I'm talking hockey here folks. I'm excited about it for the first time in years. The extended labor dispute and ensuing strike took all the fun out of my hockey loving heart for a while. It didn't help when the games resumed that the Blues missed the playoffs for the first time in 27 years and finished dead last in the NHL only winning 21 out of 82 games. Ouch!

This year didn't start much better, but I had faith that the new ownership knew what they were doing and didn't quite give up altogether on this season. My faith was rewarded recently with the firing of coach Mike Kitchen (who IMHO was only a band-aid coach there to fill a hole temporarily). He was replaced by Andy Murray, former coach of the L.A. Kings.

The Blues were in the midst of an 11 game win-less streak when Murray stepped in. Within three games, he had righted the ship and sent our boys in a new direction. The Blues record over the past 15 games is 11-2-2. In that span we've beaten both the Buffalo Sabres and The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, two teams tied for the second most points in the NHL.

I've been wearing my Blues jersey again for the first time in two years and have watched at least part of each of the last 6 or 7 games. Hockey is fun to watch again and the Blues have tons of young talent. What's even more exciting is that our two top draft picks from last years draft aren't even playing yet but are both playing extremely well in their respective leagues.

Although I'm not calling the playoffs out of the question yet for us this year, the future is definitely bright for the Blues.

Labels: hockey, sports, St. Louis

- these thoughts flowed through Jeff's fingers @ 10:31 AM