THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: The Blues kick off their season at 2 p.m. today against the Red Wings. Hockey in St. Louis finally has arrived again. Who or what most intrigues you about the 2009-10 St. Louis Blues?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
What intrigues me is whether the Blues will be able to stay healthy. Because if they stay healthy, they have a shot to be pretty good. Not only have the Blues suffered a number of injuries the past few seasons, but the injuries seem to happen to their best players. I realize that 20 guys aren’t going to play 82 games each. But the Blues can’t have a situation like last year when Paul Kariya played 11 games, Andy McDonald (46), T.J. Oshie (57), Eric Brewer (28) and D.J. King (1).

BERNIE MIKLASZ
I want to see how much Paul Kariya has left, and whether he’s still an elite offensive player. I want to see how quickly Erik Johnson emerges as the new Scott Stevens. I want to see if Chris Mason was for real. I want to see if David Perron can convert his enormous talent into 30 goals. I want to see if Alex Pietrangelo has the toughness to play in the NHL. I want to see how an ascending team handles the pressure of expectations. The Blues aren’t the scrappy little underdog anymore. They’ll be counted on to get to the playoffs and win a series and that’s a big change from the past few years.

JEFF GORDON
There are a lot of good stories on the Note, but T.J. Oshie is a real catalyst. He scores, he passes, he hits, he stirs it up. Had the Blues had him all last season, they wouldn’t have been half-dead at the holidays. A lot of national experts overlooking the Blues don’t know how good this kid can be.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
I’m most curious about the big picture. Can this team advance in the playoffs facing the likes of San Jose, Detroit, Vancouver, Chicago, etc. in the 1st round? That’s what I’m focusing on. I’d be shocked if this team isn’t in the playoffs but once there, what will they do? A lot of that, of course, will depend on what they do throughout the course of the season. If they’re reasonably healthy all season long they will be a dangerous team regardless of the opponent and if the young guys continue their rapid improvement they could make a run in the playoffs. None of that will be known, however, until the end of the regular season.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
Can they continue where they left off last spring? Having expectations to win hockey games is new territory for the St. Louis Blues. This will be really interesting to follow this season. No longer can the Blues rest on the idea that they’re in rebuilding mode. People around the NHL are expecting the Blues to not only reach the playoffs but believe they have potential to make a little noise once they arrive. John Davidson recently told me the goal this season is to have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. In order for this to happen the Blues need consistency in their game from day one. Are the Blues, as an organization, prepared to handle the pressure to win? It’s fair to say they’re slightly ahead of schedule from where they expected to be when Dave Checketts and company took over in 2006. There will be more attention on this hockey club to begin the season than we’ve seen in years. Thanks to the dismal performances football fans are growing accustomed to watching on Sundays, more and more eyes are focused on Andy Murray and his team this fall.

Managing adversity is critical for any team in any year and there will be times when things don’t go in the Blues favor. How they respond when things get tough will tell us whether or not this club is prepared to take a step forward. The Blues have a real chance to even more solidify themselves once again in the sports community and there is little reason to believe they won’t take advantage.

I’m also very intrigued to see if this will, in fact, be Keith Tkachuk’s last season in the NHL. The guy can still score goals and if he snipes 20-25 I can easily see the Blues extending “Big Walt” for another year. Will he accept? It’s never easy to walk away.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Should the Blues have traded for Chris Pronger knowing that they were just a few days away from buying out Jay McKee?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
No. The price tag was simply too much for Pronger. The Ducks wanted a package of players and the names mentioned were Patrik Berglund, T.J. Oshie and David Backes. I would keep them and take my chances signing Pronger next season. The decision to buyout McKee came Monday, as the team tried to free up enough money to re-sign Mike Weaver and Brad Winchester, and a goalie in free agency.

DERRICK GOOLD
The bundle of players and picks Philadelphia had to pay to get Pronger borders on absurd, so even though a move for Pronger made so much sense for the Blues — especially with the release of McKee imminent — the p.r. and the performance just wasn’t worth that price. But buying out McKee leaves the Blues exposed to a bigger question. Now that they’ve alleviated some cap space on their payroll, how will they spend it? Will there be goals at the end of the stick they can now woo? Bring on the scoring forward. Because as swell as it would be for the Chattering Class to have Pronger back in front of the mics, ready for that red light to pop on, or back for another round of those screaming scrums in the hallway, the Blues don’t need a talker, even if he plays a mean blue line. They need scorer.

