New Ownership=New Promise

Dave Checketts stepping to the plate and making a solid offer to buy the Blues and, just as importantly, Savvis Center is great news for fans of the Note. While a home-grown buyer like Shanahan Jr or the Sansone group would have offered the comfort of knowing that the team will not move, this is almost as good. As the Savvis Center and the Blues were being offered seperately, there was the chance that someone would buy the team only and move them.

Yes, there was a $60 million penalty involved with breaking the Savvis lease, but really, if you can afford $140 million plus for a freakin' hockey team, is $60 million more really that much of a barrier? If you can spare $140 mil and you're from Seattle and you LOVE hockey and you LOVE Seattle, why wouldn't you buck up and move 'em? Spend the $60 mill that you didn't spend on buying the rights to the arena and it doesn't seem that far out of line.

When you're talking these kind of dollars, you've moved into funny-money land and numbers don't really mean much anymore. So you've overspent on your toy hockey team by $20-$30 million. Who really cares?

But back to Checketts. I wish this had taken place before all the free agency zaniness, but this is still pretty good. With a whole season and a low payroll, the franchise can start putting together a real squad almost immediately. Granted, there isn't much of value left to trade (I think Weight and Tkachuk should stay around), but there will be teams out there that need to make moves. New Jersey comes to mind as a team that needs to dump some salary. Also next summer, despite a weak free agent crop, the Blues will have cash available.

Another interesting side note is Checketts history with the NBA. A GM of the Utrah Jazz and CEO of the NY Knicks, the guy has better NBA bloodlines than NHL lines. Even if he can't personally afford it, as the owner of the Savvis Center and plenty of money to be made as such, he could lure an NBA franchise to the Gateway City as landlord, if not as owner. An interesting proposition, I've often wondered how a basketball team would do here. I imagine that if there was at least one personable face-of-the-franchise type of player on the roster, STL fans would rally around him and his team, just like every other sport here. Build from there.

Anyway, exciting times for Blues fans.

In Game Time news, spoke to a printer guy and made more progress on the actual magazine. I hope to have a viable paper ready for the home opener. Then I plan to test my ability to turn this thing out for a few games. If all goes well, we'll roll out in time for Nov 2. That's a pretty big week for the boys in blue as the Blackhawks, Chris Pronger and the Oil and the hated Wings all show up that week. The following week may even see the first Game Time for football, as Kurt Warner and the crappy Cardinals show up for their re-match. I'm only a little less crazy for football, so I'd like to see if there's any interest in a game day magazine over at the Ed.

The Wheels Are In Motion

A good friend of mine is excited about helping with some graphics for the paper and website. Aside from being a long-time friend, the guy also happens to be good, so I'm excited. Got a decent first-run that is shaping up as a decent template. Got copier guys calling me to buy their stuff. So this looks like it'll happen.

Zero percent chance that I'm ready for Blues/Wings on October 6, but Jeffio is doing a grand finale on that day anyway. Probably more like late October before we roll out.

So, I'm motivated. Working stats tonight, and as a "words guy" this'll be a harder go than the rest. Anyway, feeling motivated enough to throw out a pre-season prediction for the Central Division.

In the past, oh, four years, the Central has always been this:

Detroit
St. Louis
Nashville (by default)
Columbus
Chicago
With Chicago and Columbus always in a battle for last.

This year, I think we're going to see something outrageous like this:

Nashville
Detroit
Chicago
Columbus
St. Louis

With Chicago and Columbus battling for the 3-4 spots. Here's why:

Nashville has the most to gain from the rules crackdown and the new NHL. They have always been a quick team, but in the early '00 years, were forced to play trap and defense-first hockey because their goaltending was suspect and their defense was immobile. Now, they have a decent blueline, an unheralded but solid goalie and some slick forwards. I hope that 19-year-old Alex Radulov makes the team, because the kid can play, especially in a wide-open NHL. Adding Paul Kariya could be a boon for both the player and the team, and Steve Sullivan is underrated everywhere he goes. This guy will make people notice him this year.

