It's always a tough time when a star player and power forward is plunked down into the pressbox, but that's exactly what's happening with Chris Stewart in game two. After an underwhelming performance in game one in which Darren Pang on FoxSports Midwest as well as the broadcast crew on CNBC constantly tried to defend him (look! his body's in front of the net! WHERE NOTHING HAPPENS!), Ken Hitchcock's apparently had enough. Blues fans've been questioning his placement on the fourth line for a while, and with no where left for him to go they've been calling for him to get a helping of press box pretzels.
That happens tonight, with Stewart and Ryan Reaves the healthy scratches, and Matt D'Agostini and B.J. Crombeen taking their places. Beener replacing Reaves is grit for grit, but D'Agostini replacing Stewart is replacing lack of effort with effort. As coach Ken Hitchcock said (and Blues fans agree with):
Hitch on Stewart: "We need more from him. This is certainly not based on one hockey game. We just need more." #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) April 14, 2012
Stewart's play is not a new phenomenon.
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