TOM TIMMERMANN
Every trade hinges on what the other team wants, and if the Ducks were looking for more than the Flyers gave up, that would be a pretty steep price. But even at a good price, the Blues might not “need” Pronger. (If he were free, then by all means …) They’re not replacing their No. 1 defenseman. They’re replacing their No. 5 or 6 defenseman. At that price, McKee was way overpaid. If you move Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson back into the equation, and maybe Alex Pietrangelo, pretty soon the words most associated with McKee would be “healthy scratch.” The Blues don’t need a high-priced defenseman. Pronger’s salary would also limit their ability to spend money on a goalscorer.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
When looking at the Chris Pronger situation, it’s important to understand one thing. Ducks GM Bob Murray was determined not to trade his largest asset, and one of the best defensemen in the world, to another Western Conference team. If you think the Flyers gave up a lot (which they did) just think what the Blues would have had to part with to acquire the greatest D-man in the history of the Blues organization. (Yes I said best D-man to ever play for the Blues.) I love how teams like Philly and the New York Rangers year after year chase the Stanley Cup only to get bounced early in the playoffs. The Blues are trying to build a Cup winner, not chase one. Do I wish the Blues were able to land Pronger? Absolutely. But it had be realistic in terms of what they needed to part with. The cap hit for the next two seasons for McKee is around $1.4, now they can go out and get another player for around $2.5 which adds up to the same $4 million number McKee would have cost if they had hung onto him.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
No, not at the price that was paid to get him. The Flyers gave up three first round picks (2010, 2011 and 2008 1st rounder Luca Sbisa) and a 25-year-old Joffrey Lupul, who has 102 career goals. All that plus a conditional 3rd-round pick is too much to pay for a guy who makes a lot of money and can be a free agent after the 2009-2010 season. Heck, if Pronger doesn’t like it in Philly (wouldn’t that be a shock given the nature of the sports scene there) the Blues can try to sign him next offseason without having to give up a player.

There are deals I would have made to get Pronger, like a player off the roster and the No. 17 pick, but not what Philly parted with. He would certainly make the Blues a lot better for this season and I’m all for trading kids for impact players heading into a year where you expect to make the playoffs, but you can’t mortgage too much of the future just yet.

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH BLUES COACH ANDY MURRAY

St. Louis Blues coach Andy Murray will be in Las Vegas this evening as the NHL hands out its annual awards. Murray is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, which is given to the league’s coach of the year. Murray made the short list after leading the injury-depleted Blues to a No. 6 seed this season in the Western Conference. The other finalists for the award are Todd McLellan of San Jose and Claude Julien of Boston. The event will be broadcast on Versus, starting at 6 p.m.

I caught up with Coach Murray by phone yesterday to ask him a few questions before tonight’s ceremony. Here’s what he had to say:

Q: What does it mean to you to be a finalist for NHL coach of the year?

A: Well, my personal gratifiction comes from the recognition of our team, and the Coach of Year award is definitely a team recognition award. It’s gratifying that our players, our coaches, our support staff, our front office, our whole organization is being recognized. So it’s not just a personal thing, it’s an an organization thing … and I feel good about it for that reason.

Q: What do you think were the keys to the Blues coming together the way they did down the stretch this past season to make that incredible playoff push?

A: I think it’s the commitment players made last summer, the conditioning they did that enabled them to play at a high level all year — and play without key players in the lineup due to injuries. From day one in camp we stressed we wanted to put out a big, physical effort and that made us hard to play against. Even with all the injuries, guys played hard and never gave up. No excuses. No excuses. The idea was just to take the next game and just keep playing that way. And because we played that way, and stuck with it in first half, we were rewarded in the second half.

Q: If you could go back in time, are there things you might have done differently with the 2008-09 Blues?

A: I can’t go back in time. I don’t think, to be honest with you, I’ve ever felt that way as a coach … looking back at things you could have done differently. You do your job and things happen for a reason. You worry about the next game, not the last one. I never give it a second thought. I don’t look back. I’m already focused on the 2009-2010 season.

Q: What are you most looking forward to next season?

