Announcement

**Mr. Goalie** · 03-07-2004, 10:35 AM

Looks like Osgood hurt himself last night. Great.

Blues Recall Goaltender Curtis Sanford From Worcester

St. Louis, MO, March 7, 2004 - Senior Vice President and General Manager Larry Pleau announced today that the club has recalled goaltender Curtis Sanford from their Blues American Hockey League affiliate the Worcester IceCats.

Sanford, 24, has appeared in 27 games with Worcester this season, recording a 13-10-1 record along with a 2.30 goals against average. The 5-10, 188-pound netminder appeared in eight games with St. Louis last season, posting a 5-1-0 record along with a 1.96 GAA and .912 save percentage. He made his first NHL start while collecting his first career NHL victory on October 19, 2002 versus Dallas. He spent the majority of the season with the Worcester IceCats, skating in 41 games, posting an 18-14-8 record along with a 2.41 GAA and a .919 save percentage. He ranked eighth in the AHL with a 2.41 goals against average and was named the IceCats Most Improved Player for the 2002-03 season.

The Owen Sound, Ontario native was signed as a free agent by St. Louis on October 1, 2000.

SOURCE

**007** · 03-07-2004, 10:36 AM

Tough game today....

If Divis gets the nod, the surging Sabres will win....

If its Osgood, the surging Sabres will win...

BTW, why would BUF be so eager to deal Satan (and other players) if they are basically in the same position the Blues are in?

**steveInebriated** · 03-07-2004, 10:38 AM

I guess this means that the clown in 327 with his iron-on Sanford jersey will be filling buckets with his manseed while watching the game this evening....

**steveInebriated** · 03-07-2004, 10:41 AM

Originally posted by 007@Mar 7 2004, 11:36 AM
Tough game today....

If Divis gets the nod, the surging Sabres will win....

If its Osgood, the surging Sabres will win...

BTW, why would BUF be so eager to deal Satan (and other players) if they are basically in the same position the Blues are in?

Buffalo is 7 points back, St. Louis is only 2....

I think that Darcy Regier probably has more a clue than Larry Pleau, so maybe Buffalo's decision to be sellers was easy...

**Mr. Goalie** · 03-07-2004, 10:55 AM

Originally posted by steveInebriated+Mar 7 2004, 11:41 AM-->
QUOTE(steveInebriated @ Mar 7 2004, 11:41 AM)

**Biff Sticks** · 03-07-2004, 10:57 AM

Originally posted by steveInebriated+Mar 7 2004, 11:41 AM-->
QUOTE(steveInebriated @ Mar 7 2004, 11:41 AM)

**steveInebriated** · 03-07-2004, 10:58 AM

Originally posted by Biff Sticks+Mar 7 2004, 11:57 AM-->
QUOTE(Biff Sticks @ Mar 7 2004, 11:57 AM)

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2004, 11:41 AM

**007** · 03-07-2004, 11:00 AM

Originally posted by steveInebriated+Mar 7 2004, 11:41 AM-->
QUOTE(steveInebriated @ Mar 7 2004, 11:41 AM)

**steveInebriated** · 03-07-2004, 11:01 AM

Here's some info I grabbed from BNF, from legit insider Nick Papagiorgio. We need to get him posting over here!

Greetings and salutations !! I am stuck in Colorado for the next few days, so if this information that I am passing along is incorrect, than blame the altitude that is making me light-headed.

Answering some questions and comments posed here…

? I do not know who Nick the Greek is, but I am not him.

? James636 gave the rolling eyes to the info about Pleau wanting all of the U.S.-born players. The source said that tongue-in-cheek, but a few different people have told me Pleau has a fondness for U.S.-born players. Some examples are Tkachuk, Weight, Young, Weinrich and Barrasso. He is not against getting players from Canada and Europe, but he seems to inquire about American players a lot, such as Drury and Leetch among those he has not managed to get.

