Vol. Xlii, issuE 12 2/9/12

Page 1

CHiNa ProGraM

NEwt GiNGriCH

Mr. Gleich summarizes the Chinese Exchange students’ experiences Page 2

Priory students weigh in on the presidential candidate hopeful. Page 3.

THE RECORD

Vol. Xlii, issuE 12 2/9/12

tHE oFFiCial studENt NEwsPaPEr oF saiNt louis PriorY

Blues Triggering Fan Revival In case you haven’t been paying any attention to the world of hockey recently, the St. Louis Blues are competing for first in the Western Conference. This wave of success has really stimulated the city’s fan base. As senior Carter Gage puts it, “I’d say about 2/3 of the school could care less about the NHL. Until the Blues started winning, I could count the true fans on a couple fingers. Now they’re all the rage.” With the youthful talent that continues to appear after some incredible drafting over the last couple seasons, this success does not appear to be vanishing soon. The average age of the Blues is in the bottom half of the league and many of the most important players on the team are below that average, including David Perron, Matt D’Agostini, and T.J. Oshie. There is no doubt that new coach Ken Hitchcock has played a huge role in this record-setting season. Before Hitchcock took over early in the season, the Blues had a losing record and appeared to be heading towards another mediocre season, but after Hitchcock came to St. Louis, the Blues have gone 26-7-6 as of Thursday night, and have subsequently soared to the top of the Western Conference and the NHL. Hitchcock came in and loosened up the style of play, allowing the young talent to succeed. The biggest adjustment he made though was the

By Clay Swanger Staff Writer

defensive attitude. With both Jaroslav Halak and All-Star Brian Elliot playing extraordinarily in net, and the team defense doing outstanding, the Blues have cut their goals against average in half and are undefeated when scoring 3 goals in a game. But with sudden success comes

haters, and there are certainly many of those around as many people around hockey still are not believers in the Blues’ success. This doubt has even come about within our school. Junior Thomas Burton recently posted this as his Facebook status: “To all you so-called “Blues fans”: First of all, hockey sucks. Secondly, this exact same thing happened

last year. They got hot and won a few games early in the year, but, in the end, they lost because they were are not a very good team. That is all.” This sort of thing did not happen last year. This is the latest that the Blues have ever been at the top of their conference. And this success has not been a few games, but well over 30 at this point. All of us honest Blues fans can be thankful that we have good hockey fans like Carter Gage and Alex Haueisen to support us against such negative statements. Gage stated in a response to Burton, “Some players (Oshie as an example) are finally playing up to their capabilities. Davis Payne was not right for this team, and the Blues are a genuine threat in the NHL under Hitchcock.” Haueisen added, “Finally, just look at the players, it honestly reads like an all-star team: Backes, D’Agostini, Oshie, Stewart... This team isn’t hot. They’re just good, and they will continue to be.” It is clear now that the Blues are legitimate, and will continue to be legitimate. Those people that deny their abilities deny the stats themselves and have absolutely no ground to argue on. Without a doubt this team will be competing for a division title (in a loaded Central Division with 4 teams in the top 6 of the West), a number one seed, and a championship, in this year and in the years to come.


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