St. Louis Blues reporter Jeremy Rutherford joins the show | November 24, 2025
Welcome into NHL tonight. First shift for Monday, November the 24th, 2025. EJ Ratic here and I have Mike Rup making his first shift debut today. Welcome to the studio. It’s my first shift with you guys. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. Love watching what you guys have been doing here in the studio. It just feels like new digs. It’s good. Yeah, it’s nice, right? It’s a little, you know, we’re comfy in here. We’re comfy and you’re continue to knock it out on NHL Now, which will still be coming up next, but it’ll be without you today cuz you’re here. We stole you today. So, I’m glad you’re I’m glad you’re here today. And, you know, when we have somebody new, we like to have JD, our producer, come in and uh, you know, welcome you. So, here he is. Welcome aboard, Robert. Hey, JD. Good to see you, buddy. Good to be seen, man. I’m surprised that Tron doesn’t have you uh working a double today. Not you do the whole first shift sprint over do NHL now right after. Yeah. I just came in. I just went like this right to EJ to talk to him and I’m not letting anybody else see me. I don’t don’t put any ideas in anybody’s heads. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe he’ll come back for on the fly later. Tonight I’m hanging out for eight hours. Come back over the Blues and Rangers later with Mike Rup. Help us out. What do we got today? Yeah. Lisa, show show the folks what we have coming up. a big show uh with Ruffer’s debut. Three stars of the week were announced. We’ll get to them in just a moment. Jeremy Rutherford of the Athletic going to talk about the St. Louis Blues. They’re here in the New York area to take on the Rangers this evening. And finally, we’ll get to the Jackie family. There’s a new Wi-Fi in town. Florian made his Canadians debut over the weekend. Mom was a little uh non plused at some of the things that went on uh against the Maple Leafs. But EJ, first things first, let’s lead with the ABS. Yeah, come on. Let’s lead with the Colorado Avalanche. When when you have a weekend where you have back-to-back shutouts against the Predators and the Hawks, I mean, I think uh their start to the season has been dramatic, Ruper. They have played very, very well. I mean, both on the road, too. And you know, that Nashville game, you know, yeah, we could talk about Nashville having a tough season, and they have had a tough year. They outplayed the Avalanche in that game. And if it wasn’t for the goalending first Blackwood and then Wedgewood, I mean Wedgewood getting the job done in Chicago last night, but Blackwood was really good against the Pres. It it almost doesn’t seem fair cuz you got the team who’s can score the most goals in the league. Yeah, they might be getting the best goalending in the league. So, I mean, that’s a it’s a pretty good recipe there and it can come from two different guys. They could win all types of games right now. I mean, I don’t think there’s I mean, what we’re seeing with them with one regulation loss, like I I don’t believe this team has a weakness. Yeah. You know what I mean? Seems like it. I mean, what are they what are they lacking? I mean, I would argue, and this has been the story line for some stretches of the beginning part of the season, the power play is not even fully cooking. Yeah. No, I mean, they’re only 24th in the league right now as we sit here today. And that’s an improvement on where they were, which was really surprising. I did one of their games early in the year on the NHL network showcase against the Devils and that was a focus. They weren’t scoring on the power play and even these games they got five games. They had five overtime losses this year. That’s an area three on three. Yeah. With McKinnon and Mar and company nature, they think they’re going to win those games. So they could even be better. Yeah. And and and it’s interesting too because when you look at the roster, you look at the the stats, there’s not a there’s not a ton of guys that on the roster, they’re like, “Oh, he’s on pace for a career year, career year, career.” They’re just they’re not. But so I guess my my point is there’s there’s room for improvement, which is kind of scary, but that that’s too easy to to speak like that in the NHL season. They’re going to go through a stretch of some sort that’s going to be unlike what they normally bring, but they’ll navigate their way through it. It’s it’s impressive the way they won these two games this week and they haven’t had too many, you know, fortunately too many injuries. Now they didn’t have Blackwood early in the year and Scott Wedgwood had played very very well. So, you know, that’s the good news. And, you know, it was interesting, you know, last night I’m scrolling through and just, you know, looking to see get news, see what’s going on. And I Cory Mattressak had a nice note about the difference between and here’s Cory’s note here. The difference between the gap right between the Avalanche and second place in the NHL standings, seven points. It’s the same gap between second place and 25th. I mean, now I know it’s early in the season, although some will say American Thanksgiving around the corner. That’s been a discussion in hockey it seeming like for years about where you sit on American Thanksgiving. But normally maybe I wouldn’t think this as as important but with all the teams so tightly bunched Mike it seems like Colorado has separated themselves in a pretty significant way at least early. You can see the gold differential plus 38. Yeah. I just I just think the way that the league is and I know you you guys have talked about it a ton on this show across all hockey shows. the parody everybody you’re getting points record-breaking overtime games that we’re seeing this year. So I mean it’s hard to gain ground, hard to separate, hard to do a lot of things. So that type of separation they have, it’s pretty impressive because this is just a season where a few points it it’s hard to make that up. Everyone seems to be getting points even on nights you don’t deserve it. Yeah, it’s get to overtime, get the point. Maybe they’re playing for that in some games. when games are tied late a lot of times people are you know teams are saying you know probably playing more conservatively don’t want to lose that point. Yeah. No, it’s they’re impressive and I keep going back to and we were talking about it prior uh coming on here where like where’s this in relation with Boston? Yeah, Boston had that big regular season and of course they ended up getting knocked out in the first round but they had an unbelievable I think through the same amount of games Boston was 193 and0 through 22 games. Colorado is 161 and five. So they’re, you know, the points it’s pretty close. Pretty close. Pretty close. But I think it’s it’s wild to think that that’s what Boston Boston was at a higher clip. Yeah. Yeah. As far they had one more point at this time through 22 games. So I don’t it’s just it’s just crazy to think that this this ABS team one regulation loss like that that is impressive. I don’t know if it’s going to change very much o over time. I mean, this could be this could be a record setting season. It really is. Yeah. So, we’ll see. They’ve won nine games in a row, and Mike Sullivan said the other day, the Rangers in there to play the Avalanche, and he said, “Listen, this is the best team we’ve played all year.” And he sounded like it wasn’t by a little. