Two years ago, in his 11th season with the Blues and amid his wife's serious health concerns, general manager Larry Pleau signed a contract extension and agreed that 2010 would be his last season with the club.

The team's transition to incoming general manager Doug Armstrong has been months in the making, and therefore the finality of Pleau's career coming to a close had yet to hit him.

But as Pleau sat at the Blues' draft table in Los Angeles last week, it hit him like a Bobby Plager hip check. His final day under contract as GM is Wednesday.

"It's kind of sad, there's no doubt about it ... because you've been there for a long time," said Pleau, who is the third-longest tenured GM in the NHL. "But we did it for the right things. It's going to give me a lot more time with (his wife) Wendy. I've got no complaints, 13 years here, it was a great run."

In 1997, Pleau became the 10th GM in Blues history, succeeding Ron Caron. Pleau "is ready to manage in the NHL," Caron declared at the time.

The Blues went to the playoffs the first seven seasons that Pleau was in charge, making it to the Western Conference finals in 2001. That was as far as the club advanced in his tenure.

"It's a hard thing to do, winning the Stanley Cup ... a lot of things have to go right," said former Blues coach Joel Quenneville, who won his first Cup with Chicago this month. "We won some rounds, we had a very competitive team and we did some good things together.

"But the Western Conference ... Detroit, Colorado and Dallas, all had some strong teams at that time ... and unfortunately we never got through it. We almost got it done the one year, but I think our run in St. Louis was pretty effective."

Still, Pleau said: "You just would have liked to have won the Cup."

Pleau looked to be on his way out the door in 2006, when Dave Checketts bought the team and hired John Davidson as president. But Davidson kept Pleau on as GM, learning the ropes from him.

"Out of the chute, I wanted to change things quickly, quickly, quickly," Davidson remembers. "Larry teaches you to have patience."

The main reason Pleau agreed two years ago to step away in 2010 was his wife's health. She was in a battle with cancer and underwent a stem-cell transplant in 2007.

Today, Wendy's cancer is in remission, and she has needed only one blood transfusion in the last 10 months. She's now driving a car and going to the gym and last week attended the NHL draft in Los Angeles.

"She still has things she's dealing with, but from a year ago, it's 100, 200-degree turn ... just a huge reversal," Pleau said. "It has a lot to do with everyone around here, the team and the fans, all the support. Without that, she couldn't do what she was doing."

Moving forward, the couple will be able to spend more time together.

"Hockey has been in his blood so much every day that it's hard to get away from it," Davidson said. "But there's lot of sunshine and warm beaches in this country, so I want him to enjoy that as much as he can."

Pleau, who turns 63 today, won't vanish. His future with the team had been vague, but recently the Blues have been discussing a specific role for him.

"We're going to lean on him for a lot of different things, including our amateur draft," Davidson said. "We have to make a decision about who's going to replace (amateur scouting director) Jarmo Kekalainen, but Larry can certainly oversee that."

Said Pleau: "Whatever the involvement is, I'm looking forward to it. We're going to stay in St. Louis for a while anyway, and I would love to be able to stay involved."

But Pleau understands that his time as GM is complete after Wednesday.

"It's hard, let's face it, you'd like to be running it, but those days are over," he said. "The key thing is, the Blues are going to have a heck of a general manager for a long time."

Davidson wasn't surprised to hear Pleau's words about Armstrong.

"You don't find people like that," he said. "He's gone out of his way to make sure that Doug was getting set up properly."

Added Checketts: "Larry has had one of the most accomplished careers in the history of hockey. He is one of the main reasons this franchise is poised for great success and I am grateful that he will remain with us so we can enjoy the fruits of his labor together going forward."