St. Louis Blues 21-22

Jim Thomas
When the Blues embark on a three-game, six-day road trip Saturday, it will seem a lot like last season. And that’s not a good thing.
In response to the recent spike in COVID cases throughout the NHL, the league is tightening protocols. It means a routine of home, rink, hotel. Daily testing except for off days. Virtual team meetings. And the return of wearing masks at team facilities.
On the road, it means no dining out in restaurants, an important means of team-bonding. And a favorite pastime of the Blues away from home.

“We understand it ‘cause we went through it already,” coach Craig Berube said. “There’s a lot of COVID going around in the league right now, so the NHL’s trying to do their best to make it better.”

A few weeks ago, the league announced that it was banning players and staff from attending holiday parties or attending community and charity events.


There will be another reminder of COVID hockey from last season on the upcoming trip for the Blues. Lots of empty seats. After the NHL spent last season playing before either no crowds or limited crowds, the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs have announced they will limit capacity to 50 percent as a COVID precaution starting Saturday.


BY DAN CAESAR St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Blues begin a three-game swing through Canada on Sunday, and as was the case the last time they went north of the border their broadcasters will not accompany the team.

Coronavirus regulations have been much tighter there than in the U.S., so Bally Sports Midwest’s telecasts and the team’s radio broadcasts — which air on WXOS (101.1 FM) — will be handled by the announcers calling the games in St. Louis off TV monitors.
“I’m not looking forward to doing those three games that way, but I understand the circumstances,” said Blues radio play-by-play announcer Chris Kerber, who also is the team’s vice president of broadcasting.

Those “circumstances” could include announcers being quarantined in Canada if they’d have a positive COVID-19 test while there. That could extend over the Christmas holiday and possibly through New Year’s Day, when the Blues play in the Winter Classic. That game, in Minnesota, won’t be on local TV (it’s a national TNT telecast) but will be done by the local radio crew.

“It’s not worth the risk,” Kerber said. ”It makes sense out of the abundance of caution.”
STREAMING ONLY FRIDAY: For the third time this season, on Friday a Blues game will be carried exclusively on the ESPN+ and Hulu streaming services. There will be no customary TV coverage of the contest, a home matchup with Dallas at 7 p.m.

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Lets Go Blues

Next game on Bally Sports is a road game on Sunday 12/19/21 @ 2 pm CT against the Winnipeg Jets.....................

No. 50, you know, the guy who doesn’t get nervous, was back on the ice Thursday at Centene Community Ice Center. It was the first full practice with the rest of the Blues’ squad for goalie Jordan Binnington since coming off the COVID list.
“I feel good,” Binnington said after practice. “I’d say (practice) went pretty well. It was fun to be back out there with the guys for sure and just having that pace. But I feel good and I’m excited to be back.”
Binnington said he feels good to go Friday, when the Blues return to action with a 7 p.m. contest at Enterprise Center against the Dallas Stars.

Even so, coach Craig Berube said he may go with Charlie Lindgren once again in the nets Friday.
“It’s possible,” Berube said.

As for Binnington’s status, Berube added: “Obviously I think he still needs a little more time. But I have not talked to him since practice (ended), so I’ll do that. But he’s out there and he worked hard. I thought he looked OK.”

Blues vs. Stars @ Enterprise Center........

Blues lead 1-0 5:30 left 2nd period.................

Blues goal scored by Logan Brown ,his 3rd of the season and he is the son of former Blue Defenseman Jeff Brown.......

Lets Go Blues

edit : Blues score with 10.4 seconds left in 2nd period on a goal by Vladi Tarasenko and now lead 2-0......................

Blues win 4-1...........................

The 5th goalie this year for the Blues, Charlie Lindgren is the first Blues goalie to win his first 5 starts as a Blue's goalie.........................

Next Blues game is on the road Sunday 12/19/21 vs. the Winnipeg Jets @ 2 pm CT......

Lets Go Blues

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Good game by all the Blues.........Black and Blue division vintage game blast from the past .....I like it.....I really really do.....................

Berube is the inverse of that embarrassing NFL failure Urban Meyer. One picks on a kicker, kicking the lone player on his team who could not squish him like a bug. The other has a team full of guys who go home kicking themselves if they think their play let Chief down.

