OK, so it’s a bad pun. But I’m in downtown St. Louis, and the city’s famous arch by the Mississippi River is right in front of me.

Kent Youngblood here, filling in again for Michael Russo, who is slated to return to action in time for Sunday’s game. Sorry for the late post, but the Wild got into town this afternoon and practiced fairly late. The team worked a bit on the power play today, so we’ll see if that pays off Saturday.

But back to arch rivalry. Thanks to Russo’s fine work, you all know the simmering rivalry that has been brewing between these teams — particularly between Blues coach Andy Murray and Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard — since those two preseason games last month. I’m writing about it for tomorrow, but know this: The rhetoric, so lively after those two games (remember Murray putting the Wild’s skill players ”On Alert?”) has cooled this week. I think we can expect a square-off between Boogaard and the Blues’ enforcer D.J. King. But you never know, this game could get more interesting than that.

Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said defenseman Keith Carney would play Saturday, but wouldn’t say who would sit. And he wasn’t about to name a starting goaltender, but the hunch here is that it could be Josh Harding. After all, he did get his first NHL victory against the Blues last season.

One more thing. I got into St.Louis about 9 this morning, got to the hotel and checked in. I got my key, went to the elevator and up to my floor. When the elevator door open I found myself looking right at Hannah Montana and her relatively small group, who were leaving town after playing here Thursday night. I know it’s not quite as cool as Russo, who hangs out with the lead singer for Counting Crows. But how often do you get to cross paths with a teenager who makes more in one night that I do in a typical decade?

That’s all. I’ll check in after Saturday’s morning skate. 

 Oh, one more thing. Have you all heard about that experimental new skate that uses a battery to heat the blade. The idea is the heat reduces friction, allowing a player to skate faster. They’re called Thermablades, and a handful of NHL players will be allowed to experiement with them in practice in the near future.  Among the Wild, Wes Walz has done some inquiring about the new equipment. He’s pretty fast as it is, so it would be interesting to see him try the new blades out.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 6:03 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.