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, so far they’re rolling. We’ll see if they can keep it going, but, uh, for the Avalanche, a great weekend. So, they gave him the UC Sorrowos. No goals. No goals. All right, let’s take a look at the schedule for tonight. We have seven games on the docket. As I mentioned, the uh Blues and Rangers at 7 o’clock. That’s right here on the NHL Network. Lightning are in Philly to take on the Flyers. Devils are at home taking on the Detroit Red Wings Caps and Jackets. An important game tonight in the Metro 7:00 8:00 Panthers and PRs in Nashville. 9:00 Vegas and the Mammoth. And then 9:00, the LA Kings and the Ottawa Senators. So, let’s talk about the Tampa Lightning. Here’s a note from Eric Olensson. John Cooper said Eric Chernack is going to miss significant time and said at least week to week. Said Braden Point is dicey for Wednesday versus Calgary. He’s not playing tonight. Homeberg is closer but not ready yet. Grover Chev won’t play tonight. I mean and they have already Headedman is out of the lineup. I mean, this is a and you know, Mcdana, this is a team that’s got a lot of they’ve got a lot of injuries, but you know what I’ll say? They’re sitting here and I mean, they have a good record and here’s a look at, you know, I mean, somebody get out your NHL record and guide book if you still have it and try to figure out who these guys are. But the thing like about it for me is this is where coaching and culture plays a part. They’re sitting here with all these injuries, 127 and two. They just beat the Caps the other night. They’re finding ways to win games. And I think it’s because John Cooper and the culture that has been established there by Julian Briezwah ownership. They don’t accept, they’re not going to sit there and say, “Well, we have too many injuries. We’re just going to, you know, we we have an excuse.” They just keep playing. No, it you said culture with them and the other team that’s decimated with injuries has that culture too and they’re still winning games. Carolina. Yeah. You know what I mean? some of those teams that that’s what every organization strives for to have a team that just it doesn’t it doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup. doesn’t matter. Like, yes, of of course it matters. You don’t have talent, but it doesn’t matter. We’re not we’re not just going to be on this 10 game losing streak. They’re going to find ways. I mean, they’re they’re 73 and0 in their last 10. There might not be a more banged up team in the NHL right now. And there are some other ones. But that gets me when I start thinking of other teams cuz that’s maybe the bar what they’re doing. I mean, they might win this division when at some point I remember Brian Bole and I were talking first however many games of the season. I’m like, we’re talking to each other. work. They’re not completing five foot passes. Like they they look like out of sorts. This before the injuries, all the injuries. So, they’ve really found their game. I think they’re a team that is going to continually rise, but you’re right. The the culture and the expectation of how they’re supposed to play and and and carry out their business goes a long way. Now, that leads me to like other teams. The Devils haven’t gotten there yet. They haven’t gotten there yet. You know, I’m not going to talk about the other teams, but like that that is a hockey club that’s been relevant for 10 years plus, and they continue to be when there’s nobody in the lineup. Yeah, it’s pretty impressive. You know what’s funny is they played that game against the Rangers on TNT a couple of weeks ago when they when they first started to have a bunch of injuries and that night they were really decimated and they fell behind early in the game to the Rangers and John Cooper called a timeout and he lit in to his team and you know he later did the interview with with Jackie Redmond was on the bench there and he said you know we want to sit here and you know suck our thumbs and be sad like you know he goes we have to play no matter what and I think right away and you’ve been in those situations you’ve been on the bench you’ve been on good teams you’ve been on not so good teams, right? It’s not acceptable to John Cooper and the Tampa Bay Light and that’s why they still find ways to win. Yeah. Because we’re not grading on a curve here. We You want They understand, but they also know that there’s a level of competition. We’re not going to get beat. It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup. You can win 50/50 puck battles. We can make the right decisions out there. We can place ourselves in the game where we have an opportunity to win. Now, if we don’t and we don’t get that we don’t have the skill in the lineup to get that goal when we need it, then that’s fine. But they can at least play themselves into a situation where they’ve got a a shot at winning or getting a point. That’s what they’re doing right now. It’s pretty impressive. Yeah. And tonight they take on the Philadelphia Flyers team that, you know, they’ve gotten off to a good start. You see the number there, 11, six, and three. Now, a lot of that has been overtime and shootouts and Trevor Zagris with his magic in those shootouts, but doesn’t matter at the end of the day right now. If the season ended today, and it doesn’t, but if it did, they would be in a playoff spot. So, I gotta give Rick Tin and the Flyers a lot of credit. And you know, Danny Ldar has come in. Last year, they couldn’t get a save when they needed it. They had goalender issues. They had goalender problems and guys getting hurt. And look at the numbers for Dan Larard. They took a chance on him coming in from Calgary and 912 save percentage. I mean, that gets you into the the Beza conversation in the league these days. Yeah, 100%. This is the that’s the biggest difference on our