The Stars are sitting on a great record thus far (11-6-6), while the offense-starved Blues have been unable to get to a winning record at the quartermark of the season (8-9-4). Paul Kariya has gone 16 games without a goal, while David Backes is on a 14 game goal-less streak.

St.Louis has been getting consistently solid goaltending from Chris Mason and Ty Conklin – the Blues have simply been unable to get the goal support they need to win consistently. The Blues are actually unbeaten so far this season when they score three goals or more, and considering the anemic performances of Boyes, Kariya, Backes, Berglund and Oshie, it’s no surprise they’re nursing a losing record.

One of the most interesting story-lines surrounding this game is Steve Ott; the last time these two teams played, Ott was suspended for this knee-to-knee hit on B.J Crombeen.

Steve Ott knee-to-knee hit on Crombeen

The Stars went on to win this game, primarily because they allowed a pest like Ott to disrupt their game. The key for the Blues tonight is to focus on sustaining puck possession and applying offensive pressure consistently – not on the play of a single player.

The puck drops at 7PM – catch the game on Versus. The last time the Blues were on national TV, they dropped a huge, embarrassing loss to the Penguins. Hoping for a better outcome tonight.

After beating Phoenix in overtime on Thursday, the Blues had to prove that they could finally string a couple of wins together on home ice. They did just that in a solid, 4-1 win over the Islanders on Saturday night.

New York actually scored first – Josh Bailey snapped a quick wrister past Mason five minutes into the first period, but it was all the offense the Islanders would see. Blues forward Patrik Berglund scored his first goal in thirteen games. His offense had just completely fallen off the map as of late, and it was great to see him start to produce again.

David Perron continues to impress, and this goal he scored against the Islanders is one of the best I’ve seen all year. Even defense-first-coach Andy Murray was impressed by the move Perron put on (which actually was the #2 top play on Sportscenter Saturday night):

“I saw it in a preseason game his very first year, which kind of convinced us maybe he could play in this league right away,” Murray said.

He’s really beginning to showcase his potential, and this offensive streak is coming at the right time. Despite the two back-to-back wins, this team is still struggling to find consistent offense, and Perron is leading this team in goals, with nine on the year so far. Last season, many fans were throwing Perron under the bus – they said he was too soft, and he would never fit into the system Murray had instituted in St.Louis. He’s still got a ways to go, but he has the potential to become one of the best forwards in the league.

The Blues will end a six-game homestand against Boston on Monday night, going 3-2 so far in this five game stretch. The Blues need another win to make up more ground in the highly competitive Central Division.

It was clear Raycroft was getting lit up, and Vancouver ran out Luongo to start the second period – which I thought was a curious move, considering he’s currently rehabing a rib injury, and next to the Sedins, he’s the franchise player. Why risk getting him hurt again over a clear blowout?

Either case, the biggest story to come out of this game was the first career hat trick from David Perron. It was great to see one of our prospects start to come into his own. In the defense-first system of Andy Murray, it was often suggested that Perron was the kind of player that didn’t fit; all hands, all skill, and sometimes, suspect play in his own zone. Hopefully, last night is a sign of things to come, and Perron can claim a spot as a dangerous offensive weapon in this league.

As for Canucks fans, don’t worry too much about this loss. It doesn’t really mean anything in the scope of your season. You’re team is still a top contender in the West. (I even picked you guys as a preseason 2010 Cup winner) The Blues were really chomping at the bit to get another win at home, they were on a four-game losing streak, and they had just blown a two goal lead with seven minutes left in the third period against Atlanta (a game they would end up losing in a shootout). They were absolutely desperate, and the Canucks didn’t even have their starting goaltender in net.

Either case, the Blues take on the Predators next on Thursday, in a critical divisional match-up. This team needs to start making up ground in the Central if they really want to turn the ship around.

Phanuef's BFF for sure.

Check the wrap-up on the Blues official site, but it was a fairly straight up, 2-1 loss in overtime. (Celine) Dion Phaneuf scored the OT winner on a shot from the the point that deflected off a couple Blues players.

In retrospect, the Blues were lucky just to drag a point out of this contest. Calgary is a solid team all around, and St. Louis is still relatively banged up. Steen and Jackman are still out of the lineup, and the depth they bring to the team is sorely missed.

The lone bright spot that came out of last night’s contest was Lars Eller – he scored his first career NHL goal (in his first NHL game), tipping in a shot from Erik Johnson. Eller has shown a ton of potential in Peoria, and he got his first shot to skate with the team last night, and made the best of it.

