There are certain things you don't do because of bad karma in the NHL. I mean, you never do.

If you are a player and you've never won the Stanley Cup, you don't touch it. Don't put your paws on it if you've never won it. Teams don't release the route for your championship parade before winning the damn thing. Well, unless you live in Vancouver. Many times, players don't touch the conference championship trophy. Some teams do it. Most don't. It's not worth it.

Oh, and if you've never won the Stanley Cup, don't put your damn logo on a picture of the Stanley Cup. Dammit, how simple is that? It's like taking your logo to the champagne room. You keep your logo off the girls. The girls may choose to touch you, but keep your damn hands off. In this weird and totally not good analogy, the Stanley Cup is a stripper (putting herself through school, so don't judge). And you keep your damn logo off her.

The picture at the top of this post came from my phone. They had a couple racks of these things at the team store on Wednesday night. I stood staring at them, amazed that they exist. Either I scared prospective buyers away with the dumbfounded look on my face or everyone else thought these were a bad idea too.

Being superstitious is stupid. I know this. I'm an educated man. I am not wearing the same jersey tonight as I did on Wednesday because the Blues did not win the game. I'm starting a playoff beard (more on that to come). When the regular season ends, I'm probably not going to mention the name of the trophy.

This team had its most important player awarded to the most powerful GM in the league in an arbitration hearing. The team's only No. 1 overall draft pick tore his knee ligaments in a golf cart incident. The only way to get your number retired for a couple decades was to die. The Blues made the Stanley Cup Finals for three straight years and never won a game.

In other words, DO NOT MOCK THE HOCKEY GODS. If the building is struck by lightning during the first playoff home game, don't pass it off to coincidence. It's a sign.

Agree?