screen right now. Like that that’s the biggest difference with this year’s team. And that’s not to take away from the team getting better and competing harder under Rick Tucker, which I think they they certainly have. Where it goes from here, I think they’re going to probably still need to get solid goalending. Uh maybe find other ways to generate offense. I I know we were just talking last year. They’re one of the best rush teams and you have to still graduate to, hey, can we get some inzone time, have puck zone time in the offensive zone for long stretches and end up scoring goals, like all these different things. I still have questions with them on, but at the end of the day, like they’re they’re they’re they’re looking fine. They’re getting points. That’s right. I’m paying attention to the regulation wins that aren’t very many early. I mean, they’re doing what they need to do to keep in the hunt now. And they’re rallying games, too. Yes. Yes. They Oh, they’ve got they’ve got gumption. I think this group has gumption. That’s something that that I think they’ve had the last couple seasons. Um, so yeah, we’ll see what happens with it, but they I I I like that they are a team that is um the work ethic’s there. Yeah. So, all right, could we continually just climb all season long? That I don’t think they came out of the gates guns blazing in first 20 games, you’re like, “Oh my gosh, look out for the Flyers.” But they’re just they’re just taking a little chips at it. And the way you’re looking right now and the way this is in the East, that might be enough to make the playoffs. You keep that going in the right direction. Yeah. And Trevor Ziggas has got more than a point a game. 21 points in 20 games. And the other night against the Devils, they had that interesting sequence in the game. They got three goals. I think it was in like 20 seconds 26 seconds. Right. And I wanted to ask you, have you ever been in a situation in a game where either a team you were on or a team you were playing against scored three goals or a bunch of goals in a short maybe not 26 seconds? And if so, like what that could be like, positive or negative? I I want to say somewhere maybe like a minute. No, no, I don’t think anywhere near 26 seconds. But still, even if the three in a minute is it’s just you almost are just like what what what just happened? Yeah. And uh it’s just it’s a tough That was crazy to watch and uh to to see how that goes down. But yeah, I mean it was just you get some of those nights where it goes down that way and I I don’t just there’s no talking. It just it’s just a weird it’s a weird feeling because you’re feeling like this isn’t this isn’t supposed to happen like that, you know, and it feels like you can’t stop the momentum. So, it’s it’s it’s difficult, but um for them, I mean, their confidence, oh, we can pop you, you know, you get a goal and then basically off the next two ensuing face off, you get a goal and then bang bang, boom. I mean, it’s it’s like that’s crazy. That is that is nuts. The place was absolutely bumping after that. But uh yeah, it’s tough if you’re on the other side of those. And you know the other thing too, look at their numbers. Christian D’vorak, who they brought in from Montreal, right? He’s like more of a like a checking kind of center. He’s got 14 points in 20 games. He’s playing a lot with Zebras. So let’s help. That’s the kind of thing when when you’re winning games and you’re finding ways to be successful. Those are the kind of things that happen within group, right? You got to get some secondary scoring. I mean, I I’ve I’ve loved for a couple years now, the Kates, Forester, Brink, they’re just they’re getting they’re inching along, getting better. They’re getting better than a lot of most of the time they’re playing together. And so then you got Meechov who’s continually working with trying to get him to find another level, but he’s he can create great offense. You talk about Connectney. I mean, they’ve got some pieces, you know, so you get you get some D’vorick come in there and and add they just got layers. So, it doesn’t have to be the same guys. They’re not they’re not designed that way. Even though Trevor Zaggress has been great, it doesn’t have to be Trevor Zaggress for them to win hockey games right now. And that’s what I think has given them a chance to to sustain and be in be in the hunt here. Yeah. And Sean Coutur, another guy that just kind of, you know, he gives you he gives you what he gives you night after night after night. So, uh, Flyers and Lightning tonight in Philly, out west, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Utah by Little. Oh, I thought I was going to get my sound effect there in the background. All right, that wasn’t the sound effect. Well, I do it. Then we have a little like I don’t even know what it is. It sounds like it’s an elephant of some sort, but uh there you can see the numbers. And look at that. Vegas, they got all those overtime and uh shootout losses. They had one the other night. Marner turned it right over to to Cutter Goce who made quick work of the puck, put it back in the net, and gave the Ducks another overtime win. But what do you make of this one tonight between Vegas, who everybody kind of feels like, you know, they’re going to be there. And, you know, coming up, by the way, we’re getting closer to December 2nd when Carter Hart could make an appearance in goal for Vegas and that will be interesting to see where he’s at. He hasn’t played in a couple of years. So, uh, you know, that could help their goalending situation. But, what do you make of this tonight with Utah? I think these games are always kind of statement games for Utah to try to say, “Hey, we’re really in this.” Yeah, because I I I’m one of them that thinks Vegas is gonna be I have them I have them going to the finals. Yeah. And they could and listen, you get them in the series with the Avalanche and we talked about the Avalanche earlier and how good the Avalanche are, but Vegas is the kind of team that that’s been a rivalry for the last several years. I would love to see that series again. Yeah. And I I said Vegas before I saw Colorado playing like the bump trotters that they are right now. They are rolling. I I still believe this Vegas Golden Knights team is is deep. They’re loaded. They’ll be healthy and I think they’ll be better in goal. Whether that means it’s with the guys they have or do they take a page out of the book of the Colorado Avalanche and just hey let’s swap out two goalenders get two new ones in there. Like I think that’s always going to be a work in progress in between the pipes. My bigger concern in a game like this is is Utah’s