The rest of this month is going to be a challenge for the Blues; they’re currently on a three-game losing streak, and they’ve got a tough schedule ahead of them. Philadelphia, Vancouver, San Jose, Detroit, Boston and Columbus are all on the docket for the Blues this month. They’ll have to beat some seriously talented teams to get to a winning record in November.

The Blues currently sit in last place in the Central Division, after only managing five wins out of their first month of the season. During October, St. Louis struggled incessantly with playing a consistent game; despite two big wins against Detroit in their season opener, they went on to drop three games straight against opponents they really should have beat (Phoenix, L.A and Atlanta).

These three games would foreshadow the kind of inconsistency that would cost the Blues seven losses in one month – the proof is in the numbers. In their first three losses, the Blues only scored once in the first period, and never managed over six shots in the opening twenty minutes (5 against Atlanta, 3 against L.A and 6 against Phoenix). This team looked woefully unprepared when the puck dropped, and the Blues were systematically outplayed – any sign of offense didn’t show up until the third period.

For so long, the Blues were plagued by painfully mediocre goaltending. In this city, we’ve started almost every no-name goaltender that you ever think of; Brent Johnson, Tom Borrasso, Fred Brathwaite, Curtis Sanford, and Roman Turek saw considerable time between the pipes. The Blues faithful watched weak goal after weak goal sneak past our anemic rotation of goalkeepers, as we wondered what this team would look like with respectable goaltending. That day has finally come – Chris Mason has proven himself as a solid starter, which makes this slide just that much more frustrating. With a little extra goal support, the Blues could be sitting with seven or eight wins in October, but they’ve been unable to find the needed offense to stay consistent.

The play of the Blues thus far is equally exciting and baffling – they can sweep a two-game series with Detroit, and blowout Anaheim 5-0, but they get shutout by Phoenix and Florida. The old cliche fits the Blues perfectly, we just don’t know which team is going to show up every night.

But don’t jump ship yet! The Blues still have tons of potential, and they are totally capable of not only a playoff spot, but a deep post-season run. The Blues are a young team, and inconsistent play is the classic earmark of a youthful team filled with players that are still learning how to play a full sixty-minutes every night. Andy Murray (and his veteran players) have addressed this erratic play, and these kinds of maturity issues need time to iron out. Secondly, the Blues have already started to battle the injury bug – Alex Steen will still be out for at least another month, while Barrett Jackman and T.J Oshie have yet to return to the lineup. Steen and Jackman are integral to keeping the goals-against low; that depth on the defensive end of the ice is sorely missed.

The Blues have the formula for a winning team on paper, and they’ve shown flashes of brilliance even in this abysmal month. Don’t let their 5-6-1 record fool you; the Blues can (and will) turn this ship around.

The Panthers are limping into this contest as well, David Booth, Radek Dvorak, Dominik Moore and Nick Tarnasky are all out of the lineup. Tomas Vokoun will have to give a strong effort tonight to keep the Panthers in this game – the Blues were just shut out by Phoenix 2-0, and they’ll be hungry to score early and often. St.Louis has been atrocious at home, going 1-4 at Scottrade while getting shut out twice in those four losses.

Expect a few points out of Brad Boyes tonight; he’s been on a bit of a slump (2 goals in 11 games) and he’s been getting chances all around the net in the last few games. Chris Mason will likely get the start tonight,

Hanzel. So hot right now.

The Phoenix Coyotes are absolutely surprising; they’re off to their best start since 2000 (7-4-0), and they’ve already served the Blues a loss already this season. They’re a youthful and fast-paced team that’s stacked with offensive talent (Doan, Lang, Upshall, Hanzal), and the Blues will have to play the same kind of puck-possession game that got them a win in Carolina last night.

Expect Mason to get the start again at home against the Yotes, and if the excellent play of Illya Bryzgalov continues, this could be a low-scoring affair with emphasis placed on special teams play.

Game starts at 7PM Central!

1st Period

20:00: Blues gotta score first to win this one, I think.

18:10: Blues starting to generate offensive chance early- not looking too bad *knock on wood*

14:15 Great shot by Perron – the kid is looking great out there thus far.

Two fights thus far – Janssen and Winchester have both thrown down, and Cam definitely put a forth a good performance especially.

