St. Louis Would Love To Spoil The Blackhawks Tonight

Added on Apr 06, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

The St. Louis Blues have every intention of playing the spoilers tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. Tonight they plan on throwing a wrench in the playoff hopes of the hawks, and take their heated rivalry even further.

Blues defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo said they wish they had more to play, as they have already been eliminated from the post season, but a victory tonight will taste sweet if they can stumble the hawks. He said “It’s a heated rivalry. For us, obviously we wish there was more to play for, but what better thing to play for than to help them stumble a little bit and put the pressure on them a little more? We don’t want to be in the position we’re at, on the outside looking in, but at the same time it could be some real positive reinforcement for us — knowing that if we help them stumble and at the end of it they’re on the outside looking in, we were the cause of it.”

If the hawks miss the playoffs, they would become just the fifth team in the expansion era (post-1967) to not qualify for the post season the year after winning the Stanley Cup. St. Louis coach Davis Payne said there are plenty of games they have to play without extra motivation, but this one has enough to amp up his team. He said “You realize they had a pretty good year last year and they need points and we can deny ‘em that opportunity. There’s enough satisfaction in that for us to play our game. These two teams have gone at it for quite some time. There’s a lot of history in the games that have been played between these two teams and there’s no reason for that not to continue.”

No matter what happens tonight in the NHL, the Hawks can not fall below the 8^th place needed to make the post season. However, with a much needed win tonight they can move up a slot and take the 7^th position. This would be ideal, as their season closes with two games against their biggest rivals, the Detroit Redwings. The Blackhawks are 3-2 against the Blues this season and have won both games at the United Center — including an overtime win on Oct. 18 in which Marian Hossa scored twice in the final seven minutes of the third to tie it. The teams usually have some hard hitting action, maybe a fight or two but have also combined for 35 goals — including a 7-5 Chicago win on Nov. 30 at the United Center and a 5-3 Hawks win on Feb. 21 in St. Louis.

Colaiacovo concluded by saying that they have been playing good hockey as a team, and he can almost assure fans of an exciting game. He said “They have had our number the last couple of years and it would be nice to come in here in front of their fans and hopefully get a win and put a damper on their hopes. At the same time, we know they’re a desperate team. We’ve been playing good hockey lately, too, and there’s a lot of guys in here playing for jobs and pride and passion. If we can bring that into tonight, it will be a pretty exciting game.”