Well, it is now the second half of January. A long as a team stays in the hunt to this point, how they play from here on out is all that matters. Many of the last 10-20 Cup winners were not #1 or #2 seeds...

That being said, this team has regressed tremendously in the last several weeks. We can speculate all day long about the reasons. The coaching set-up is odd with Yeo as the Head Coach-in-waiting. The goaltending has gone from adequate to poor (or worse). Key players seem to either have undisclosed injuries or they've just given up and are playing half-arsed. Clearly, the roster has a few holes that need filled, even if they were playing well...

I know the front office looked at this year as a crap shoot and understood it was probably going to be one step backwards to go two or three steps forward. The problem is over the last several weeks, it has been two or three steps backwards and it appears they can't seem to figure out how to get out of this funk.

Here is my suggestion for the rest of the season. Step one: Have Hitch resign and make it look like it is his idea. Give him a nice sendoff. Yeo is taking over eventually and the players know that. They can't use him like Asst. Coaches are normally used (as a buffer between the Head Coach and players). Just let him have the reigns now and start establishing the new order. Step two: Trade all players you are pretty sure you're not going to re-sign and get what you can for them. Step three: Start sending guys down or to the press box when they don't perform. Sit a guy like Steen or Perron a game or two and it will get all of the players' attention. This team needs a shake-up and it needs to be more than something minor.

In the meantime, I will continue to be a long suffering Blues fan, looking forward to next season...