? Pleau is agonizing over whether to buy or sell. The Blues are in that middle area - not completely out of it, not currently in it. So what to do? He wants to buy desperately and Laurie has allowed him to spend a little more to try and upgrade, but he knows it might be best for the Blues to sell for the future, so he is torn. By the end of tomorrow, Pleau should have his decision, depending on the outcomes of the Flames and Oilers games Sunday (plus their own game). Pleau is in a sense fortunate, in that none of the teams competing for these bottom playoff spots play on Monday. So Pleau will have all of Monday to work the phones, knowing what his course of action will be.

? The Flyers need a defenseman or three, because they lost a couple in the brawl against the Senators this week. While the injury to Joni Pitkanen is not considered a long-term injury, the Flyers know that the difference between the 2-seed and the 6-seed could be missing Pitkanen for a game or two, with as tight as the East is. Bob Clarke has asked Pleau about undoing the Weinrich trade, but Pleau still doess not know what he is going to do. Clarke and Hitchcock like the idea of undoing the deal because Weinrich is very familiar with the system there.

? The Blues want Rucinsky to put next to Weight if they become buyers, and my Northwest Division source is very puzzled by this: "I don't get Pleau. He wouldn't pony up a few more bucks to keep Rucinsky last year, now he's going to have to give up an asset to get him back. Wouldn't it have just been easier to give a few more bucks to Rucinsky last summer? Lord knows the Blues could have used his offense." And that asset could be better than people would expect because lots of teams are after Rucinsky to be a secondary scorer. Vancouver, Toronto, Dallas, San Jose and LA are interested, too. Vancouver is really hot after him.

? It is looking more and more like the Rangers will not part with Messier, but the fire sale is not over on Broadway yet. New Jersey, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay are interested in Malakhov, and a line of teams is starting to call about de Vries, including the Avalanche (who want him for a second tour of duty), Stars, Red Wings, Devils, Flyers and Maple Leafs. Lots of teams want Barnaby for his grit, including Ottawa, LA, San Jose, Toronto, Montreal, Colorado and Dallas.

? Sather is "devastated" that Lindros hurt his shoulder and is probably done for the year. He badly wanted to trade Lindros off somewhere for a draft pick so Lindros could have a shot at the Cup.

? A friend not in the business in Phoenix told me he heard a Holik-for-Weight rumor, so I checked in with a couple sources on it. One in the Atlantic Division says Holik is going to be the Rangers captain after the labor war when Messier retires and will not be traded. Another source in the Pacific Division insists that the talks are ongoing. One with a Southeast Division bottom-feeding team says it would make no sense for the Rangers: "Slats has traded away all these expensive veterans for kids, so why would he suddenly turn around and trade for an expensive veteran with two years left on his contract?" It does not seem logical to me either, but it would be fun to see Weight and Jagr on a line together, would it not?

? In addition to Weinrich, de Vries, and Malakhov, Philadelphia is keeping an eye on Hill, Zhitnik, Odelein and Tarnstrom. Hitchcock is furious with Ottawa over what happened Thursday, and it cost him a couple blue liners. There could be fireworks on April 2. Everyone should root for a playoff series between these two because it will be reminiscent of the peak of the Colorado-Detroit series.

? Buffalo is still trying to decide what to do, and if they win tomorrow, look for them to buy a depth player or two and hold on to their guys. Otherwise, Satan, Zhitnik, and Brown could all go. Lots of teams will be in on Zhitnik, including Colorado, Toronto, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Dallas, Montreal and Detroit. Colorado needs a center, because of injuries to Forsberg and Nikolishin, so they are interested in Brown, as are the Blues, Calgary and Vancouver. The Islanders are interested in Satan.

? As you can see, the defensemen are heavy in demand, with the same teams all fighting for the same group of them. You can throw Brendan Witt and Jason Smith into the mix with Zhitnik, Hill, de Vries, Odelein, Tarnstrom and Malakhov. Everyone thinks they need more defense for the playoff run.

