St. Louis Blues Rumors & News

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Blues re-signed forward Adam Cracknell to a one-year contract extension Friday. Cracknell, 27, and the club agreed to one-way deal worth $600,000 for the 2013-14 season." May 25

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Blues prospects will have a new home next season, a development that has stirred emotions considerably in the long-time minor-league base of the franchise. In early April, the Blues announced that they had sold the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League to the Vancouver Canucks, after..." May 25

NHL.com "The 2013 NHL Awards winners will be revealed in two live television specials during the Stanley Cup Final. At 7 p.m. on the day of Game 2 of the Final, the winners of the Hart, Calder, Norris and Vezina trophies, along with the Ted Lindsay Award, will be announced as part of an hour-long show..." May 24

NHL.com "St. Louis Blues Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced Tuesday that the club has signed goaltender Niklas Lundstrom. Lundstrom, 20, played in 14 games with the Swedish Elite League's AIK, posting a 3-9-0 record with a 3.10 goals-against average and a .901 save..." May 21

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "When Brian Elliott signed a two-year contract extension, locking up the Blues’ goalie tandem through 2013-14, general manager Doug Armstrong said that Elliott and Jaroslav Halak “are still young men basically entering that real meat of their career. Having them both ... it’s a great opportunity..." May 15

Yahoo! Sports "Legendary NHL coach Mike Keenan has signed a 2-year contract to coach Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL. We’ll just go ahead and assume it’s to launch a thousand “Iron Curtain Mike” jokes. From Metallurg’s press release, about the “Canadian Specialist”: May 13 an agreement was signed between..." May 13

Pro Hockey Talk "You may have noticed that Jaroslav Halak wasn’t much of a factor late in the season or the playoffs for the St. Louis Blues. He dealt with a groin injury and was supplanted by Brian Elliott as the starter in the playoffs. If you thought any of that sat well with Halak, you’d be very..." May 12

L.A. Daily News "There was no room to roam on the ice. No margin for error, either. The Kings scored what proved to be the winning goal with only 0.2 seconds remaining in the second period, which says all you really need to know about the closeness of their 2-1 victory Friday over the St. Louis Blues in Game..." May 11

NHL.com "Losing by one goal four times in a row makes a team wonder what went wrong. The St. Louis Blues were so close, yet so far away from dethroning the Los Angeles Kings. The Blues once again had for the grit, determination, the push, the effort and everything that comes with winning a playoff series...." May 11

NHL.com "The National Hockey League moved closer to an agreement to send its players to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia during a meeting in Stockholm on Friday. The meeting included representatives from the NHL, National Hockey League Players' Association, International Olympic Committee,..." May 10

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Blues are headed back to Los Angeles on a downbound train, seemingly en route to the same, inescapable fate that has cursed every team draped in The Note since this star-crossed franchise came into existence in 1967-1968. Generations of Blues fans know that the Stanley Cup postseason is an..." May 09

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Somewhere during the Staples Center celebration of Anze Kopitar’s game-tying goal in Monday’s third period, the thought occurred that the next score could decide the Blues’ conference quarterfinal series against the Los Angeles Kings. The thought was fleeting because in the blink that it took..." May 08

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Take 3 for Tuesday: 1. We shouldn’t be surprised by the Blues’ startling collapse during Monday’s 4-3 loss at Los Angeles in Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. During the 2013 regular season, the Blues had a disturbing tendency to let down after enjoying stretches of..." May 07

L.A. Daily News "Justin Williams couldn't stop smiling after the final horn sounded on the Kings' come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 4 of their increasingly compelling first-round playoff series on Monday night at Staples Center. It might have had something to do with the crisp white..." May 07

L.A. Daily News "Not long after the Kings' grinding 1-0 victory Saturday over the St. Louis Blues in Game 3, Darryl Sutter invited everyone within earshot to look at the tight-checking, low-scoring, first-round playoff series in another way and with a different perspective. "There are a lot of little battles..." May 06

