THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Last season’s late playoff push got Blues fans excited in a major way for this season. Then there was the dramatic trip to Sweden that brought two victories over the Red Wings. Lost in the excitement is the underlying fact that the Blues are still young and relatively inexperienced. Do you think fan expecations for this team are too high right now?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
This is a tough call, but, yes, expectations are probably too high. You have to look at what those expectations are based on: a playoff appearance last year, the potential of young players like T.J Oshie, David Perron and Patrik Berglund, and the return of injured players like Paul Kariya and Erik Johnson. Although the Blues deserve a ton of credit for their second half, and they were in every playoff game against Vancouver, the postseason ended in a sweep. Moving on, no one can guarantee the youngsters will turn into the stars most think they will be. And meanwhile, Kariya and Johnson have some rust to knock off. The Blues should be a playoff team and those expectations are legitimate, but some folks have the incorrect impression that they should be a dominant club right out of the hop.

JEFF GORDON
With the return of Erik Johnson and Paul Kariya and the addition of Ty Conklin and Darryl Sydor, this team has an excellent talent base. I like this mix of young players and battle-tested veterans. This team has experience, leadership AND young legs. There are several helpful players at Peoria, too, which protects this team from major injury concerns. For a big chunk of Thursday’s game, we saw, again, what this team is capable of.

DAN O’NEILL
There is no question that fan expectation is too high right now. It’s simple mathematics. The fans expect the Blues to be a playoff team, maybe even one that goes deep into postseason play. In contrast, the Blues have won two of their first five games, a pace that definitely will not make the playoffs. So, you have a square peg and a round hole. But it is five games into the season, much too early to judge the Blues as underachievers. Players like Erik Johnson and Paul Kariya need time to find their game after missing an entire year. T.J. Oshie, Brad Boyes and David Backes are not rolling yet. Give it time.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
When you win expectations are increased. It’s a fact of life. There is no reason for Blues fans not to have placed heavy expectations on this club heading into the season. The Blues as an organization earned high expectations with their performance last season. It’s a new world for the Blues regime and this hockey team. No longer are the Blues able to rest on the idea that they are rebuilding. Keith Tkachuk told me prior to the season the team expects to contend. I’m not ready to categorize them as a Cup contender just yet, but if they were to fail to make the playoffs it would be a drastic step in the wrong direction. The Blues should be held to a high standard because they have good players and coaches they can win with. It’s perfectly acceptable for fans to expect this team to win a fair amount of hockey games. The days of the  Blues being just a feel-good story are in the rearview mirror.

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: As the Blues get set to hit the ice this weekend for the start of training camp, are there any particular players you are eager to see in terms of maturation, added size/muscle, return from injury, etc?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
There are obvious players that everyone is eager to see in training camp. Erik Johnson and Paul Kariya fit in that category. Johnson, who has a toned up physique, will finally have a chance to show folks how special he is.

But I’ll go in a different direction today. I can’t wait to see T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund. Both are now aware of the rigors of the NHL and both had an entire offseason to use that knowledge in their training. Oshie and Berglund are capable of scoring 25 goals each, and that production could take the Blues to the next level.

I also think David Perron is geared up for a big year. He was one of the Blues’ best players in the playoffs, and after a great summer of training, he looks the part of an NHL player.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
Having seen Erik Johnson, Patrik Berglund and a few others out at some of our summer Blues broadcasts (Chris Mason joins us tonight from 6-7 at the Sheraton across from Scottrade) I’ll go with two guys I haven’t seen yet. To me, the most intriguing guy entering camp is Paul Kariya. He says he hasn’t felt this good in years, he’s in a contract year and he’ll be surrounded by some outstanding talent. Should be interesting. I’m also interested in seeing if there is a noticeable difference in the look and performance of Alex Pietrangelo. A little added strength could be the difference between Petro being a part of the team rather than just a part of the future.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
For good reasons the obvious person to watch come training camp/preseason is Erik Johnson, just to see where his game is at after missing an entire year. Same can be said for Paul Kariya, who missed almost all of last season. Is Kariya still worthy of playing on the top line? Can he make others around him better? This season will determine whether his three-year, $18 million contract was money well spent or not.

Besides those guys I want to see if former 4th overall pick Alex Pietrangelo is ready to be a full time NHL D-man? The Blues will have a tough decision to make on whether or not to ship him back to the OHL if this kid doesn’t show the necessary improvement the club expects.