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I love the bold words above............It picks on Urbie and praises Chief......smile on my face ......................

Jim Thomas
Following the removal of goalie Jordan Binnington from the COVID list Wednesday, the Blues made it all of three days without a player on the list.
Forward Oskar Sundqvist became the latest Blue on the COVID list Saturday — and the 10th overall for the team this season. Since their regular-season opener Oct. 16, in Colorado, the Blues have been without a player on the COVID list for only 23 days.

Sundqvist missed the first 14 games of the season while on the long-term injured reserve list as he completed recovery and rehab from knee and hip surgeries last spring. He since has played in 16 games, with one goal and three assists, and is plus-6.

“The last three games he’s been really good for me,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “Just back to his old ways of getting on top of people and forechecking hard. Being a heavy player.

“I feel terrible for him. He’s worked so hard to get back after those surgeries and all that. This is unfortunate for him and us.”

With the COVID list designation, Sundqvist will be sidelined until after Christmas.

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UGH.................................................................

Blues vs, Jets

0-0 after 1st period.....Blues are being aggressive with their forecheck and have controlled the puck in the Jets end pretty much....jets have had 2 power play opportunities with little to show for it....

Kelly and Pang are the best pair of announcers by far ....so much info and Bally Sports does a great job with the telecast.....

Heard David Perron will be back Tuesday......Jordan Binnington is in goal today....first game back from covid list....

Jets lead the Blues 2-1 after two periods.......

Was one of the worst defensive periods that I have seen from the Blues this season....backing off on the blue line instead of aggressively standing the Jets up and many surrender's of the puck in the defensive end.......

Tarasenko scored the Blues goal on a magnificent back hand pass from Ivan Barbashev....The Blues "" Russian "" line of Tarasenko ,Barbashev and Buchnevich has been the Blues most exciting line recently......

Blues next two games in Canada postponed due to ongoing covid issues in NHL leading to cross border games being postponed through the Christmas break.

Blues won't return to action after today's game in Winnipeg until December 27th at home vs. New Jersey.

Blues lose 4-2..........Their defensive woes in the second period continued in the third period and I imagine Chief will have the boys working hard from now till the 27th......

Hopefully we get Perron and maybe Sundqvist back by then ......

A final word on the goal tending ....Binnington looked very rusty and allowed a couple goals that otherwise he might have stopped earlier in the season......

I wish they had went with Lindgren for another game as he is red hot in goal and won his first 5 games in a row......

lets Go blues

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Nearly six weeks ago, goalie Jordan Binnington was the center of attention here, playing one of the strongest games of his career in a dramatic 3-2 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets.
He turned out to be the center of attention once again Sunday afternoon, but for entirely different reasons in a 4-2 Blues loss to the Jets at Canada Life Centre.
With 6 minutes 24 seconds to play, Binnington was penalized for delay of game for taking off his helmet while the Jets were buzzing around in the St. Louis zone. It’s not the first penalty Binnington has received in his NHL career, but it was arguably the strangest.

Down 3-1 at the time, the Blues actually scored a shorthanded goal by Niko Mikkola after the penalty was assessed. But just 16 seconds after Mikkola’s score made it a 3-2 contest, former Blue Paul Stastny made it 4-2 with Winnipeg still on the power play.

The Blues argued strenuously on Binnington’s behalf after the penalty. But in the end coach Craig Berube seemed to understand why the call was made.
“He can’t take his helmet off,” Berube said. “He can’t just take it off. His strap was undone for a bit. But when they have momentum like that, Binner’s not allowed to just take his helmet off. You know what I mean?”
Problem was, a collision with Jets winger Kristian Vesalainen caused Binnington’s strap to come loose, causing Binnington to take his helmet off.

“I get that, but it’s the rule,” Berube said.

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The mask-gate didn't lose this game......Their lethargic play , giving up their own blue line and fumbled passes did.......Worst game I can remember watching this season.....I'm still puzzled why they took Lindgren out of goal for this game .....I get it that binnington is the # 1 goalie , signed for big bucks and Stanley Cup winner hero , but Lindgren has been light's out with a GGA barely above 1.0 and a save % I think at or over .950.............JMHO

NHL pushing back return to play to at least Tuesday due to ongoing covid issues in the league.

