Apart from a 2-0 win over the "New and Improved" Dinner Jackets (which I am not typing with a straight face), the news for the Blues continues to be bad to the bone.

The last-place St. Louis Blues got more bad news Thursday when doctors diagnosed defenceman Eric Brewer with a right shoulder separation.

He was placed in injured reserve and will be out 4-to-8 weeks. Brewer, who had appeared in all 18 games this season, was injured after getting hit during the first period of a game Wednesday night at Columbus.

"I've been hit like that I don't know how many times," Brewer told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after the game. "I just got hit the right way. It doesn't feel great. It hurts. I can't move my arm."

Sure, Brewer's play is blowing Chunks Ahoy this year, but now his ice time has to be replaced by the likes of Matt Walker and Dennis Wideman. *sigh*

and then GM Larry "Doughhead" Pleau badly answered some bad questions from the STL Dispatch

PD: How have you been sleeping lately?

LP: "It's no fun what we're going through, but you've got to get stronger for going through something like this. The key thing here is keeping yourself together: management, coaches, players. You've got to keep yourself on the same side. Keep preparing, that's the key. You don't sleep well, that's for sure. Hey, it's a struggle, but we'll get through it. The only way you get through it is by sticking together. That's the key. It's got to happen in that room."

D00d, he asked you HOW YOU WERE SLEEPING lately. Wow, talk about 'auto-cliche'.

PD: Dean McAmmond is second on the team with five goals, but he was a healthy scratch last week. Scott Young has four goals. Patrick Lalime has been benched in favor of Curtis Sanford. How would you grade your offseason acquisitions?

LP: "I'm not going to get into individuals. That's what I'm telling you . . . the players can't get into individuals. Anything you're going to say, you've got to say it within yourself. When you're in a stretch like this, you can't pinpoint . . . hey this guy or that guy. This is a team. That's how we got here. There's only one way to get out of here."

Ahh, what great leadership. Pleau is afraid to grade the job he's done so far and afraid to call out the poor play to the press. To be fair, it's not Dean McAmmond's fault that the Blues suck, the blame falls squarely on Pleau and Keith Tkachuk's fat ass.

PD: There's a perception that your hands are tied right now until the team is sold. Are you able to make any trades or other moves while the Lauries maintain control of the franchise?

LP: "For me, I'm operating the same way I did before. If I feel there's something there for the team that makes sense, if it fits in within our payroll budget, I would talk to (Blues President) Mark (Sauer). Then we'll take the next step from there. I don't feel that at all. We'll continue to search out and see if there are ways that we can improve ourselves through signing a free agent, or a trade . . . we'll continue to do that. We've said that right from the beginning. We said that in the end of June. We weren't going to be active as far as the free-agent market and as far as long-term contracts and taking on a lot of money. But that doesn't mean that we're not active trying to improve ourselves."

D00d, your hands are tied because you signed Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight to expensive contracts and you have no cap room. Being able not to sign or trade is all because of the foolish moves you have made over your tenure!

PD: Do you sympathize with Blues fans right now?

LP: "I sympathize as an organization, we know we can play better and we will play better. We want to do well for our fans because they've been tremendous fans and they've been supportive. We will get better. We'll be a better hockey team in the future."

You sympathize as an organization, Larry? How about you personally? I guess you don't give two shakes of a dog's tail about how the fans feel. Fine, we understand. You are just another corporate shill.

Blues fans are also showing their love for Larry's product at the gate with ever dwindling attendance figures. As a Blues fan, I totally sympathize with poor Larry. As Jes, I don't care one way or another.

I'll say it again, the first move the new owner (whoever that may be) is to fire Larry Pleau. If the owner does this publicly at center ice before a Blues home game, he'll be a bigger hero in St. Louis than Mark McGwire.