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Vladimir Tarasenko's English is getting much better. Reporters have spent the last few months posing their questions to Tarasenko slowly and with easy-to-understand words. Continuing down that road today, the Russian rookie was asked simply about being excited to make his NHL playoff debut in..." May 06

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Cultural phrases can be like fashion, a delicate blend between comfortable and desirable. Some don’t stay around long enough. For instance, “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle” expired a little too soon. I would like to know more about that, sit down with the uncle originally related to the monkey,..." May 05

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "A perceived advantage for the Blues heading into their Western Conference playoff series against Los Angeles was the additions of defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Jordan Leopold. So far, perception is reality. The Blues led LA two games to none going into Game 3 Saturday, and while the two..." May 05

San Jose Mercury News "Jonathan Quick made 30 saves in his fifth career playoff shutout, leading the Los Angeles Kings to a 1-0 victory over St. Louis on Saturday night and trimming the Blues' series lead to 2-1. Slava Voynov scored in the second period for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who got a brilliant..." May 05

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Brian Elliott lay sprawled on the ice, and as he sat up, the crowd of 18,681 at Scottrade Center late Thursday night began chanting: “ELL-I-OTT! ELL-I-OTT!” The goaltender’s name reverberated throughout the rink, but it wasn’t the customary cheer that follows a big save. Sure, Elliott did deny..." May 04

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Blues entered the offensive zone and Chris Stewart, who had the puck, heard teammates Andy McDonald, with 18 playoff goals in his career, and Barret Jackman, with no playoff goals, calling for it. So as Game 2 of the Western Conference series between the Blues and Kings sat tied and slipped..." May 03

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Little breathing room exists in the NHL playoffs, and in Game 1 of the Western Conference playoffs at Scottrade Center Tuesday night there was even less. The Blues dominated the LA Kings for the duration, but somehow the crowd of 17,612 at Scottrade Center could feel that the team’s near misses..." May 01

NHL.com "Washington Capitals right wing Alex Ovechkin, St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott and New York Rangers center Derek Stepan have been named the NHL's "Three Stars" for the month of April. Ovechkin led the League with 14 goals and 22 points in 13 games as the Capitals posted an 11-1-1 record..." April 29

NHL.com "The 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs will open Tuesday in Chicago with a matchup between the Presidents' Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild, who were the last team to clinch a playoff berth. The NHL released the playoff schedule Sunday night and it includes three Game 1s on..." April 29

Los Angeles Times "The Kings swept the Blues in the second round of the playoffs last spring. Kings are on a hot streak against Blues The Kings have an eight-game winning streak against the St. Louis Blues, including a sweep of the teams' second-round playoff series last spring. In three games this season —..." April 28

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "After two days off the ice, T.J. Oshie will return to practice today with the intention of being ready for Game 1 of the Blues’ first-round playoff series. Only 10 days ago, Oshie underwent surgery to repair his injured left ankle, which after two weeks off the ice revealed a stress fracture...." April 27

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Now that the Blues are in the playoffs, the club and its fans are looking forward to finding out who will be the team’s first-round opponent next week. To stay on top of that will require staying up late Saturday night. With two regular-season games remaining, the Blues are No. 6 in the Western..." April 25

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Encircled by media eight hours before the Blues took to home ice Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche, Ken Hitchcock was decidedly not Cup Crazy. With his team facing another chance to clinch a playoff berth, the Blues head coach backhanded a TV reporter’s soft-toss that involved the..." April 24

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Two days after the Peoria Rivermen played their final game as the Blues’ American Hockey League affiliate, the NHL parent club announced a merger with the Chicago Wolves Tuesday night. The Blues recently completed the sale of the Rivermen to the Vancouver Canucks, and it was approved by the AHL..." April 24

NHL.com "The team holding the top pick in the 2013 NHL Draft will need to consider one important question prior to stepping to the podium to announce its selection on June 30 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. What do we need right now? Is it a poised and polished minute-munching, two-way..." April 24

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Back-to-back losses to the last-place team in the Western Conference and potentially backing into a playoff berth would not have been an ideal way to stumble into the postseason. Avoiding that scenario, the Blues clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 3-1 victory over Colorado Tuesday night at..." April 24

