(Make sure to check out Laura's work with her blog (Wazzupwitchu) as well as SBN Blues blog St. Louis Game Time.)

Here's what I've found scrounging around the net, while trying to avoid the bitter reality that is the St. Louis Blues offense/Atlanta Thrashers inability to remember that games are 60 minutes long.

I do, of course, have to give credit to David Perron and *the goal*.  Pay no attention to the Blues' record... focus on the goal... focus... http://www.stlouisgametime.com/2009/11/21/1168534/david-perrons-goal-against-the

I go to Second City Hockey and what do I see on the main page?  STATS.  Yaaaaahhhh! http://www.secondcityhockey.com/2009/11/20/1166918/entropy-shot-differential-defense

So, who is the Preds' MVP?  It's up to you.  http://www.ontheforecheck.com/2009/11/23/1170550/its-time-to-vote-nashville

The View from 111 takes a look at the quarter season report card of the Preds.  Wait - it's at the quarter season mark already?  Jeebus!  http://theviewfrom111.blogspot.com/2009/11/predators-quarter-season-report-card.html

Kronwall's out 4-8 weeks.  Laraque is out 5 games.  Discuss.  http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2009/11/red_wings_will_lean_on_veteran.html

Is Cheli gonna switch Chicago teams and return to the Blackhawks?http://committedindians.com/could-dealing-barker-and-sopel-open-the-door-for-a-chelios-return/

Hm.  Paint it Blackhawks is doing a quarter season report card too.  I need to do one for the Blues.  Offense - score more.  C-.  There - problem solved.  http://paintitblackhawks.com/2009/11/22/pib-presents-the-blackhawks-first-quarter-report-card/

You may or may not have been following the CLS Power Rankings before, but the kind folks at bloguin invited the NHL people to submit their picks (and comments) for your general perusal.

Rather than going with my gut reactions (and projections), I decided to base my decisions on some number crunching instead. As a man who fears math and thinking, this is actually a fairly big step.

Even at the quarter point of the season, it's important to keep in mind that these numbers still provide a fairly small sample. Although many of these teams may come down to earth (or out of their unexpected hibernation), the numbers don't lie even if I occasionally would prefer that they did.

After the jump: my rankings, what the stats mean and other stuff to wrinkle your brains.

I just began reading "Breaks of the Game" by the late, great David Halberstam. Tell me if this excerpt doesn't remind you of hockey's tenuous relationship with NBC (particularly a certain Sabres-Rangers playoff game that was booted to Versus for horse racing). In this case, Halberstam is discussing the fact that CBS cut away to a golf event immediately after the Portland Trail Blazers won an NBA championship:

" ... Many of them turned off. Many others called CBS to complain irately over the injustice. It was, they knew, a decision which would never had been made at the end of a baseball World Series or a football Super Bowl, where the fans' right to see their winners was inalienable. The decision of CBS to cut away was a reminder that for all of its artistic beauty and its high salaries, and the fact that it might employ the most truly brilliant and complete athletes than any other sport, professional basketball had not entered the national psyche or become part of the national myth. It remained, the grace and skill of its athletes notwithstanding, a sport of some isolated urban areas and some rural areas struggling for national acceptance."

- page 17, "The Breaks of the Game" by David Halberstam.

Hmmm ... sounds familiar, doesn't it?

McLean's Hockey featured a delightfully catty interview with NHL commish/guy who never assumes anything Gary Bettman that's been the talk of the town today. It's certainly worth a read.

However, any time a corporate suit of Bettman's stature (metaphorically speaking ... he's quite short), completes an interview, it's necessary to "read between the lines." Don't worry about doing that yourself ... instead the crack staff at CLS will help illuminate some of the finer points of this interview.

Snark disclaimer: The remainder of this post includes unfair jokes and occasional ribbing. Proceed at your own amusement.

Note: this is a weekly feature by our pal Laura from Wazzupwitchu and St. Louis Gametime. You can also follow her on Twitter: @hildymac.

The Blues' most effective forward?  McDonald?  Kariya?  Boyes?  Nope, it's Perron, and Frenchie's all grown up: http://www.bnd.com/blues/story/1005365.html

I decide to take a stab at WTF is wrong with the Blues over at The Hockey Writers. Conclusion?  Goals per game.  http://thehockeywriters.com/the-blues-troubles-are-getting-attention/

Interesting take from Second City Hockey.  I thought these two had a life bond?  What gives?  Why Toews is the Worst Teammate Kane Could Have: http://www.secondcityhockey.com/2009/11/14/1157345/felix-and-oscar

Some fun from ESPN Chicago - Blackhawks players' superstitions: http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/columns/story?columnist=rogers_jesse&id=4648904

Winging it in Motown digs deep for a look at  Detroit's top prospects at the college level:http://www.wingingitinmotown.com/2009/11/13/1155943/friday-prospects-top-of-the-class

How Pretty are the Blue Jackets?  Aside from Nikita Filatov, not very.  Looks like they might want to get "Oh my God, it's Ron Hainsey!" back.  No.  Just kidding. He's fine where he is:http://thehockeywriters.com/the-blue-jackets-aint-that-pretty-at-all/

CSN Philly takes a look at The Evolution of Brett Hull - there's a photoshop in there somewhere.  Any takers?: http://www.csnphilly.com/pages/landing/?&blockID=87970&feedID=695

In early 2009, it dawned on me that the Chicago Blackhawks could suffer from some serious salary cap headaches this coming summer. With blogs such as Puck Daddy taking a look at the 'Hawks cap situation, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit some observations that will shed some light (or more accurately, accentuate the horror) on the brutal summer up ahead for the 'Hawks.

In Wyshynski's piece, he mentions that Chicago is on pace to have about $13.5 million in cap space next year. The crux of the article focuses on the challenge of fitting two big names (Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews) along with arguably the Hawks' most stable and promising defenseman (Duncan Keith) into that tough little window.

The crazy thing, though, is that the situation for Chicago is potentially even worse than PD and others thought. Follow the (read more) link to find out why ...

We haven't taken everyone's temperature on this, but the consensus from most genius hockey minds is that the shootout is a big pile of dung. Why reward a team for waiting through overtime to flip a coin in a glorified skills competition?

Then again, the NHL wasn't totally out of its mind when it introduced the SO in the first place. After all, going home with a tie (a.k.a. "kissing your sister") is a largely empty endeavor foreign to American sports.*

* - And even worse, quite common to the much hated soccer/futbol.

Perhaps most of us can agree that both options are pretty damn unsatisfying. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, right? Well, not necessarily ...