It?s been a rough two weeks physically for the Blues, with seven games in seven cities and two countries and nine plane trips and six time-zone changes (though never more than an hour). Their ?bye week? beckons. But first, there?s one more thing: a game Monday night at home against the Florida Panthers.
Once that?s done, the Blues can think about the rest and relaxation that comes with five days of no games and no practices. They just have to safely navigate one final game.
?We can?t look past (Monday) night,? Blues center Kyle Brodziak said. ?We talked as a group that we?re not happy with the result (Saturday, a 3-2 loss in Buffalo) and have to get back to it. We want to go into the break feeling positive about something. We know it will be a tough game. Everybody?s focus is make sure that they?re doing everything they can to prepare the right way. When the break comes, it comes. Until it does, there?s business to take care of.?
As a bonus, the Blues are likely to have center Paul Stastny back in the lineup for this game after he sat out the previous four because of a lower-body injury. Stastny was one of the few Blues on the ice Sunday as most of the team was given the day off after a stretch of three games in less than 72 hours.
?The last couple of days, I?ve been pushing it pretty good and every day has been better and better, no setbacks,? Stastny said Sunday. ?That?s the important thing. I don?t want to come back until I?m 100 percent comfortable with it, so I?ll see how it reacts tonight, skate tomorrow morning and then we?ll make a decision.?
The Blues apparently are confident enough that they already have sent forward Kenny Agostino back to Chicago to open the necessary roster spot for Stastny. He was injured early in the second period of the Blues? 2-1 overtime win over TorontoFeb. 9 when he got his leg tangled up with Toronto?s Nazem Kadri and fell to the ice.
?It was just a little tweak,? Stastny said. ?It?s something that happened before that was bugging me. It looked harmless, so it wasn?t foul play on any guy. That?s how you get hurt these days, the most random plays ? where you just kind of jump over and fall on the ice a certain way. It was frustrating.?
With one game to go before the break, there?s a case to be made for sitting Stastny on Monday and giving him another week to be totally healed. But he said the downside of that would be he would go from being out of action for 10 days to being out for 16 days, which he would pay for by taking longer to get back into game shape. He said if he feels ready to go, the best thing to do is go out and play.
?Every week you miss, it almost takes a game to catch up to the game speed or the mental side of things,? Stastny said. ?So for me, it?s all about getting back as soon as you can and try to help the team win.?
Coach Mike Yeo wouldn?t confirm it, but it?s likely he?ll put Stastny back on a line with Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko. That unit produced three goals in Ottawa the game before Stastny was hurt.
?No reason to think they can?t pick up right where they left off,? Yeo said. ?Three talented hockey players and three intelligent hockey players who should be able to read off each other.?
The Blues? winning streak ended at six games Saturday , but those wins thrust them back into a healthy spot in the playoff chase and into third place in the Central Division.
?We looked at (the last) week,? Yeo said, ?and we wanted to win all four games, but we have a chance if we win our next game to have a real good week. That has to be our focus. Things have been going well. I?ve liked our response after wins, now we have a chance to like our response after a loss.?
The Blues have gone 7-2 under Yeo, and after the last time they lost they started their winning streak. After the afternoon game on Saturday, the players who didn?t take the ice Sunday will have more than a full day of rest.
?It?s the physical rest, but it?s the mental rest as well,? Yeo said. ?We want to make sure we have the right mindset heading into (Monday?s) game. The bye week starts after that. The guys we felt needed rest (Sunday), we gave them some rest to make sure we have full energy. There were some areas of our game I thought we played pretty well (against Buffalo), but we didn?t do some things well enough to win the hockey game, so there should be no excuses for that (Monday). We should be fully charged and ready to go.?
Blues get Rattie back
The Blues reclaimed forward Ty Rattie off waivers Sunday and assigned him to their Chicago (AHL) farm team. The Blues lost Rattie, who had appeared in just four games, to Carolina on Jan. 4 when they put him on waivers in an attempt to send him down to Chicago and he was claimed.
Rattie played the next day, ironically against the Blues, but he has played in only four other games since and had no goals and two assists.
Under waiver rules, the Blues were 20th in line to put in a claim, and while other teams would have had to keep Rattie on their NHL roster, by reclaiming him the Blues were able to finish what they had started more than a month ago and send him to Chicago. There he will get the first consistent ice time he will have all season, for either team.
?He just wants to play hockey,? said defenseman Joel Edmundson, one of Rattie?s closest friends on the team. ?He doesn?t care (in the NHL or AHL). He just wants to get out there and show everyone what he?s got. He?s only played single-digit games this year. He just wants to get out there; he just wants to play hockey again.?
