(Get) A Sporting Life

...and all I can do is wish him luck in the attempt. I think this bodes ill: Hitchcock reunites CPR line for Game 5 Ken Hitchcock took the "C" out of the CPR line in Game 4 and it wound up being a bad "PR" move. After the Blues 4-3 loss to LA in Game 4, many were lamenting the absence of Adam Cracknell in the lineup. Cracknell's replacement on the fourth line was Vladimir Tarasenko, who played only 5 minutes, 51 seconds in the game. Hitchcock's intent with Tarasenko was thought out. A couple of the Blues' top forwards are banged up, and Tarasenko's availability would give the Blues a safety net, moving him up higher in the lineup if they couldn't continue. Which confirms that Hitch had no intention of playing Tarasenko meaningful minutes unless someone got hurt and was unable to play. That is bullshit. I have no problem with Cracknell getting back into the lineup, he never played his way out of the lineup. My problem is Andy ...

Four more years! Four more years ! In sports, it can take a while to close a book on a trade, whether it was good or bad for a team. In the case of the Blues' move in December 2007, which brought in Andy McDonald and sent Doug Weight to Anaheim, the book was reopened again on Monday. McDonald, 31, signed a four-year, $18.8 million contract extension with the Blues, a signature that without the trade might have been unlikely this summer in free agency. But after playing 49 games with the Blues last season, and 16 more this year before fracturing his ankle, McDonald said he became comfortable with the idea of being in St. Louis. "There's a number of things you have to consider when you are negotiating a contract and certainly (the young talent in St. Louis) was one of the biggest," McDonald said. "You look at the team, and the potential for success down the road, even this year, and that was a big reason. "I'm really happy here. I've been treated well,...