The Fifth Liners

This weeks question deals with a long standing hockey playoff tradition that slowly beginning to become a burden on teams- the multiple overtime periods. "Is the overtime system used in the playoffs flawed? Playing repeated 20 minute periods until someone finds twine is tough on the skaters, not to mention the fans and TV schedulers. Should the NHL adopt the same system used during the regular season? Or is it time for something completely different?" Last night during the St Louis Blues 4-3 win over the reigning champions the Chicago Blackhawks - Alexander Steen scored the winner 26 seconds into a third overtime period! Incredible result for this fixture, but there's no denying that fans were kept waiting for too long for a winner this tie, regardless of this being playoff time. I've never fully understood the need for continuing periods, because this can affect a team in the long run because your skaters are overworked and more likely make errors or even ...

I know this piece will probably seem a bit hypocritical to some seeing as I basically slated the St Louis Blues during the off season and implied that they better not hold their breath waiting for the glory days to come! Well after last night's 6-0 thrashing of Edmonton, it seems this year could well be the year that hockey goes big in Missouri! So far the Blues firm has been nothing short of exceptional and currently they stand 4th overall in the Western Conference with only four points separating them from previous cup champs Los Angeles and Chicago! Last season brought a similar result and despite their best efforts, they were eliminated by the Kings in the playoffs first round. It seems head coach Ken Hitchcock has been firmly wracking his brains in the off season. His solutions to plugging the gaps seem to be working as the Blues have the third most goals in the Western Conference with 125 goals and have been led by the free scoring forward Alexander Steen with 38 points!...

The St Louis Blues clinched a dramatic late 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Scottrade Center last night to continue the reigning champions indifferent start to the 2013/14 season. Vladimir Tarasenko put the Blues in front after 15 minutes when he scored a high shot past Corey Crawford, but Patrick Kane tied the scores at 1-1 only two minutes later. After 7 minutes of the second period Alex Pietrangelo's long shot deflected off Blues captain David Backes to put the home side 2-1 in front on a powerplay! But yet again the Blackhawks levelled the scores again when Jonathan Toews scored on their own powerplay to bring things to 2-2. But with only 21 seconds remaining in the third period, Alexander Steen seized on a 3 on 1 breakaway chance to slot the puck underneath Crawford and give the Blues the win! To see the celebrations erupt among the home fans, you would have thought this was the playoffs! Jaroslav Halak was to thank for keeping the champions out and his fi...

My question this week once again turns to the city of St Louis as Mike poised this particular question to me:  “The St. Louis Blues are rebuilding their team, the big money signing of Bouwmeester and the extension of Pietrangelo show the team's commitment to its core group of players.T.J. Oshie and David Backes are great players but will the Blues need to shore up its group of forwards if they really want to challenge for the cup?”  Very good question Mike, so let’s go to work. In a city still reveling from the St Louis Cardinals victory in the 2011 World Series of Baseball, blues fans have had little to cheer about in recent years. Last year on paper appeared to be a success as the Blues finished Fourth in Western Conference and pushed the LA Kings all the way in their playoff quarter final and were only narrowly defeated in six games. St Louis now have a potentially great defensive pair after Calgary Flames’ financial problems forced them to trade Jay Bouwmeester las...