13:46 Mason has already made some solid saves thus far, hopefully the Blues can give him some goal support soon.

GOAL by Perron! He cleans up a nice rebound from Berglund 1-0 Blues!

11:19 Blues are still pushing offensively – Mcdonald and Boyes have both had solid chances

9:38 Canes pushing right back, controlling the puck in the Blues’ zone

8:13 I really don’t care what anyone thinks; I still think naming the team the ‘Hurricanes’ is ill advised, considering Carolina actually gets hit by hurricanes.

Sydor takes a penalty – Canes get the first PP

5:27 Blues kill their first penalty of the night. The Hurricanes looked fairly solid on that powerplay.

Yan Scores on an amazing wrist shot! 2-0 Blues with 4 mins left in the 1st!

Jay Mcclement scores to make it 3-0! Three goals in thirty-ish seconds!

1:18 Canes working on their second powerplay – trying to create some offense. No luck thus far.

Joe Corvo scores for the Hurricanes on the PP, 3-1 (Blues lead)

End of the first, and the score remains the same, 3-1 Blues.

Man, if you’re not watching the St.Louis feed, you’re missing out. Darren Pang is about as good as NHL commentators get. And he loves Mountain Dew. How can you not like the guy?

2nd Period

17:05 ACK. Blues take a holding penalty (Johnson, 2mins)

15:00 Blues kill off the powerplay. Let’s see if they can answer back with another goal here.

Kostopoulis takes a charging penalty against Erik Johnson

11:18 Canes kill it. Pretty back and forth period so far.

Andy Mcdonald with his 4th of the year! 4-1 Blues!

6:38 Canes trying to the checking game going, but the Blues are still controlling the puck well and they’re making smart passes out.

5:29 EPIC scramble in front of Mason. Pure miracle that the Hurricanes didn’t score

1:29 Blues working on a penalty kill – Strachan sits for tripping

1:00 Solid positioning for the Blues on the kill. Special teams seem to be firing on all cylinders.

End of second period. Blues are clearly in control of this one, but they’ll need a strong third period to tie off a win in Carolina. Even though the score is 4-1, the Blues have been outshot 19-14 by the Canes.

Third Period

18:18 Hurricanes open the third period by coming out strong, with lots of offensive pressure.

16:38 Erik Johnson is playing really well; he’s already attempted two shots so far in this period.

14:24 Mason has stopped a ton of chances so far in the third – the Blues need to tighten up the D if they want to hang on to this lead.

Weaver takes a tripping call – PP for the Canes

Walker scores on the powerplay. 4-2 Blues

8:50 Staal is -3 for this game. Ouch.

Kariya takes a late penalty. Nooooooooooooooo

Blues kill the penalty. Lots of pressure there. 4:14 left in the third – let’s hope they can hold on. Canes have a penchant for comebacks.

1:50 Hurricanes still bringing the pressure – just missed an open net.

Game over! 5-2 Blues, as David Perron scores an ENG to seal the deal.

Dallas beat St.Louis at Scottrade 4-1 on Saturday – the Blues were clearly underperforming and didn’t deserve to win the game at all. Two notable pieces of news came out of Saturday’s contest; Blues prospect Alex Peirtangelo scored his first NHL goal, and Steve Ott was suspended for two games for this hit. Personally, I didn’t think the hipcheck was suspension worthy – but his knee-to-knee hit on Crombeen was clearly dirty (and Ott compounded his sins against the hockey gods by turtling when Crombeen dropped the gloves immediately after).  Steve Ott is a chippy and cheap player – and the Blues focused on him instead of on the game.

The Blues head into Carolina to take on the slumping Hurricanes (2-5-3), and this club is desperately hungry for a win. According to St.Louis today – here’s the probable lineup for St.Louis tonight:

Andy McDonald-Keith Tkachuk-David Backes

Paul Kariya-Patrik Berglund-Brad Boyes

B.J. Crombeen-Jay McClement-David Perron

Brad Winchester-Yan Stastny-Cam Janssen

Darryl Sydor-Erik Johnson

Mike Weaver-Roman Polak

Carlo Colaiacovo-Alex Pietrangelo

The Blues have been dealing with injuries already – T.J Oshie, Alex Steen, Barrett Jackman, and Eric Brewer are all still on the IR. Chris Mason will probably get the start in Raleigh tonight, but nothing official has come across the wire.

Be sure to check back into Hockeyindependent tonight at 6PM Central – I’ll be live-blogging this game tonight.