Once that?s done, the Blues can think about the rest and relaxation that comes with five days of no games and no practices. They just have to safely navigate one final game.
?We can?t look past (Monday) night,? Blues center Kyle Brodziak said. ?We talked as a group that we?re not happy with the result (Saturday, a 3-2 loss in Buffalo) and have to get back to it. We want to go into the break feeling positive about something. We know it will be a tough game. Everybody?s focus is make sure that they?re doing everything they can to prepare the right way. When the break comes, it comes. Until it does, there?s business to take care of.?
As a bonus, the Blues are likely to have center Paul Stastny back in the lineup for this game after he sat out the previous four because of a lower-body injury. Stastny was one of the few Blues on the ice Sunday as most of the team was given the day off after a stretch of three games in less than 72 hours.
?The last couple of days, I?ve been pushing it pretty good and every day has been better and better, no setbacks,? Stastny said Sunday. ?That?s the important thing. I don?t want to come back until I?m 100 percent comfortable with it, so I?ll see how it reacts tonight, skate tomorrow morning and then we?ll make a decision.?
The Blues apparently are confident enough that they already have sent forward Kenny Agostino back to Chicago to open the necessary roster spot for Stastny. He was injured early in the second period of the Blues? 2-1 overtime win over TorontoFeb. 9 when he got his leg tangled up with Toronto?s Nazem Kadri and fell to the ice.
?It was just a little tweak,? Stastny said. ?It?s something that happened before that was bugging me. It looked harmless, so it wasn?t foul play on any guy. That?s how you get hurt these days, the most random plays ? where you just kind of jump over and fall on the ice a certain way. It was frustrating.?
With one game to go before the break, there?s a case to be made for sitting Stastny on Monday and giving him another week to be totally healed. But he said the downside of that would be he would go from being out of action for 10 days to being out for 16 days, which he would pay for by taking longer to get back into game shape. He said if he feels ready to go, the best thing to do is go out and play.
?Every week you miss, it almost takes a game to catch up to the game speed or the mental side of things,? Stastny said. ?So for me, it?s all about getting back as soon as you can and try to help the team win.?
Coach Mike Yeo wouldn?t confirm it, but it?s likely he?ll put Stastny back on a line with Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko. That unit produced three goals in Ottawa the game before Stastny was hurt.
?No reason to think they can?t pick up right where they left off,? Yeo said. ?Three talented hockey players and three intelligent hockey players who should be able to read off each other.?
The Blues? winning streak ended at six games Saturday , but those wins thrust them back into a healthy spot in the playoff chase and into third place in the Central Division.
?We looked at (the last) week,? Yeo said, ?and we wanted to win all four games, but we have a chance if we win our next game to have a real good week. That has to be our focus. Things have been going well. I?ve liked our response after wins, now we have a chance to like our response after a loss.?
The Blues have gone 7-2 under Yeo, and after the last time they lost they started their winning streak. After the afternoon game on Saturday, the players who didn?t take the ice Sunday will have more than a full day of rest.
?It?s the physical rest, but it?s the mental rest as well,? Yeo said. ?We want to make sure we have the right mindset heading into (Monday?s) game. The bye week starts after that. The guys we felt needed rest (Sunday), we gave them some rest to make sure we have full energy. There were some areas of our game I thought we played pretty well (against Buffalo), but we didn?t do some things well enough to win the hockey game, so there should be no excuses for that (Monday). We should be fully charged and ready to go.?
Blues get Rattie back
The Blues reclaimed forward Ty Rattie off waivers Sunday and assigned him to their Chicago (AHL) farm team. The Blues lost Rattie, who had appeared in just four games, to Carolina on Jan. 4 when they put him on waivers in an attempt to send him down to Chicago and he was claimed.
Rattie played the next day, ironically against the Blues, but he has played in only four other games since and had no goals and two assists.
Under waiver rules, the Blues were 20th in line to put in a claim, and while other teams would have had to keep Rattie on their NHL roster, by reclaiming him the Blues were able to finish what they had started more than a month ago and send him to Chicago. There he will get the first consistent ice time he will have all season, for either team.
?He just wants to play hockey,? said defenseman Joel Edmundson, one of Rattie?s closest friends on the team. ?He doesn?t care (in the NHL or AHL). He just wants to get out there and show everyone what he?s got. He?s only played single-digit games this year. He just wants to get out there; he just wants to play hockey again.?