Others to watch are D-man Tyson Strachan, who has shown the ability to dominate the AHL. He may not be a big name but he’s a big body who’s tough and moves the puck well. And last but not least is rookie Aaron Palushaj who may be the Blues most skilled prospect they have in the organization who’s yet to play an NHL game. He still needs to add strength but he isn’t far away from playing in the show. How will he fare against the big Boys? Lars Eller is right there as well.

DAN O’NEILL
I am anxious to see Alex Pietrangelo, to see if he has matured some physically and see if he is ready to play in the NHL this season. The Blues have a definite need on the blue line and Pietrangelo could have a significant impact if he has progressed from last fall. And, of course, everyone is anxious to see Erik Johnson and whether he is ready to pick up where he left off late in his rookie season.

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.)

****

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: If you weren’t an eyewitness, by now you’ve all seen the replays of the horrific collision Rick Ankiel had with the outfield wall Monday night at Busch Stadium. Fortunately, Ankiel was not seriously hurt in the accident, but at the time it appeared it could be very serious. Athletes often put their bodies in danger just by playing the games. Whether in your career or as a fan, are there any other moments that you’ve witnessed an athlete getting hurt and feared for his/her safety? If so, who was it, what were the circumstances and what was the outcome?

RICK HUMMEL
I cringed the most when Moises Alou, then with Montreal, caught his spikes in the artificial turf in Busch Stadium after rounding first base on a play on Sept. 16, 1993. You could hear Alou’s leg crack and his yelps of pain. He suffered a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula and missed the rest of the season, although he would go on to play some 15 more years.

DAN O’NEILL
I was covering a game in which the Cardinals played the Montreal Expos at Busch Stadium in September 1993. Moises Alou was rounding first base when his cleats caught in the Astroturf, snapping the fibula in his left leg and dislocating his ankle. He collapsed to the turf with his left foot just dangling sideways. It was an Eight Bells moment, gruesome to look at. The injury required the insertion of two metal screws in his leg.

I thought his career was in jeopardy at the time, but he recovered in time to have a tremendous season the following year, batting .339 with 22 homers in a strike-shortened schedule, and he finished third in the MVP balloting. Alou was never the same player afterwards, in terms of running speed, but he went on to have a terrific career.

DERRICK GOOLD
Early in the second period of Game 6 in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, Anaheim winger Paul Kariya — who had been a non-factor in most of the series — received one of the most crunching and violent hits I’ve ever seen, in any sport, in any arena. Scott Stevens, “Captain Crunch” for the power and severity of his hits from the blue line, drove his shoulder into Kariya’s head and appeared to knock the winger out cold. Kariya laid on the Arrowhead Pond’s ice for what seemed like an eternity. The rink was silent. Scary silent. Unnerving silent. I had the sense we had seen more than a shift end, more than a series end … but quite possibly a career end. Kariya didn’t move, at all, for several minutes. He had to be helped from the ice. It was a clean hit. But that didn’t change the nagging feeling Kariya would never be the same. After all, Stevens had knocked others out of series before, often literally.

And then … four minutes after one of the most haunting things I’ve seen in sports, Kariya pulled off one of the most amazing. Leveled at 13:44 of the second period, he returned to the bench with 9:13 remaining. He took a warmup lap, and on his first shift he assisted on a goal. A few shifts later he blazed down the same wing, through the same neutral zone, past the same blue line that he had just gotten knocked cold on, and with his head up whistled a wristshot past Martin Brodeur. It was Kariya’s first goal of the series. It came after we wondered if he how would skate, let alone score, again.

JEFF GORDON
I was there at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. when Lawrence Taylor did the wishbone thing with Joe Theisman’s leg. The press box was in the end zone, so we didn’t get a great look at it . . . until we all saw the replay. Yikes! But the worst I’ve ever seen was Donnie Boyce’s leg snap at the Big Eight basketball tourney in 1995. You could hear the bones break. Then there was a lot of screaming as doctors tried to stabilize him. Boyce, a Colorado guard, did come back to play basketball. But he was never the same and his NBA career was brief. He became the argument for leaving college early for the NBA draft.

STU DURANDO
The injury that has always stood out in my mind was a completely freak accident but still makes me cringe when I think about it. I remember as a kid watching on TV in 1976 when catcher Steve Yeager of the Dodgers was struck in the on-deck circle by the jagged end of a shattered bat when Bill Russell was hitting. Yeager had his esophagus pierced and had to have shards of the bat removed during surgery. The flying bat could have killed the poor guy. After the incident, the throat protector that dangles from the catcher’s mask was developed by Dodgers trainer Bill Buhler.