This morning, T.J Oshie had an emergency appendectomy, and will be out of the lineup indefinitely (according to the St.Louis Post Dispatch) .

Obviously, this is terrible news for the Blues – the team has been struggling offensively, and Oshie has scored a goal and two assists over eight games. With Steen out of the lineup for another 6-7 weeks, the Blues forwards are looking more and more banged up as the season goes on.

The Blues take on Dallas at home tonight at 7pm (central), and expect the Blues to call up D.J King or dress Cam Janssen to fill Oshie’s absence.

I’m live-blogging the game tonight, so keep hitting refresh and leave your comments throughout the game on this post – Penguins fans are definitely welcome on this thread as well .

-5:52  I am ready for this game – Pizza just arrived, and I got some Samuel Adams in the fridge. Let’s do this.

-6:00 BTW, my condolences to Direct TV subscribers – cause of this whole Versus/Comcast contract mess, you won’t be able to catch this game (without illegal video feeds online, that is. Not that I’d promote something like that or anything.)

First Period

19:18 – Good start off the first faceoff – Blues got the puck deep, and the Pens generated a good chance the other way.

18:29 – Kennedy with a solid chance in the slot, didn’t get much on it though.

17:10 Winchester rings a wrist shot off the crossbar on Fluery – sooooo close.

15:49 – Very bad transition game by the Blues right now. Weak passes out of the zone.

15:00 – Blues getting outplayed big time in the first five mins.

13:24 – Good shift by the Backes-Boyes-Mcdonald line, but the Blues haven’t managed a single shot on net thus far.

11:49 Great save by Mason on the odd-man rush

11:40 – Delay of Game penalty on Perron – first powerplay of the night for the Pens

10:41 – Mcclement is a beast at killing penalties. Gotta love the guy.

9:34 – Blues kill the first penalty of the night. Good chances from the Pens, though.

8:41 – Tyler Kennedy scores with a wicked shot from the top of the circle. Wow.

7:51 – Happy meal (Mcdonald) takes a 2 min minor for high sticking. Not a great turn of events.

7:32 – 2-0 Pittsburgh on a PPG from Malkin

6:07 – The Blues just need to get out of this period while it’s still 2-0. Nuff said.

4:20 – The Penguins are EVERYWHERE. The Blues can’t get the puck deep and hold possession at all.

15.6 – David Backes trying to get the team fired up, but doesn’t drop the gloves with Rupp.

0.00 – Ugly first period for the Blues. Penguins are playing like the defending Cup champions that they are – the Blues look tired and unprepared for this game.

(Blues: 3 SOG / Pens: 20 SOG – pretty much tells you everything you need to know right there)

————————————————————————————————-

Second Period

19:38 Good first and second effort by T.J Oshie – created a good chance in front of the net.

18:40 Shot from Erik Johnson that hits Fleury in the chest. Barf.

17:49 Mason stops Malkin up close – he’s single-handedly giving the Blues a chance to stay in this game.

14:23 Fleury makes a GREAT save on Winchester – just amazing. The Blues actually managed to create some offensive pressure in the last couple of minutes, but it looks like they’re going shorthanded here. (Tkachuk goes for 2 mins for too many men)

12:31 PPG by Fedatenko – great wrist shot from the hash mark. Will need to start drinking soon.

11:42 Yep, need to break out the Ketel One – Letang makes it 4-0 on a slapshot from the point.

10:40 David Perron takes another penalty – cross-checking on Ruslan.

9:34 Thankfully, the Blues manage to kill that penalty. Even Strength.

7:08 Blues find the scoreboard – 4-1 on a wrister from Erik Johnson. Great goal. (Looks like Kariya tipped it – I’ll check the boxscore at the end of the 2nd)

4:38 Blues on their first PP of the night – Pens caught with too many men.

3:07 Blues miss an empty net, and the Penguins kill the penalty

1:48 Very much digging Kariya skating on a line with Berglund – they’re both creating chances in the Pens’ zone.

0:00 Same old story – had the Blues played the 1st period the way they played the 2nd, they might not be down 4-1 right now.

————————————————————————————————-

*2nd Intermission break – Kariya gets credit for the lone St.Louis goal, officially*

Third Period

19:30 Ty Conklin replaces Mason, and Gonchar is out with an undisclosed injury. Ugh, bad news for the Pens.

