Hull returns angry

Blues roster

Hull had no points and three shots and that pales to the verbal shots he took at the league the night before.

"The game sucks," Hull said. "It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's so much hooking and holding."

"When a guy like Mario Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving and you don't address it, that's stupid." Hull said.

Hull's criticism prompted a call from NHL commisioner Gary Bettman on Thursday.

"Bettman got on the phone, and he said, 'We see everything you do on the ice. We're addressing it. But we don't need you to say the game sucks.'" Hull said.

After the game on Thursday Hull backed off a bit.

"It's still a great game," Hull said. "It's not all bad, but there's things we've got to change to make it better."

The rest of the Blues just seemed happy to have their star player back in the lineup.

"He's a big leader," said Geoff Courtnall. "He gives a lot of guys a lot of confidence. Just having him there, it's a big lift on the bench. A lot of guys on our team really look up to him."