A: I think it’s the challenge of playing in the best division in hockey. Four of the eight teams that made the playoffs (in the Western Conference) last year were from our division. There’s three divisions, so to have four of those playoff clubs coming out of our division is saying something. You’ve got to be ready to play every night. And there’s a sense of energy and passion that the fans feel for our team, so when you step on the ice at Scottrade, you look forward to doing that. We emphasize skill and playing hard, and I’m excited about feeling the energy in our building again. But we also have to realize that we start from scratch next season and what we did last year means nothing. There are new challenges. It’s the good thing about life, meeting challenges.

Q: A six-month, 82-game schedule has to be a grind for a coach. What do you do during the offseason to recharge your batteries and get ready for training camp?

A: I try to catch up on the family time that I don’t get to have during hockey season. It’s a chance to get involved in my family a little more. It’s all about family in the offseason … if there really is an offseason. The truth is, there’s not a moment that goes by that you’re not thinking about your team, your players and what you can do to get better.

(Oh, and for the record, Murray said his vote for coach of the year would go to Claude Julien because of how well Boston played all season.)

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THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: What do you think Blues coach Andy Murray’s chances are of winning the coach of the year award?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
Murray has a realistic chance to win the award, which is voted on by the NHL Broadcasters Association. To me, it will be determined by where voters placed Murray on their ballot once the Blues made the playoffs.

It’s a given that most voters had Boston’s Claude Julien and San Jose’s Todd McLellan on their ballot already. There was probably a group of other candidates for the third spot, and it’s likely that some voters may have been waiting to see if they Blues made the playoffs before writing Murray’s name on their ballot. The question is, “Once the Blues made the playoffs, climbing from No. 15 to No. 6 in the West, where did those voters rank Murray?” Did they give him the third spot on their ballot as an obligatory vote? Or did many of them weigh the Blues’ accomplishment and give Murray their first or second choice?

Winning the award would be great, but as Murray told me Wednesday from Las Vegas, even if he doesn’t win, being one of three finalists has put the Blues’ organization in the spotlight.

JEFF GORDON
I realize Julien is getting a big push from the East Coast voters, so that really works against Murray. Andy SHOULD get the award, but I’m not sure that voters on either coast really understood what he accomplished here. This team got crushed by injuries and saw its No. 1 goaltender fall apart. Murray took a bunch of kids and fill-ins and went on one of the NHL’s greatest stretch runs. But . . . Boston had an epic regular season and Original Six franchises get a lot of love in the awards vote. I fear that Andy will get cheated.

TOM TIMMERMANN
Coach of the year is never easy to handicap because it lacks the clarity of other awards. Scotty Bowman won coach of the year twice. Twice. The voters seem to define coach of the year with who did the most with the least, and if you consider what Murray had to deal with much of the year — or who he didn’t have to deal with, Johnson, Brewer, Kariya, etc. — he got a lot out of not much. Will that sway voters? Certainly the late run didn’t hurt. Boston made a league-high 22 point jump, and they were starting at a decent 94, not a crummy 79. Todd McLellan squeezed nine more points out of a team that had 108 the year before. So this is a real tough call. I think Murray has a decent chance and is deserving, but if he doesn’t win, there’s no reason to demand a recount or cry in outrage. All three of these coaches had pretty good seasons.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
I’m not going to lay out the case as to why Andy Murray deserves to win the Jack Adams Trophy, but rather answer the question, which is to handicap his chances of winning. Murray has a decent chance heading into tonight’s awards ceremony in Las Vegas. All three finalists are deserving of the award, but I see it as a two-horse race between Boston bench boss Claude Julien and Murray. The award is voted on by NHL broadcasters and will come down to the Canadian vote. I wrote several weeks ago on hockeybuzz.com that the American vote is extremely close between Julien and Murray, (league sources tell me maybe the closest ever.) I see Julien pulling the majority of the Canadian votes considering the time he spent coaching the Montreal Canadians. Julien is certainly deserving of the award considering his club finished with 116 points. Would it be an upset if Murray was handed the award? No. Would I be slightly surprised? Yes, I would.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
I’d say his chances are solid but I get the feeling that the East Coast guy, Boston’s Claude Julien, is going to get the nod. I hope not but that seems to be the buzz.

