Jason Arnott made it clear when he signed with the Blues last summer that he didn't want to lead the team in talking.
A veteran of 17 NHL seasons who turned 37 years old in opening week, Arnott was labeled a significant addition to the locker room when he signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the club.
"I didn't want to come in and just be a voice in the room," he said. "I still wanted to contribute offensively, and I still think I can play."
Arnott will bring a three-game scoring streak into tonight's game against Minnesota. He has four goals in that stretch, including both of the Blues' tallies in Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to Vancouver. He had a little assistance from Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo on one, but as Arnott said afterward, "Hey, we'll take 'em all."
Arnott has twice reached 33 goals in his career — once as a rookie with Edmonton in 1993-94 and again with Nashville in 2008-09 — but his totals have dropped the last couple of seasons. There were questions about how much offense the 6-foot-3 center had to offer, and rightly so, but he has answered those with 12 goals in 42 games.
"Has he ever," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Older players, the first thing that goes for me is the hands, and he's still got great, quick hands. So he's able to be a productive player. He's skating well. If you've got that skill package and you haven't lost it, as long as you're not feeling like you've got to be careful out there because you don't want to get hurt, those (older) guys can be effective.
"It's in their mind more than anything. They're willing to pay the price to score. 'Arnie' got whacked pretty hard in the last couple of games trying to score goals. Both goals (Thursday) are scored from the goal crease area, where you know it's going to be pretty physical in there. It's nice to see."
On Arnott's first goal Thursday, he was standing near the crease and poked a rebound past Luongo for a 1-1 score. On his second of the night, he took a feed from Alex Pietrangelo and put a backhanded shot on net, which Luongo initially stopped but then let trickle over the goal line.
The two-goal night, Arnott's first of the season, gave him eight goals and 15 points in the last 20 games. After combining in Washington and New Jersey last season to post a plus-minus rating of minus-6, he is a plus-12 with the Blues and has won 49.5 percent of his faceoffs.
"I just think he's been real consistent, he's been one of our better forwards all year long," Blues forward Scott Nichol said. "If you look at our best players on our team, they're our hardest workers. You look at (David) Backes, Arny and (T.J. Oshie) — it's the second and third effort. If you can't follow those guys, you don't belong in this league or on this team.
"With Arnie, you look at his offense and I think it's because his defensive play has been so great. He's always in the right position in our end. He's making the crisp breakout passes. You see a guy that's played 1,200 games back-checking and doing the second effort. It's just contagious for everybody."
Arnott, who played his 1,214th game Thursday, is rarely out of position, and that has as much to do with his success as any aspect of his game.
"It helps, no question, just reading and reacting, knowing where the puck is going to be at times," he said. "Just having the confidence to go out and stay with it. When things aren't going right, it is a very frustrating sport when you're not scoring and things aren't going well. Everybody goes through slumps, but you've just got to stick with it, stay positive and keep going."
But therein lies the difficult part for Arnott. He's not on the ice as much as he would like, ranking eighth among forwards in ice time with 14 minutes, 37 seconds per game. In his last 24 games, he has played more than 15 minutes only six times. Arnott said he readied himself for a reduced role this season, but it hasn't been easy.
"It's different, it's tough, no question," Arnott said. "I have my moments where I'm still learning how to do that. It's hard some nights, but you've got to realize that I am getting older. For the most part, I'm getting out there as much as (Hitchcock) can get me out there."
Said Hitchcock: "A lot of times with older players, they become 'game only' players, and especially when you're playing every second night, they rest. He's been able to do that, plus take care of himself, so he's got good energy in games. He really takes care of himself off the ice, so we're able to put that balance in place."
If the rest keeps Arnott and the Blues playing well into spring, then he's all for it.
"You've just got to get it through your head that hopefully it's helping me out and will save me for the end and have lots of energy for the playoffs," he said. "It's been fun so far, playing with this group — always an exciting time every time you hit the ice."
