Blues try to avoid “homer” tag
After Thursday’s 5-1 loss at Los Angeles, Blues coach Andy Murray’s message to the Blues this morning was about playing better on the road.
The Blues are 18-10-5 at Scottrade Center this season and just 10-13-4. No more was their sloppy play on the road evident than last night in a 5-1 loss to Los Angeles. (The Kings were just 13-17-1 at home before last night’s game).
“There’s nothing worse in this league than to be known as a ‘homer,’” Murray said. “From the time you grow up as kids, (people say) ‘You guys can win at home, but where’s your game on the road?’”
Murray gave the players several points to consider.
“At home, you got tremendous crowds,” Murray said. “Every single effort you put in is recognized. Jamal Mayers beats a guy to a puck, lays out a big hit. It’s recognized. People stand up and they’re cheering. On the road, all you’ve got is each other. To me, is there enough sense of team that that’s enough for you? That you know your teammates need that from you. At home, you’ve got re-enforcement. On the road, all you’ve got is team gratification.”
Murray said that he told the players during’s Thursday game “not to hit the Staples ‘easy’ button.” (The Blues, of course, were playing in the Staples Center and if you’ve seen the commercials, you’ll understand the joke). The Blues, though, did seem to hit the easy button in the second period and got what they deserved - a tough loss.
Murray went on to say this morning that the Blues’ play on the road has been ”alarming because this is where we’re playing the rest of the season.”
The Blues have 22 more games remaining, beginning tonight in Anaheim. Fourteen of the last 22 are on the road.
You can probably expect only one lineup change with the forwards and one with the defensemen tonight. With a tough opponent in Anaheim, look for D.J. King to be back on the ice. Also, Christian Backman is ready to return and will probably play.
Manny Legace will be in net for his 19th straight game.
Anaheim lines:
Kunitz-Ebbett-Selanne
Bertuzzi-Getzlaf-Perry
Moen-Pahlsson-R. Niedermayer
May-Sutherby-Parros
Beauchemin-S. Niedermayer
O’Donnell-Pronger
Huskins-Schneider
Giguere
JR
Murray’s got a good point there.
Who is Ebbett?
[...] Buy Sites The best place to find established websites for sale! wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt After Thursday’s 5-1 loss at Los Angeles, Blues coach Andy Murray’s message to the Blues this morning was about playing better on the road. The Blues are 18-10-5 at Scottrade Center this season and just 10-13-4. No more was their sloppy play on the road evident than last night in a 5-1 loss to Los Angeles. (The Kings were just 13-17-1 at home before last night’s game). “There’s nothing worse in this league than to be known as a ‘homer,’” Murray said. “From the time you grow up as kids, (peopl [...]
No Perron again? I can’t wait until next week when Rucinsky is hopefully traded and we don’t have to showcase him anymore.