A Ghost From The Past
He's back!!! At least this time, he didn't bring Keenan with him.
Former Blues President Jack Quinn is suing the team for the $800,000
he says the team owes him from a previous contract that he said was
guaranteed through Jan. 13, 2003.
Both Quinn and former head coach/general manager Mike Keenan were
fired in December 1996, but Quinn was retained as a consultant at a
salary of $250,000 per year. The Blues fired Quinn after the team
was fined $1.5 million for tampering with Scott Stevens in 1994,
while Quinn was still team president.
"The contract was a guaranteed contract; they have to pay it," said
Merle Silverstein, Quinn's lawyer.
Along with the salary dispute, Quinn says the team owes him $31,200
for a car allowance and $25,000 in medical benefits.
Onto The Games
Could It Happen Again?
When I talked to you last, the St. Louis Blues had pulled the
impossible.
For the first time in 69 games, the Blues won a game when trailing
after two periods. They did so against Florida. But, would it be
asking too much for the Blues to win another one. Well, chances are
it wouldn't happen against Tampa Bay because teams really need to
try to get behind the Lightning.
The Blues tried hard...really hard.
Chris Gratton put Tampa Bay on the board first. The man who was
rejected by Philadelphia like a baboon heart tallied just 52
seconds in to give the 'Ning a 1-0 lead. (Gratton's goal was
assisted by Alexander Daigle who has been rejected by Philadelphia,
Ottawa, and Pamela Anderson Lee.)
Pavol Demitra tied the game about four minutes later with his 24th
on the year, but Benoit Hogue gave Tampa Bay the lead after one at
2-1.
The Blues started to pull away early in the second. Scott Pellerin
tied the game at 2-2 just 1:06 into the middle frame, then Scott
Young scored his 12th just 20 seconds later, giving the Blues a
one-goal lead.
Of course, like most Blues leads, this one would hold. (Surgeon
General's Warning: Exposure to extreme sarcasm may be hazardous to
your helath. Parental Discretion Advised.)
It took about 15 minutes, but Tampa Bay tied the game. Stephane
Richer and Rob Zaumner set up Darcy Tucker to tie the game at 3-3.
Just 140 ticks later, Tampa Bay took the lead when Tucker scored
again, this time on the power play, giving Tampa a 4-3 lead going
into the final period.
The Blues trailing after two. It's a good thing I didn't ruin it and
elude to this at the beginning.
Pavol Demitra penciled his second of the game nine minutes into the
third to tie the game at 4-4. With 4:23 left in regulation, Terry
Yake put St. Louis up for good as they came back from a deficit
after the second to win 5-4.
"It's been a long time and I think we finally got the monkey off our
back. We believed we could do it," said Yake. "Any way we can win,
we'll take it.
"We had a good feeling in the dressing room after the second period.
We weren't happy with ourselves, but we've scoring some goals lately
and we thought we could come out and win this hockey game," Yake
said. "Thanks to the game before, it rolled over and we did it
again."
Jamie McLennan stopped 18 of 22 shots for only his 10th win of the
season.
It Should Be An Easy Win
The San Jose Sharks aren't exactly the greatest team in the league.
Then again, they never were.
Once again, the Sharks were hovering around the basement of the
western-most division in the NHL; they've stayed away from the
cellar thanks to the Los Angeles Kings.
So, looking at those facts, the outcome of the Blues' game against
the Sharks should surprise some. San Jose jumped out to a 3-0 lead
early in the second period, thanks to two goals by rookie Alexander
Korolyuk. The Blues fought back, though. Al MacInnis picked up his
15th on the season a little more than halfway through the second to
make it 3-1.
That didn't matter.
San Jose added a Jeff Friesen goal 49 seconds later and a Dave Lowry
goal late in the third to cruise to a 5-1 victory over the Blues.
"Some nights it's like you can just see it's not there," St. Louis
coach Joel Quenneville said. "Tonight was one of those nights where
you could have done anything and nothing was going to change."
The End of One of the Streaks
The Edmonton Oilers, trying to hold on to their eighth-place
position in the West, had lost eight straight. The St. Louis Blues
were in the midst of a four-game home losing streak.
Something had to give as the Blues hosted Edmonton in the second
game of their seven game homestand.
The Oilers tried to give first when Bill Guerin scored 7:50 in to
give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. The Bluenotes got back under seven
minutes later when Pierre Turgeon took a pass from Pavol Demitra
and beat Bob Essensa to tie the game at 1-1.
After 12:20 of tied hockey, Ryan Smyth took the rebound of Dean
McAmmond's shot and beat Jamie McLennan to give the Oilers a 2-1
lead after two.
Then, the Blues reverted to their old ways.
Although Pascal Rheaume tied the game at 2-2 with 10:56 left, Smyth
picked up his second of the game to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead and
end St. Louis's 2-0-0 streak when trailing after two periods.
The Game With 'Couver
OK- This one is simple.
The Blues scored a ton of goals. (Eight)
The Canucks scored very few goals. (One)
It was not competitive.
The Game With Florida
OK- This one is just as simple as the prior, if not easier.
The Blues scored very few goals. (Zero)
The Panthers scored very few goals. (Zero)
It was competitive, it's just that nobody scored.
It was the first home scoreless tie for the Blues since January 7,
1978.
Simple, eh?
Another Battle With Expansion
The Blues play in an easy division. The only team they need to look
out for is Detroit. Chicago is nowhere near competitive and the
expansion Predators are realistically capable of making the
playoffs, but they should be beatable.
The Predators didn't think so.
After each team putt two goals on the board in the first, Nashville
took the advantage. Jaime Heward scored his second of the game
midway through the second to push the score to 3-2. Nashville
nailed the coffin shut early in the third when John Slaney appeared
to deflect a shot off of Blues defenseman Bryan Helmer.
Pascal Rheaume did score with five seconds left, but it was too
little too late as Nashville beat the Blues 4-3.
St. Louis, who outshot the Preds 37-22, lost to the expansion club
for the second time this season.
A Rematch of Last Year's Playoffs
They're not the same team they were 10 months ago. The Los Angeles
Kings have fallen off drastically from the team that pounded its
way to fifth in the Western Conference and looked to be dominant in
seasons to come. But injuries and poor play have dropped them to
the same class as Tampa Bay.
With all of the hardships the Kings have gone through, it's no
wonder the Blues had their way with them. After Pavol Demitra
scored 5:23 into the first, the Blues put up a three-spot in the
second, including Demitra's second of the night as the Blues
destroyed the once mighty Kings, 5-1.
"I thought we played with more determination and it was a needed
effort," Blues' head coach Joel Quenneville said.
For Demitra, his second goal set a new career-high at 27, and tied
the number scored last season by former Bluenote Brett Hull.
