So, I watched the 1st period at LOZ, then determined the roads were good enough to go home. I picked up the game on XM and had to listen to the Nashville broadcast. They were pretty even handed with their analysis and even complimentary of the Blues quite a bit. But the quality of the play-by-play was embarrassingly bad. The guy sounded plenty seasoned (old) but he was far from smooth. I made no commentary about it and after about 5-10 mins my wife asked, "Is it just me or is this guy not very good?" And unlike me, she listens to hockey on the radio very seldom. It got me to thinking how spoiled we are and have been with broadcasters in all sports but particularly hockey. For me it started with Dan Kelly/Gus Kyle, then those few dark years until they got Ken Wilson, now Chris Kerber. I try not to think about the evenings my ears bled listening to Ron Jacober trying to do Blues play-by-play. Mike Claiborne gave it a go a few times as well and wow, was it bad. But I like both of those guys for color, commentary and sports talk shows, so I won't rip them too hard. They both seem like really good dudes.

Once I got past Mineola Hill, I tuned into KMOX and heard the sweet sound of Chris Kerber's flowing call of the game and seamless commentary as the game progressed. To hear the Tarasenko OT goal reminded me of the days laying on the floor, as a kid, listening to Dan Kelly's voice crescendo as the play developed into "He shoots he scooooorrrrressss!!!!"

As far as TV, John Kelly and Panger do a great job as well. While John looks like his old man and even sounds like him a bit, he's just not quite as smooth. Still damn good but I actually think Chris Kerber is closer to Dan Kelly's style than John Kelly. Especially on the goal calls.

So, don't ever take for granted what we have here with regards to quality broadcasters for our sports teams. We have some of the best. Trust me, I listen to plenty as I travel around the country for my work. Most are not nearly as good as what we have.

As far as the Blues, this is some sort of inexplicable metamorphosis that will confound anyone trying to analyze it. I guess we just hope for it to continue and get them into the playoffs.