But St. Louis can climb out of the hole, he says
ST. LOUIS - Even with his 7-16-4 team mired in a six-game losing streak, St. Louis Blues center Doug Weight still believes a turnaround is possible.
But not without a lot of hard work.
Next up are games against the teams closest to them in the Central Division standings, Columbus tonight and Chicago on Tuesday.
"The hardest thing in the world, and it's harder than keeping a winning streak going, is getting out of a hole," Weight said Friday. "We've got to do it for each other and try to make ourselves confident and upbeat, because the lower you are, the more you squeeze it -- and the worse it's going to get."
Weight said it's up to the players to get things done.
"We get to play hockey," he said. "We're pretty lucky to be here in this room and playing a game that we love, to make a living out of it."
But playing the game they love also comes with constant criticism when a team struggles like the Blues have over the past two seasons.
Chicago and Columbus each made coaching changes recently, with the Blackhawks hiring Denis Savard and Columbus hiring Ken Hitchcock.
Could the Blues be next?
"When you're losing, people's names are all over the place," Weight said.
"It's a tough environment and it's tough to come to work. It stinks, but no one (else) cares."
The Blues had a 3-0 lead early in the second period Thursday at Detroit, riding momentum from a short-handed goal by Dallas Drake.
But inspired by lots of power-play opportunities, Detroit kept chipping away. The Red Wings seized momentum on a 5-on-3 chance when a goal by Nicklas Lidstrom began the comeback.
Detroit won 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Pavel Datsyuk.
"We'll keep trying things until we find what's right with the club," Blues coach Mike Kitchen said. "We take turns on having breakdowns; whether we can't score, whether we have a breakdown in our defensive zone coverage or whether it's not a strong performance in net."
Weight understands criticism from fans and media.
"They're going to question every aspect of our team, our heart and our work ethic," he said. "Our work ethic's there, sometimes we're working in the wrong ways when we're not playing well.
"But no, there's not a lack of caring and there's not a lack of work in this room at all.
There's no excuse. We've got to find ways to get through it."
Weight said the improvement starts right in his own locker.
He has one goal and 14 assists in 27 games.
"If I play great, nothing goes in," he said. "You can say what you want, but results are what you have to have.
You've got to stand up to produce, and I've got to do that to help our team win games, win these close games."
Weight said the Blues have to improve on their league-worst power play, which has a 10.8 percent success rate (14-for-129).
Contact reporter Norm Sanders at or 239-2454.
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