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I’ve read a lot about what a nice city Vancouver is. I have a friend from Edmonton who has never had a cross thing to say about it. And I have… um… ok, really, I have no point of reference about Calgary. All in all, though, I have never heard a bad thing said about Western Canada.
After the first three games of the Blues’ most recent road trip (which ends tonight in the land of the Wild), I still haven’t heard a bad thing about it. Heck, the Blues seem to love it. Three for three, six possible points – what a swell Christmas gift for the Blues and their fans.
Vancouver fell, 3-1. Edmonton, well – revenge seemed to work out pretty well on them for their come from behind, 5-3 victory. They embarrassed us on our home ice at Scottrade. Heck, if you really want to get technical, we embarrassed ourselves with arrogance and forgetting to show up to play for a period. Revenge came in the form of a 7-2 full shellacking of a poor goalie who was playing in his first NHL game. Oops. We would feel badly except for that’s not really part of what revenge is, and frankly, the Oil could have stepped up a bit to back their new kid up a little. What might be the most telling part of the win is that Patrik Berglund, he of the splinters in his butt from riding the pine, was allowed to play. And then he scored. Funny how ice time equates with an increased perception of trust which leads to increased confidence and a goal, isn’t it?
Make that two – he scored again in Wednesday’s win over Calgary. Actually, that was the only regulation goal scored after the score-fest in Edmonton. The 2-1 win came courtesy of Boyes and TJ Oshie, who celebrated his birthday in high style, scoring the winning shoot out goal. The scoring drought was apparently back, but the defensive and goaltending abilities are still solid for this team.
It’s not the goalies or the defense that anyone has had to worry about. It’s more the play of the vets like Kariya and McDonald, both of whom seem to be waking up. The kids are the future of the team, and their play is getting going too. Perron hasn’t had anything remotely resembling a slow start. Oshie’s now hitting and skating around the ice like a pinball again, scoring goals and creating outstanding energy on the ice. Berglund, when trusted, is regaining swagger. They’re being allowed to do what comes naturally to them, and being either placed together on a line or on lines with teammates that compliment them. Berglund’s been an outstanding center, especially in the Calgary game, where he won 60% of his face offs. Let that be a starting point. Focus on the good there, build his confidence in being a face off guy and playmaker, and the scoring’ll return. It won’t if you bench him for 2 weeks and then suddenly fling him back onto the ice on the 4th line.
The Blues aren’t out of the woods yet. It remains to be seen if the kids can maintain their pace, and it also remains to be seen if the scoring can stay out of the doldrums – playing Minnesota probably isn’t the best way to test if it can or not. I also wouldn’t say that Murray’s out of the doghouse yet – it took the team entirely too long to get going, and it must remain consistent if it’s going to succeed. His job is creating that consistency. Just because the Blues are out of the West’s basement doesn’t mean that everything’s ok – only 5 points keeps us out of there. Only 4 points keep us out of a playoff spot. Consistently win, and maybe we won’t have to do the daily paranoid standings check for a while.
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