Blues hockey is officially back! The full roster for training camp is available here. All practices and scrimmages are free and open to the public. You can get tickets to the preseason games here. As to who is in Group A and who is in Group B, no idea at this point.
Saturday, Sept. 20 – Scottrade Center (directions)
Group A Scrimmage: 1-3 p.m.
Group B: 3-5 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 21 – Scottrade Center
Group A: 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Group B: 10:30-11:30 a.m.
GAME! Blues at Columbus @ 6:30 p.m. (not free)
Wednesday, Sept. 24 – Scottrade Center
Group A: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Group B: 1-3 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 26 – Scottrade Center
Group B: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Group A: 1-3 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 3 – Ice Zone at St. Louis Outlet Mall (directions)
Practice: 12 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 4 – Scottrade Center
Game roster: 10:30 a.m.
Non-game practice: 11:15 a.m.
GAME! Blues at Minnesota @ 7 p.m. (not free)
Top 10 reasons to go
10. It might be the only realistic shot you or I have of ever sitting on the glass inside Scottrade without security quickly escorting us out.
9. Congratulate Hitchcock, Pietrangelo, and Bouwmeester on their gold medals from the 2014 Winter Olympics; Berglund and Steen on their silver medals; Lehtera on his bronze medal; and Oshie, Backes, and Shattenkirk on their medals bronze medal game disappointing finish game against Russia and their selection to Team USA.
8. Watch the development of young players of interest, like Jake Allen (does he look comfortable out there?), Ty Rattie (does he have a chance of making the team?), and Dmitrij Jaskin (will he impress enough to stick around?).
7. Check out the snazzy new uniforms, and reminisce about the great Pronger and MacInnis era they harken back to.
6. See if Lehtera and Tarasenko really click, as people think they might.
5. The jumbo sized pretzels and the roasted cinnamon pecans (if the food stands aren’t open, I will be very disappointed).
4. Try to get the attention of coach Head Coach Ken Hitchcock by breezily working in random Civil War facts into your exclamations.
3. See if Brian Elliott is really ready to lead this team in goal.
2. See Paul Stastny sportin’ the Bluenote for the first time, along with Lehtera, Lindstrom, Gunnarsson, and Butler.
1. The Rams suck and it’s not October yet, so what else are you going to do?
Go Blues!
Jeff Herman is a Blues fan, hockey nut, fantasy guru, family man, and attorney. He lives and works in St. Louis.
