THE WATER COOLER:

The Blues have the most points in the NHL but only one All-Star representative. Are they the best-kept secret in the league?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD:

I don't think the Blues are a secret among NHL teams, but I do think they were slightly overlooked by the league, which selected the all-star players. Of the top 9 teams in the NHL standings today, the Blues are the only club without multiple players participating. David Backes is an all-star in the eyes of most GMs and should be tagging along with Brian Elliott in Ottawa. That said, one selection, and it being the backup goalie, speaks the group effort the Blues deliver on a nighly basis.

DAN O'NEILL:

I'll go one better, Most appropriate is the Blues' only All-Star representative is - at least at this point - their backup goalie.

I don't know if the Blues are the "best" kept secret. Certainly they are "a" secret, and as well they should be. Entertainment value aside, regular seasons don't carry much weight in team sports anymore.

The Cardinals' World Series championship underlines the point. If not for the Atlanta Braves and Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol, it never happens and David Freese is a question mark coming into 2012 instead of a Greek god.

Does it really matter where a team finishes in the Big 12 standings, or the AFC North or the NHL Central? No. All that matters is if they make the postseason. That's where reputations are built.

The Blues need to do something in the playoffs before they will be considered legit. Regular season success is great for season ticket holders and nice for self-esteem. But teams like Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver and Boston are elite team because they have had both regular season success and postseason success.

That's a hurdle the Blues still need to clear before they show up on the radar in New York, Canada and other places outside the metro area.

JEFF GORDON:

The hockey world is on to the Note. Versus, er, the NBC Sports network has made them a regular. ESPN.com bumped the Blues up to No. 2 in its latest power ratings. Ken Hitchcock is getting lots of love from the national pucks scribes. While the Canucks and Red Wings are still widely viewed as the Western Conference teams to beat, Hitchcock's presence here gives this franchise the credibility it has lacked since the Presidents Trophy days.

ROGER HENSLEY:

It's hard to believe the first-place team in the Western Conference can be considered a secret, but the Blues seemingly haven't gotten the league-wide recognition they deserve. Perhaps it's because they have lagged in the standings for so many years. Perhaps it's because they lack big-time star power. Perhaps it's the grind-it-out, 200-foot-game system instilled by coach Ken Hitchcock.

Or, perhaps it's because the Blues simply are more steak than sizzle.

The Blues lack a true sharpshooter to display night after night on highlight reels. There is no Steven Stamkos (30 goals), Phil Kessel (24) or Jonathan Toews (24). In fact, the Blues leading scorer, David Backes, has just 14 goals on the season -- which ties him for 55th in the league. And Backes 32 points overall ranks just 67th. It can be hard for others to take notice when you don't have that guy who consistently lights the lamp.

But what the Blues do have is a true understanding of the "team" game. I believe their strength is the fact that they are built from the back to the front. Consider: Netminder Brian Elliott (the team's lone All-Star representative) is second in the league in goals-against average at 1.68 and second in save percentage at .937. And he's the so-called backup goaltender, with 22 games played this season. Elliott's goaltending partner Jaroslav Halak, meanwhile, ranks 8th in the league with a 2.08 GAA in 24 games and is getting stronger and stronger as the season progresses. Is there another tandem that comes close to that?

Then comes the defense, which has played outstanding all season and deserves much credit for those gaudy goalie stats. And not only do they protect the net, they produce. Kevin Shattenkirk's 23 points ranks 18th in the league among defensemen and Alex Pietrangelo comes in right behind him with 21 points, good enough for 26th among defensemen. And with Shatty (plus-17), Petro (+14) and Barret Jackman (+13), the Blues have three defensemen who rank in the top 15 in the league in plus-minus. Roman Polak's numbers lag only because he has missed time due to injuries.

Which leads us back to those forwards ... the non-highlight reel contributors. It would be easy to look at the lack of a pure goal scorer and consider this area a weakness. That would be unfair and false. The strength of the Blues offense is, once again, the "team" contributions. There is not one player that must shine for the Blues to succeed, obviously. This is an unselfish group that digs, hits, passes and forechecks relentlessly. In fact, though none rank among the league leaders, the Blues have six forwards who have put up double-digit goals this season: Backes (14), T.J. Oshie (14), Alex Steen (13), Jason Arnott (12) and Patrick Berglund and Chris Stewart with 10 each. That, folks, is called balance. As long as the puck is going in the net, does anyone really care who put it there? The Blues certainly don't seem to mind.

So are they a secret? Perhaps. But you can keep the sizzle. Just keep giving me the steak.