start this year was so great. And it’s really been mediocre since up and down. And and I think this is a team that has shown this through stretches. Maybe we don’t usually see them with a hot start that they had. We see this stretch coming dating back to when they were in Arizona as the Coyotes were. You had stretches of games where you’re like, “Okay, these guys look like they’re turning the corner.” And here we are again. So it’s like at some point here they need to park the win one lose one win two lose two and they got to they got to run off a couple now consistency just just get back to playing that style but a lot of that was the individual success. I mean remember how hot some of their guys were early on and it’s about getting back to a good team game. But this is uh these games I got I always have one eye on Utah because I’m like are they for real? I thought they were. I I think they are for real. I think they are a playoff team. But uh they’ve been just kind of okay for a little bit here. You said it three six and three in their last 12 games. And the thing I said I said at the start of the season, people were people were bullish on the on the mammoth. And I was of I have to see it because even going back to to Arizona, I can remember that storyline. Good young players. They’re coming on. This is going to be the year they’re going to make a push. It hasn’t happened. They haven’t been in the playoffs yet. So I have to see it. So this year there’s been some really good surprising teams. Uh there’s been some good teams that we thought were going to be good that are not good. But but let let’s say for an example, I I thought Montreal is going to take a step back this year. They came out came out unbelievable to start the season. Now we’re starting to see them kind of come back down. Pittsburgh, same thing. Now we’re starting to see them come back a little bit. Is Utah that? I I don’t think they’re that. I I think they’re more than that, but I mean they they’ve got to have consistency. They’ve got to find ways to get through the the downward parts of a season. And that’s happening kind of form right now. Yeah. And you know what? In the immortal words of Matt Duchain, the good teams aren’t as good as they are at this stage of the season, as they’re going to be, and the bad teams aren’t as bad as they’re going to be. We’re going to find out. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re watching. And we’re getting into that time of year when teams need to kind of get into the next gear and take it up a notch in a really tough season with a lot of games piled on top of each other. We shall see. Coming up, we got the three stars of the week. We’ve had some great performances. Who makes the list? Three stars next on First Shift. It is time for the three stars of the week presented by Geico. We got a good trio for you this week. Mlin Celabbrini. I love this kid. I would literally I I love whenever the Sharks are on if I’m watching. I just love watching him play. Great young player. Third star. Zack Winsky. Second star of the week. Did the Jackets and Red Wings for NHL Network Showcase on Saturday. When you watch this guy game in and game out, what a brilliant player. And then the first star, Rasmus Anderson. Nine points in four games for the Calgary Flames. has been a tough go for the Flames this year, but Ruper Raspus Anderson uh he’s a name we are going to be talking about for the next several weeks, maybe months leading up to the trade deadline. Contract is up pretty clear Calgary is going to move him. He’s only 4.5 against the cap right now. So that’s that’s really affordable is in a year where the cap can, you know, has gone up a little bit. Right shot defenseman. Where do you think I know Toronto was dying to get him? I don’t I just think there’s going to be so many suitors you are going to have to have the assets to make the trade happen. Yeah. And this type of production that he’s given will I know more more than you more than you even imagine. Every team if you’re m if you’re going into the playoffs and some some teams would need Rasmus Anderson to be a top four defenseman. Some teams may look at it and be like, “Oh, maybe the way our decor is aligned, maybe we can find ways to make him a little more middle defenseman in our group.” I mean, he he could do a little bit of everything that that that’s what makes him so desirable for teams. He’s got a little edge to his game, too. Gets under the skin of the opponents. So, uh, that narrative or adjective that I just used to explain him makes me think the Florida Panthers would be a really good one. Kind of fit right in what they do. Well, they do a lot of that. They’ve kind of graduated into the Vegas Golden Knights territory, who is another team I think would be very defenseman where they Yeah, they just make these big moves, these moves where you don’t maybe think they have room, but they find ways to make room. Uh, but Rasmus Anderson would be a huge asset to any playoff team, any playoff team. So, him I I I know they keep saying they want Nazam Kadri part of the Flames. He’s the one up front. They’ve got some pretty desirable pieces. Yeah. where can they do it? Can they drive this market up for those guys? They I think there’s going to be a market there and I don’t know if they’re going to do it sooner or or later closer to deadline. Yeah. You know, Blake Coleman, it’s another guyakeman. They got a couple of guys that would be really uh like key guys that could help your team be successful. I mean, Cadrey won a Stanley Cup. Coleman has won a couple of Stanley Cups. I mean, these are players that could really be important. Craig Conroy there, he’s managing a couple things. He’s trying to rebuild and I do believe Gavin McKenna is a very highly soughtafter draft eligible this year. So Flames, they could try to get that trifecta of good things where you end up lash end up with the first pick and then you end up moving some of these guys out for other young assets or draft picks to make your team better down the road. And they got a new rink coming in there in a couple years. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s it it’s always so tough though because we we hear the Calgary Flames talk about I mean in Nazim Kadri situation we we want Nazam Kadri. We need more. The quote was we need more Nazam Cadri. And I don’t know if that’s just to drive up that price. I mean everybody wants them. They want them but at the end of the day this is a team that even though they’ve been playing well this week, they’re a team that needs to do the right thing moving forward and that’s probably to move these guys for assets. Yeah. I don’t think I think that’s what will likely end up happening. and they could do very very well. We’ll see with Ros Anderson, the first star of the week when we come back. It’s been a year since Chris Drury sent out that memo starting that fire sale in New York. They’ve made changes, but are they any better? We’ll talk about the Rangers next on First Shift. Three Stars of the Week is presented by Geico. Switch and save. Get more with Geico. Ah, the Blues. They’ve had the Blues for most of the season, but a little better now. I mean, let’s, you know, last 10 lighter shade of blue. A lighter shade of blue. Yeah. I mean, you know, two four two and four. It’s a little better. Getting points in eight of the last 10 games. Still probably giving up more than they want. Not scoring as much as they’d like. But uh to discuss the Blues on their current road trip, we bring in Jeremy Rutherford from The Athletic. Uh Jeremy, let me just start here. I mean, this was a road trip. I know that when it started, Jim Montgomery, the team, they were talking about, hey, it’ll be good to get out on the road for for five days. They have a bad loss to Vegas, leaving St. Louis on a Saturday night. Good to get on the road, a little bonding. How have things been better so far in this trip? I mean, they’ve gotten points in all three of the previous games. They got two more games to play on the trip. Yeah, I’ll leave it to you, EJ, to say that the Blues have the Blues this season. That that’s uh certainly been the case, but he’s right. Jim Montgomery said that going into the road trip that this would be good for the team. They haven’t had a lot of extended road time this year, just a couple one, twoame trips, but this is a long one. Five games, uh, 10 days. And even though they started off with a couple of overtime losses, they’ve start to put their team game together a little bit. getting Jake Neighbors back from the injury list. That certainly helps. Uh so overtime losses in Toronto and Philadelphia and the Philadelphia one hurts because uh they had a two- nothing lead. That’s the third time in in against Philadelphia in just the last two weeks that they’ve blown a two nothing lead against the Flyers. Uh but they get back on the winning track in the last game and and now they head into New York feeling pretty good about themselves. Jeremy, what’s been better in particular? Is it just finding ways? Is it I mean like you mentioned the one game maybe losing your way in some regards to get to overtime in the first place, but what has been the the biggest thing that’s changed? Well, I think they’re starting to uh play more competitive. Uh Jim Montgomery said this morning at the Garden that they’re starting to win more than 50% of their one-on-one battles for the early part of the season. Uh that wasn’t the case. They were also finding ways to lose. Look, they were up four to nothing on the Detroit Red Wings and lost a game six to four. uh multiple two goal leads that have been blown and then the goalending this year has been uh you know not great. So I I think that now that they got Jake Neighbors back who guys listen he missed 12 games and he’s still tied for the team lead with six goals on this team. They have four guys with six goals. Jake Neighbors missed 12 games and he’s still on that list. They got him back. That’s been a big bonus. Let me ask you about Jordan Kyru because you know he’s been a guy that’s been in St. Louis since the start of his career. He’s had some really good moments there. They’ve paid him pretty significantly on a long-term contract. Yet now he seems to have had issues with couple of different coaches now in these last couple of years. And I hear his name in trade rumors again. They might be willing to move him. I mean, you watch all the games. I mean, what are you seeing from from Kyu? And and why is he in this situation where they’re thinking about, hey, if we could get a good deal, maybe we’d move him. Yeah, EJ, I think you can look at Jordan Kyu and his situation two ways. You look at it like this. He hasn’t been bad this year. He has six goals, 13 points in 21 games. So, the statistics aren’t great, but it hasn’t been a great year uh for the team. You also look at what, six years left on that contract at 8.125 million. So, if he sniffs 40 goals each year, that’s well worth the 8 million with that cap going up and what we’re seeing some of these guys get paid. I think the question becomes, do the St. Louis Blues believe that they can win in the playoffs with Jordan Kyu being one of your leaders? If they answer that question with a no, then the 8.125 for the next six years doesn’t necessarily matter. They would entertain offers. So Jerry, let me let me just stop you for a second. I want to ask you, you say like they think you can win in the playoffs to be one of your leaders. Is this like a thing where they just think like a character issue or like you know because again I mean they were willing to commit significant money to this guy and then not too long after you know he had a falling out and like your point he’s not been awful but it just seems odd. Yeah. No, I agree with you. I I think that when they gave he and Robert Thomas the matching contracts you’re talking eight years $65 million. It was a little bit of a projection into who they could become. And I think Kyroo has shown two 37 goal seasons that he can become that guy. But I think the question that you’re asking there EJ is, you know, does he have the grit to be a playoff player? And not all those top end guys do. But does he have the ability to step up and make the play when the team needs it? And I’m not saying he doesn’t. I’m just saying if the Blues with Alex Dean coming in to take over for Doug Armstrong have those questions about that player, then I think that now could be the time where you capitalize on on some potential interest around the league. Uh Jeremy, let me lean into my mic on this one because this is really important. I I will say full transparency each I picked the St. Louis Blues to win the Central this year and uh that is full transparency. Not looking great right now. Not looking great. I thought they’d be a really good team, too. I don’t know if I had them to win the division, but I thought they’d be way better. So, a lot of questions have come up. Jordan Kyu being one that EJ just asked about. The other one I thought is what we saw last year and what this team I think can be even with the roster the way it’s constructed. I was thinking, well, you got Joel Hoffer, you’ve got Jordan Bennington now all of a sudden there’s a a luxury of talent at the goalending position where I’m like, oh, you can move one of them. It seems like Hoffer