This means that Monday's Blues game at home vs. the Devils is postponed. Blues won't return to action now until Wednesday when they host the Oilers.

The Blues returned from their four-day Christmas break Sunday down four bodies.
Ivan Barbashev, Robert Bortuzzo, Dakota Joshua and James Neal tested positive for COVID before the team’s early evening practice at Centene Community Ice Center. So you won’t see any of the four until 2022.
“It’s certainly not surprising, coming off the number of positive tests as we paused the season,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “Going into the holidays, I’m certainly not surprised by our positive (test results), and the multitude around the league.”

Even with those players absent for practice, the Blues still had 22 players on the ice Sunday evening. Injured forwards Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas and Perron continue to practice. They all look as if they should be available for the, Blues’ next scheduled game, Wednesday at home against the Edmonton Oilers.

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I've missed my Blues hockey................................

The season for the Blues — and the NHL — has gotten to this, which some may recognize from some other recent seasons: Who knows what’s ordinary any more.
The Blues had no new positive COVID tests on Monday and had the same 22 players on the ice who they had on Sunday. In yet another season turned upside down, does that count at least as a tentative step toward a return to normal?
“Depends on what you call 'normal,'” said defenseman Justin Faulk.

True. Mayhem and confusion have become the norm in the NHL over the past month, as COVID cases and postponed games have swollen. As of Monday afternoon, only one NHL team, Minnesota, was without someone in COVID protocol, and 70 games have been postponed, including three for the Blues. No U.S.-based team has ventured into Canada for a game since the Blues made their early trip home from Winnipeg on Dec. 19, and no one will until Saturday at the soonest. However, Canadian teams are coming to America, strengthening the possibility that the Edmonton at Blues game scheduled for Wednesday at Enterprise Center will actually happen.


So while the Blues situation did not improve on Monday, at least it didn’t get worse.

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All teams in all sports now play two opponents..................Another team and covid........One opponent wants to beat you ....the other wants to infect you....

Oh , what a world...................................

edit : this is further down the article and I didn't know that............

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Of course, one thing helping the Blues achieve some level of stasis is that so many players have already had COVID. The Blues have had 14 players test positive for COVID this season (one, Kyle Clifford, is no longer with the team) and because players who have tested positive don’t get tested again for the next three months, about half of the current squad doesn’t have to worry about being pulled from practice and missing games.

David Perron, Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas should all be back in the Blues lineup on Wednesday.
To put that in perspective, in one day, the Blues will pick up players who have scored 18 goals and had 47 assists and rank fourth, fifth and sixth on the team in points, and were higher before they started missing a combined 22 games. Combined, they make $9.6 million, about 12% of the team’s payroll.
Now, coach Craig Berube wants them to go out and play like the gang of league-minimum players they’re replacing.

Their return can add a lot to the Blues lineup “if things are done properly,” Berube said Tuesday.
“When we were injured and COVID and had a bunch of guys out, we played a certain style of game that was successful, and we’ve got to continue to do that,” he said.


So while the Blues are getting three high-skilled players back who are each averaging about a point per game, Berube needs them to channel their inner Dakota Joshua, to play like they’re Nathan Walker.

The Blues will likely also get back Oskar Sundqvist, who emerged from COVID protocol on Tuesday and skated on the fourth line in practice with Walker and Klim Kostin, who will be playing his first NHL game since suffering an upper-body injury on Nov. 25. Berube said they’ll see how Sundqvist felt after his first time on the ice in 10 days and make a decision after the morning skate on Wednesday. Brayden Schenn is not yet ready to return to action, so if Sundqvist can’t go, the Blues will need to make a call-up from Springfield.

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Home game tonight @ 7:30 pm vs. Edminton Oilers...........................

Finally gonna get my hockey fix..........................Can't Wait !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lets Go Blues

As if things haven't been going well enough for NHL, now there's worry about severe cold for the Winter Classic: https://www.nhl.com/news/winter-classic-will-happen-despite-cold-weather/c-329263006

Game will still go on but the low in Minneapolis Saturday night is expected to be -15.

