Matt: Hey JR

If Eller does not make the Blues out of camp and is sent to Peoria, will he return to Europe to play or stay in the AHL all year?

Jeremy Rutherford: Eller told me he would stay in North America. He said, "I'm ready for a new challenge."

BIKERBILLSCOTT: WHY ARE YOU SO DOWN ON CAMMALLERI ????? HE SCORED 39 GOALS WITH 43 ASSISTS.....AND IS 28 YEARS OLD.........TRUE HE IS STRICTLY OFFENSIVE BUT IN TODAYS NHL THIS SPEEDY FORWARD WOULD HAVE LOOKED GREAT IN THE BLUENOTE....

Jeremy Rutherford:
I'm glad you brought this up. I shouldn't be so hard on him. I just think $6 million is a lot of money to throw at a player who had a GREAT year in a GREAT environment. In Montreal, he's not going to have the same kind of players around him like he did in Calgary. But you're right, perhaps I'm being too hard.

Brad in Indy: What happens if no team offers Polak an offer sheet as a RFA? Does he then become an UFA? Would the Blues be given one last chance to sign him before he hits the open market?

Jeremy Rutherford: If Polak doesn't receive an offer sheet, he'll likely reach a middle ground with the Blues. If they don't reach a deal, Polak could sit out. But there's a deadline that he must accept the qualifying offer or sit the entire season. I forget the date.

The Blues are willing to take this gamble with guys like Strachan, Junland and (eventually) Cole waiting in the wings.

Mark: JR,

Aren't folks overreacting just a bit over the whole Polak thing? I mean, just what are the chances a team gives him an offer sheet? Pretty slim isn't it? If he doesn't get an offer sheet, he has virtually NO leverage...he's not even arbitration eligible.

Jeremy Rutherford: You are correct. Having no arbitration rights is a huge point.

Sean Q.: Jeremy, thanks for taking the questions again. I have two.

First, have you followed/will you follow up with Doug Armstrong about Nikita Nikitin? He's a Russian drafted by the Blues five seasons ago (should be pretty close to fully developed) but is defensibly considered an afterthought by fans since there's never been an indication he might come over. From what Armstrong said in your report four months ago, he sounds like he has the "total package." We'd like to hear more.

Second, and this is a touchy one, because I personally know how this would seem like a confrontational point to make, but in all the praise of Keith Tkachuk being a stand up guy and taking a "hometown discount," why wasn't the fact that he has amassed the 3d largest fortune in NHL history brought up? The Blues organization ALONE has now contracted with him enough to place him 11th all time on that list. As you can imagine, the other guys on that list are almost uniformly playoff heroes, Hart winners, Conn Smythe winners, etc. and only Sakic and Jagr have made more in their careers.

I love the Blues, but there is a sports culture in St. Louis that protects the guys seen as charming and lovable, and there's no doubt that Tkachuk enjoys this relationship with many fans and definitely the local media. Hey, it's human. Personally, I feel like there's a collective looking the other way, especially considering that, among his 28 career postseason goals, none have been game-tying or game-winning in the 3d period or OT, for example. No goals in four career Game 7s, been on more 3-1 chokes than any player in NHL history (with a 3-2 lead lost to boot). Yada yada yada, the horrorshow parade of playoff nonperformance breakdown goes on. I mean, I have never once seen those facts printed in the Post or really discussed at all except on message boards, pretty much by me alone. I don't want the STL culture to be the hyper-critical Philly or New York sports culture, but come on.

My question: Do you think the media, because he's a professional about giving you guys quality time when you need it for your work, shelters him from these kinds of confrontational facts?

Thanks for taking a tough question. It feels like a disturbing family secret that everyone wishes wouldn't get brought up.

Cheers, and here's hoping for another appearance by hotbeefinjection to make your day.

Jeremy Rutherford:
Sean, thanks for the question, but please next time, make them a little shorter. People have a tough time reading through everthing.

But I wanted to answer your second question especially.

1. Yes, I will follow up with Armstrong about Nikitin

2. When I'm covering the story about the Tkachuk signing, how much money he's made in the past has no bearing on the story. I dont give players a mulligan because they're nice to me, or for any other reason. When I sit down to write the story, I ask myself what's pertinent. I don't understand how Tkachuk making millions in the past affects the story last month that he signed a one-year, $2.15 million deal. Maybe I'm in the minority on this one.