Murray’s team lost 268 man-games from Erik Johnson, Eric Brewer, Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald and T.J. Oshie last season and that doesn’t count all the games missed by so many others. To overcome all of that with a young team that was gradually pulled together over the course of the season is quite impressive, especially when your team was picked dead last in the conference by many experts in the preseason.

Winning more games with better talent doesn’t mean you did a better coaching job. This is a “coach of the year” award, not “team of the year.” Does anyone think Claude Julien would have liked to have switched places with Andy Murray this past season?

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: The Blackhawks ousted the Canucks in the Western Conference semifinals last night with a young team that many thought was a year or two away. “I’m not saying experience is overrated, but the fact is, we’re not just a young team, we’re a good team,” said young star blueliner Duncan Keith. What can the Blues take from watching this series as they head into next year?

BERNIE MIKLASZ:
The Blues need more good players, period. The Blackhawks are ahead of them in the developmental cycle, and this is a reminder that the Blues are still playing catch-up. And let’s not forget that Chicago has more resources and was able to supplement an exceptional youth movement by investing heavily in a couple of free agents. The Blues are on track. Chicago is just farther along. (Bernie has more on this in his blog this morning.)

DAN O’NEILL:
There is a discernible difference between the Blues and Blackhawks in terms of talent, especially on the backline, especially where it impacts offensive transition. The Blues simply did not have defenseman of Duncan Keith’s abilities this season, to use him as an example. The Blackhawks are a step ahead in that regard, but the Blues are getting there.
With their corps of young players, with a talent upgrade on defense, the Blues could be doing what the Blackhawks are doing by next season. Keep in mind St. Louis was 4-1-1 during the regular season against Chicago
So it’s a good news/bad news proposition. The good news is, the Blues can be inspired by what the Blackhawks have accomplished, the bad news is they have to get past the Blackhawks in the years ahead to win a Stanley Cup.

TOM TIMMERMANN:
Add to this that the Penguins were awfully young when they reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 and it shows that youth can go some place in the NHL. I think there’s a difference in that the Blues have youngsters who can score goals while the Penguins and Blackhawks have youngsters who can score more goals. Really good puck moving defensemen are good only when they have players to move the puck too. So there’s reason for Blues fans to be optimistic for next season; turnarounds can come quickly, but it’s also no guarantee. The Blues’ rookies aren’t Crosby, Malkin and Fleury; are they Kane and Toews? We’ll see. But it’s also worth remembering that there exists a team called the Detroit Red Wings. I wouldn’t discount the importance of experience just yet.

JEREMY RUTHERFORD:
Other than learning how to put traffic in front of Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo, the Blues won’t learn anything from Chicago’s playoff win over Vancouver they didn’t already know, nor will it give them any more confidence they can win with a young team.
Yes, the Blues and ‘Hawks have been pathetic in recent years. Yes, they have been on similar paths, rebuilding through the draft. Yes, this is the year that both teams believed they could emerge. For those reasons, the teams are rightfully linked together.
But for this season anyway, any other comparisons should be thrown out the window. The Blackhawks didn’t deal with the number of key injuries the Blues dealt with this season. The ‘Hawks had their share of injuries, but nothing like the Blues losing Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald, T.J. Oshie, Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson. If you take Martin Havlat, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell out the Blackhawks’ lineup, they’re not playing in the Western Conference Finals. Even if the Blues had everyone healthy this season, they’re probably not as good as the Blackhawks, but they’re not far off.
Also, keep in mind that the Blues and Blackhawks are both young, but Chicago’s Patrick Kane (No. 1 overall pick in 2007) and Jonathan Toews (No. 3 in 2006) are the cream of the crop. If it weren’t for Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, Kane and Toews would be the face of the NHL. You can’t compare them to guys like Oshie (No. 24 in 2005), Patrik Berglund (No. 25 in 2006) or David Perron (No. 26 in 2007). You can compare Erik Johnson (No. 1 in 2006), but let Johnson get back on the ice.
With Johnson and with the rest of their full deck, the Blues can compete with the Blackhawks.

