The Blues goaltending situation has turned into quite an adventure this season. While Manny Legace has provided everything the team hoped for, little else has gone right at this position.
Jason Bacashihua didn’t run with his opportunity to back up Legace this season. Marek Scwarz failed to build upon his encouraging rookie season in the AHL.
European veteran Juuso Riksman was also expected to compete for the back-up job. But he struggled through the summer camp, prompting John Davidson and Larry Pleau to explore other options.
The Blues acquired Hannu Toivonen from the Bruins to settle the position. After an encouraging start to the season, Toivonen fell into a disastrous funk. Poor mechanics, flagging confidence and accumulated rust turned him into a most unreliable netminder.
Meanwhile, Bacashihua departed for the Colorado organization in a trade, Riksman went to a European team on a loan, Schwarz struggled at Peoria, Riksman returned from Europe and then left again . . . it was all a big mess.
Fortunately, the Rivermen had signed Chris Beckford-Tseu to an AHL contract after the Blues let him go. Beckford-Tseu returned from Alaska of the ECHL to save the day — and now he is a Blue, freshly signed to a NHL contract.
His promotion sent a strong signal to everybody in the organization: The Blues will seek the best solutions to their problems, regardless of draft history or contract status.
The Blues hope that Beckford-Tseu will provide more competent back-up support of Legace while Toivonen works through his troubles in the AHL. This may be his only shot to establish himself, since top prospect Ben Bishop is likely to sign out of college later this spring and jump right into the AHL fray.
Beckford-Tseu has to work his way into the picture, just as Curtis Sanford did before him. Legace had to battle his way into the NHL as well. Both navigated difficult paths to reach their goal. They are good examples for Chris to follow.
In the meantime, the Blues hope that Toivonen regains his form ASAP so that Legace doesn’t wear out playing game after game after game for the Note.