is that goalie of the future. So, this is a nice again luxury that the team has. Is that still the same feeling the way the season’s gone for both these guys? Yes, I think it’s a fair question. I think going into the season, you know, that Jordan Bennington’s got two years left on his deal, this and another. And Joel Hoffer looks like he’s the app parentent to be the number one. And I think if he had played better early on this season, then it’s a no-brainer. Yes, this is the guy who’s eventually going to take over uh for Jordan Bennington. But Hford did not play well, it was, you know, the biggest hiccup of his young career uh so far. Really struggled. his numbers are going to be down all year. It’s going to take a long time to get him back up. He has played a little bit better lately, but I think it raised questions maybe on the outside in terms of can Joel Hoffer be that guy. Are the Blues in a position where they could trade Jordan Mittton if they wanted to before the contract’s up or not resign him in two years. So, I think from the outside there’s probably a little bit of of question, but I believe from the inside, the Blues perspective, they still see Joel Hoffer as a capable number one A goalender in the league. You just don’t know when’s when that time’s going to be. Let me ask you about uh the captain there, Braden Shen, because he’s been such an important piece of the puzzle for the St. Louis Blues over the years. And last year, I know there was a lot of discussion with the Toronto Maple Leafs and maybe some other teams about a trade. The Blues decided to hold on to them. They had a good year. They made the playoffs. Do this year it seems like it’s a struggle. He’s been a big minus, but you know what? You could see that happening. He’s probably on the ice in situations where they’re chasing games. I mean, what do you see it in his play or do do you think that, you know, in retrospect maybe the time to cut bait might have been last year? Yeah, it might have been, but he wanted to stay and he made that known. I don’t want to go as far as to say he invoked his no trade clause, but the day of the trade deadline, I watched Jim Montgomery shake Braden Shen’s hand and say, “I’m glad that you’re still here.” and Braden Chen said, “Me, too.” So, I I think that definitely was a situation where he wanted to stay. Toronto was a team. Ottawa was another team that I heard might have been close on a deal for Braden Shen. Things have not gone well for the team. We’ve talked about uh for Braden Chen. He just got on the board last game uh his first goal in 12 games. So, it’s not been a great year offensively for him, but I believe in Braden Shen as a leader on a team. I think that if there were teams interested around the league and they wanted to pluck him out of St. Lewis and put him on their third line center uh left wing. I think he can play be a second line player too if you need. But on a contender if he’s just going in to fill in a hole with his leadership uh what he’s been able to show here in St. Louis when things haven’t been great. I I think he’d be a perfect pickup for a team around the league. And I’m also hearing EJ and Ruper that uh there might be some interest on Shane Chen uh Braden Chen’s part to do that this year whereas last year he didn’t want to. It’s uh it’s interesting when I think this year when you look at the standings and EJ and I were just talking about this off camerara. We’ve had some historically bad starts for some teams and you’re still kind of in it. I mean that that’s the if you want to look at glass half full. So I want to ask you this for a team that only has seven regulation wins which is not really that good up to this point. Second worst goal differential in the league by significant margin them and Nashville. St. Louis Blues are right in this mix. Where’s the where do they think they’re at? I mean, you you getting some points in games right now, finding ways. Is this just let’s see what the next month shows us before we really decide what to do with this group. Well, let me start off by saying this. In 2018, after they went from last place to the Stanley Cup, I said that I would never write where I count out a team again. And then what happened last year before the Four Nations tournament, uh, here I was counting out the Blues again and and they made it. So, I don’t know if I can’t learn my lesson in terms of, uh, counting teams out. They’re testing you. They’re testing you a lot. But but you’re right. And so they’ve looked better. It is only November. There is the the statistic about uh Thanksgiving and Jim Montgomery talked about that today. He said, “Yeah, it’s been proven time and time again that you know, if you’re not sitting in a good spot by the holiday, then then it’s going to be tough.” But, you know, he said he likes the way this team is playing. So, what do they think? I think they believe that they can jump back in this. And the thing is, you’re only four or five points out of a wild card spot at any given time. Uh, but you got a lot of teams to jump. So, do they feel like they have the horses to get back into this and make a run like they did last year? There’s still a lot more time than there was last season, and they did it. I think the key question will be, will they entertain trade uh offers? Will Braden Shen still be a blue Jordan Kyu? What direction are is the team going to go? That’s obviously going to determine whether this team can get back in it. Well, you know, just as an example of how things change and how we lose track of time, it was a year ago today that Jim Montgomery was hired to take over the St. Louis Blues. I mean, you’ve watched this year. I thought he did a really good year last year kind of getting that team back on track. He had the good fortune of having some players come back into the lineup that kind of matched up with his time arriving in St. Louis. But where do you think Monty is with this group right now? Yeah, he said today that it’s been a roller coaster. It was Madison Square Garden, his first game with the Blues after he took over for Drew Bannister. So, it really felt uh, you know, similar uh seeing him there talking today about this. He he called it a roller coaster and he’s right. That’s the perfect word to go from, you know, you get the coach bump, you play pretty well when he came on and then they slipped a little bit and then they put it together after the form nations and now the bad start. But I think the foundation is here. So Jim McMurray’s got a five-year deal. They’ve got some good pieces with a Jimmy Snugidge, Deloreki who’s shown really well and some other first round draft picks on the way. I think if