St. Louis Post-Dispatch - March 11, 1990

Brind'Amour Stung by Benching

by a Staff Correspondent

od Brind'Amour's bid for the Calder Trophy - given to the National Hockey League's rookie of the year - suffered another setback Saturday. Blues coach Brian Sutter scratched Brind'Amour from the lineup for the game with the Chicago Blackhawks game at The Arena on Saturday night. Brind'Amour took the news hard.

''That's one of the things I always try to do - be ready to play,'' Brind'Amour said. ''I don't usually need somebody to kick me in the butt to get going.''

Still, he didn't blame Sutter. ''You don't have to look too hard at it - I haven't been playing very well,'' Brind'Amour said. ''Sergio (Momesso) didn't play the other night either. He doesn't want us in there if we're not doing the job. ''I'm not finishing my checks. It's little things. I'm not skating as well. I'm not making the right plays. I have to get more consistent. You can't go like that - play one good game, play one bad game.''

Brind'Amour is the NHL's fifth-leading rookie scorer with 53 points and his plus-minus rating of 25 ranks second among first-year players. But he hasn't scored a goal since Feb. 24. In his last three games, he had no points and a plus-minus rating of minus-two.

In the third period of his last two games, Brind'Amour was one of the odd men out as Sutter condensed his lines. ''Through the last three or four games I didn't do too much,'' Brind'Amour said. ''It's tough. You don't play well, something has to be done. ''Earlier in the week when I was benched, I said there was a first time for everything. I just hope there is a last time for everything too.''