Detroit, my most-hated team ever, is finally getting old. Unfortunately, they are still good enough to hang around. Old favorite Brendan Shanahan can still score, but not at the level or pace he has for the last 10 years. He's two years away from being on a team for 'character'. Yzerman is Yzerdone. He has reached the 'character guy' stage. Of course, he's a lock to score at least one back-breaker goal against the Note this year. The Wings will also struggle as they feature Chis Osgood in goal again. If we've learned only one thing in the last few years as Blues fans, it's that Osgood at his best is decent, at his worst, a train wreck. In short, the Wings finish second because Lidstrom can still play, Datsyuk and Zetterberg will make players around them better and their elder citizens are just good enough to still be productive on a good team. Columbus and Chicago could shoot past these guys in 2007.

I'm picking Chicago here only because of the signing of Nik Khabibulin and improving their blueline by adding Adrian Aucoin and Jassen Cullimore this summer. Unless they get a full season out of Daze and an increase in production from Ruutu, Bell and Calder, these guys could miss the playoffs. Overpaid netminder and all.

Columbus is a team that I'd confidently pick over Chicago except that they have goaltending questionmarks and an injured ankle on Rick Nash. Nash was poised to break out like a prisoner during a power outage until he twisted his ankle. The guy could still be huge this year, but he'll probably not be as good as he could be this season. (I've played with a twisted ankle before, and it affects every thing you do. And yes, I'm every bit as good as Rick Nash and understand everything he is going through. But still, you get my point.) The Jackets will still be exciting, with Nik Zherdev and possibly angry-but-productive Gilbert Brule on the team. Adding Adam Foote and Bryan Berard made their defensive corps 100% better this summer.

And so we come to St. Louis. I'll be the first to say that I hope I'm wrong. I just don't think I am. For the Blues to make it out of the basement, Patrick Lalime will have to play like Patrick Roy and Doug Weight will have to play like Edmonton's Doug Weight, a guy who has made precious few appearances here in the Gateway City. Our man Tkachuk will also have to prove to the NHL that he is still the most feared power wing in the game. Hopefully, this current suspension is fueling a fire in him and he'll turn that against the other teams in the league that are expecting the Blues to roll over and die. In addition, the Blues need career years/resurgent years out of three of these four guys to do any damage this season:

Scott Young
Dean McAmmond
Eric Boguniecki
A rookie (Stempniak, McClement, Rycroft or Sejna) and yes, Rycroft isn't really a rookie and Sejna would have to be re-called from Peoria

Otherwise, fellow Blues fans, we can start following young Phil Kessel and Michael Frolik, who are expected to be the top two draft picks in the summer of 2006.

Tomorrow, I'm either going to run my mouth about the impending sale of our beloved team or about our newest Captain, Dallas Drake.

Leaning In

It's been over 24 hours and I'm feeling like it's going to happen. There's still lots to consider, and probably lots more that I haven't even begun to consider, but it'll probably happen.

What I'm realizing now is that this is a tough undertaking. Writing for the GNR for two years was tough enough and I got paid right around zero dollars to do it. But now? I'm looking at about twenty times as much work for basically zero times the pay.

Doing it for the love of hockey and writing? Seems insane, but it's not like I haven't done that before. Somehow, now it's definitely different.

Anyway, still plenty to figure out, but I'm putting pages together on a demo that seems promising. I'll finish it soon and start floating it by some people.

In the meantime, I gotta figure out a business loan for some start-up investment purposes. And I gotta learn more about Jay McClement.

By the way, Dallas Drake is the perfect Captain. I've long considered myself to be a bit of a grinder who can contribute. To me, that's the ultimate compliment for a hockey player. Dally Drake is a grinder who can contribute. We're going to love this guy this year.

And So It Begins

Well, it's official. Jeffio has put down the Game Night Revue and there's no turning back. Where do we go from here? I'm at a point now where I feel like I have to pick up the standard and run, but does it make sense?

The Blues are as rudderless as the GNR fans right now; team for sale, star player too fat to play, and three of the four lines may be checking lines.

Dark days, my friends. Dark days.

But tomorrow the sun will be up. The Blues beat the Blackhawks last night and there seems to be some residual interest from some folks to have another Game Day paper.

Maybe the Blues can surprise us. Maybe I can surprise you.

Maybe we'll have a decent team. Maybe we'll have a game day paper.

We'll see how things look tomorrow, eh?