you’re a Blues fan, you have to look big picture and having Jim Montgomery here to lead this group for a while, I think, is probably what excites them the most. All right, so the Blues and Rangers tonight at the Garden. That one will be right here on the NHL Network. Jeremy, thanks so much for the time today. I will see you over at the Garden. All right, we’ll see you there. All right, Jeremy Rutherford from The Athletic. Does a great job covering the Blues. Here’s a tweet from Vince Maragliano. Today marks one year since Chris Drury hit send on the leaguewide memo that began the Rangers fire sale and kind of tanked their season. The merits of that decision will be debated for years, but 12 months later, it’s hard to find any tangible progress. And uh you can find that column at the athletic as well. But Ruper, I’ll ask you, I mean, we’re both here in New York. You played for the New York Rangers. You see them quite a bit. Uh it doesn’t seem like they’re really any further along than they were. Now, I I think Mike Sullivan is doing a really good job. I think they’re playing better defensively for sure, but it just seems like they’re not generating a lot. They’ve had this weird split of being so bad at home and being better on the road. Are they any better than they were this time last year? Yeah. I mean, I I was saying yes. Um even when because a lot of that was that weird the weird home Yeah. lack of production, all that stuff. One seven and one at home. I mean, and but they were dominant on the road. They were like nine one on the road. They’re not now like they’ve lost three in a row this road trip. So, it’s like and it’s it’s not that fragile where it’s going to change that quickly, but that at least was keeping them alive, keeping them afloat. Now, that’s gone. So, now there’s a little more pressure on home ice tonight against a another team that’s really struggling in the Blues. So, yeah, I don’t I don’t I I do think they are better. I I think they are a better team than last year. How much? I have no idea. I have no idea how much better because they are defending. They’re giving themselves a chance. A lot of onegoal games. Uh they’re they’re they’re in these games. The goalies have been good for the most part as we expect with Shurken and then Quick has played excellent in the games he’s been called upon. Yeah. So I I don’t know e I I I think they’re better now. All of a sudden now they can’t score and they’re having some issues. So I don’t know where this plays out and if I feel this way in a month, but right now to this point I think they are a better team. Doesn’t look like it in the standings. But again, the same thing we always say what I just said about St. Louis. They’re fine. Threeame winning streak. If you could turn it over, if you if you could turn it around, and that’s always hard to say because for a team that’s been really unable to find their footing, especially at home. Yes. It’s too easy to be like, “Oh, well, if they just if they if they go seven and that starts with like a deciding victory at home like that, that’s the first thing. Like if they come out and take care of business and then roll that into something else, I I I think they can I think they can make the playoffs still.” I I I do believe that. Let me ask you this. They name you know, JT Miller, they acquired him from Vancouver. there was, you know, the thing all the stuff in Vancouver went on. Him Person, you know, we’re not there. We don’t know exactly what happened, but like he comes here and listen, I’m a big JT Miller fan. I think you are, too. We’ve talked about him in the past. Like, he’s a he’s a horse. I mean, when he’s going, he can take you places because he’s just a competitor. But now he’s the captain. It’s another year older. I I just think that, you know, maybe he’s trying to do too much. Now he’s out. He’s injured. I mean, it’s only he’s only got the six goals, 12 points in 22 games. I mean, he’s their captain. He’s a guy they think he was a guy that had 100 points one year. I don’t know if he’s necessarily that guy. Maybe he’s an 80 point guy, but he’s certainly not on pace for that right now. They’re going to need him to not only lead better, but also to produce. Yeah, I think they need him healthy. And I’m not making any excuses for I think he had a little ding. He was dinged up in camp. Yeah, he was. So, maybe that was part of it. I believe he was dinged up in I I don’t know. I’m not going to say to what level or how bad it’s bothering him, but he doesn’t look the same. But he’s also had moments that JT Miller has. And we’ve seen these moments. That one that kind of went viral with Ranger fans the other day against Vegas. I mean, unfortunately, we’ve seen moments like that when he was a Ranger the first time, when he played in Tampa, when he played in Vancouver. So, he has some of those kind of controller unplugged moments. And uh but he also he runs hot, but he Yes. But he also has fiery moments and that’s what makes him and and what makes him desirable for teams is you need him to to prod on and and be that fire starter. I just haven’t seen it. So I don’t know if it’s injury based or what it is, but they made this deal to have him be a fire starter on this team. Slap the C on his sweater to be a fire starter on this team. Uh hasn’t happened yet. And I I I think that uh whether it’s his health or whatever it is, they need him to be that because he hasn’t been so far. Yeah. Not expected to play tonight against St. Louis at the Garden. Rangers and Blues tonight. You got that one right here on the NHL Network. 7:00 Eastern time. When we come back, Mike Ruff is here for the first time. So, of course, we have to play a little first word. That was a sweet goal yesterday. Going to talk about that one. And how about the I like this. These beer savers, they’re fired up in Buffalo. First word next on First Shift. Well, in honor of Mike Rup’s first appearance on First Shift, we got to play a little game of first word. So, we bring in JD. You’re back. Let’s get it going. We had to dive into our stable of dumb games with Ruper in the house. So, here we go. Absolutely. Uh, Ruper, first word. This, uh, is a little word association game. First word that comes to mind on a couple of different news items. Okay, Lisa to font three please. Did you know ruper since January 1st the last year this calendar year nobody in the NHL has more goals than Morgan Geeky? Actually saw earlier no Canadian has more goals than Morgan Geeky. Actually uh Sydney Crosby second to Morgan perhaps a little uh Olympic chatter but that’s for a later date. First word on Morgan Geeky leading the NHL in goals this calendar year. ruppper