video

RFJCC sends along a video I was going to show anyway. Am I worried I'm thinking like him? Not really. Christopher Walken is bad ass.

gametimelinks(at)gmail.com. Keep it real, kids.

The only good entertainment from the Blues game Halloween night

2009-11-03T02:56:15Z

The only good entertainment from the Blues game Halloween night

Monday links: Going head first into the week like Andy McDonald into the boards edition

2009-11-02T11:15:10Z

Another weekend down, another week begins. I hope you all had a good Halloween. My "Joe with a two-week beard" costume went over great. I'm thinking "Joe with a 'stache" for next year.

Blues links

Breaking news that our British friend already broke, Yan Statsny and Tyson Strachan are going to the Peoria. The Blues get its captain back one week, the Rivermen get its back the next. [Peoria Journal Star]
A look at who is not scoring. Funny, this list seems to be missing a few dozen guys. [STLtoday.com]
T.J. will be returning to action soon and Captain Eric Brewer is not 100% operational. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Hockey news

Here a your standings. Warning: They aren't pretty. Is it 2006 again? [NHL.com]
Here are your Sunday results. [Yahoo! Sports]
Three games on the slate tonight. Let's go, Tampa Bay, Phoenix and ... the Islanders? Sure. [Yahoo! Sports]
Pierre LeBrun offers some thoughts about things like trades the NHLPA. [ESPN]
Peter Forsberg is making another comeback, this time with the Swedish national team. [TSN]
Wayne Gretzky is not going to object to the sale of the Coyotes. You think he's done with hockey for a while after failing as a coach and an owner? [ESPN]
A junior hockey player is in critical condition after a hard hit. [ESPN]
Sid fights and the refs might not have been on his side. Shocking, I know. [Hockey Wilderness]
A look at the Blackhawks after a month. [Second City Hockey]

Other links

World's best criminals? World's best criminals. [CNN]
Vandalism can be fun. [The Chive]

Video

It's Monday. Start your day off right.

Hit me up at gametimelinks(at)gmail.com. I know I'm not cool enough to do a costume like PCS, but ummm ...

Andy McDonald

2009-11-01T14:02:23Z

In case, like me, you could only listen on the radio last night, you'd have missed the scary sight of Happy Meal crashing headfirst into the boards.

Well, here it is:

I'm so glad he got up and skated off - admittedly with help - after this. Strickland is reporting that he went to hospital for observation but it's not believed to be serious. This is one guy we simply can't do without at the moment. Happy Meal is working his little ass off - let's hope he continues to do so.

If one guy is going to provide the lift needed to get the team out of its current slump then it's Happy Meal - or Perron.

Fingers crossed that early reports are correct and that it's NOT as serious as it initially looked. Scary stuff.

Sunday Links: "Waiting For One of Those 'Hot Streaks' " Edition

2009-11-01T12:00:33Z

Welcome one and all to the roller coaster that will be your 2009-10 St. Louis Blues!

Blues News:

Blues ~~lay an egg~~ leave a flaming bag of dog shit out on home ice. 4-0 bad guys.
I haven't seen anything concerning the extent of the McDonald injury. However, something should turn up on Jeremy Rutherford's Twitter account real soon.

NHL News:

Montreal blows a 2 goal lead in the 3rd to the Leafs, but uses the power of distracting candy cane uniforms to pull out a shootout victory.
Ondrej Pavelec stopped a lot of goddamn pucks on Saturday. 50 saves in beating the Sens.
More resignings in the NHLPA. Also some insight into who'll run things in the short term, according to Pierre LeBrun.
More Puck Daddy: Dustin Penner may not be the most hated man in Edmonton anymore!
Scores from Saturday
Sunday's action. Only 4 games.

Other Stuff:

It was a slow news day in Tennessee. So much so that they reported on it being a slow news day.
Some strange but true for you: Russian Road Roulette. And to think I could get PAID for running all those red lights
Some of the best Jack-O-Lanterns you'll ever see.

Video:

Liut! entertains us for Sunday with Ninja Tryouts.

And by popular demand of Chris Gift, it's the "Cribs" episode with the Teej.

AverageJoe is back tomorrow to link you through the work week.

Gametimelinks (at) gmail.com