The Blues finally put the POWER back into the power play last night against the 'hawks. PP goals from Kariya and Walt on sweet feeds from Stempy and Boyes and we're back in business!
Prior to last night, the 'note had been scuffelling along at a 9.something % clip. 2 fer 20 something (research smesearch) and OH fer eleven since rook Erik Johnson scored the game winner against LA.
Not having the two Eric/ks on the blueline for the PP has been a problem to say the least, so resident coaching genius Andy Belichick Murray decided to throw his 4 best forwards on the first unit (Paul, John, George, and Ringo er I mean Paul, Keith, Brad and Lee) and viola! 2 fer 3 with that third attempt coming late in the game whilst sitting on a two goal lead.
It may very well be that their success can be attributed to this new stratagy or it can be attributed to the fact that the Blackhawks stink shorthanded. The latter was very evident on the second goal when they left Tkachuk all alone in front of the net with one d-man (Duncan Keith maybe?) chasing the puck into the corner and the other d-man nowhere to be found.
We will find out how good the new Blues power play is in their next game; a home tilt vs Minnesota.
How much has the Blues passing improved from this time last year? It's like a whole new team.
Your title made think what the heck. Blues are solid, I told people during the preseason they were going to make the playoffs and nobody believed me, good stuff. Boyes for Wideman? Davidson should go to jail for that theft.
I'm also happy with the Toivonen deal. He's a solid backup, with great potential to take over the number one job.