JEFF GORDON:

The big lesson is to stay the course. The Blackhawks stayed with their young skilled forwards and finally got the payoff. The Blues should resist any temptation to deal any of their high-end kids. These guys melded nicely during a months-long run toward the playoffs. Next spring, Patrik Berglund, T.J. Oshe and David Perron will all be better prepared to step up in postseason play. They other key for Chicago was their strong corps of offensive defensemen. That is an element the Blues lacked with Erik Johnson and Eric Brewer and Alex Pietrangelo still developing. The lack of a viable point threat undermined their power play against Vancouver. Expect a different story next spring.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Last week at this time hope sprang eternal as the Blues were about to kick off their first postseason series since 2004. One week later the team finds itself in a 3-0 hole facing Vancouver tonight in an elimination game. Has anything that has transpired in the past week changed your thoughts on this team overall? Have the playoffs revealed any major areas of need that the return of injured players next season cannot resolve?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
Even though I predicted the Blues to win the series, I don’t think any differently about this team than I did a week ago. Vancouver has played great hockey and the Canuck players, with a ton of pressure on them, have silenced their critics. Meanwhile, no one could have predicted the Blues special teams would collapse and that’s what has happened. The one glaring hole on the Blues side has been their ineffectiveness to get the puck out of the zone. You can see by watching Vancouver how important good transition is. Next year, Erik johnson will be a big lift in that area.

JEFF GORDON
The big Blues weakness is the lack of offense on defense. This team lacks scoring threats from the point. The Blue seldom make the home-run outlet pass and rushing the puck out of their zone against good fore-checking is difficult. The return of Erik Johnson will help fix this. If Eric Brewer makes it back from his neck injury, that will help too. So will the development of 2008 top pick Alex Pietrangelo.

TOM TIMMERMANN
Coming in, I saw this series as a bonus, a chance for the Blues kids to get their feet wet in the postseason, but not much else. Vancouver was a hot team and just a bad matchup. This was not a Blues team that had the look of one making a long postseason run. So T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund and David Backes and all those guys can get the feel for the postseason and get those jitters out of the way. Next year, if they make the playoffs, it will be familiar for them. Better to have the team do an early playoff exit this year than next year, when the team should be substantially better. The Canucks series hasn’t changed my thoughts on the team, but reinforced them: This is a young inexperienced team that needs to learn some lessons. They are being learned.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
After they closed out the regular season on such a strong note I thought for sure the Blues would make a strong showing in this series. The frustrating thing is that this young team hasn’t played nearly as well as it can and yet the club has still been right there in every game. Close but no cigar.

What this series has done is put a spotlight on something most people following the Blues have talked about for a couple of years now — they don’t have enough skilled, puck-moving defensemen. That will eventually change with the return of Erik Johnson and the development of Alex Pietrangelo, but for now it’s just not there.

With a little more maturity and development from the young guys, and clean bills of health for EJ and Paul Kariya, the Blues should be just fine going forward. I don’t see any “major” areas of weakness going forward, just areas that will improve with time and experience.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
We all know the Blues have been a great story here in 2009. It wasn’t too long ago that nobody, including the media, cared about pucks. So at the very least the Blues have put themselves back on the map in terms of relevance and there’s something to be said for that. The reality is the regular season is done and a new season has begun.

This is not the time to sit around and pat the Blues on the back for taking the city on a joyful 12-week ride. That time will come once the club has cleaned out their stalls. In the meantime the Blues have been disappointing to date in the playoffs. This doesn’t mean we turn our backs on what took place during the regular season. The goal in the playoffs though is to win and the Blues haven’t gotten the job done. The Canucks have more players on their bench who have elevated their game this series compared to St. Louis.

Sure having Erik Johnson and Paul Kariya would help, that’s obvious, but the Blues — in my opinion — don’t have enough natural scoring and that area could use some upgrading. The defense has been exposed for what it is and will be better adding Johnson, Eric Brewer, and potentially Alex Pietrangelo. In reality this is a learning process for the Blues and this playoff experience will only help them moving forward. In the meantime Blues fans deserve better than what they’ve seen this playoff series.

As promised … our friends from Vancouver have weighed in with a prediction of their own on the Blues-Canucks series. (I left it unedited because I like the way Canadiens use a “c” instead of an “s” in words … like “defencemen.”) Here you go:

Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun

The teams split their four-game season series and were among the best in hockey since January. For the Canucks, the turnaround coincided with the return of goalie Roberto Luongo. The Blues performed a second-half miracle playing without top-four defencemen Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson.