17:13 Tkachuk rings one off the short side post

16:24 The Blues putting some pressure on Fleury – a couple of scoring chances off sustained drives

15:43 Crosby takes a holding penalty against Kariya

13:57 UNBELIEVABLE save by Fleury on the powerplay – very quick kick save in tight

12:00 Blues maintaining puck possession and getting offensive chances. Two periods too late, naturally.

10:16 Gologoski beats Ty Conklin with a wrist shot, 5-1.

5:34 We’re in the closing stages of this game – Penguins are gonna close this out and improve to 8-1-0, and let’s hope the Blues can find a win against Minnesota at home

4:29 According to the VS commentators, the best thing about Guerin is his ability to give ‘guff’ to Crosby.

2:38 Polak makes a good defensive play against Dupuis – lots of upside with Roman

1:00 Stars of the game? Gotta give it to Malkin or Kennedy, I think.

0:00 Game 5-1 Penguins.

————————————————————————————————-

Not to take anything away from the Penguins – they played a dominant game and very much deserved to win – but the Blues looked like the tired team at the end of a three-game away trip. Again, we got a world-class effort from Mason, but the supporting cast did not put forward a sufficient effort to support him, and end up on the bad side of a very lopsided win. Let’s hope Gonchar isn’t seriously hurt, and can jump in the lineup for the Pens as soon as possible.

The Blues head back home to take on Minnesota on the 23rd. Go Blues.

Overall, it was a great example of what this team is capable of, and after watching three losses to non-playoff teams (Atlanta, Phoenix, and L.A), it was clear the offense wasn’t playing anywhere near its capacity. But can the Blues parlay this solid performance into a win against the defending champions?

The Blues head into Pittsburgh tonight to take on the hottest team in the NHL – the Pens are 7-1-0, the second best start in franchise history. Marc-Andre Fleury is undefeated thus far, and is posting an impressive 2.08 GAA. The Penguins’ offensive talent is beyond spectacular, (Crosby, Malkin, Kennedy, Staal, Kunitz) and the Blues will need a great performance from Chris Mason tonight to have a chance to beat the defending champs.

The puck drops at 6pm Central on Versus (if you’re lucky enough to have Comcast – apparently there are blackouts for Direct TV subscribers).

The Blues will have to adjust with a couple of key injuries – Alex Steen hurt his wrist, and will be out 6-8 weeks. Barrett Jackman is still out with an ankle injury, and Eric Brewer has yet to start a game this year.

The Ducks have tons of offensive talent – Getzlaf, Koivu, Perry, Ryan, and Lupul – just to name a few. The Blues will have to play smart, defensive hockey to keep all of Anaheim’s forwards in check. The Ducks have a clear advantage in the leadership department:

Intangibles.

In short, the Blues need to find a way out of this three-game slump – they need to score first and take control early.

Blues fans, you can be upset about the manner in which Thursday’s game ended – but it isn’t really that important.

Ed Jovanovski scored the game winner, 3:37 into overtime off a weird bounce in front of the net. The play was reviewed, and the goal stood – I’m not going to debate either way about the legitimacy of the goal; I’ve watched it a couple times now, and it doesn’t seem like there was a ton of evidence against the initial ruling that was made on the ice.

Point is, it doesn’t matter at all – even if the goal was illegal. If the Blues don’t want to worry about getting bad calls against them in overtime, they should try scoring in the first period. They went into Thursday’s game saying the same things they had said all last week; that they needed to start the game strong and get an early lead, and neither of these things happened. They only managed six shots on net in the first period, and only three shots in the entire third period.

Chris Mason gave another stellar performance, stopping Robert Lang on a breakaway in the first period, and making a total of 31 saves on the night. So many times in the past, the goaltending has been the achilles heel of this organization – but so far this season, the underperforming offense has been the primary reason this team is on a three game losing streak.

I’m not throwing this team under the bus (or even all of the Blues forwards – David Perron had an amazing game). Clearly, they’ve got some kinks to work out, but it’s very early in the year, and this team can still be a force in the highly competitive Western Conference.

Honestly, you have to deal with the facts of the situation here – a questionable goal didn’t beat the Blues, a poor performance in the first and third periods did.

The Blues have lost two straight, and they’ll have to start off strong (preferably scoring first) to secure a win against the Coyotes – although the Blues have been competitive in their last two losses, their offense never really got going until the third period.

5:56 CT:

Not content with just knocking the Cardinals out of the NLDS, Los Angeles poured salt in the wound by dispatching the Blues as well.

