QUESTION: The Blues are really struggling to win games and coach Andy Murray got the dreaded “vote of confidence” from owner Dave Checketts last week. Murray obviously did a great job getting this team to play well down the stretch last year to make a run to the playoffs, but do you believe he can take this current team to the next level?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD

Andy Murray proved last season that he could be a successful coach with this roster, taking the Blues from 15th place in the West to sixth place in two months time. However, what management wants to see is a “complete” season from a Murray-coached team.

It’s unfair to look back at the 2006-07 season because Murray didn’t arrive until Dec. 12, 2006. But let’s look at the last three seasons:

2007-08: 22-14-5 (49 points) in first half of season . . . 11-22-8 (30 points) in second half

2008-09: 16-22-3 (35 points) in first half of season . . . 25-9-7 (57 points) in second half.

2009-10: 6-8-4 (16 points) through 18 games . . .

There is no rhyme or reason as to why Murray’s teams are good for a half and bad for a half. Before he can coach the Blues to the “next level,” there has to be more consistency throughout the regular season.

JEFF GORDON

Right now Murray’s program has stalled out. So, at the moment, he doesn’t look like the right coach to move the program forward. He has to change that perception ASAP. This is one of those critical points that pop up from time to time in a coaching regime. If this team doesn’t produce a nice five- or six-game winning streak pretty soon, John Davidson will have to change things up. The veteran players are failing Murray at the offensive end — and such players are almost impossible to move in the salary cap era of the NHL. With rosters so difficult to overhaul these days, that really puts the pressure on coaches. That’s not fair, but that’s the way it is.

DAN O’NEILL

I don’t think Andy Murray will have any trouble taking this team to the next level, as long as David Backes (31 goals last season) scores more than once this season, as long as T. J. Oshie scores more than twice, as long as Paul Kariya gets another point – he hasn’t in 10 games, as long as Brad Boyes gets back the pace he’s shown the past couple of seasons, as long as Erik Johnson contributes more than one goal this season.

According to the most recent NHL stats, Murray hasn’t had a shot on goal all season. Only four teams in the league have a smaller goals-against average per game than the Blues’ average of 2.5. Coaching isn’t the problem.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)

At times Andy Murray can be his own worst enemy. If Murray is going to have a chance to take this team to the next level he’s going to have to make some adjustments, most importantly how he runs his bench. A wise hockey man once told me every coach has a shelf life and it doesn’t take long before fatigue and illness sets in with a coach. Fatigue and illness kicks in when management gets sick and tired of the coach. Are we there yet? Coaches get fired, it’s a way of life. Maybe the biggest issue with Murray is that he focuses way too much on the opposition during a hockey game. Sometimes it’s just best to pay more attention to your own team and force the opponent to react to what you do. At the end of the day you have to win to keep your job and if Dave Checketts is serious with the words he said last week, then Murray better kick it in high gear before it’s too late. Same goes with the players who most definitely have yet to live up to their end of the bargain. The fact the Blues picked up Murray’s option certainly works in his favor. The Blues do not want to be in a position where they’re paying two coaches. If the teams doesn’t start winning they may not have a choice. The Blues will let this thing breathe for a few more weeks before they rush into any major shakeup.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Which of the young Blues players do you feel will grow into the most prodigious goal-scorer for this team?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
It seems like the answer to this question changes each month, and I suppose that’s to be expected. When Paul Kariya once said that Patrik Berglund would be a 100-point player in the NHL, I agreed with Kariya. That’s the player I saw, too, a guy who would have more assists than goals, but a guy who could score 5-on-5 and also use his one-timer to rack up power-play goals. But Berglund, stuck on two goals this season, has been invisible.

T.J. Oshie scored 14 goals in 59 games last season, including a dandy on Roberto Luongo, and so I felt that if he stayed healthy, he might be the best goal scorer of the young bunch. Oshie has played a good all-around game this season, but he has just two goals. He spent time on the defensive stopper unit and missed a week with an appendectomy, but when in an offensive role, Oshie hasn’t created many scoring opportunities for himself.

So my answer in November is David Perron, who leads the Blues with seven goals. It’s the safe answer after Tuesday’s hat-trick, but Perron simply makes things happen. He has an edge to his game. He creates space. He can stick-handle with anyone on the team. He’s got an underestimated shot. Granted, Perron has been playing on a good line lately, with Andy McDonald and Brad Boyes, but he deserves that assignment. If you had to pick between the three today, you might pick Oshie because of his constant presence on the ice, but if your team needs a goal-scorer, you have to take Perron.