booming. Booming. Hey, he’s getting it done right now. He is. Uh he has been getting it done. He does have a boomer of a shot, but it’s it’s impressive taking advantage of an opportunity. I I mean I don’t I don’t think anybody saw this coming with him, but it’s each like I I don’t know what to say, but these guys have something special. Him and David Poster are not act together, and this guy is he has been an absolute player for the for the Boston Bruins. Yeah. I will say this. I I when he came into the league in Carolina before he even went to Seattle, I kind of liked him. Mhm. So, I thought he was a good player, but I have to say my word would be shocking. It’s shocking to me. I mean, like that of all those guys on the board, Yeah. he’s got more goals than anybody since January 1st. Shocking. JD, shocking. Good words. Boomering. Uh, Robert, you came to play with first. He did. He did. All right. EJ, you were on the call of the uh NHL Network Showcase yesterday and Beck Malenstein scored a dazzler. Lisa, hit him with the video and W here. Yeah, this was this was amazing. First word on Beck Malenstein goal. To me, I’m going to say it was wonderful because like this is a fourthline guy and he comes in and makes a Conor McDavid like play and scores. I mean, I just think, you know, though, you don’t see that every day for the guys who put in the work. Look at him celebrate, baby. That’s a wonderful mo. Yeah. I mean, he was like, “What was that?” Yeah. Those moments, man, like what you see it right there on his face. Uh, I’m going to go I’m going to go with actually a name. I’m going to go Barry. So, all you young people at home don’t probably know who Barry Sanders is. That look like a Barry Sanders. Like, just a lateral movement. like it looks exactly just jumps to your to your left or right in this left in this situation. Uh I mean it’s it’s impressive just on a dime. That was nice. That was pretty sweet. Now Sebastian Aaho was back defending and you know he probably knew that but still like if Conor McDavid scores that goal we’re giving it just as we’re giving it like wow look at Conor McDavid. We certainly don’t expect it to be Malenstein. So congratulations to uh the Saber winger. It’s nice. Wonderful. Rupers up two nothing here with the with Barry Sanders reference too class to the show today. You’re always against me, so it’s I have no chance ever to win with these things. Exactly. But I mean, nobody’s really keeping score. There might be one shifty out there who’s got a pen and pad like Okay, so the official standings update. Uh anyway, Lisa tag board here. Did you guys uh see this one from Buffalo? They got the Beer Savers made their debut on Friday. The best souvenir cup going. you can get a uh a lab in a Saber Cup. Would they do that tonight? Show them font, too. They went out and put up nine against the Chicago Blackhawks. I think it’s good mojo here. Ruper, first word on the Beer Sabers. Whoa. Uh that’s not the word. Uh that that was my noise I was making. That looks incredible. Uh I’m going to say uh legendary. That is a legendary. I like that word. That’s a legendary drinking device for a sporting event. Yeah, I agree with that. I like that word for that. It’s a good one. You know, the Sabres put up nine. They probably weren’t the only ones who put up nine that night. I’m sure there was a lot of a lot. They would have put that some people put down nine. Yeah, maybe more. Maybe more. I’m going to say cheers. Cheers. Because they were I mean they were That’s a great It’s a great idea, too. So, I got to give the Sabres management people a lot of credit. I think that uh you know we have a resident Sabres fan in the house here and uh she reports that her dad goes to a lot of the games and like the idea as well. So there you go. All right. Here comes the sabers. There she is. There she is. All right. I love that. I love that. Her dad can’t confirm the beer sabers are very fun. Last one for you guys. Uh there were many words said about this one in the bullpen. How about New Jersey Devil star aka random guy with a cast on his arm. Jack Hughes out on a date in the village with Tate McCrae. EJ, I know you’re dying for this one. First word. All right. All right, Lisa, you’re gonna have to give me the single, I think, for this one. You’re going to have to dial me up here. Interesting. Very interesting. Very dramatic, too. I love it. That’s it. That’s it. Interesting. All right. Thank you, Lisa. All right. I don’t know what to do after that one. I got nothing. Interesting. I’m going to say talented young girl. I’m gonna say plastic wear. Just kidding. I’m just kid. I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. Uh t-shirt. T-shirt. Uh I’ll say maybe maybe I’ll use the same word. Legendary. Yeah, there you go. I’ll say legendary. This is probably more deserving. Yeah. Jack Hughes living his best life. Oh boy. I I Hey, go get him, Jack. He’s out injured. He’s gota, you know, you got to fill your time somehow. Yeah. You know what’s funny, though? We haven’t talked about Jack Hughes in a while. So, it’s good to see him. Good to see him out. The Devils, they need to get a win tonight. They’re playing the Red Wings. They’ve been struggling without him. Hey, there’s another Jackie in town in Montreal. We’re going to talk about Florian Jackie and his debut. That’s next. Well, well, well. There’s another jack eye in town, Florian Jack guy. And he makes his NHL debut. And why not? Slugging it out with Dakota Mervvis. And there’s his brother on the bench, Arbor. Yeah. Yeah. the parents. His mother seems like a little not as not as revved up. I think I think dad just realized mom’s not really reacting. Maybe I should maybe I should dial it back. Uh you have any situations like that? Family members at your games because you got into a bunch of fights over the time. Yeah, probably dissimilar. Moms don’t really I don’t know. My My mom never jumped up and was like, “Yeah, get up.” Like I think she was more like peeking through her fingers, you know? A good normal situation. Big game. Big first game by him, though. Yeah, that was that was a debut. Yes. Against the Toronto May. Two storied franchise. Saturday night hockey. Brothers on the squad, your parents up in the stands. Yeah, that’s awesome. That’s awesome. Good luck for you and I hope to hope we see a lot more of you moving forward. That’s the end of the show today. NHL Now is next. Thank you, Mike Grub. Thank you. Legendary. Legendary. Legendary.
11/24/2025 – Mike Rupp makes his First Shift debut and St. Louis Blue reporter Jeremy Rutherford joins the show.
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1 comment
Is this meant to be a video or podcast