The Kings beat the Blues on Saturday night, with goals coming from Ryan Smyth and Handzus. Jonathan Quick stopped 29 of 30 Blues shots – and his stellar play in net was a big reason why St.Louis went 0-5 on the powerplay.

Since returning from Sweden, the Blues offense has been overwhelmingly anemic. In the last two games, the Blues have only scored three goals, and have not converted on eight consecutive powerplays. In fact, the Blues only managed three shots on net during the first period against the Kings; and only five shots in the first against Atlanta.

The offense isn’t playing a puck-possession game, and the forwards aren’t taking advantage of great performances by their defense – Sydor and Peirtrangelo both had an excellent game, while Mason looked absolutely solid. During the second period, Chris Mason stopped two breakaways (from Brown and Frolov). Don’t be fooled; Mason gave this team every chance to win tonight, and Tkachuk made it clear after the game that the forwards need to step up.

“We have a lot of bad habits, and when you start off four games in a row like that, you have to take a look inside yourself and figure out what you can do to get yourself ready to play,” Blues forward Keith Tkachuk said. “There are no easy games. You have to be ready to go. When you look back, we’re lucky to be 2-2 right now because of our starts.”

Let’s hope the Blues can come out with a better start when they travel to Phoenix on Thursday.

The Blues lost their home opener against the Atlanta Thrashers 4-2, with goals coming from Tkachuk and Polak for St.Louis, while Kovalchuk scored two goals for the Thrashers.

Not to take anything away from the Thrashers, (Kovalchuk’s PPG in the 1st period was highlight-reel worthy) but if you’re a Blues fan, this loss followed a very familiar script. The Blues scored first, and then fell off the map – up until the last three minutes of the game.

This team struggled last year when they fell behind early in the game – the Blues had a .158 win percentage when trailing after two periods (4W-22L). This loss at the hands of the Thrashers was reminiscent of some of those games; the team turned on the offense when it was clearly too little, too late.

It’s an earmark of a young and developing team – it takes maturity to compete consistently for sixty minuets, and even though this club has plenty of veteran leadership, the Blues still have to learn how to outwork their opponents every shift.

Next, the Blues host L.A on Saturday night – the Kings have a ton of offensive talent (Brown, Kopitar, Smyth), as well as an incredibly talented goaltender in Jonathan Quick. They’ll be as good a test as any, as the Blues try to take a win on home ice for the first time in 2009.

How cool is this?

http://blues.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=782&id=48207

Jon Hamm, Award-winning actor of ‘Mad Men’ fame – is apparently a diehard Blues fan. Awesome video from the Blues website above.

Check back in later for a preview of the home opener against the Thrashers.

The Blues and Red Wings open their regular season schedule today in Sweden at 2PM on Versus; they’ll play a two-game set, with the second game at 2PM central tomorrow. Both games should be highly competitive – the Blues are stacked with young talent, and unlike last season, they’re getting key players back from injury (Johnson, Kariya). The Red Wings are the defending Western Conference champions, and aside from losing Hossa to Chicago, their roster is pretty much the same as last year. Despite some nagging groin injuries to Zetterberg and Dan Cleary, the Wings look to be in the same dominating form as last year.

The Detroit News posted the probable line-pairings for the Wings:

“The other lines are set — Johan Franzen, Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom; Todd Bertuzzi, Henrik Zetterberg and Danny Cleary; Ville Leino, Valtteri Filppula and Jason Williams; and Kris Draper, Justin Abdelkader, and Patrick Eaves or Kirk Maltby.

The defensive pairings will be Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski; Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall; and Jonathan Ericsson and Brett Ledba, with Derek Meech as the extra blueliner.”

The Blues lineup will be fairly predictable as well – Kariya, Boyes, Tkachuck, Berglund, Oshie and Perron will probably round out the first two lines. Andy Murray has been getting a great performance from his forth line of B.J Crombeen, Alex Steen and Jay McClement , and look for McClement to match up on Datsyuk and Zetterberg in the defensive zone.

No word yet on who will get the start for the Wings in net – it’ll probably be Osgood, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy Howard got the nod. He’s had a great preseason so far. For the Blues, the Chris Mason era begins today. He spilt time last season with former Red Wing Manny Legace, and has never been a full-season starter for St.Louis. This year will prove if Mason can keep up the unreal production he had during the second-half of 2009.

