I apologize for my tardiness on this issue; I’m in Chicago coaching my U-16 team in the Silver Stick regional.
By now you probably know Barret Jackman has been placed on IR with a mild concussion. Jackman was never taken to the hospital, but was obviously checked over by Blues Doctors.
I initially thought Johan Franzen’s hit on Jackman was more flagrant that it actually was. The Blues have a strong case that a penalty should have been called. A five minute major is a little too much but a minor infraction seemed appropriate. The hit wasn’t as vicious as some have suggested and there will be no suspension handed down from the league.
Andy Murray was very upset and confused as to why the officials were unwilling to give him a verbal explanation on the no-call on Franzen. This is why you have Captains and Assistant Captains, it may not be the way the coaches like it but in this situation this is the way the referee chose to handle it. A referee is not required to give the coach a verbal explanation.
Referee Gord Dwyer might want to throw this tape away before his bosses get a hold of it. It certainly could not have been one of his stronger games. Sometimes a referee has to show some feel for the game especially in a situation when a player is lying face down on the ice after being hit from behind. How the Blues ended up shorthanded in that situation is ridiculous. At the very worst the penalties should have evened out.
This wasn’t a case where Jackman was 2-3 feet away from the boards, he was right up against the wall and his face just so happened to hit the glass. To be honest, you rarely if ever, see Jackman fail to protect himself in that situation. A safer pass from his partner could have prevented this situation from occurring. Jackman was forced to put his head down and turn his back to the play due to the puck being in his skates.
The Blues will lose Jackman for the next week while he recovers from his head injury. Bryce Salvador, who sat out Wednesday’s game with a leg injury, tells me that he fully expects to return tonight against San Jose. It will be a game time decision on Salvador.
The Blues will certainly miss Jackman whose play has been stronger than his numbers would suggest. The Blues defense on Wednesday was maybe the worst we’ve seen all season. Their inability to make a ten foot pass was head scratcher to say the least.
I was disappointed with the way the Blues responded to Detroit absolutely running their show a few days ago. The club was getting humiliated at home in front of the largest crowd of the season and nobody stepped up to do anything about it.
You would think going into the third period down 4-0 someone would run a player in a Red Wings uniform. You don’t have to drop the mitts to get your point across. Detroit is a great team and you’re not going to intimidate them, but you still need to show up and at least send a message to the home fans.
To be fair I also understand that during the course of an 82 game schedule you’re going to have games like the Blues had on Wednesday. It makes no sense risking injury and suspensions by going after guys but it was clear the Blues were ready to get the game over with once the third period came around. In reality who on Detroit will fight anyway? Dallas Drake has been told not to fight by Doctors, and Aaron Downey was told by Mike Babcock and his staff to leave his gloves on.
How the Blues respond tonight against San Jose will help define the type of character this team has inside their dressing room.
It is hard to believe in a game the Blues “got their asses kicked” as Keith Tkachuk put it they actually out-chanced the Red Wings 5-2 in the first period.
Neither of Detroit’s chances in the opening period were very good, but they capitalized nonetheless. Chris Osgood deserves some credit for the way he’s playing this season, he made some really strong saves against St. Louis but it would be a major stretch to say he stood on his head or stole the game for the Wings.
It will be nice to see Steve Wagner back in the Blues lineup after being recalled from Peoria. He can push the offense from the back end and give the Blues some kind of transition game. Right now the Blues have very little, if any, transition offense whatsoever. This is a major weakness for this club that must be corrected moving forward.
Blues fans can expect to see rookie David Perron back in the lineup after unofficially being suspended by the club for a game. Perron missed his flight returning to St. Louis from Montreal where he was visiting family for Christmas. Head Coach Andy Murray had every right for being unhappy with Perron who missed Wednesday’s morning skate. Perron will likely be fined for missing practice. In my close to ten years covering the NHL I can count on one hand how many players have been no shows to a practice or morning skate. Perron felt bad and told the Blues a bad car accident prevented him from getting to the airport on time to catch his flight.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
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St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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