What It Will Take to Win

If all the NHL fans were to sit in a first grade classroom and talk about “what they did this summer,” some would speak more highly of their team than others.  Chicago Blackhawks fans would talk of their excitement for Brian Campbell coming to the big city, and Cristobal Huet being the new saving grace of Chicago.  Tampa Bay Lightning fans would regale stories of celebration, after drafting number one pick Steve Stamkos and locking up captain Vincent Lecavalier for the rest of his career, while Red Wings fans would boast about signing the most-sought player this off-season, Marian Hossa.  What would the Blues fans say though?

“We heard Cam Janssen interview Cleveland from Family Guy on the radio.  We had the rights to Steve Bernier for about twenty-five minutes too!”

It is true that the team seemed to just sit back this summer and watch all the names sign with all the rivals.  This is what the Blues had to anticipate though.  It was made clear at the end of the season by President John Davidson that the team was not looking for a big name in free-agency, but rather building from within was the Blues’ goal all along.

Davidson made his plan clear to the associated press in mid-April:

“Have you looked at the free agent market? There’s not a lot of people out there and most of them are older players and a lot of them, it becomes a contract where they want 6-7-8 years at $6-7-8 million a year…  Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn’t make sense. We want to grow our skill from within if we can.”

It has even been implied by Davidson and many other members of Blues management that the team is not even looking at the playoff picture for 2008-09, but at the big picture for a few seasons down the road.  Davidson went on to talk about young players, most notably David Perron, T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund:

“Somewhere along the line, some of these guys are going to hit,” Davidson said. “And then we’re going to be in pretty good shape.”

Blues management has been raving to their fans about Oshie and Berglund making the big squad this season, and about how they will be rookie standouts.  The fans did see David Perron have a strong rookie season in 2007-08, ranking number one on the team in plus/minus with a 16.  He also finished twentieth on the club with 12:33 time-on-ice per game.  Perron had his faults though.  He was accused all season by broadcasters and columnists of carrying the puck for too long at a time and not coming back and helping his team when they were hemmed in their own zone. 

STLSportsInsider.com stated a few days after the season ended that Davidson made the remark that “Perron matured and came twice as far as Johnson did.”  This was not a knock on Erik Johnson, but more that Perron was not NHL-ready.  He had to learn how to eat properly and how to stay in shape, even the proper way to warm-up before game-time. 

This is not a problem that Oshie and Berglund will have.  More of the issue is whether or not a kid fresh out of college and a twenty-year old from Sweden can score the big points in the NHL.  The team simply cannot rely on rookies to get the points on the board and to stop the other strong teams in the Western Conference from walking all over the young club.  So what needs to be done?

First and foremost, Paul Kariya needs to rebound from a poor opening season in a Blues jersey.  Granted, he tied for first on the team in points, but he did not seem comfortable on the rink.  Paul only put sixteen pucks behind other teams’ goalies in all 82 games played.  The team brought in this speedy-winger to fire pucks on net, and to create multiple opportunities every game, but that simply did not happen last season.

Brad Boyes is coming off of a career-season, netting forty-three goals.  Brad played pretty well in his first full season as a Blue, and he needs to continue to be a force for the Blues offense.

Teams are aware that these two players are the stars of the team, and to keep them covered tight at all times.  This is where the rest of the offense needs to come in.  Players like Lee Stempniak, Keith Tkachuk and David Backes need to be twenty-goal scorers in 2007-08.  The Blues only had two players reach the twenty-goal plateau last season (Boyes, Tkachuk).

The defense definitely needs to tighten up as well.  Jay McKee (playing in 66 games) and Jeff Woywitka (playing in 27 games) are the only players that were on the plus side of the plus-minus statistic in 2007-08.  Eric Brewer and Barret Jackman are the top minute-eaters on this roster, and they need to prove that they deserve it by stopping the top players from other clubs. 

Blues’ goaltending looks stronger than it has been in years, adding Chris Mason as a backup to 2008 All-Star Manny Legace.  Mason finished last season with a .898 save percentage in 51 games played.  He tapered off a bit from his strong finish in 2006-07, posting a .925 save percentage in 40 games.  Mason was a backup to Tomas Vokoun that year, but could not hold it together as a starter for Nashville.  Joining the Blues is a perfect opportunity for Mason; he gets the backup role again to an All-Star goalie, and he can spot-start in case of injury anytime the Blues need him to.  Legace and Mason must be near unbeatable this season to ensure victories in the Blues’ future.

If the team can gel together and the goaltending can be as strong as Legace was last season, this team could surprise a lot of critics.  The roster is packed with players who know that they can produce; the only problem is getting them to produce as one unit and not relying on one line to do the job.  Balanced scoring and intimidating defense is usually what will win games, and the Blues have the potential to have that.  Cam Janssen and D.J. King add grit and feistiness to the club as well, and that could prove important in the long NHL season. 

Will it all be enough though?  Or will we be telling the same stories to each other after next summer?  Only time will tell…