It should be a great contest this afternoon – the defending Western Conference champions against the young, resurgent Blues. Personally, I’d just be happy if the Blues managed to spilt in Sweden, but they’ll have to overcome an amazing Wings lineup; one that took five wins out of six games last year.

Leave your comments during the game on this article – consider it an open-thread during the game. I’ll be lurking around on my laptop while I’m watching it myself.

Nice try, Sweden.

I think I speak for the entire fanbase when I say it’s time for season to start already. Blues open the season against Detroit on Friday at 2PM Central – I expect all Blues fans to call in sick or miss school if necessary.

"White past Labor Day is a FASHION FAUX PAS!"

Great story about Blues young forward David Perron (From the Belleville Democrat):

“When David Perron showed up in white skates for his first NHL training camp, that didn’t sit well with St. Louis Blues coach Andy Murray…

“The idea of him wearing white skates lasted about 15 seconds,” said Murray, who had the equipment staff paint them black. “He was a little shocked when he came in the next day and his skates were black.”

I really can’t decide what’s more weird – Perron using completely white skates, or Murray ordering his staff to spray paint them. Either case, this story is a microcosm of how the coaching staff has had to deal with the prospect. The knock on Perron is that he’s just a dangler with absolutely no sense of how to take care of his defensive zone – and for the majority of last season, it was absolutely true. For example:
David Perron\'s amazing defensive coverage

He manages to get beat by Blake Wheeler twice on the same play. Just painful. Don’t let this play fool you though, defensive mishaps aside, Perron has a ton of upside and his touch in the offensive zone hints at the makings of a future 30-goal scorer. It’ll be interesting to watch him develop as an NHLer.

In other news, the Blues front office took my advice and signed Darryl Sydor to a one-year deal for $1 Million. Not to beat a dead horse, but the guy has alot to offer a very young defensive core. Great signing by JD.

The Blues drop the puck in Sweden on Tuesday, against H.C Linkopings, and they open the season against the Red Wings on Friday. Swing back in to Hockeyindependent for coverage of both games.

Generally, I don’t like writing about pre-season games, but the powerplay was impressive for the Blues in this contest. Andy Mcdonald scored two goals on the man-advantage, while Berglund scored the third on a heavy shot from the top circle. Granted, the Wild mostly iced a team of young prospects, but it’s encouraging to see the Blues special teams firing on all cylinders. Ty Conklin also saw some time in net, and had a respectable performance – the only goal he allowed was a deflected shot from Eric Belanger.

It’s integral that the Blues powerplay remain as effective as it was last year; even during their mediocre first half of the 2008 season, their powerplay stayed within the top 10 in the league  - and ended up 8th overall in the NHL by the end of the season. While I’m encouraged that the Blues scored three PPG’s last night, the pre-season isn’t nearly as fast as regular season competition. Even watching the highlights from this game, you can notice a tangible difference in the speed of the game; it’s not a good test. The pre-season is really only good for discovering which prospects could possibly sneak into a spot.

That being said, if this game is any indication at all, it looks like the Blues could be picking up right where they left off.

(From Puck Daddy)

Martin Kariya (brother of Blues forward Paul Kariya), was driven into the boards from behind and laid on the ice for ‘several minutes’ before being carried off in a tarp. He was diagnosed with a concussion, and should be out about four weeks.

I don’t think I need to remind anyone of the tragic death of Alexi Cherepanov – although there were many other factors surrounding his passing (purported steroid use, for example), prompt medical attention could have saved his life. Judging from this situation, the KHL has learned nothing from Cherepanov, and continues to endanger the welfare of its players with their incompetence.

Let’s just be thankful Kariya’s injury wasn’t anything worse, and let’s hope the players in the KHL start demanding adequate medical resources at all games – even if it requires a player strike. Tax-free salaries are not worth dying for.

Believe it or not, the 34 year-old defensemen could make sense for the resurgent Blues.

Darryl Sydor was invited to the Blues training camp September 3rd, without a contract up-front, due to his underwhelming season last year ( 15pts in 73 games).  Despite this kind of performance, St.Louis can use him to help develop all of their young talent. Sydor is a two-time Cup winner, and that kind of experience can’t be ignored – especially in an organization that has yet to win a championship.