KATHLEEN NELSON
I’ve seen a few football collisions that hushed the crowd, but none of them were as scary as the night 20 years ago when I was listening to a Blues game against Buffalo on the radio. The Blues’ Steve Tuttle skated hard toward the net, got tripped up and crashed into Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk. Tuttle’s skate opened a gash in Malarchuk’s neck and partially severed his jugular vein. The blood poured onto the ice. Fans fainted in the stands. Teammates vomited. Trainer Jim Pizzutelli, a former army medic, stopped the bleeding by reaching into Malarchuk’s neck. I was listening and scared. I can’t imagine how hard it was to be an eyewitness to the scene. Tuttle was shaken for the rest of his career. Malarchuk played 15 days later but by the next season was a backup and struggled in vain to control long-term battes with alcoholism and obsessive compulsive disorder. Last October, he suffered a gun wound to the face while hunting that police ruled “Accidental under suspicious circumstances.”

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.

THE WATERCOOLER

Question: The Cardinals have offered closer Brian Fuentes a two-year deal believed worth $16-$18 million. Is it fiscally responsible for the Cards to give Fuentes the three-year, $30 million-plus deal he’s seeking, or are there other options the team should be exploring right now, perhaps even handing over closer duties to Chris Perez or Jason Motte to pursue starting pitching?

JOE STRAUSS
Money and term are secondary as long as the Cardinals don’t include no-trade language in any deal. The Cardinals likely will have to reach a $10 million annual average value if another team such as the Los Angeles Angels becomes involved. Kerry Wood’s 2-year, $21 million deal with the Cleveland Indians raised the floor for Fuentes, but the Cardinals are ill-advised to raise their offer before another team enters the fray. Shorter term, less costly solutions are still available (Takashi Saito, Izzy), but there is a strong preference for Fuentes among several corners of the organization. Pace for a deal will accellerate once Mark Teixeira signs somewhere. I frankly don’t think dollars are the most significant element of a deal.

JEFF GORDON
The Cardinals should buck up and pay $33 million over three years, if necessary, to fill their most glaring need. That is not an enormous jump over the per-year dollars paid to Jason Isringhausen in his twilight years as the closer. Fuentes might be no more than an above-average closer, but strong left-handed relievers are scarce. The Cards farm system has no such commodity on the horizon. If Tony La Russa had Fuentes to mix in with Perez, Franklin, Kinney and Motte at the end of games, he could move Kyle McClellan to the rotation and lessen the need to sign another expensive starting pitcher. There is your win-win scenario.

RICK HUMMEL
I don’t think it’s fiscally prudent for the Cardinals to go to $30 million for three years for Fuentes as their closer. I don’t want to push Perez/Motte back that many years. But is either ready to assume that role now? Probably not.

DERRICK GOOLD
For several years, the Cardinals have held a hardline stance that they dictate the market for the players they sign. Once the bidding for a player sweeps him out of their preferred price range (i.e., A.J. Burnett, Alfonso Soriano), the Cardinals then take the following stance: We tried. We gave them our best offer. Other teams put a higher value on the player. … That’s swell, and they have hit more than they’ve missed (see: Kyle Lohse, Mark Grudzielanek, David Eckstein). But when it comes to a luxury item — like a lockdown closer — the Cardinals cannot afford to be handcuffed by their refusal to play the market. It’s arrogant to believe that the price the club attaches to a player is the price the club should pay. Sorry, this isn’t Priceline. This is eBay. Demand dictates. There is ample evidence that the Cardinals could have been a legit contender with a lockdown closer last season. Tony La Russa called Fuentes and the ninth inning a “No. 1 priority.” If they believe the Kid Closers aren’t ready, then they should be prepared to pay for the best (and healthiest!) option available. Three years, $30 million? If closer is the priority, that may be the pricetag of contending.

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

SO YOU THINK IT’S BAD NOW: Decimated by injuries, the Blues have lost four in a row and fallen into the cellar in the Western Conference with a 12-15-3 record. I hate to say it, but it can — and likely will — get worse. In fact, with the Blues’ remaining December schedule this team could be looking toward next season as soon as Jan. 1. Take a look at what’s coming and tell me you don’t see a Blue Christmas:

Dec. 18 @ Washington: The Capitals are 19-10-3, good enough for third place in the East.

Dec. 20 vs. Minnesota: At 15-13-1, the Wild is the only remaining December opponent that would not make the playoffs today. They are one point out of 8th place in the West.

Dec. 21 vs. Boston: The Bruins are steamrolling teams. They are 21-5-4 and in first place in the East.