JEFF GORDON
I’m in the tank for David Perron. I love the kid’s tenacity and he seems hungry to score. He has a nose for the puck and takes hits to make plays around the net. He has the skills to beat defensemen one-on-one to create his own opportunities. He is a good passer, too, and sometimes is too unselfish. He isn’t a big guy, but he isn’t easily knocked off the puck. He is a bit of a showman, too, which only adds to his potential.

TOM TIMMERMANN
Well, I don’t think any of them are going to be battling for the league lead anytime soon — make that ever — but if one of them is going to lead the Blues in goals for years to come, I think it will be Perron. You don’t pop up in the NHL and start scoring a ton of goals if you didnt’ score a ton of goals at lower levels. It’s hard to be a 50-goal scorer in the NHL if you scored 15 in a half season of juniors, unless you can say you were surrounded by lousy teammates. Perron had some good goal-scoring seasons as a junior, which probably gives him the best chance in the NHL.

DAN O’NEILL
I’m not sure any of them are going to become prodigious goal scorers. Right now, I would settle for “occasional” goal scorer, the way this team is going.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
All these players play with a high level of skill. They can all skate and play with the puck. Forecasting the future is hard, but in this case there’s one obvious answer. David Perron is playing with a ton of confidence and, more importantly, he’s getting an opportunity to play with some pretty good players in Boyes and McDonald. He has an underrated shot but also understands how to play with talented players and we’re starting to see him elevate his game. Perron is also two years younger than Oshie, who in my opinion will develop into the best all-around player of the group. Both Oshie and Berglund are struggling with confidence right now but should eventually find their game. We haven’t seen enough from guys like Aaron Palushaj or Lars Eller at the NHL level to draw any real analysis.

Perron brings a level of enthusiasm and passion to the rink unmatched by the other players. This kid wants to be a star and spends more time away from the rink and in the summer developing his craft.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Brett Hull will enter the Hockey Hall of Fame next week. There are a lot of great names and great players in the long history of the St. Louis Blues. If you had to pick one person historically as the face of the franchise, would that person be Brett Hull?

JEFF GORDON
Brett Hull made the Blues a mainstream attraction during his days here. Scottrade is the House that Brett built. But I would consider Bernie Federko the face of the franchise. His brilliant play kept this franchise going forward through really dark times. Save for a cameo with the Red Wings, he spent his career with the Blues. He has remained heavily involved with the franchise in his retirement. He has old-school ties to the Plagers.

DERRICK GOOLD
I would like to say Al MacInnis, the gentleman from Port Hood with his exceptional play and understated presence, but the face of the Blues was, is and probably always should be Brett Hull. Grinning, of course. Not only is Hull the most charismatic player ever to where the Note, he changed what hockey means to St. Louis. I wish I could remember the exact number: Before Hull arrived there were less than five rinks in the greater St. Louis area. His goal-scoring binges and his panache inspired an exponential proliferation of rinks. Hockey was in because Hull was here. All around the area, you can still find rinks that Hull built. What that meant was hockey took hold in the area as more than just a spectator sport. Couple the increase in rinks with the Blues alumni who became coaches and managers of hockey teams, and suddenly St. Louis was on the map as a source for hockey talent. Starting a few years ago, St. Louis natives started going in the NHL draft. Blues’ Cam Janssen and Ben Bishop are both part products of the rink rage, and they are from an era of young St. Louis-native players that can be considered the Hull Generation. Heck, even Mr. Hockey Andy Strickland, I bet, is a chronic puckhead with an incurable case of mullet envy because of Hull. The Golden Brett didn’t just make watching the game popular with his flamboyant scoring. He made playing the game popular, and for that he’s the face of hockey in St. Louis, Blues and otherwise.

DAN O’NEILL
“Face of the Franchise” is a term that is a little hard to get your arms around. Certainly, there has been no one more dynamic or important to the franchise than Hull. He is the leading goal scorer (527) in Blues history, he is the most colorful/controversial player in Blues history and he is the person most responsible for the team building the Kiel Center (now Scotttrade). Two years before Hull came to the Blues, they were drawing 13,000-14,000. By the time he left, they were drawing 19,000. I have my personal favorites — Red Berenson, Brian Sutter, Mike Liut, Barclay Plager … but there is no question Brett Hull has been the most influential player in the team’s history.

