Now, to be fair, I don’t really go to too many NHL games, but when my St. Lou Blues are in town, I must go. Besides, easy matchup, right? Coyotes at 6-6 facing the Blues, all studly at the top of the Central Division?
I knew something wasn’t right when Ozzy gave up a goal 50 seconds into the game. Oh, man, this isn’t going to go well.
In the 2nd period, things had gotten back to an even keel, and the Blues were ahead 3-1.
SO HOW IS IT THEY COULD LOSE THE GODDAMNED GAME BY A SCORE OF 5-4?!
I’ll tell you how. Because the St. Louis Blues haven’t had a dominant force in goal since Curtis Joseph, and even he wasn’t the be-all and end-all. Grant Fuhr? WAY past his prime. Roman Turek? Fantastic, unless you plan on going somewhere come playoff time. Brent Johnson? Don’t make me laugh. The guy’s a perpetual backup, and so shall it ever be.
Fred Brathwaite?! Come on, people, get with the fucking program!
CAN SOMEBODY IN ST. LOUIS GET A FUCKING CLUE ABOUT THIS?!?! They stack this team full of snipers (Weight, Tkachuk, Pronger, MacInnis, et al) and then FORGET ABOUT SOMEONE MINDING THE GOAL!?
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Detroit fan here, so I’ve seen firsthand how frustratingly inconsistent Ozzie can be. However, to watch one bad game and decide he’s the weak link after the run he and the Blues had last week, sounds like the treatment he got here in Detroit, i.e. “What have you done for us lately?” I always felt he got a worse rap than he deserved from the fans and media. It appears to be following him around.
OTOH I can’t be too upset that the Blues lost last night. If the Wings beat Columbus tonight, they take over the division, at least for the time being. Maybe if you guys are really desperate by the trade deadline, you can pick up Joseph again, cheap…
My Blues haven’t cared about a goalie in a looooong time. Strange, since that’s the reason they’ve made the playoffs and gotten eliminated every consecutive year since…lemme see…ah yes, NINETEEN EIGHTY.
I love it when my friends point that out. “Quit your whining, the Blues hold the current record for making the playoffs the most consecutive times. That’s the record in all 4 major US sports.”
“Yeah - that’s great. I’ve watched them get eliminated every year since I was 10 years old. Yay me.”
But don’t ask anyone in the Lou. They’ll tell you that this year the Blues will win it all, like they tell me every year. I don’t live there anymore, so I’m not drinking the “special juice” - things are more clear to me. Things like “ah, I see the Blues resigned Osgood, guaranteeing another early playoff exit.”
EIGHT ties? Please. Ok, so the window has closed on contending. That doesn’t mean you give up and start hoarding money for the lockout. How about some more goal scoring? How about taking Martin Straka off the cash-starved Penguins’ hands? I bet they’ll even give him up for something as lame as Niko Dimitrakos and a draft pick.
/bitter Sharks fan who insisted they would have won the Eastern conference at least once in the past few years
Buck up. You get to cheer for a team with a real name. I’m forced to go with the freaking Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
I’m still bitter about that. Except for when they were in the Stanley Cup finals. The thought of the Stanley Cup having “Mighty Ducks of Anaheim” forever polluting it made me grin a bit, I must admit.
I’m sorry, but no team should lose a 3-1 lead, and no team BY ANY CIRCUMSTANCES should lose a game after SCORING 4 GOALS. I don’t know when the NHL turned into the MLB, but goddammit, I’m sick and fuckin’ tired of these high-scoring NHL affairs.
If you give up 5 goals on 19 shots, guess what? You suck bong water. Put the jerseys in the closet and open up a sports bar in one of your former team’s suburbs, you’re done. That equates to a .737 save percentage, which means you officially suck.
That said, St. Louis better pray to Jesus he DOESN’T retire, because Chris Osgood is roughly 10 billion times better than Brent Johnson, who sucks so badly there should be a new weather phenomenon named after him.
DAMMIT. DAMN IT. I’m sick and tired of being a magnanimous loser who graciously says, “Well, maybe next year, that Vancouver/Detroit/Colorado team that just eliminated us was pretty good this year.”
The other night, Marty Turco gave up an Osgood-esqe goal from centre ice. After posting the lowest GAA since WWII last season, Turco has really come back to earth. Hopefully it is just a slight case of sophmore jinx plus the usual let down an athlete has after signing a new contract. And hopefully he overcomes it pretty soon.
We have 1 of the best young goaltenders in the NHL and another rising star as a backup.
It’s funny, but it’s always the bad goals that we remember. How about that floater Tommy Salo let in during the 2002 Olympics?
Anyways, goaltending is not always what makes a team good or bad. Look at the Red Wings when Osgood was the goaltender. He was adequate. Didn’t let in too many garbage goals. Was able to steer away the majority of the 15 or so shots directed against him. Now that St Louis has a dilapitated d-corps he’s come under fire. Osgood has never been a great goaltender. Adequate at best (on a good night).
Don’t get me started about Brodeur. Granted, he’s a good G, but when you only get 20 shots a game, your bound to win more often than not. But tha’ts his talent. He’s able to stay sharp with very little work. Most goalies thrive when they get pummeled. Look at Theodore, Fleury, Roy (when with Habs). When there a fewer shots, G’s tend to freeze up, like last Sat. when the Sens and Lalime lost to Montreal. The Habs only had 13 shots (3 goals on 13 shots!!).
As much as I hate the fact that the Habs suck and besides Theodore they don’t have any marquee players, I get really excited when they win. That’s what being a fan is all about.
Please. Remember back 4 or 5 years ago when Osgood was with the Wings and in one playoff year he let in 4 or 5 shots from outside the blueline. The Wings would have probably won another Cup or two if Osgood was better. And I say that as a Wing hater.
Penguins fan here…umm, where do we start? We have a living legend a bit past his prime (but is still God, and don’t you forget it!) , an 18 year old phenom playing not only for the Calder Trophy but for the Vezina, a couple promising young forwards, but other than that…take your pick!
Elwood, trust me, if you guys want him, you’re more than free to him! The Pens would give him up for a bag of pucks (but only game pucks…we’re standing pretty firm on that one).
Leafs fan… need I say more? I’m convinced that no matter what they do they will go without a cup until 2067.
I can’t point out the one thing that holds them back. Injuries and bad luck I guess. I mean Ballard has been out of the picture so long we can’t blame him anymore, though some think he cursed the team before he died.
Oh we’ll get into the playoffs and promptly crap out. The worst part is the team will generate false hope again through the grit of some of their players, but in the end…
I’m a Red Wings fan and I’ve always liked Chris Osgood. He probably gets the least respect of any Cup-winning goalie. I personally hope he plays well for the Blues (but not against the Wings, of course).
Believe me, the Red Wings didn’t ditch him because he was the missing link to the Stanley Cup puzzle. They ditched him because he was the weakest link in a very strong chain.
As he is currently appearing to be in St. Lou.
As far as I’m concerned, the best role he could possibly play for the Blues would be as a mentor to a young, up-and-coming goalie in the farm system. Teach the kid how to react to the pressure of the bigs, then get the hell out of the way and let the kid take over. When the kid struggles, come in to spell him, then get the hell out of the way again when the kid’s ready again.
Maybe if you guys are really desperate by the trade deadline, you can pick up Joseph again, cheap…