The Blues had three groups of skaters go through some on-ice testing drills today at the Mills and Paul Kariya was not among them.

Afterwards, Blues President John Davidson said that Kariya has been training hard, but recently experienced some discomfort. But Davidson was quick to say that Kariya will be fine and he could even play in Tuesday’s preseason game if Blues coach Andy Murray chose to play him.

“Kariya had the two hip surgeries, he’s been here (in St. Louis working out) and he’s in shape,” Davidson said. “He has worked so hard in the last week that he’s a bit tight. The doctors have expected that, so we’re going to hold him off today and maybe even tomorrow. It’s absolutely precautionary, there’s no red flags . . . it’s all green to go. He’s set.”

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Other players who missed the first day:

- Goaltender Hannu Toivonen, who has re-signed with the Blues after spending last year in Europe, had a cut on his calf.

“We’re a little nervous about infection, so we kept him off today,” Davidson said. “Whether he’s here tomorrow, we don’t know yet. We don’t want to let it develop into something serious.”

- Center Lars Eller has what the Blues are calling a mild case of mononucleosis. The first set of blood tests confirmed the mono. Eller underwent a second set of tests on Friday and he’ll get the results Monday. If the tests prove that the mono is indeed a mild case, Eller said there’s a chance he could start skating and working out on his own. But he would still be out of action with the team for about three weeks. This latest setback has been especially tough on Eller because on Friday he received full clearance on his shoulder injury, and therefore could be on the ice if he didn’t contract the mono.

“It’s frustrating,” Eller said today. “I haven’t been sick in three years and then you get sick the week before training camp starts. It’s just bad luck. But the good thing is, it’s a mild case of mono, so hopefully I shouldn’t be out for too long.”

- Center Cam Paddock is recovering from offseason hip surgery.

- Defenseman Darryl Sydor sat out with a mild irritation in his quad muscle.

“This is precautionary,” Davidson said. “He might go (Sunday).”

- Defenseman Ryan Turek is sick.

- Defenseman Eric Brewer, we all know, is rehabbing from back and knee surgeries. Davidson said that Brewer has been skating, but the team has decided to keep him training in Vancouver for the time being.

“His knee is real good,” Davidson said. “He’s back on his program. He’s going to stay in Vancouver and then when he’s really close to go, he’s going to come back to St. Louis. We feel that’s the best way. He’s doing real well.”

- Left winger Alex Steen missed practice because his wife went into labor with the couple’s child.

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The team was divided into six groups for Saturday’s on-ice conditioning session. The drill had players skate the length of the ice, starting out slowly and gradually picking up the pace. Players stayed in the drill as long as they could before they couldn’t go any longer. One by one, they dropped like flies and one player was left standing.

Here’s the breakdown of each group and who won:

Group 1: Keith Tkachuk, Barret Jackman, Andy McDonald, Jay McClement, Brad Boyes and Chris Mason (goalies wore their full gear).

Winner: McDonald

Group 2: David Backes, B.J. Crombeen, D.J. King, Yan Stastny, Cam Janssen, Mike Weaver and Erik Johnson.

Winner: Stastny

Group 3: Brendan Bell, Carlo Colaiacovo, T.J. Oshie, Derek Armstrong, Brad Winchester, David Perron, Patrik Berglund, Roman Polak and Ty Conklin.

Winner: Oshie

Group 4: Aaron Palushaj, Brett Sonne, Julian Talbot, Bryce Lampman, Danny Richmond, Steve Wagner, Chris Porter, Tyson Strachan, Nick Drazenovich and Adam Cracknell.

Winner: Porter

Group 5: Mitch Love, Ryan Reaves, James Livingston, Jonas Junland, Alex Hellstrom, Ben Bishop, Anthony Peluso, Alex Pietrangelo and Justin Fletcher.

Winner: Junland

Group 6: T.J. Fast, Sebastian Dahm, Philip McRae, Brett Ponich, Chris Morehouse, Tyler Shattock, Jake Allen, Adrian Veideman, Barry Tallackson and Mark Cundari.

Winner: McRae

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Training camp moves to Scottrade Center on Sunday and there will be pucks on the ice . . . whooopie!!! The practices are open to the public.

9:30-10:15: Group 1 practice

10:30-11:15: Group 2 practice

11:30-12:30: Game (Group 1 vs. Group 2)

12:45-1:30: Group 3 practice

JR