BLUES ARE BACK..............................

After one period, Blues lead Edmonton...............2-1............................

Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou with goals and Tarasenko has 2 assists....................

Lets Go Blues

Blues lead 3-2 at the end of 2 periods.......

Tarasenko with a goal, and also has 2 assists.....Kyrou has a goal and 2 assists........Binnington playing solid......Blues D is playing well , stopping a lot of rushes in the neutral zone.........

Lets Go Blues

BLUES WIN 4-2..................

Great game all around by the Blues......................

Blues next game is AT Minnesota, Saturday 01/01/22 @ 6 pm CT in the Winter Classic.....................Network game on TNT................

Lets Go Blues

The Blues had five players on the ice Wednesday against Edmonton who had missed the team’s most recent game because of injuries. None had played since Dec. 11. They were without a player from their most recent game who was out sick (though in this day and age it’s important to note he doesn’t have COVID). They had a defenseman playing forward again and three skaters who have seen more AHL action than NHL action this season, including one who got off a plane around 3 p.m.

The Blues have been working without a script for a while now and their games have largely become one big improv session. Coach Craig Berube ad-libbed a line with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, both of whom had been out with injuries, joining Tarasenko as replacements for Ivan Barbashev (COVID) and Pavel Buchnevich (fever). All three scored goals as the Blues beat the Oilers 4-2 before a sell-out crowd at Enterprise Center in their first game since Dec. 19 and their final one of 2021.

All week long, the topic of the players coming back into the lineup came up with the Blues and Berube got pretty much the best-case scenario: Kyrou had a goal and two assists and Thomas had a goal. Welcome back.
“They played really well tonight I thought,” Berube said. “And not just the goals, but just the overall play. I thought they possessed pucks and did good things with it. I thought they worked hard without the puck. They were committed defensively — that’s a big part of it. Especially when you’re out there and that line is matched up against the (Leon) Draisaitl line all night. They did a good job. They didn’t get scored on, and they produced.”

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great game...............................



Sometimes, you don’t have to be named the captain to make an impact like one.
Vladimir Tarasenko, who wanted the “C” but got an “A,” spearheaded the Blues to a huge — huge! — win Wednesday.
He set the tone with his unselfishness, dishing an assist to Robert Thomas instead of shooting point-blank.
And he set the tone with his aggressiveness, shoving the Oilers’ goalie and standing up for himself.
It was a team win, to be sure, but Tarasenko played like the leader of that team.

Trade Tarasenko? Even if he still wants to be traded, there is no way you trade this man until you see how far he can carry this team.
Carry this team?

Yep, that’s how well he’s capitalized his opportunities.
Some thought he wouldn’t play one game this year with the Blues. Instead, Tarasenko has played in every Blues game this year — the only forward to do so — and he now has 32 points in 32 contests. A point per game, just extraordinary.

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good article

Let's beat Minnesota teams twice in a week...

Winter Classic @ Minnesota.............................-8 degrees.......................wow........

end of 1st period
tied 1-1

Perron scored the Blues goal..........
Kiprisov (sip) scored for Wild........

Great game ........love the drone pic's above the rink........................
Peppermint Schnapps flowing freely here in pru-land.....................
NL's decked out in Blues garb , cheering loudly..........................
I love my life ..............I really really do..............

Lets Go Blues

Blues lead 6-2 at the end of 2nd period..............wow..........

Jordan Kyrou is already a star player bordering on becoming superstar status level............he had 4 points in the second PERIOD , breaking the record of 3 points in a GAME for Winter Classic games....................

-11 degrees .....can't imagine what their bodies feel like playing in that weather...........

Lets Go Blues

Blues win 6-4............

Great game..............The announcing crew of Kenny Albert , C. Jones and Darren Pang were outstanding.......Love the back and forth between Panger and Jonesy about past hockey escapades.....................

Blues next game is 01/05/22 @ Penguins.....6:30 pm CT..................then 01/07/22 at home against the Washington Capitals 7 pm CT........

Lets Go Blues