NHL.com "In celebration of Earth Day, NHL Green has teamed up with Sterling Planet, the United States' leading retail provider of environmental assets for corporate, utility and government clients, to attempt to mitigate the environmental impact of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. For the second..." April 22

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "With a playoff berth in their grasp but not solidified, the Blues still need points in their four remaining regular-season games. But with the postseason looming at the end of the month and Ken Hitchcock showing signs of wariness, the Blues’ coach made his own point after the team’s 2-1 victory..." April 21

Pro Hockey Talk "Emotions ran high during Los Angeles’ 2-1 victory over Columbus. That wasn’t more apparent than when several players from both teams got into a brawl as the final buzzer sounded. During the melee, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky engaged Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty...." April 19

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Scoreboard watching, calculating the points needed to squeeze into the playoffs and being dependent on a home-heavy schedule to produce favorable results is not how the Blues planned to spend the final two weeks of the regular season. After cruising into the Stanley Cup playoffs a year ago, the..." April 18

ESPN.com "The NHL is in the final planning stages of its much-anticipated series of outdoor stadium games next season with six outdoor contests set to take place in football and baseball stadiums across North America, sources familiar with the plan confirmed to ESPN.com Tuesday. The series will start..." April 17

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Blues forward T.J. Oshie has a stress fracture and was scheduled to undergo surgery today, representing an about-face from the mood surrounding his status on Monday. Oshie, who has missed the team's last eight games with what was believed to be a bruised ankle, stopped just short of pronouncing..." April 17

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "David Backes nearly ended a “man on a mission” type of night when he teed up a shot from the slot as overtime expired Tuesday night. With the game potentially on his stick, Backes sent the puck somewhere toward Florissant. “I don’t know what happened there,” Backes said. “I think by that time I..." April 17

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Blues forward T.J. Oshie has a stress fracture and was scheduled to undergo surgery today, representing an about-face from the mood surrounding his status on Monday. Oshie, who has missed the team's last eight games with what was believed to be a bruised ankle, stopped just short of pronouncing..." April 16

NHL.com "After winning the William M. Jennings Trophy and being the backbone of the St. Louis Blues' 49-win season a year ago, the barometer was set high for both Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott. The duo allowed 165 goals in 82 games (2.01 per game) and captured only the second Jennings Trophy in..." April 14

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Brian Elliott had not allowed a goal since Chicago scored with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left in regulation in the Blues’ 4-3 shootout win over the Blackhawks on April 4. Elliott had turned aside 73 consecutive shots, accounting for three-plus games of shutout work, a streak that paused Friday at..." April 13

NHL.com "The National Hockey League Players' Association and the National Hockey League today announced a historic partnership with the You Can Play Project that formalizes and advances their long-standing commitment to make the NHL the most inclusive professional sports league in the world. "The NHL..." April 12

TSN.ca "The National Hockey League's meeting with officials from the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation wrapped up in New York City Friday with more work needed to be done. "We had a good working session and were able to discuss all of the issues involved in the..." April 12

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "What a difference a week and a half has made. On April 1, the Blues visited Minnesota on a three-game losing streak and sitting in the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference. The Wild had won eight of their last nine games and were tied for No. 3. On that night, goaltender Jaroslav Halak went..." April 12

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The frustration in Alex Pietrangelo’s voice was evident. Forget about the Norris Trophy talk or even the playoffs. In a recent conversation, the Blues’ young defenseman would have settled for keeping the puck out of the team’s net, particularly on his watch. “I’m the guy that plays the most on..." April 11

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Dmitrij Jaskin came off the ice Tuesday morning at Bridgestone Arena and took a few minutes to catch his breath. Jaskin, 20, was on the ice for the first time in nine days following the end of his season with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He signed a three-year,..." April 10

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The scoreboard might have looked similar at night’s end, but there was little resemblance between the Blues’ 1-0 shutout Tuesday in Nashville and one Sunday in Detroit. The Red Wings are battling for a playoff spot and put the Blues and goaltender Brian Elliott to the test. The Predators, on..." April 10