DAVE LUECKING
It’s a tough call because the team has had some great players over the years — guys like Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter, the Plagers and Al MacInnis — but I’d go with Hull. He brought pizzazz to the franchise, creating a buzz in town only a few years after the team almost left for Saskatoon. His charisma on and off the ice put butts in the seats, at home and on the road.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
In a way this is a trick question. Is Brett Hull the greatest player to ever play for the Blues? In my opinion yes, but that doesn’t automatically make him the face of the organization. This organization has a lot of faces for me. No one is more recognizable than Bob Plager. Hall of Famer Bernie Federko played all but one of his prolific years here. Then you have guys like Kelly Chase, Brian Sutter, and Al MacInnis. John Davidson is certainly the current face but he’s closer to being the all-time face of the New York Rangers than he would as a Blue.

But what separates Hull from the rest is the impact he made on the sport of hockey in St. Louis. To this day no one has ever had the star power Brett created. He took over the city when he played here and made several of his teammates household names in the city. He was a one-man show unlike any player that’s ever skated for the Blues and made going to games an event. Just like no Cardinal will ever be bigger than Stan the Man, no Blues player can steal the spotlight from the Golden Brett.

Except maybe T.J. Oshie … he’s got a ways to go still.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
Tough question but I’d have to say no, Hull is not the “historical” face of the franchise. He is certainly the most dynamic scorer and dominating presence the franchise has ever had, but to me the “face” of a franchise has to be more than a guy who lit the lamp a lot while wearing the Blue Note. Hull spent 10-plus seasons here — the best of his career no doubt — but he was also a big part of Stanley Cup winners in Dallas and Detroit, making his legacy a little tougher to read.

The real historical face of the St. Louis Blues franchise is Bernie Federko. He is a homegrown Hall of Famer, he spent 13 of 14 NHL seasons wearing the Blue Note before being traded for Adam Oates and he’s been an integral part of the franchise in the nearly 20 years he’s been retired. He was a great player and has become an ambassador for the team in his retirement. Hull was simply a great player.

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.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Is there a specific area of need you think the Blues should address in the weekend’s draft, or do they just take the best available player at No. 17 overall?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
The Blues have the No. 17 pick, but they believe they’ll get a player on their Top 10 list. That’s not an uncommon feeling heading into a draft. When the Blues drafted Patrik Berglund No. 25 overall in 2006, they felt they could get a player who was in their Top 15. They had to move up from No. 30 to do so, but they did it. Every team has a different list, so players you don’t expect to be available sometimes are.

The Blues don’t have a No. 1 (Erik Johnson) or a No. 4 (Alex Pietrangelo) draft selection like they’ve had in recent years, but they’ll get a good player at No. 17 . . . assuming they stand pat. Remember, T.J. Oshie went No. 24, Berglund went No. 25, David Perron went No. 26 in their respective drafts. Those three make up the youthful core of the team.

As far as this year’s draft, I believe the Blues will take the best player available, but they’re probably hoping its a forward. At some point, the Blues are going to trade one of their young forwards (not saying Perron, Berglund or Oshie, but somebody), and they’re going to have to keep the cupboard filled. So listen for names like RW Jordan Schroeder, C Scott Glennie or C Louis Leblanc at No. 17.

JEFF GORDON
They need to draft a forward. Which one . . . well, that is a toss-up, since nobody can predict how the draft will unfold after the first three picks. I’ve seen at least a half-dozen forward prospects linked to the Blues. Scorers, power forwards, skilled two-way centers — every description has been mentioned as possibilities for this team. Adding talent in any of these categories would be nice.

TOM TIMMERMANN
It’s unlikely they’ll get anyone who can make an immediate impact that far down, so I think it’s wrong to draft for immediate need. That being said, if there’s someone out there who has any kind of potential as a goalscorer, I say grab him. While Larry Pleau has told me one million times you can never have too many defensemen, if you can develop your own goalscorers, you save a bunch of cash and a lot of headaches on the free agency market. I say: Go for the offense.

DAN O’NEILL
Drafting at 17th, the Blues can’t approach things committed to filling a specific need. They have young forwards, they have young defensemen and they have young goaltenders. At the same time, they are a team that was eliminated in four games in the playoffs, so they can use help everywhere. I would be thinking forward, but I would be looking for the best player available.

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: 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.