Dec. 23 @ Detroit: Hey, it’s the Wings. 20-6-4 puts them in second place in the West.

Dec. 27 vs. San Jose: The best record in hockey at 25-3-2 is good enough for best in the West.

Dec. 28 vs. Anaheim: Cheese and quackers, the playoff contenders keep coming. The Ducks are in sixth place in the West at 17-12-3.

Dec. 30 vs. New Jersey: The Blues close out 2008 against the 16-9-3 Devils, who hold the seventh spot in the East.

That, my friends, is a tough row to hoe. You could bring back Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald, T.J. Oshie AND Erik Johnson and be lucky to get more than a handful of points in a stretch like that. Here’s hoping the team can get healthy soon and stay competitive enough that we’re not discussing the 2009 draft by New Year’s day.

PATERNO NOT DONE YET: 81-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno (he turns 82 Sunday) received a contract extension this week that runs through 2011. That means the Rams can scratch JoePa off their list of potential head coaching candidates as he’ll still be stalking the sidelines (or be seated comfortably in the coach’s booth) in Happy Valley until he’s 84 or 85 years old. Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer had a funny take on Paterno’s extension, saying, “Sometime in 2019, the holographic Inquirer that beams directly onto the tabletop in your breakfast nook will feature a story about Joe Paterno’s frozen head coaching Penn State football from a cryogenics lab in Phoenix. … Joe Paterno is going to coach Penn State football for as long as he lives, if not longer.”

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THINGS TO PONDER

DON’T BELIEVE IT, GIBBY: A bit of satire from the folks at eTrueSports.com, where they say that The Detroit Tigers have signed Iraqi right-handed pitcher Muntader al-Zaidi, 29, to a minor league contract. Zaidi, is the Baghdad television reporter who recently threw his shoes at President Bush. The Web site sources a scout who compares al-Zaidi to former Cardinal Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, saying, “He throws angry. There won’t be any comfortable at-bats against him, I guarantee that.”

RIGHT FROM THE HORSES’ MOUTHS: According to the Associated Press, a commission has begun work to review drug controls in equestrian in response to six horses testing positive at the Beijing Olympic Games.

The riders couldn’t explain the positive tests for their mounts, but a few of the horses spoke out, with comments ranging from “I’m not here to talk about the past” to “The ‘roids weren’t for me, they were for my wife” to one horse who brazenly waved a hoof at the press while shouting, “I have never used steroids, period.” Reportedly another of the horses simply said, “No habla” and dismissed questions on the grounds they were not in his native tongue … which is “horse,” of course.

No word yet on whether or not the U.S. Senate will get involved.

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STATS OF THE DAY

44-61-21 — That’s the punting average (44 yards), longest punt (61 yards) and punts inside the 20-yard-line (21) for Giants punter Jeff Feagles, who was named to the NFC Pro Bowl team yesterday.

50.2-68-18 — That’s the punting average, longest punt and punts inside the 20 for Rams punter Donnie Jones.

Other than landing three less punts inside the 20, Donnie Jones was clearly the better punter this year. And even that stat seems easily explained, as one would assume much better field position for the Giants this year over the Rams. Jones got the shaft.

THE WATERCOOLER
(Post-Dispatch columnists and beat writers share their thoughts on a question of the day.)

Question: Did Mizzou jump the gun with Gary Pinkel’s contract extension and overpay by making him the third-highest paid coach in the Big 12?

JEFF GORDON
No. Pinkel has not built a Top 10 football program, true. His Tigers are not ready to compete with Texas and Oklahoma step for step. His team might lose by 50 points in the Big 12 Championship game. But Mizzou has arrived as a perennial Top 25 program. On Pinkel’s watch, MU has built better facilities, a stronger recruiting base, greater fan support and increased revenue. For two decades, Missouri was one of the biggest underachievers in college football. Pinkel changed all that with Herculean effort. So he earned his extension and raise.

STU DURANDO
No. How can they be jumping the gun after he went 12-2 and 9-3? If fans think the raise was a mistake, then they’re willing to let him go and start over with a new coaching staff. And then maybe it takes that staff seven or eight years to get back to this level.

BILL COATS
Absolutely not. Even though Larry Smith took Mizzou to a couple of minor bowls, the program was in terrible shape when Pinkel arrived. He said it would take time to rebuild, and it did. But now, MU has established itself, and its recruiting success reflects that.

