Legace's legacy

Visiting the Scottrade Center last month to see St. Louis take on the Calgary Flames, the pre-game entertainment featured a man singing the praises of the Blues to the tune of "When The Saints Go Marching In."

"Oh, when the Cup ... comes to St. Loo .... oh, when the Cup comes to St. Loo!"

If they get back into the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, the Blues will be able point to several reasons why: the additions of Paul Kariya and Andy McDonald to join Keith Tkachuk up front, the emergence of Brad Boyes as a true offensive threat, and star-in-waiting Erik Johnson anchoring the blue line.

Manny Legace also has a hand in the transformation.

On Monday, he was named the NHL's First Star of the week after going 2-0-0 with no goals allowed in three appearances and both wins came via shutout at the expense of two of Legace's former teams.

He started with a 31-save shutout of the league-leading Detroit Red Wings in a 2-0 win on New Year's Eve. It was in the Motor City where Legace went 37-8-3 in 2005-06, but after a 58-win regular season, the top-seeded Red Wings were upset by the Edmonton Oilers in six games in the first round of the playoffs.

After playing one shutout period in a 3-2 shootout loss to Edmonton on Wednesday, Legace stopped 27 shots in a 1-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

All told, not a bad week for someone who was an eighth-round draft pick by Hartford in 1993.

"When it's 1-0, guys are still grinding it out," Legace said. "You still feel it. You still feel the intensity in your body."

Playing on a knee that Legace said will probably need surgery at season's end, he's still managed to post a 15-10-2 record with a 2.09 goals-against average -- his lowest since 2000-01, his first full season in the league.

Legace turns 35 on Feb. 4, and is part of a golden age among NHL netminders. Six-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek -- Legace's former teammate in Detroit -- turns 43 later this month. Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils will wind down his 15th NHL season in May, when he turns 36, and by then he will have moved closer to Patrick Roy's all-time wins record and Terry Sawchuk's career record for shutouts.

"Goaltending is more experience, learning the game, learning the situations," Legace said. "In the NHL, the travel, it's so tough, you know, you're going from coast-to-coast. Especially when you get down to playoffs, it's every other night.

"You've just got to learn how to control the game in your own best interest. As you get older, you just learn to forget things, let things go in the past. If you had a bad game, just let it go. If you have a good game, you let it go. You look on to the next day. I think just as the goalies, as they get older, they just get more experience. You start to figure out the game a little bit better."

The Blues got off to dismal start in 2006-07 under Mike Kitchen, firing him little more than two months in the season and replacing him with Andy Murray and finishing with a respectable 34-35-13 record. Still, St. Louis missed the postseason for the second straight year after 25 consecutive playoff appearances.

The structure Murray created has carried over into this season.

"It was an instant turnaround. The structure got put into play. You know, just the accountability got taken to another level. He and his whole staff have just been doing a phenomenal job preparing us for every game. That's been the big turnaround," Legace said. "The end of last year, I thought we were one of the better teams in the league. We just unfortunately dug ourselves such big hole at the beginning of the year, we couldn't climb out of. We made a strong run to get back into it.

"But it's just carried over to this year. The work ethic has been there."

That work ethic could result in the Blues finally bringing the Stanley Cup to Missouri.

THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT FOR JAN. 7

1. Mathieu Garon, Edmonton Oilers: Garon stopped 35 shots for his third shutout of the season in the Oilers' 4-0 win over the New York Islanders. It was Edmonton's first regulation win in 17 games dating back to Dec. 2.

2. Antti Miettinen and Mike Ribeiro, Dallas Stars: Miettinen scored two goals to lead Dallas to a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. Ribeiro notched two assists hours after signing a five-year, $25 million contract.

3. Chris Kunitz, Anaheim Ducks: Kunitz had a goal and asisst as the Ducks scored four times in an 8:07 span of the second period en route to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators.

Cross-continent tour to continue

Everything is fine ... I've had the last two days off, and will be off Sunday as well. A rare three-day weekend for me.

I will be heading to Denver two weeks from Monday to visit a woman I used to work with almost a decade ago and with whom I reconnected last year. The plan is to see "Sweeney Todd" the night I land, and then the Avalanche and Nashville Predators at the Pepsi Center the next night.

That will be one more arena off the list.

For those interested, here's where I have seen NHL games from east to west:

Boston Garden: Bruins-New York Rangers on a Saturday afternoon in the late '80s with an ex-girlfriend. The highlight was her buying a $500 leather dress that she needed to pour herself -- including her 'D' cups -- into.

Madison Square Garden: Countless Rangers games as a fan and covering games for ESPN SportsTicker. My father took me to my first NHL game there in 1971 against the California Golden Seals, and later we'd go see the WHA's Golden Blades before they hauled stakes across the river to New Jersey.

