up a weight class or two this week but its only going to make

To suggest this is an intriguing season for the St. Louis Blues would be understating things.This is a team, I would humbly opine, that is at an interesting crossroads.After reaching the Western Conference finals last season and unburdening themselves of some playoff demons in doing so, the Blues finally turned a powerhouse regular season into a spring of substance.But of interest to me now is where this team goes from here. Are the Blues taking that next step? Or is their window beginning to close? For one, this is Ken Hitchcocks last season behind the St. Louis bench -- with the team making the unusual arrangement that newly hired associate coach Mike Yeo will take over next season.Theres also the transition of leadership with longtime captain David Backes leaving via free agency, as did clutch playoff performer Troy Brouwer. And those departures came a year after star winger?T.J. Oshie was traded.This, more than ever, is now the team of new captain Alex Pietrangelo as well as Alexander Steen, one of the teams alternate captains and respected leaders.A bit of a change -- obviously Backes was the big piece that was here for a while, Pietrangelo said over the phone Wednesday from Edmonton. But if you look at the fact that Hitch is still here, you got myself, Steener, [Kevin Shattenkirk], [Patrik Berglund], [Jaden Schwartz] -- theres a bunch of guys, pretty much the same core thats been here a long stretch. While there has been change, at the same time for the most part its the same group of guys, with the same coaching philosophies. Pretty much the same identity weve had, just a bit younger.Yes, the core is a bit younger. Which is a good thing. Superstar winger Vladimir Tarasenko can take more ownership now of this team, ditto for two-way winger Schwartz. Center Paul Stastny has been terrific early on this season, feeding off his solid playoff performance of last spring.Nobody is going to pretend to be Backes, the fiery leader who would drop the gloves at a moments notice, the ultimate alpha male who left it all on the ice for the Blues over 10 seasons.But there are other ways to lead, too.Im not going to change who I am, said Pietrangelo, who last month helped Team Canada win the World Cup. I said the same thing to the guys: If Im not who I usually am, I expect these guys to let me know. Obviously, they gave me the C because they dont mind who I am. Im going to continue to be the same person. Im not going to change my personality.Nor are the Blues changing how they play all that much. Sure, they want to be a bit faster -- the San Jose Sharks made them look slow while beating them in the conference finals -- but this is still Blues hockey that can suffocate you by coming in waves. Theyre off to a fast start with seven out of eight points in four games.Theyre big, skilled and play a heavy game, said one Western Conference general manager who recently saw them play. This is still Hitchs team, so they play his style of hockey.The players insist having Hitchcocks replacement standing next to him during every game is no big deal.When you think about it, obviously its an odd situation, but Mike has been great, Pietrangelo said. Hes the first one to tell you that Hitch is the coach. The best part about Mike, he even told me and some of the other guys, he wants to learn from Hitch and wants to take this year to understand why a guy like Hitch has been so successful. You know, Im treating Hitch as the head coach and Mike is the assistant. It starts with me. If I dont do that, its not fair to Hitch. Different dynamic, obviously, but well deal with the transition in the summer when the time comes. So far it really hasnt come up. Mike has been nothing but professional, and that makes it a lot easier.Former executive Craig Button doesnt see anything unusual about the arrangement.This is a good succession plan, said Button, a former GM of the?Calgary Flames. Organizations, outside professional sports teams, do it all the time and it is not only important, it allows for an orderly transition. We only hear of firings in sport, and then that leads to other changes and the inevitable feeling-out process for players and coaching staff.There will be familiarity with Mike for the players, it will allow Mike to know the players better and, most importantly, it doesnt force player changes based on lack of knowledge. A new coach that knows the team can keep the group moving forward and continue the process that Doug believes in.A long season is ahead. But the intrigue with this team is undeniable. Can they take the next step?We made some big strides last year getting to the Western Conference finals, but after that excitement, and knowing we made it that far, that wears off and you wonder what went wrong [after losing] and how you get to that next level,? Pietrangelo said. That was a big topic of conversation throughout the summer and going into the season.The big thing for us is building and getting to our best hockey as quickly as we can and carrying that into the playoffs like we did last year.Authentic Custom Giants Jersey . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Mel Ott Jersey Large . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. http://www.customsfgiantsjersey.com/ . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Cheap Custom Giants Jersey . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Cheap Giants Jerseys . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances.Competition for playing time and a meaningful spot in the Texas rotation will be up for grabs on Thursday when the 23rd-ranked Longhorns host Eastern Washington at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Tex.The contest is the second game of the regional round of the Legends Classic.Texas first two games have featured a balanced attack as six Longhorns are averaging double figures in scoring. During Mondays win over Louisiana-Monroe, seven Texas players recorded at least seven points. No Longhorns player saw more than 24 minutes of action against Louisiana-Monroe and nine Texas players were on the court for at least 17 minutes in the easy 80-59 victory.On this team we do have some interchangeable parts, Texas coach Shaka Smart said after the win Monday night. We have some length and athleticism. There are a variety of guys who are playing better on the break. Were running the floor and pushing the ball. Our guys made pretty good decisions tonight.After missing the season opener because of a suspension for a violation of team rules in the offseason, Texas sophomore guard/forward Tevin Mack and sophomore guard Kerwin Roach Jr. had solid performances against Louisiana-Monroe.Mack posted a team-high 14 points (including 4 for 6 on his 3-point shots) in 23 minutes, while Roach added 11 points, four rebounds and two assists without a turnover in 22 minutes for Texas (2-0).Freshman guard Andrew Jones reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the second straight game to start his collegiate career.Coach Smart is still teaching me as I go and Im emerging as a point guard, Jones said. And this game is only a step for me and learning how to run this team at a young age and still be able to lead and get my players in the position to score.Senior guard Kendal Yancy leads the team in scoring at 15.5 points per game and steals (five) and is tied for the team lead in minutes (30.0 mpg) through the first two contests. He has converted 52.6 percent (10 of 19) from the floor and 81.8 percent (9 of 11) from the free throw line.Texas freshman forward Jarrett Allen was named to the John R. Wooden Award watch list on Tuesday. He previously was named to the watch lists for the Naismith Trophy Mens 50 preseason and for the 2017 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award.ddddddddddddThrough his first two collegiate contests, Allen is tied for the team lead in rebounding (7.5 rpg) and ranks third on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) while hitting 11 of 16 field goals (.688) and adding four blocked shots in 30 minutes per game.Eastern Washington (1-1) heads to Austin off an 86-72 loss at Northwestern on Monday. The Eagles were within six points on four occasions in the defeat, two of those instances midway through the second half, but then went four minutes without a field goal.Junior forward Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 25 points for Eastern Washington in the loss while senior forward Jacob Wiley finished with 19 before fouling out, scoring 14 of his points in the second half.There are a lot of pieces there for us, but Northwesterns balance was too much to overcome, Eastern Washington coach Jim Hayford said after Mondays loss. We needed to either find a way to hold them to 10 less points, or we needed to find some more scoring to keep up with them. Right now we are trying to find strengths, roles and cohesion, and we are playing very quality opponents to help figure that out.The Eagles opened the season with a 70-47 victory over Linfield on Nov. 11. They were picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky Conferences preseason poll.Were fighting up a weight class or two this week but its only going to make us better, Hayford said. We need to shake off the travel and figure out how were going to play Texas. Every coach at this time of year is looking at what his team has, how its playing and what they need to do to improve.Thursdays contest marks the first meeting between the Longhorns and Eastern Washington.Eight teams from across the nation are competing in the 10th annual Legends Classic. Texas, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Colorado are serving as regional hosts and those four squads automatically advance to the events championship rounds on Nov. 21-22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. ' ' '