St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay McKee meets with coach Andy Murray to discuss his status
Could veteran defenseman Jay McKee be a healthy scratch when the Blues play Wednesday night in Buffalo?
The defensive pairings for today’s Blues practice looked like this:
Eric Brewer-Roman Polak
Barret Jackman-Alex Pietrangelo
Steve Wagner-Mike Weaver
McKee was the extra defenseman, skating in one particular drill with Blues forward David Koci. After practice, McKee said he requested to meet with Blues coach Andy Murray and discuss his status.
“I think he’s making a statement,” McKee said. “There were some plays in the last game (5-3 loss to Los Angeles) where I mishandled pucks, or things just didn’t go my way. We just can’t have that. I’ll concede that I didn’t feel dialied in like I have in previous games. It’s just unacceptable with our veteran guys . . . they need to lead by example and I’ve got to be on my game every night. I think that’s a statement. I asked to talk to him after, and we had a good talk.”
McKee was a minus-2 in Thursday’s 5-4 shootout loss to San Jose. He was even in the loss at LA, but he was on the ice for all three of the Kings’ power-play goals.
Because McKee was practicing as the seventh defenseman, it would appear he’ll be the odd man out for Wednesday’s game in Buffalo. But Murray said he hasn’t made up his mind yet.
“I haven’t decided anything yet,” Murray said. “I just met with him. We had a good discussion.”
McKee is a -1 this season while averaging 17:51 of ice time in 13 games.
He was a healthy scratch for five straight games last year before Murray put him back in the lineup when the Blues traveled to Buffalo.
McKee has played three seasons with the Blues and has one more year left on his four-year, $16 million contract.
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Blues forward Paul Kariya did not practice today, and now it appears that he will miss Wednesday’s game in Buffalo. Kariya returned early from the Blues’ West Coast trip to have an MRI on his lower body injury, which is believed to be a sore foot.
Originally the Blues thought Kariya could be back by Wednesday, but now it looks like he’s focusing on a return Friday at Chicago.
JR
This is both amazing and frustrating. McKee has his issues but he’s also blocked a ton of shots. The rest, especially Brew, get a free pass?? Or is this to wake them all up? As poorly as we’ve played defensively, I just can’t believe that either Woy or Junland or both hasn’t been called up to replace someone other than Petro or Polak in the lineup. Petro and Polak in my mind have been our best defensemen. Scary stuff. Thanks for the update.