? The Sabres are furious with Satan for his "Joe Horn celebration" tonight. Could this expedite his departure?

? Carolina still has some players they can move. Sean Hill will waive his no-trade clause only for certain teams and there is plenty of interest. Toronto, Philadelphia, Montreal, New Jersey, Colorado and Dallas are looking at him. The Maple Leafs really, really want him. O'Neill is available too, but will not be cheap. If the Blues want him, their offer will probably have to include Backman. San Jose is in on him also.

? A couple teams are thinking about giving Claude Lemieux a call: Ottawa, New Jersey and Montreal are who I hear are thinking about it.

? Ottawa is thinking about getting a goalie to push Lalime because Lalime has struggled all year. There were heavy rumors about the Senators and Blues talking about a Pronger deal last week, but I have been told the talks actually had more to do with Osgood. With Osgood's recent strong play, the Senators are interested in him. They are also calling about Kolzig. But if they cannot work a deal, they are comfortable with Lalime. If the Blues do not sell, Osgood stays, because the organization loves how hard he competes, how hard he practices, what a good teammate he is, and how hard he takes losing. The Blues would like to bring him back after this season as their No. 1 goalie, despite his inconsistencies.

? Pleau did not want to move Shkotov in a Kovalev deal, but he could move him in a different deal. The fact is, while Pleau was intrigued by Kovalev, he does not think as highly of him as most around the league do.

? The Blues are more interested in trading Weight than Tkachuk because of his personality clashes with Pronger. The Blues are interested in Tarnstrom from Pittsburgh to run the power play, but plenty of teams are checking up on Tarnstrom now. Craig Patrick is known for being busy at the deadline, and most figure he will at least try to be busy this time around too.

? Everyone seems to have Drake labeled for Ottawa, but San Jose is interested now as well. I hear Montreal and Dallas could go after him too.

? The Sharks are looking for a right winger, with the unfortunate and quite frankly saddening injury to Sturm. Satan and Drake are two guys they are looking into landing.

? Ottawa is after a defenseman. Brendan Witt maybe? The Capitals are still hoping to pull off a couple more sales.

? Florida could be the next team that tries to unload several players. Columbus is desperate to get rid of Sanderson and Cassels, but do not want to do it unless they get something of value back. Chicago falls into the category as wanting to make moves as well.

? Interesting that Salvador, a guy Pleau has steadfastly refused to trade in the past, was a healthy scratch tonight. Is he on the move, or just not as good as Pleau thinks?

? Two sources tell me the Canucks would be better off going with Hedberg in the playoffs. They think Cloutier is too emotional and has too many holes in his game. Hedberg is more compact and has a better temperament for the pressure.

? A source from a current Western Conference division leader: "The team we fear in the first round is Nashville. They have the goalie and the defense to slow us down and now they're adding the offense too."

? Players are lobbying for no-touch icing. If goalies cannot handle the puck behind the end line, pretty much every player is adamant there should be no-touch icing, for safety purposes. They will lobby hard for this.

Personal opinion: the Blues will neither be sellers nor true buyers. They will "buy" a couple bit players, but nothing significant. I think Mellanby, Weight, Tkachuk, Demitra, Osgood, Drake, Weinrich, etc. all will still be Blues Tuesday at 3 Eastern time. That is just a prediction, not insider info.

That is all I have for tonight. Thank goodness it is a weekend night so I do not run up my cell phone bill!

Have a good weekend, ladies and gents. Hope to type at all of you soon.

**steveInebriated** · 03-07-2004, 11:09 AM

Originally posted by 007+Mar 7 2004, 12:00 PM-->
QUOTE(007 @ Mar 7 2004, 12:00 PM)

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2004, 11:41 AM

**CSD** · 03-07-2004, 11:10 AM

? The Flyers need a defenseman or three, because they lost a couple in the brawl against the Senators this week. While the injury to Joni Pitkanen is not considered a long-term injury, the Flyers know that the difference between the 2-seed and the 6-seed could be missing Pitkanen for a game or two, with as tight as the East is. Bob Clarke has asked Pleau about undoing the Weinrich trade, but Pleau still doess not know what he is going to do. Clarke and Hitchcock like the idea of undoing the deal because Weinrich is very familiar with the system there.