On offence, the Canucks have a balanced attack, with five players hitting the 20-goal mark and another, Kyle Wellwood, at 18, but the Sedin twins are still the main cogs and key to the offence and will be under pressure to perform. On defence, the Canucks have a nice blend of size and experience. The only thing lacking is a puck-rushing/power play quarterback.

The Blues have a Stanley Cup winner in centre Andy McDonald, while warhorse Keith Tkachuk will be on a mission in perhaps his last chance to win a Cup. They’re complimented by a group of dangerous young forwards in David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and David Perron. Brad Boyes is dynamite on the power play with 16 goals.

In goal, Luongo has a great regular-season resume but his playoff portfolio is reed-thin. Chris Mason’s playoff resume is even lighter than Luongo’s: one win in five games. So who wins? The Blues could, if they pressure the Canuck defence with a heavy forecheck and create turnovers that turn into scoring chances. But the Canucks should, especially if Luongo performs like the elite goaltender he’s been in the regular season.

Prediction: Canucks in seven.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: The Blues were picking up steam just prior to the All-Star break. As more players return from injury, what do you expect to see out of this team in the second half? Anything specific that fans should watch for?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
The Blues won in Boston and Chicago before the All-Star break, but other than a little better goaltending, they didn’t play any better than they have the last month or two. I believe the second half of the season will be more of the same. You’re going to see the same effort, and on some nights it’s going to be enough to win.

I don’t think the Blues should count on any boost from the return of their injured players. Andy McDonald (ankle) still isn’t ready to play, Roman Polak (foot) is still weeks away and Eric Brewer (back) may not come back this season.

I’m interested in seeing what the second half has to bring, but to me it’s not about where the Blues finish in the standings. My interest is in the moves the Blues make to better themselves for next season, and which players on the roster show that they want to be back next season.

TOM TIMMERMANN
The Blues’ season will be decided between now and the trade deadline on March 4. The schedule works to their favor: 10 games at home, 7 on the road, and seven games against teams not in the playoffs as of now. (Plus one with Chicago, who the Blues have been beating up on.) So if the Blues stay healthy, they might do just well enough to get into the playoff picture and be buyers rather than sellers at the deadline, though even then they might send Keith Tkachuk to a contender for a Stanley Cup chance. But it’s also likely that in the next week or two, a loose tray table on the team plane will dislocate someone’s elbow. And if the Blues are in the picture, six of their final seven games are on the road, so they’ll need to have a comfortable edge going into the final weeks.

DAN O’NEILL
On one hand, the break came at a bad time. On the other hand, it gave a player like Andy McDonald an extra week to get healthy. The Blues played excellent hockey for at least two weeks leading up to the break, even in games they lost.

If they can continue to match that energy level and get McDonald back, I still think it is possible — not probable, with all the teams ahead of them in the standings, but possible — they could put together a streak and get back in the playoff picture. But that is entirely predicated on the club getting better than the average goaltending it got during the first half.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
I expect the Blues to continue to elevate their game. Over the last month they’re 6-6 with 5 of the 6 losses coming by just a single goal and several of those losses coming against the NHL’s elite. They also notched wins against San Jose, Boston and Chicago. All of that is despite the fact that they’ve been missing key players.

The key to the Blues’ success the rest of the way will be the goaltending. Coming out of the All-Star break the Blues rank 26th in goals against and 27th in save percentage. Just imagine where this team could be in the standings if they were getting the kind of All-Star caliber play they got from Manny last year (2.41 GA, .911 SP).

The Blues have 12 one-goal losses this season, 8 in regulation, plus two other 2-goal losses that only got that way after empy netters from the opposing team. That’s 24 points left on the board in 1-goal games alone for a team that is 9 points out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. With better play between the pipes this is a playoff-caliber club. The question is whether or not they have enough games to dig themselves out even if they do get things going from here on out.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, Team 1380)
If you follow the Blues closely you are well aware of the fact that this is a team loaded with injuries, as well as a team you can count on to provide a solid effort on most nights. With that being said the Blues are no different than any other team in that they have virtually no chance unless they get better goaltending than what we’ve seen thus far this season. It will be very interesting to see if goaltender Chris Mason is given a chance to run with the No. 1 job down the stretch. The club is nearly at its wits end with Manny Legace, and Mason will be back next season with another year left on his contract. So far Mason has struggled to solidify himself as a goalie the Blues can count on to take on the load that comes with being a No. 1 NHL goaltender.

