Mike Huss "The Fuss According to Huss" St. Louis Sports Online lead columnist and host of "Sportstalk" on WGNU AM-920 can be heard online at www.wgnu.net--time: (6:00-7:00 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays) E-mail Mike at: hussme@msn.com

Sports can be very basic. Anything can happen in only one game.

Regardless of regular season accomplishments or recent trends, when it comes down to a mere nine innings or sixty minutes, it is all simply a crapshoot. All it takes is for one player, regardless of his standing in the previous six months, to have "big night".

And perhaps this is the only saving grace left for the St. Louis Blues.

On Easter weekend, our local ice heroes laid a couple of big eggs. Leading the fourth-seeded and 104 regular season point Vancouver Canucks three games to one, the Blues were primed to deliver the knockout punch. The prize would be a trip into the second round of the annual spring marathon known as the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But that KO punch never landed. Instead, the Canucks seized the moment and won two straight: forcing a deciding seventh game in the Great Northwest. Meanwhile, it is another typical St. Louis spring as the hockey faithful are in panic mode. Local police departments are on the lookout for distraught individuals staggering the streets in Tyson Nash or Reed Low jerseys. Gateway City crisis hotline personnel are calling in reinforcements for a possible onslaught around midnight on Wednesday morning. Loving spouses are hiding the sharp objects from their hockey endearing significant others.

I suppose if one is looking for trends, the favorite in Game 7 has to be Vancouver. The Canucks will play the game on their home ice. They have won two consecutive "must-win" games. Their top scoring line has returned from being missing in action. St. Louis goaltender Chris Osgood has allowed eight "non-empty net" goals in the last two games.

Plus, history is also on the Canucks side. The last time St. Louis and Vancouver met in a deciding first round game was on May 19, 1995. It was the first playoff series at the Savvis Center. In a strike-shortened season, a Mike Keenan coached Blues team earned first round home ice advantage. But the Blues lost to Vancouver in Game 7 by a score of 5-3 in what would be Curtis Joseph's last game in a St. Louis uniform.

But trends, history and logic go out the window when one game is involved: although this train of thought could lead one to a false sense of security.

Last week, as the Blues led the series 3-1, the local squawk radio faithful fueled by local media were already for counting the minutes to round two. A four-game sweep of Detroit by Anaheim added a degree of local cockiness. Even though a first round advancement still requires four (not three) wins, Blues Nation was told by area gab-masters and talking heads that tickets for the second round are available at all regular Blues ticket outlets!

Oh what short memories we have. Didn't February 3, 2002 provide this town the ultimate lesson of not counting their chickens before they were hatched? In case you forgot, that was the date our town's two-touchdown favorite entry into that rich and arrogant cartel better known as the National Football League was upset in Super Bowl XXXVI by New England. This Rams' loss was arguably the biggest upset in the history of the Big Game with Roman Numerals. Still there are other examples. In the spring of 1999, the Blues trailed 3 games to 1 to the Phoenix Coyotes in round one of the playoffs. St. Louis won the next two. Then behind the shutout goaltending of Grant Fuhr, Pierre Turgeon scored an overtime goal for a 1-0 Game Seven victory. Just two weeks ago we saw Syracuse knock off favored Kansas in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

So as a public service, perhaps another local history lesson is in order.

OCTOBER 15, 1996 Busch Stadium is the scene and the Cardinals are one game away from not only eliminating the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series but also advancing to their World Series appearance in nine years. I recall many colleagues at that time not only making World Series plans but also mocking the Braves.

Remember what happened? The Bravos smoked the Red Birds in Game 5 sending the series back to Dixie. There, the Cards were tomahawk chopped in the next two games advancing Atlanta to another World Series and local hotels issuing room refunds

SEPTEMBER 7, 1997 The St. Louis Rams are home hosting the dreaded San Francisco 49ers. The week before in a game against Tampa Bay, the Niners lost both All Pros Steve Young and Jerry Rice. San Francisco would have to walk into the jaws of death called the facility formerly known as the Trans World Dome with a Rookie Head Coach, a Rookie Starting Quarterback named Jim Druckenmiller and without their Number One Wide Receiver.

Even the odds makers made the Rams the favorite in that game. St. Louisans felt so confident that not only the Niner winning streak over the Rams would come to the end, but the Home Team would inflect some much needed humility to the Bay Area boys.

Remember what happened? Final Score: San Francisco 15 St. Louis 12. This led Dana Stubbefeld to coin the phrase "the same old Rams".

APRIL-MAY, 1991 The St. Louis Blues have just experienced their finest season in franchise history. Brian Sutter's crew behind Scott Stevens and Brett Hull led the Note to an overall record of 47-22-11, good for 105 Points in the Regular Season.

Once again, Stanley Cup fever gripped the Gateway City. Even the Beat Writer for the Post Dispatch predicted before the start of the playoffs that the Blues would be hosting the Stanley Cup Victory Parade through the streets of Downtown St. Louis in mid-June.

After a surprising seven game win over Detroit, the Blues met the Bob Gainey coached Minnesota North Stars in Round 2. Hockey fans in town licked their chops. The North Stars appeared to be simply an appetizer for the main course of the Stanley Cup.

Remember what happened? Behind the goaltending of Jon Casey, and a defensive style that Gainey brought in from his glory days in Montreal, the North Stars advanced. They eventually traveled to the Stanley Cup Finals that year. Meanwhile the Blues were sent abruptly to the golf course with their team record 105 Points.

MIZZOU BASKETBALL You remember what happened!! Tiger hoop fans were crushed when the nationally ranked heroes from Columbia were sent home in the first round against the likes of Lamar, Xavier, Rhode Island, and Northern Iowa.

Perhaps the Blues can take some solace in past history. The bottom line is this: all they have to do is win one game. In 1991 the Atlanta Braves advanced to their first World Series defeating Pittsburgh in a seven game NLCS. Still fans forget the Braves led that series 3-1 before winning in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7. The 1995 UCLA Men's basketball team won the NCAA national championship. Still fans (except perhaps those in Columbia, Missouri) forget that if it weren't for a final 4.8 full court mad dash by Tyus Edny, the Bruins would have been sent back to the Westwood in round two.

Anything can happen in only one game. Crazy things can happen when there is only one game involved. A bad hop or bad bounce of the puck can occur in one game. Stay tuned.

The Blues have no one to blame but themselves for their predicament. They simply did not get the job done in Games Five and Six. It is true, the Note do not have Al Mac Innis in their arsenal. Yet injuries should not be used as an excuse. Last fall, when the Cardinals lost their all-star gold glove third baseman in a first round game, the Red Birds got the job done and advanced to the second round of baseball's playoffs.

But the Blues still have one more lifeline. It is still all in front of them. They can still control their own destiny. The bottom line is basic, all can be forgotten if the Blues simply follow the gospel according to Al Davis or Nike: "Just win, Baby" or "Just Do It".

It is as simple and basic as that.