St. Louis Blues pay for 2-1 lackluster loss in Edmonton
The Blues were on the ice for about 35 minutes this afternoon in Calgary. There were pucks involved for about nine minutes.
Blues coach Andy Murray was disgusted after the Blues’ 2-1 loss to Edmonton Sunday night and he made the players pay today with lots of sprints.
“We were not pleased with our effort in Edmonton,” Murray said. “It was a 2-1 hockey game and people will say you lost by one goal and you were in it. But the bottom line is we thought we could play a lot better. We’ve played so damn hard for about a dozen games in a row, and then to have a game like that . . . We played hard against San Jose and we’ve played hard against some other teams. Edmonton is a hard-working team, too, but that game was there for us. We didn’t put in the necessary effort. We don’t play pension games. If you’re just playing an NHL game because it’s another game to your pension, then that’s not enough.”
After the conditioning-oriented practice, Murray addressed the team in the corner of the ice, and when he left, assistant captains Keith Tkachuk and Barret Jackman also talk to the players.
“We deserved what we got,” Tkachuk said of the tone of practice. “If you don’t put the effort into the game, then you’re going to have to do that. I know Andy didn’t want to do that, but he had every right to do it. That’s what I expected. We deserve it. I’m disgusted.”
Tkachuk said his message afterwards was “everybody has to be accountable and nobody on this team should be comfortable in their position. We have to go out and put together a good work ethic and be ready to play. We better work hard, or we don’t have a chance to win.”
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Alex Steen, who’s X-ray Sunday showed no break in his foot, did practice Sunday and may be ready to play against the Calgary Flames tomorrow night.
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Defenseman Mike Weaver and forward Yan Stastny didn’t practice Monday and afterwards Murray said the had upper-body injuries. It’s believed that Stastny has a broken thumb.
I’d imagine that defenseman Jay McKee would return to the lineup Tuesday. With Steen healthy, he should take Stastny’s spot in the lineup.
JR
Yea they really lacked effort there in the third and got thrown around. They were lucky to only escape with a 2-1 loss.
Glad Mckee is ready, that should really help out on the PK and even strength! Weaver got thrashed around last night.. he’s just too small to play in there every game.