02.16.2009 1:45 pm
More from my interview with Blues President John Davidson
I’ve often told readers that it’s impossible to get everything a person says during an interview into the newspaper. There just isn’t enough room in the newspaper. Well, that was the case with two conversations I had with Blues President John Davidson over the weekend.
I will get to my notes from today’s morning skate in a minute, but first, here are a few nuggets from Davidson.
On watching the third period of the 1-0 win over Chicago:
“The interesting thing was Larry (Pleau) was really fired up during third period . . . the most fired up I’ve seen him since I got here. I was the opposite. It’s exasperating, the emotional roller coaster we’ve been going through . . . the goal with three seconds left against Nashville. But I looked at Larry and said, ‘There’s 100,000 people, maybe millions of people, that would want to have our jobs. It’s fantastic. You’re in the locker room after games, talking to the players, coaches . . . you’re making decisions. It’s an utterly fascinating world. I use to catch myself in the booth at Madison Square Garden thinking I’m just a kid from Calgary that liked to play hockey, and I’m sitting in MSG, the greatest arena in sports. Now I say I’m in St. Louis, part of running a franchise that’s got history behind it. We’re climbing back and getting a lot of pride back. And I’m just a kid from Calgary. It’s fascinating.”
On how many points it will take to get into the playoffs (Note: The magic number has been 93 in the past. Right now, the eighth-place team in the West is Anaheim with 61 points. The Ducks have 24 games remaining, so they would need to win 16 of those 24 to get to 93 points).
“I don’t think it’s going to take as many points to get in. From 5-15 in the West, everybody beats each other, there are no cake walks. With that being said, I don’t think you have to have 93 points this year. There’s nobody that is so much better (in bottom half of the West).”
On whether goalie Chris Mason can handle the load down the stretch:
“He’s got a personality that I like . . . you can’t really judge with him, when he’s had a bad goal, a good game or a bad game. He’s the same type of guy all the way through. Being even with your emotions is a good thing. He’s confident, so hey, ‘Why can’t he play a lot?’ He played three in four nights. All three games were emotional. Yeah, he can play . . . why not? He’s young, he’s fit. Keep playing kid.”
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I realize every team in the NHL could play this kind of ‘What if’ game, but let’s play it just for fun’s sake . . .
Had the Blues beaten Vancouver (which they led with 10 minutes left) and Nashville (which they led with 3 seconds left), the team would be 7-1-2 in its last 10 games and tied with Los Angeles for 11th place with 56 points. Here’s how the standings would look if the Blues had won just those two games:
1. San Jose 83
2. Detroit 82
3. Calgary 71
4. Chicago 70
5. Dallas 61
(tie) Columbus 61
(tie) Anaheim 61
8 Vancouver 60
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(tie) Edmonton 60
10. Minnesota 59
11. Los Angeles 56
(tie) BLUES 56
13. Nashville 55
(tie) Phoenix 55
15. Colorado 51
* The Blues also have one game in-hand on Nashville and two on Phoenix.
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Davidson said in today’s story in the Post-Dispatch that tonight’s game against the Rangers, his former team, doesn’t mean anymore to him than if the Blues were playing Florida or San Jose. That may be true, as all of the points count the same.
But Davidson isn’t the only Blue with NY Rangers connections. Some of you know that Blues owners Dave Checketts, Mike McCarthy and Ken Munoz had long tenures with the Rangers and Madison Square Garden. When they left (at different times), they were each given a gorgeous silver stick with this engraving: ”Once a Ranger, always a Ranger.”
While stressing his appreciation for the gift to me yesterday, McCarthy joked: “It says ‘Once a Ranger, always a Ranger’ on one side of the stick. I guess we’re going to have to get ‘Unless you become a Blue’ inscribed on the other side.”
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After playing three games in four days, Andy McDonald said the two days of rest helped his ankle.
“I guess you forget how hard it is to play back-to-back games,” McDonald said this morning. “With the ankle, days off really help. It gets a chance to recover. That’s probably the way it’s going to be the rest of the year, just try to monitor it and take the rest when you can.”
McDonald will be back at left wing tonight with T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund. I asked him if he’d like to get back to playing center.
“I don’t have a preference,” McDonald said. “I’m probably more comfortable at center, just because I’ve played it for so many years. But things are going well, why would you change anything? If the team needs me on the wing, I’ll play on the wing.”
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Defenseman Roman Polak (broken foot) skated again this morning and will have an x-ray tonight that will determine how soon he comes back. Polak is probably a week to 10 day from returning to the lineup, but if the x-ray looks good, he may go on the two-game trip to Columbus and Nashville and continue skating with the team.
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Forward Dan Hinote will miss his third straight game tonight with what the Blues are calling an upper-body injury, which is believed to be some back pain. Blues coach Andy Murray said that Hinote is day-to-day, however, he hasn’t skated recently and wasn’t on the ice today.
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It doesn’t appear defenseman Jay McKee will be back in the lineup tonight. He was a healthy scratch Friday against Chicago, a 1-0 shutout. McKee was the odd-man out in the defensive drills Sunday in practice and again today.
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So the lineup will be the same tonight, including the goaltender, as Chris Mason makes his seventh straight start. The Blues have back-to-back games in Columbus and Nashville Wednesday and Thursday, but right now, it doesn’t appear that backup Chris Holt will get a start.
Keep an eye on Holt tonight, however, if he were to get in the game against the Rangers. A six-round pick of the Rangers in 2003, Holt played in only one NHL game in New York before the two sides went different ways and he said he’d love to get a chance to face them.
Holt was with the Rangers when Davidson was the team’s broadcaster. Holt studied broadcasting in school, and said he used to pick JD’s brain on the profession.
“I’d say our chats are a little fewer and far between now,” Holt joked. “He’s a little more intimidating than he was in New York. But he’s a good guy and I think he’s definitely got this team going in the right direction.”
JR
