Jeremy Rutherford: Sorry for the delay boys and girls . . . I was finishing a blog. It's posted now, if you want to take a look. Let's get chatting.

MikeS: JR,

I'm not anti-Murray, from everything read he seems like a great guy. My question - is his style more befitting a group of grinders/checkers versus more skilled playmakers/scorers? It seems these days that players have to conform to what the coach wants rather than the coach realizing the system that is so firmly entrenched in his mind may not work with a particular group. A possible example: the Penguins last year. Couldn't score, changed coach with a style more fitted to take advantage of their skilled players. Granted, we don't have a Crosby, but we have a couple potential Malkins maybe?. It would be nice to see a coach adjust to his players for once, rather than the players always having to adjust to a coaching style. It doesn't make a coach any less effective, in fact a coach that can do that is more impressive than those that cannot in my humble opinion.

Interesting how Pietrangelo got to 8 games and then suddenly a healthy scratch.

Thanks as always for your work here and on twitter.

Jeremy Rutherford:
It's a fair question, but I have not had one skilled player complain about the system in the four years Murray has been at the helm.

Skilled guys are able to do their thing in Murray's system. Even in the Blues' 5-game winless stretch, they were getting 30-plus shots a night. But NO goals.

The Blues gave Pietrangelo a break Tuesday and the team played really well. Murray doesn't usually change the lineup after an effort like that, so Pietrangelo is out again. I've got some quotes from Pietrangelo about this on my blog that I just posted.

Wild Bill: Hi JR,
Thanks for the chat.
How is Big Ben doing in Peoria?
Where is Jake Allen playing this year?

Jeremy Rutherford: Bishop is 4-2-1 with a 3.03 GAA and an .887 save-percentage. I have not had a conversation with the Blues about Bishop in a while, so I don't have much to offer beyond the numbers. I have heard that Bishop is really learning a lot from Ed Belfour, and perhaps that instruction will take some time to show up in his peformance.

Allen is playing junior hockey in Montreal.

cbleedsblue: JR,
What are the chances that the M.B.P line stays together and Murray keeps McDonald at center? Or better yet, how many shifts before they get shuffled?

ps. It's one thing to fault a player for being responsible for a goal scored against his team, but to blame him for simply being on the ice when a goal is scored is ridiculous. Next time you see Brewer, let him know he is doing a tremendous job this season so far and it's good to see him back out there leading this team!

Jeremy Rutherford:
McDonald, Perron and Boyes will be together tonight, and yes McDonald will stay at center.

Brewer has looked much better in his last two games. Fans wasted no time getting on him after he knocked the goal into his own net and again when he was a minus-1 in a 6-1 victory. But anybody who's watching realizes he's making steady improvement and is definitely an asset on this defensive group.

JS5981: Hi JR,
Just wondering: What are the linesman and players normally saying to each other before a faceoff? It seems like there's always chirping back and forth between them before the puck is dropped.

Also, great job on the article about Hull. I miss those days dearly and consider myself lucky to have gotten to see him play in the prime of his career.

Jeremy Rutherford:
Guys taking a face-off are looking for every advantage possible. Some players have told me that they have warned the official about what the other guy might do to cheat. Or after getting warned about something themselves, they might be defending what they do before a face-off. It could be anything.

I had a great time in Toronto covering the Hull HOF induction. Here's a funny story from the morning media session: After the players received their rings, they broke off into individual groups.

Yzerman was told to stand by the podium, Leetch was told to stand by the Stanley Cup and Hull was told to stand by a beverage bar that was in the room. All the media chucked and one asked Hull, who was known to tip a few during his playing days, if he was being typecasted.