Blues comeback to beat Wild, Grading the Rams offensive line, and a reaction to Bernard Pollard’s comments.

St. Louis Blues players wore a special jersey to honor Stan Musial during warm-ups

The Blues won a tough battle against a good Minnesota Wild team Sunday night. Considering the Blues played six games in nine nights and beat Minnesota who had a day to practice at the Scottrade Center, it shows the resiliency this team has.

The energy the team displayed coming off a physical win at Dallas the night before proves they’re hungry for more than just being a good team, they want elite status. There were so many moments they could have thrown in the towel, take their 4-2 record and move on. For example, the 3^rd period when the Wild fought off three penalties in the opening 10 minutes, the Blues kept hunting and banged home two goals just 2:18 apart.

Going 0-5 on the power play can demoralize a group…not The Note.

This Wild team will see some playoff hockey. The top line of Dany Heatley, Mikko Koivu, and Zach Parise is a legitimate threat. Parise, signed as a free agent this offseason, has a point in each game, and with another 3 last night now ranks 6^th in the NHL with 9.

Turning Points

1. Patrik Berglund’s goal at 15:38 in the 2^nd period, just one minute after Koivu made it 3-1.
2. Marco Scandella’s minor interference penalty at 9:11 in the 3^rd period. The Blues established good offensive presence, which led to Chris Stewart’s redirected goal on a booming Alex Pietrangelo slapper.
3. Vladimir Sobotka’s game winning goal. This guy does it all, literally.

After getting outshot 8-7 in the 1^st period, St. Louis outshot Minnesota 27-8.

Brian Elliott: 

The Blues have a couple of days off before taking on Columbus Thursday at Nationwide Arena.

NFL

Pro Football Focus graded all 32 NFL offensive lines in three categories: pass block, run and screen blocking, and penalties.

The Rams ranked 26^th overall, 21^st in pass blocking, 26^th in run blocking, and 29^th in penalties. They graded left tackle Rodger Saffold as the “stud” and guard Quinn Ojinnaka as the “dud”. Ojinnaka was cut midway through the season but the Rams had no other choice when center Scott Wells went on I.R. to begin the season.

O-line coach Paul Boudreau did a nice job with at time a patchwork line. They milked about every ounce of juice from Barry Richardson and Robert Turner.

Bernard Pollard’s outrageous comments on the future of the NFL are a joke. Pollard is known for big hits — and that’s about it. So when he says the NFL won’t be around in 30 years, he’s venting frustration because the NFL is eliminating players like Pollard. His burn rate was nearly 80% two years ago as a Houston Texan. He’s played on three teams in seven seasons. Pollard lives and dies with the big hit, because that’s about all he can do.

NBA

The Celtics losing Rajon Rondo is obviously crippling, but don’t count them out. Third-year man Avery Bradley (Texas) offers Doc Rivers a respectable option at point guard, and they still have those fellas named Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

Blake Griffin had more fun.

Whew.

Keep Grindin’.