Jeremy Rutherford: I just got home from practice. With a game last night and two this weekend, the practice today was optional. Only six or seven players were on the ice. But there is some news today off the ice. Jeff Woywitka has cleared waivers and will play in Peoria tomorrow night. Chris Porter has been assigned to Peoria. Let's see what other questions you have today . . . .

Opti-grab: Back in the offseason where we drafted Perron and had 3 first round picks in the draft, I believe there was a rumor that the Blues offered all 3 of their picks for essentially the first pick overall (or essentially Patrick Kane). Obviously the Blues would never say if they'd make that trade now, but how do you think that trade would have fared as of now if it was made, and how about in the future?

Jeremy Rutherford: The rumor was that the Blues offered all three first-round picks for the No. 1 overall, which they would have used to take Patrick Kane. However, a source in Chicago says that the Blues offered two Nos. 1 and defenseman Barret Jackman. Presumably, the Blues were offering picks No. 9 and No. 24, which they used after trades to take Lars Eller and Ian Cole. They used the No. 25 pick on David Perron. So essentially if the Blackhawks had made the deal, you would have Patrick Kane and David Perron and not have Lars Eller, Ian Cole or Barret Jackman.

Dan Denner: JR, I am a huge Blues fan who happens to be living in Kansas City right now for school. How come FSN doesn't broadcast the games in KC? KC doesn't have a hockey team so there shouldn't be blackout restrictions, right?

Jeremy Rutherford: I just put a call into Geoff Goldman from Fox Sports Midwest, and he tells me that you should be getting the games in KC. Geoff says that others have reported the games are airing as they should be in KC. If you're not getting the game, you can email Fox at midwest@foxsports.net, and Geoff will help you out.

Mark: JR, what's your take on the Blues taking Koci off waivers? I know King will be out a while, perhaps the entire season, but was this move necessary? To me, he seems like King except that he isn't as good of a fighter, is a slower skater, and has less actual hockey skill. Couldn't the Blues have gotten by without picking up Koci? Janssen isn't a true heavyweight but he gets the job done. Besides, there aren't exactly a lot of teams that the Blues are going to need Koci (let along BOTH Koci and Janssen) in the lineup. Is this guy destined for a lot of healthy scratches? Personally, I'd like to see guys like Hinote, Stastny and Porter get more icetime over a guy like Koci.

Jeremy Rutherford: I don't understand the move myself. Yes, Koci can do the job, but I don't think the Blues needed him. I say you let Cam Janssen handle the job until he proves he can't. Now, the only argument that can be made by the team is that if Janssen can't do the job, it's too late to find somebody. In other words, you had to grab Koci when you could. But I think the Blues have a stable of good fourth-line players like Chris Porter, Yan Stastny, Dan Hinote, Jay McClement and Janssen. I don't see many nights when you need Koci.

Puckmvr: Thanks for all the Blues coverage, JR.

Could you help me understand how stats for power play percentages are determined?
1) If the team has a 1 sec. power play due to overlapping penalties and doesn't score, does that count as being 0 for 1 on the power play?
2) If a team scores 2 goals on a 5-minute power play, does that get counted as being 2 for 1 on the power play (e.g., a power play percentage of 200)?
3) In determining the team's overall percentage of converting on the power play, do those 1 sec. and 5-minute power plays count the same (e.g. - the team gets 5 power plays, 4 of which last 1 second, and score 1 goal, and so they have a power play percentage of 20%).

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

Jeremy Rutherford:
Yes, a 1-second overlap on the power play counts the same as a full 2-minute power play. I'm not a fan of that concept, and neither are a lot of other hockey people.

As far as scoring goals on one 5-minute power play, as the Blues did in Toronto, here's how that works . . . if you don't score on the 5-minute PP, you are 0-1 in the books. If you score one goal, you are 1-2. If you score two goals, you are 2-3. YOU CAN NEVER BE PERFECT ON A 5-MIN POWER PLAY BECAUSE THERE'S ALWAYS TIME LEFT. (Special thanks to Chris Kerber for that answer).

My thought, and I've heard this from Bernie Federko as well, is to take the team's time on the power play and divide it by 2 minutes. That way, all power plays are equal length, and you can make a better evaluation of the team's PP.