DERRICK GOOLD
The pay isn’t the issue. Pinkel’s new salary fits the going rate for college football coaches at major programs, and Mizzou is starting to fancy itself a major program even before it really has enough major victories. No, the pay has a purpose. The salary is a shield. It makes any buyout difficult and sends would-be suitors shrinking back to their boosters. The concern here is the length of the contract. Committing to Pinkel, the 31st coach in MU history, through 2015 means his tenure will be second only to Don Faurot. He’ll vault past Dan Devine. There is more faith than money in this contract. Is a repeat of the last seven years good enough now? Is Mizzou that confident that Pinkel can keep the Tigers in the BCS picture? It must be. This contract offers consistency and implies sustained excellence. It just as easily could lock the Tigers into a complacent run of up-year, down-year cycles. That’s better than it was, sure. But hasn’t Pinkel positioned the program to demand better yet?

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

MORE SURGERY FOR BALLESTEROS: Five-time golfing major champion Seve Ballesteros has undergone more surgery, this time to drain fluid from his brain, according to the Associated Press. Doctors implanted a valve in Ballesteros’s brain today to remove fluid. Madrid’s La Paz hospital says he is in stable condition and remains in intensive care. The 51-year-old Ballesteros had surgery Oct. 24 to remove a malignant brain tumor.

STEPHEN A. ON PLAX: “Another black athlete. Another sad statistic,” says Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.com. “The embarrassing and precarious set of circumstances Plaxico Burress finds himself in clearly are not an indication of the behavior exhibited by most players of any color in the NFL, particularly African-Americans. The vast majority of NFL players have some sense.”

ALBERT AND THE MVP: While you’ll always find the best Cardinals baseball coverage in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch or here at STLtoday.com, occassionally I’ll run across a different perspective. I thought this piece written by John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus when Albert Pujols won his most recent MVP award had some interesting anecdotes about the Cardinals slugger and his thoughts on hitting. This won’t get you whole article (you have to pay for that), but what Albert has to say at the top is pretty good. Read about his “rookie mistake.”

HOT CARDINALS TOPICS: Again, like I said, you’ll get the best Cards’ coverage from us, so here’s a couple things you don’t want to miss: Rick Hummel’s Hot Stove discussion today, where he includes thoughts on Mark McGwire’s Hall of Fame chances and those of another former Cardinal. … And, don’t forget to come back tomorrow on STLtoday.com to ride the tsunami of Joe Strauss Live!!! as he gets set to head to the baseball Winter Meetings. Ask Joe your questions now before the wave moves out on its way to Las Vegas.

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SOME THINGS I THINK I THINK

PERRON AND ON: St. Louis Blues forward David Perron might be the most exciting St. Louis athlete in-season to watch right now. Kudos to coach Andy Murray for lighting a fire under Perron’s French-Canadien derriere by reminding him the AHL always awaits, and to Perron for stepping up to the challenge. Always fun to watch as a stick-handler, Perron once seemed to fear going into the dark places on the ice. Watch his shifts now. Though it may not always show up on the stat sheet, Perron is charging the puck hard all over the ice and even when he’s not scoring it seems he’s keeping the puck alive and creating opportunities for his teammates. Now that Patrik Berglund is back from injury, hopefully T.J. Oshie also returns soon and Blues fans long-starved for offense will have a troika of young, offensive talent to watch.

A-ROD GONE WILD: Has Alex Rodriguez lost his mind? He’s 33, he’s in the prime of a Hall of Fame career that likely will end with him becoming the all-time home run king, he’s made more money playing baseball than anyone ever, and he’s pretty much always listed as one of the World’s 100 most Beautiful People. He’s got it all, right? So what in the name of all things good is he doing frolicking around with 50-year-old Madonna, who’s probably the only person in American history to have slept more places than George Washington? I just don’t get the fascination with the washed-up pop star. Perhaps Madonna’s playing the Susan Sarandon role of Annie Savoy to A-Rod’s “Nuke” LaLoosh. You watch closely this year and tell me if you don’t see A-Rod trying to “breathe through his eyes.”

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STAT OF THE DAY

11 — Number of games missed by Blues LW Paul Kariya due to his “day-to-day” injury suffered Nov. 5 against Anaheim. “Week-to-week” would have been a more accurate description of Kariya’s lingering hip-flexor injury from the outset, and since this Friday will mark one month since Kariya’s been out, perhaps “month-to-month” would have been better yet. Unfortunately, in the NHL teams do not have to give out much info on their players’ injuries, and the players themselves are often under pressure from management to remain mum also. I don’t know that the secrecy gives teams any sort of competitive advantage, but I do know a lack of information leaves fans totally in the dark about their favorite players and teams. When will Kariya be back? Who knows? Reports now say perhaps sometime next week … whatever that means.