Stop me if you’ve heard this joke before: 23 hockey players walked into an airport...

OK, nevermind.

For the Blues players, coaches, broadcasters, equipment guys and management, yesterday’s situation in a Vancouver airport was ANYTHING but funny.

The team was supposed to take off from Vancouver at noon St. Louis time, but were delayed when the airline needed to wait for a replacement part to arrive. Just over 15 hours later, the Blues took off for St. Louis, where they landed at approximately 6:30 a.m. this morning.

Here’s the rub: the Blues host the San Jose Sharks tonight at 7 p.m. and then will fly to Denver after the game, where they’ll face the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night at Pepsi Center.

Needless to say, the Blues deviated from their gameday routine and didn’t hold a morning skate at Scottrade Center today. They will play tonight’s game as scheduled at 7 p.m.

As the hours in the airport dragged on, those that were grounded took to Twitter to keep themselves entertained. Below are some of the tweets that were sent while waiting to board their delayed flight home.

Plane has a mechanical problem and are waiting on a part.Sounds similar to my goaltending style and NHL career.

— corey hirsch (@CoreyHirsch) February 18, 2013

Because of our delay in Vancouver I had an opportunity to chat with @nhlbarrymelrose.Looks good since the weight loss twitter.com/Chasenpucks39/…

— Kelly Chase (@Chasenpucks39) February 18, 2013

Sources say Tim Hortons ran out of donuts around 4pm today at Vancouver's aurport @jprutherford

— David Perron (@DP_57) February 19, 2013

Ok situation solved...We found a bus. Headed home! twitter.com/10_AMac/status…

— Andy McDonald (@10_AMac) February 19, 2013

RIDING THE HOT HAND

Jake Allen will start between the pipes in tonight’s game vs. San Jose.

Allen helped the Blues sweep their three-game road trip last week. The rookie goaltender is now 3-0-0 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage. He is the first Blues goaltender to win his first three or more decisions since Reinhard Divis started 5-0-0 from Oct. 15, 2002 to Jan. 15, 2004.

“I mean there’s no holes in his game,” Ken Hitchcock said. “I mean, that stables us right now.”

Hitchcock also said he wants to get Jaroslav Halak going, so expect Halak to start Wednesday in Colorado.

'NOTEWORTHY STATS

• The Blues have shutout the Sharks in 3 of the last 4 regular season meetings.
• The Sharks started the season 7-0-0 but have gone winless in February (0-4-3). According to Elias, they are the first team in NHL history to win their first seven games and then not win any of their next seven.
• Barret Jackman (613) will tie Barclay Plager (614) for sixth all-time on the franchise’s all-time games played list for defenseman.
• Patrik Berglund (3 goals, 0 assists), Chris Stewart (1 goal, 3 assists), T.J. Oshie (1 goal, 3 assists) and David Backes (0 goals, 3 assists) are on three-game point streaks.
• The Blues are 23-17-2 at home all-time vs. San Jose.

MILITARY NIGHT

The Blues will pay tribute to the military tonight with their annual “Salute to America’s Veterans & Armed Forces” game. Volunteers will collect care package items on the concourse and all fans that donate will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win great prizes. A list of needed items is available by clicking here.

All fans in attendance will receive a free poster courtesy of Boeing.

Tickets for tonight’s game start at just $18 for active, reserve or retired members of the military. Simply show a valid military ID at the Ford Box Office at Scottrade Center to receive the discount.

BROADCAST INFO

The Blues’ next two games (tonight vs. San Jose and Wednesday at Colorado) will be featured on NBC Sports Network. Both games will be available on KMOX 1120 AM.