Wick Loses His Flame
After battling cancer for over a year, St. Louis Blues playoff hero
Doug Wickenheiser succumbed to the disease that consumed him. He
was 37.
"Aside from being one of the most exciting hockey players, he was a
truly great person and had a great family," said Susie Mathieu, the
Blues' publicity director when Wickenheiser was with the team. "He
embodied it all."
"Wick" is best remembered for the "Monday Night Miracle" when he
scored the game-winning overtime goal in Game 6 of the 1986
Campbell Conference Finals against Calgary. In the game, St. Louis
trailed 5-2 with 11:52 left in the game when the Blues clawed back
to tie the game in regulation.
Wickenheiser's goal in overtime sent the series to a seventh game,
which Calgary eventually won 2-1.
Wearing a Bluenote for 230 games, Wick had 51 goals and 67 assists.
His career spanned 10 years and four other teams - New York
Rangers, Washington, Montreal, and Vancouver.
During Wickenheiser's struggle with cancer, the Blues wore a
circular emblem with a lit candle and the number 14 above the
flame. In a ceremony to honor Wickenheiser's life prior to St.
Louis's game with Toronto, the Blues unveiled a banner with that
symbol on it that will hang between the American and Canadian flags
for the rest of the season.
It will be moved permanently outside of the Blues Alumni Box at the
Kiel Center starting next season.
Although the hero has passed on, his teammates will always remember
him for the joy he had on the ice.
"I remember the pumping of his fists," said Bernie Federko the
franchise's career leading scorer, now a radio analyst with the
team. "I can see it right now, and the smile on his face. That's
what we remember him by, not the last few months."
Let's Talk Some Games
Well, not much has happened in the past two weeks over in Bluesland.
No huge fines, no troubles with money, nothing like that. So, since
we've got some extra time and web page space, let's see what the
Blues have done (or, better yet, what they haven't done) in their
past four games.
Is That Hasek In Net?
Playing the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo with Dominik Hasek in goal.
That thought usually instills fear in the heart of any opponent
entering the Marine Midland Arena.
Usually.
This was a Buffalo Sabre squad that had lost its previous three home
games when Hasek started.
The Blues pushed that streak to four with a 4-2 win.
Chris Pronger scored twice and Grant Fuhr stopped 23 of 25 to give
St. Louis only their second road win in 14 games.
"Our record on the road hasn't been what we like," said Blues coach
Joel Quenneville. "We got the big goal that we didn't get before."
Michael Peca gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead five minutes into the first,
but St. Louis came back with Pronger's two goals in the second and
two more goals in the third to push the lead to 4-1 seven minutes
into the third.
For Pronger, his two goals, both on the power play, were an
enjoyment.
"Anytime you score two goals against (Hasek), it's going to be fun,"
Pronger said. "It's even more fun to win."
Roy The Hell Can't We Score On Him?
The old school is moving out. The new guard is coming in. How come
nobody told that to the Blues?
Earlier in the week, the Blues (Chris Pronger particularly) mastered
Dominik Hasek, a goaltender that was to represent a new wave of young
flashy netminder that were hogging the spotlight of the National
Hockey League.
Only three days later, the Blues traveled to Colorado to take on a
goaltender who was replaced in the spotlight by Hasek - Patrick Roy.
Problem is Roy wasn't as easy to beat as Hasek was.
The Colorado goalie, who had shut out the Blues in their previous
two meetings this season, did it again. This time he stopped all 28
shots he faced for a 2-0 victory.
"I guess sometimes you need one (a shutout) to get on a roll," said
Roy, who has 44 career shutouts. "I felt good today, like the last
game. I was just trying to make save after save, play as good as I
could."
Aaron Miller and Valeri Kamensky scored the only goals of the
contest. The only bright spot of the game was the return of Pierre
Turgeon to the Blues' lineup, after the center missed 14 games with
a broken bone in his left hand.
A Battle of Former Division Rivals
So, plain and simple, the Blues needed a win to avoid going 1-4 on
their five-game road swing.
Would they get it?
Ha! That's a good one.
The Blues did jump out to a 1-0 lead when Al MacInnis picked up a
Power-play goal with only a second left in the first. But Phoenix
posted a three-spot in the third as the Coyotes went on for a 4-2
victory, thus ending the Blues' dismal road trip with a loss.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 26 of 28 shots for the win, while Jamie
McLennan stopped 15 of the 19 he faced. He was replaced at 1:20 of
the third by Grant Fuhr after McLennan allowed his fourth goal of
the night.
Back Home
The Blues closed their pre-All-Star Game schedule back home in the
friendly confines of the Kiel Center to try and change their recent
luck and at least head into the long break with a point or two in a
match with Toronto.
Uh huh, right.
The Blues did jump out to a lead after one period, Craig Conroy
helped do that with a goal 15:20 in. But Toronto picked up two in
the second and added two more in the third as the Maple Leafs sent
the Blues into the annual break with a 4-2 loss.
Any layman would see that the Blues are not doing as good this
season at the Break as they were last season at this same point.
Goals are down, points are down, wins are down. Everything is down.
Has the loss of Brett Hull caused it all? Possibly, but that's in
the past. We've got a new hero in Pavol Demitra. Maybe he can help
us out, especially in the third period where the Blues are 0-14-2
this season when trailing after two and 0-55-10 going back to Nov.
14, 1996.
Lord knows we need the help.