Nassau Coliseum: Covering Islanders games for Ticker and had front-row tickets for the Isles and the Central Red Army during their tour in the '80s. Home of the steepest press box I have ever been in.

Brendan Byrne/Continental Airlines Arena: The former home of the Devils. Really a bland, flavorless arena in the middle of a swamp, but the press box was at center ice. Sat next to a bitter Paul Holmgren there once.

The Spectrum: Several dates there to see the Flyers, including one game against the Canucks when Jim Sandlak took a shot off the foot that left him unable to skate the remainder of that game.

Le Colisee: Fevrier 1989, temperature somewhere around 20 below zero, Winter Carnival winding down ... and me sitting three rows off center ice watching the Quebec Nordiques and Minnesota North Stars -- now Colorado versus Dallas. Two things from this game: first, explaining to Dino Ciccarelli leaning over into the tunnel that, yes, I speak English, and yes, I was wearing a Minnesota Vikings sweatshirt. Second was watching the North Stars' Neal Broten skating up ice and using his back skate as a kind of rudder. Quebec won, 6-4.

Bell Centre: Saw the Canadiens and Rangers, but here was an odd twist -- both teams wore their road uniforms. That meant blue helmets for both, at least for the first period. Montreal played the final two periods in red jerseys with white helmets.

Corel Centre: Now Scotiabank Place, been there a couple times to see the Senators, including a New Years Day matchup against the Devils. Guy cheering after an Ottawa goal elbowed me in the ribs.

The Aud: The former home of the Buffalo Sabres. Saw them play the Islanders there in the spring of 1985. Animotion, anyone?

Mellon Arena: Much to the chagrin of Associated Press sports writer Alan Robinson, I was at the game in 2000 when Mario Lemieux made his latest comeback. I was there to write a color sidebar of fans at the game against the Maple Leafs in which Super Mario assisted on Jaromir Jagr's goal 33 seconds in and later added a goal and assist in a 5-0 win. Also had been there to see other games as a fan, and an AHL matchup between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Cincinnati.

Verizon Center: On a whim, and in the pre-Ovechkin days, I drove to Washington DC from Queens, N.Y. to see the Capitals play the Red Wings. Sitting in the last row behind the net, there were far more Detroit fans in attendance.

Nationwide Arena: Early last season, I drove from Chicago to Columbus to watch the Blue Jackets take on Phoenix. The best thing about going to a game in central Ohio is that I almost assuredly will never have to go there again. The next best thing was finding this place on Interstate 70. Gimme a double-double ...

Chicago Stadium and the United Center: First, the old barn on Madison. Saw an Easter Day matchup in the early '90s against Tampa Bay. Danton Cole scored twice for the Lightning, and Jeremy Roenick netted his 49th for the Blackhawks in a 3-3 tie. Home of the best foghorn in the NHL -- at the time. Also the loudest building I've ever been in. The UC, while more plush, is little like the old building. Even the foghorn isn't quite the same.

Scottrade Center: The most recent arena I visited in December 2007. After driving to St. Louis to watch Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers dismantle the Rams during the day, I wandered over to see the Blues and Flames that night. Mike Keenan returned to St. Louis, the fans still hate him (and in Philly ... and in Chicago ... and in New York ... and in Florida ... and in Vancouver), but he earned his 600th career win.

Reunion Arena: Was fortunate to cover a handful of Stars games there in 1997 when I was working for a piss-ant little paper in Oklahoma. If I had to cover prep events in places like Lone Grove, Healdton and Thackerville, I made sure that I took time to visit civilization now and again. This was the home of the best foghorn in the league -- one blast for every Dallas goal.

Xcel Energy Center: Hard to believe this was once the place where I used to watch the Minnesota Moose of the old International Hockey League, sitting upstairs for about $5, and then getting vouchers for free tickets to see teams from places like Fort Wayne and Kalamazoo. Today, it's the gleaming home of the Wild, who I saw in 2005 against Toronto. Wondered why I saw so many Canadians there for that game, when, duh, it hit me that Minnesota borders western Ontario.

Met Center: A pit, right down to the green, white and yellow seats. But it was a pit that was comfortable and a fun place to go to. Watched Wayne Gretzky, then with Los Angeles, barking at a referee for not getting a call his way. The fans made sure Wayne heard it.

The Saddledome: Flew to Calgary in the early 90s to see the Rangers (who lost, what else?) Following a Flames goal, two things on each side of the scoreboard would release flames. That's what you want to see in an indoor arena -- fire. I also got to spend several hours in a Calgary hospital when I woke up in the middle of the night, and was unable to hear. Two inner ear infections will do that to you. I also ended up in a clinic and was taken care of by a doctor who loved boxing ... and was a dead ringer for Gomez Addams in the old series "The Addams Family," save for his white hair.

