Vladimir Sobotka is unable to play tonight after taking a Jarome Iginla slapshot off the toe of his skate. Adam Cracknell has been recalled from Peoria.
Ben Bishop will once again get the start in goal – with Ty Conklin as backup. Jaroslav Halak practised today and took a few shots but he’s not ready to return just yet.
And if you thought the Blues had thrown in the towel on the season, they obviously forgot to tell their players – specifically TJ Oshie. There’s a great interview at the Blues Official Site where Oshie discusses the Calgary game plus the recent trades. Well worth a watch.
Ty Conklin has cleared waivers. Looks like the Blues have a decision to make between him and Ben Bishop.
UPDATE: Blues have traded Brad Winchester to the Anaheim Ducks for a third round pick in 2012. Ryan Reaves and Chris Porter have been called up from Peoria.
UPDATE: The Blues have announced that Phil McRae has been placed on IR – McRae suffered a knee injury in the Vancouver game.
According to Pierre LeBrun on Twitter, the Blues have placed goaltender Ty Conklin on waivers. We’ll know shortly after 11am St Louis time on Monday if Conklin has cleared waivers.
With this move, it appears that Jaroslav Halak should be coming off IR and will be ready to play. The Blues look as though they will now keep Ben Bishop as Jaro’s backup for the rest of the season. Bishop deserves it with his excellent 39 save shutout against the Oilers last night. The tandem of Halak and Bishop could well be in force next season as well.
Jaroslav Halak has been placed on 7 day Injured Reserve retroactive to Monday. Halak injured his hand in practice on Wednesday. According to Darren Pang on twitter, it’s Halak’s right, blocker hand that is the problem. Pang also says that Halak has been battling this injury for a while and that explains why he has been “dropping his stick with a lot of traffic in front”. It’s been difficult for Jaro to control his stick.
Ben Bishop has been recalled from Peoria and, whilst this isn’t great timing – with the Blues about to go on a 7 games in 10 days stretch, at least the Blues will be able to see if Bishop is NHL ready. With Ty Conklin a free agent after this season, Bishop is the likely candidate to be Jaro’s backup next season.
Ty Conklin made 36 saves in the Blues overtime loss at Tampa Bay – and when the Lightning scored with 6 seconds of overtime left…well, as the above video shows, Conks was not a happy bunny. Good for him – nice to see a bit of passion from time to time.
Jaroslav Halak has recovered from his upper body injury and is now good to go – as such, Ben Bishop has been reassigned to Peoria.
Andy Strickland has stated at True Hockey.com that the Red Wings may have interest in Conklin. It will be intriguing to see if this develops. If the Blues DO trade Conklin and then make the playoffs, we’ll see Ben Bishop being Halak’s backup.
The Blues have trimmed their roster down to 28 – with TJ Hensick and Ben Bishop being assigned to Peoria. Bishop has impressed during his time with squad so in the case of injuries, expect him to see some time up with the Blues this season – and you get the feeling that Bishop will not disappoint between the pipes. Nicholas Drazenovic is still with the Blues squad and with Sobotka likely not to recover from shoulder surgery in time for the start of the season, I would hope that Drazenovic sticks and starts the season in St Louis. I have hopes for him.
The Blues have announced the Eric Brewer will remain as captain for the upcoming season with the assistants being David Backes, Barret Jackman, Alex Steen and Erik Johnson.
Mandi Schwartz has received the stem cell transplant she needs – and all best wishes to her for the future.
Preseason games have seen the Blues lose to Colorado and Dallas but register two wins against Minnesota and win against Colorado.
Brendan Bell has cleared waivers and will start the season in Peoria – which is a bit of a relief. Personally, I’m very glad nobody picked him up.
Some other news from today:
Jeremy Rutherford is reporting that Cam Janssen is the current leader in the Blues shootout drill. Andy Murray told the players at the beginning of the week that the winner of the shootout drills would be “guaranteed” a spot in the shootout when the season begins. I bet you’re sweating a bit now, Mr Murray! Janssen has spent the summer working on his stickhandling and puck skills – he’s also been practising shootouts with Erik Johnson.
Rumour is that Sydor has done enough to warrant a possible contract offer. It remains to be seen whether this is true but the 2 available defense places are now being fought over between Sydor, Pietrangelo, Strachan and Junland.
David Perron is now on Twitter – you can follow him at DP_57
The Blues are allowed to take three goalies to Sweden. Those three will be Chris Mason, Ty Conklin and Ben Bishop. Bishop has had an excellent training camp and has really improved since last year.
The Annual St Louis Blues 14 Fund Golf Classic was held on Tuesday at Meadowbrook Country Club in Ballwin. A write up and photo gallery from the event can be found on Blues Website – Features
First preseason game. First victory. First Kariya goal of the season. The Blues goals were:
Paul Kariya – assists: Brad Boyes and Brendan Bell
Chris Porter – assists: Derek Armstrong and Aaron Palushaj
Derek Armstrong – assists: Brendan Bell and Mike Weaver
As a matter of interest, Derek Armstrong also got a Gordie Howe hattrick with a goal, an assist and a fight. There was certainly no holding back in this game. Cam Janssen managed 29 PIM’s and you know things are getting interesting when even David Perron had a fight and 7 PIMs. A few points from the game:
David Backes left the ice with an injury to his leg and had to be helped down the tunnel. He was, however, back on the ice later in the game.
Chris Mason and Ben Bishop split the goaltending duties. Mason made 10 saves and Bishop made 23.
Darryl Sydor wore #44. Chris Pronger’s old number.
The three stars of the game were Armstrong, Mason and Bishop.
The coaches have a very difficult task now – they have to decide who stays and who goes. Armstrong had a great game but is there room for him on the Blues at the moment? Most forward positions seem pretty well locked. The defense however has two positions up for grabs. Sydor seemed a bit slow – his name wasn’t mentioned much. Brendan Bell picked up two assists and played very strong. Would it really be any use to send Pietrangelo back to juniors? Junland and Wagner have both improved. It’s a tough one – and one you can’t really make on one preseason game. Training Camp gave the coaches one look at them. This game was another.
If it were up to me, I’d pick Bell and Pietrangelo…
British, female and a Blues fan - there aren't many of us over here the UK but hopefully we can change that. I'm heading over to the US in January to go the Blues games against the Ducks and Kings on the West Coast - so if you see me there, please say hello!
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