We all love the excitement the trade deadline brings and this March is expected to be no different than the last few seasons. Obviously Keith Tkachuk will draw the most attention even though his focus remains on trying to put the Blues in position to make the playoffs. A few other players could be moved as well, including Dan Hinote, Legace, and Andy McDonald if the Blues are unsuccessful in re-signing the shifty forward.

Other things to look for include whether or not Captain Eric Brewer will return — some inside the organization say he’s out for the year while John Davidson says that determination hasn’t been made. Can Brad Boyes get hot and reach 40 goals for the second straight season? Can Patrik Berglund make a real run at the Calder trophy, which goes to the NHL’s rookie of the year? Will the Blues sign Notre Dame D-man Ian Cole and give him an NHL game or two before the season expires? I could go on and on, but these are a few things to chew on.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Kevin Wheeler and Andy Strickland for offering up their insights. I thought it might be fun to occasionally bring in some voices from outside the paper. Kevin and Andy answered the call to arms. Hopefully I’ll be able to snag a few others from time to time … and bring Kevin and Andy back, too, of course.

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

PUCK TALK, PART DEUX: The fun and games of all-star weekend are over and team’s get back to work on the second half of the season tonight. There’s playoff spots to be won for some, rebuilding to be done for others. Oh, and there’s a very important date looming: March 4. The trade deadline always shakes things up around the league. I thought I’d link you to a nice piece on NHL.com about the season’s midway point. They also point out six teams you’ll want to watch in the second half. (Sorry, they didn’t include the Blues.)

SUPER BOWL, INDEED: Super Bowl history is littered with players behaving badly during the week leading up to the big game. It’s no secret that some multi-million dollar players like to get out and have a little fun. Well, Tampa may just be the place. According to the Arizona Republic, there are 43 strip clubs in the Tampa metropolitan area, including a place called Mons Venus, listed amond the world’s best strip blubs by a Web site called The Ultimate Strip Club List. In fact, the clubs are so popular among Super Bowl visitors, The Tampa Tribune put a link to its Web site listing the 43 strip clubs and providing information on each to help visitors decide how they might want to spend an evening.

I wonder if there are Vegas odds on which player(s) gets in trouble this week at one of these fine establishments?

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THINGS TO PONDER

PETTITTE BACK TO YANKEES: On one hand, it’s a yawner. Yankees sign another player. On the other hand, it’s another example that some good pitchers can be had on the cheap in this year’s free agent market. Pettitte becomes the third former All-Star (this one a lefty, no less) who has signed a one-year deal in the $5 to $6 million range with lots of incentives based on performance — the others being John Smoltz and Brad Penny.

Please tell me what risk the Cardinals run by inking any of these guys to such a deal. If they are just average based on their careers, you’ve got a steal. If they are below-average, they likely still win you 12 games or so for a relatively cheap price. And either way, you can walk away from the deal in one year with no strings attached.

But what do I know … I didn’t go to GM school.

DID I SAY THAT? If you read this blog yesterday, you saw my thoughts on the insanity of Chargers general manager A.J. Smith making comments that would indicate he’s ready to run All-Pro RB LaDainian Tomlinson out of town. Well, apparently, Smith has had a change of heart.

“I just answered a question and unfortunately my response was inappropriate,” Smith told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “After reading my response to the question, I can see why it was interpreted the way it was. I absolutely meant no disrespect toward LT — none. I have the utmost respect for him on two fronts — as a player and as a person.”

Not sure why the sudden change of heart. Was it because, as the Union-Tribune reported, that team president Dean Spanos was “very upset” about the public statements? Was it because star players such as linebacker Shawne Merriman expressed anger over the comments? Or was it because Smith is a faithful reader of Round Two?

We’ll just never know.

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SUPER BOWL PREDICTION

28-17 — That’s my final score for this Sunday’s Super Bowl. The winner? Pittsburgh. Oddsmakers are still giving the Cardinals 7 points, but I wouldn’t touch that spread. My heart is warmed by the Kurt Warner story just like anyone else, but I doubt the Steelers defense feels the same. Pittsburgh will manhandle Arizona WRs Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in a way they haven’t seen all season, and Warner may spend more time on his back this weekend than Marc Bulger did all season. There you have it.