In the last several years, the front office has chosen to build from the blueline up, drafting exceptional talent at defense (Johnson, Peirtrangelo, Rundblad). Undoubtedly, these prospects need to get ice time at the NHL level, but it’s also imperitive that they learn the ropes from the veterans who have been there before. While Jackman and Brewer are established defensemen, they’re both more like stay-at-home blueliners; Sydor is the kind of puck-moving defensemen the Blues have been trying to draft for the last three years.

If I haven’t sold you yet, consider this; what do the Blues have to lose? If he signs, he won’t sign for much (and the Blues have plently of cap space anyway). After 15-20 games, if it’s clear Sydor is a liability, they can simply cut him loose without any fiancial headaches. Secondly, take a look at B.J Crombeen; the Blues picked him up off waivers while they were scrambling to fill roster spots after numerous injuries, and the gamble paid off. Crombeen put up career-high numbers while St.Louis paid next to nothing for him. Throwing a small contract at Sydor could pay off in a tangible way for this franchise, in both the long-term and short-term picture.

There’s no telling what the Blues will do with the veteran yet, but here’s to hoping he gets a chance for redemption in St.Louis.

To say that the Blues’ season ended abruptly would be a total understatement. Riding a huge wave of momentum after a late-season surge, they took the sixth-seed in the Western Conference, only to be swept decisively by the Vancouver Canucks. Blues fans were left with a bitter taste in their mouths; our team was just starting to turn the corner with this playoff berth, only to be authoritatively pummeled out of the playoffs by a trio of annoying Swedes.

The Blues had taken their lean years of underproduction and used them to draft solid prospects that molded the organization into a dark-horse threat that had the typical formula of post-season success; hot goaltending mixed veteran forwards and youthful players willing to pay the price to make key plays. Four losses to the Canucks in the post-season dashed all hopes of a deep playoff run in 2009, but the sweep left us wondering what kind of  squad this organization would put out for 2010-2011. Even from early in the season, this team never had a chance to really showcase its full potential; Erik Johnson never even skated in a regular season game, while Paul Kariya only saw eleven games in 2009-2010. Even captain Eric Brewer, went down to a finger-injury and never returned. This team didn’t have a chance to run out a healthy roster, and still managed to finish sixth overall in a stacked Western Conference. With a performance like that, us Blues fans have good reason to be optimistic about this upcoming season.

Sports Illustrated and THN just released their preseason power-rankings, and it’s interesting to see where both publications place the Blues.

From The Hockey News:

“With a strong youth core, veteran presence and an introductory playoff appearance, the Blues are on the verge of something special. However, it is common for teams built around kids to take at least a little step back after a season of exceeding expectations. The Blues will be a challenge, but the Western Conference is a beast.”

THN places the Blues at ninth in the West, just on the outside looking in. It’s likely that the Blues will finish lower in the conference, but barring serious injury streaks, I think St.Louis can easily secure a playoff spot. If the stellar performance of Chris Mason keeps up into next season, forty-five to fifty wins is not out of the question, which would put the Blues well within the playoff picture. Sports Illustrated sends a little more love our way, putting St.Louis seventh in the West, and thirteenth in the NHL:

“What’s not to like about this team? The most exciting crop of youngsters in the West — watch for a breakthrough year from Patrik Berglund — only gets better with the return of Erik Johnson. Ty Conklin comes over from Detroit to solidify the goaltending. Now if only they can avoid the curse that seems to befall teams that start the season in Europe…”

St.Louis could have a formidable offense if our young forwards (Berglund, Oshie and Perron) all put up decent numbers. Combine that output with the  experienced talent up front (Boyes, Kariya, Tkachuk, McDonald) and suddenly the top six look poised for a breakout year. There are some question marks surrounding the blue-line; Johnson is unproven at best, and Eric Brewer has been hit and miss at best throughout the previous two years. Barrett Jackman is a dependable upside for the Blues’ defense, but he’s prone to taking bad penalties. Look for Alex Peirtrangelo and Brendan Bell to make a push to sneak in the lineup; Peirtrangelo played a handful of games in 2009, but his performance wasn’t enough to earn him a starting spot.

As far as 2010-2011 is concerned, I’ll be honest, the Central Division could be the best in the NHL. Nearly all five teams made the post season last year, and the Blues simply don’t have the firepower to compete with the Blackhawks or Wings. This doesn’t mean that the Blues can’t be a contender, or secure a great spot in the West. Call me a homer, but I’ll predict the Blues will finish fifth in the Conference barring major injuries. In short, it’ll be an exciting year for this young squad.