Pacific National Exhibition: The old home of the Canucks back in the days of the stick-in-rink logo, the "V" unis and the flying skate. Flew to Vancouver for a weekend in 1993, and saw the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (stupidest fucking name in professional sports history ... EVER!) Jyrkki Lumme had two assists and Kay Whitmore made 18 saves as the Canucks lost, 6-3.

Flame on?

You know it's not a good day when your home computer catches fire.

I have a four-year old Powerbook G4, which is far better than any Windows-based machine I've ever owned. The adapter was on its last legs anyway, and while I was surfing the net, I noticed a wisp of smoke. Followed by a crackle. Then a small flash, and some small flames.

Luckily, all is well. The only thing needed is a new adapter.

And perhaps a fire extinguisher.

THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT

1. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins: Malkin posted his first NHL hat trick to lift the Penguins to a 6-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. After winning the Calder Trophy last season as the league's top rookie with 33 goals, Malkin has only 18 so far in '07-'08.

2. Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild: Gabroik scores twice in a four-goal first period -- a short-handed marker and an unassisted tally -- to lift the Wild to a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars. Since Dec. 8, Gaborik has 11 goals and six assists.

3. Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames: Iginla scores two goals for the second straight game, including in overtime of Calgary's 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. Iginla has reached 30 goals for the seventh season in a row, and needs only 22 more to eclipse his career high set in 2001-02.

Completing the comeback

See -- people do watch!

Now the media just need to get back on board.

The Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres brought in huge ratings on television. The 2.6 overnight rating and 5 share on NBC were the best since 1996.

Again, I can hear the naysayers -- too many bad bowl games ... of course, those were played long after the hockey game ended.

Fans appear to have come back, but the media by and large still is willing to stay away. Even in the company I work for, editorial supervisors still think the NHL is a garage-league sport -- "No one cares about the NHL."

Right. If that's the case, then why does The Associated Press have a hockey writer? Why do we spend so much time and effort writing previews for sites like NHL.com and dissecting headlines for sites such as this.

Maybe readers should ask.

THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT

1. Steven Reinprecht, Phoenix Coyotes: Facing the team he helped win a Stanley Cup with in 2001, Reinprecht recorded a hat trick and added an assist in the Coyotes' 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Reinprecht's second goal also was the 100th of his career.

2. Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames: The red-hot Iginla scored twice in the Flames' 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. Iginla has 16 goals in his last 15 games, leading Calgary to a 10-1-4 record and into second-place in the Northwest Division -- where the top four teams are separated by only four points.

3. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings: After missing five games with a back injury, Zetterberg picked up two assists in the Red Wings' 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars. He has four goals and seven assists in a six-game points streak and leads Detroit with 25 goals and 27 helpers.

A little outdoor shinny

Wow.

To anyone who says the National Hockey League is dead, I hope they took the time to turn on the television this afternoon.

Naysayers would have seen more than 71,000 attended today's Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres in the snow and cold at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

By the way, both the Penguins and Sabres need to go back to those uniforms full-time.

Just over four years ago, the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens played in the Heritage Classic at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in sub-frigid conditions -- who can forget Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore's throwback toque complete with pom-pom?.

Of course, that was in Canada, where hockey is nothing short of religion. If there were a way have 100,000 on hand, it would have sold out, no question.

Could the same thing work here? Seems as if the answer was pretty clear on Tuesday. True, there wasn't much scoring -- the Penguins got a shootout goal from Sidney Crosby in the 2-1 win -- but I have no doubt that the players and coaches were able to revisit their roots of playing on frozen ponds, canals and lakes in Canada. In Finland. In Czechoslovakia.

"I'd love to do it again. I thought it was awesome," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It was good for the game. It may not be the best hockey game because of the situation, because of the weather, because of the snow, but the atmosphere was incredible.

"The hell with the cynics."

Indeed.

Will the league do this again? It was probably wasn't cost-effective, but if it generates a buzz, I cannot see a reason for not capitalizing on it. Any positive press for a sport still trying to vault itself back into competition with the NBA and NASCAR.

How about the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings at Solider Field? In the future, I'm thinking the Wild and Dallas Stars hooking up in the Minnesota Twins' new outdoor ballpark.

Noted Gurnee-based blogstatician Chris Altruda has chimed in with the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils at Giants Stadium.

Oh, the possibilities.

THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT

1. Ladislav Nagy, Los Angeles Kings: After failing to record a goal in nearly a month, Nagy had his first hat trick since Dec. 3, 2005, and a career high-tying five points in a 9-2 rout of the Blackhawks. The last-place Kings have won three in a row including a home-and-home set from Chicago.

2. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins: Amid the snowflakes in western New York, Crosby scored in the fourth round of the shootout giving Pittsburgh the win in the first outdoor NHL game played in the United States.

3. Mike Green, Washington Capitals: Green had two goals and an assist in the Capitals' 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. Green has 10 goals this season after totaling just three in his previous two years combined.