LOL....I was asking for Weinrich back last night.

**007** · 03-07-2004, 11:10 AM

Originally posted by steveInebriated@Mar 7 2004, 12:09 PM
The best thing for Buffalo is for the Blues to beat the Islanders again on Tuesday night... and to roll over again tonight...

Blues roll over?

It doesn't happen very often....

BUY!!! BUY!!!! BUY!!!!

**007** · 03-07-2004, 02:01 PM

Folks,

Not much from the morning skate ... and not much to the morning papers. Some newsy and bits from the skate at HSBC Arena.

- Curtis Sanford is on his way to Buffalo to possibly backup Reinhard Divis tonight. Osgood is ill. He may still backup -- depending on how he feels as the game approaches. Otherwise, Sanford will be on the bench as a fallback for Divis.

- Kitchen said this was going to be a tricky decision, whether Osgood started tonight or not. He doesn't want to wear the goalie down. He also doesn't want him to slide out of his recent play.

- Salvador is expected back in the lineup tonight.

- Scratches will likely be Martins, Finley and Walker.

- Could it be anymore clear that the Blues should have at least kept one of the three wingers -- Bure, Stillman and Rucinsky. Especially Rucinsky. How many points would that be worth now? Enough to make it worth spending the extra money, eh? Chosing not to get a deal done with Rucinsky looked bad at the time. A month ago it looked worse. Now, it's looks downright awful. A blunder of big degree.

- Again with the nonsense from New York and Toronto. And Chris Pronger will be a Senator no a Flyer no a Leaf and Quenneville will be the coach of the Avs last week and the Rangers next week and Keith Tkachuk has been traded to the Rangers seven times already. And Mike Richter is the Blues former goalie. And ... yet this stuff still kicks up a storm, still has people going, hmm, Dickie Dunn wrote it, it must be true.

- The Brothers Grimm are at it again.

- Amazing.

- Ever hear about the boy who cried wolf? Difference here is even he got it right once.

- A personal aside here: Want to know what's wrong with hockey? Many things, but the media certainly isn't above the blame. It's ethics and approach is a large part of the problem.

- The Blues are in the market for a forward. They are going to get outbid for Rucinsky, whose stock is rising but LA remains the favorite (this moment). We all know that. Prospal is out there, as is Sykora. Sanderson is financially pricey, but looks like a fallback. The way he's being talked about is like Osgood was last year. (Though he hasn't gotten rave reviews as the Blues have sought opinions.) Calgary doesn't appear like it's going to slide to a point to give up Conroy. I think it was Hadley who first mentioned Halpern. A funny quirk is V. Bure is again being made available for the brief rental -- ala last season. The Blues have had conversations in the past about Shawn McEachern, as have they talked with Pittsburgh.

- And what, and I'm throwing this out, of Anson Carter?

- Still phone calls to make. That's a name to check, eh?

- Blues will move into the playoff frame with a win today. But LA has a game in hand and both teams will be tied with 73 points. The Blues have the Kings in wins, the first tiebreaker.

- All indications from folks around the league and in the Blues is exactly as it was this morning: Blues are (as ever, for better and worse) patiently waiting for the deadline to push deals. Remember when the deal for Osgood was made ... minutes before the deadline and only after the Burke deal fell apart and came together and fell apart again a couple times in the hours before.

- Probably more later.

From Erie County,

Derrick

**CSD** · 03-07-2004, 02:13 PM

The Flames lead the Avs 2-1 in the 2nd period.

I want to watch the Sharks-Stars game on ESPN but there is a tennis match that is running late.

Announcement

GDT: Blues @ Buffalo 5:00 p.m. CST

GDT: Blues @ Buffalo 5:00 p.m. CST

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