Blues goaltending prospect and St. Louis native Ben Bishop continued building a better future for himself over the weekend.
Representing the Peoria Rivermen, the Blues' top minor-league affiliate, Bishop was selected as the MVP of the American Hockey League All-Star game Sunday and named the top goaltender of the weekend event, which included a skills competition.
The honors came after Bishop stopped 10 of 11 shots during regulation of the all-star game, helping the Western Conference to an 8-7 shootout victory. He also turned aside all four shots he faced in the shootout.
Bishop, 25, was not originally chosen to the all-star roster. He was a late addition, making his performance even more satisfying.
"Two weeks ago, I wasn’t on this team," Bishop told the Peoria Journal-Star. "Things have a funny way of working out. It was a lot of fun, the awards are a little extra, too."
Peoria forward T.J. Hensick had a goal, an assist and scored the West's first shootout goal, which proved to be the game-winner. Rivermen defenseman Cade Fairchild posted an assist and was a plus-2.
But Bishop stole the show.
His performance will no doubt open more eyes around the NHL. He is likely to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and with the Blues' recent signing of Brian Elliott, it appears the club may have interest in dealing him before the league's Feb. 27 trading deadline.
"With all that is going on around him, I hope it works out for him," Hensick told the Peoria Journal-Star. "He’s the best goalie I’ve ever played with, and it would be great to have him for a playoff run here — we’d be nowhere (as solid) right now without him. But if he gets an NHL chance somewhere, I predict he won’t be ever be back at this (minor-league) level."
Several of Bishop's Blues' teammates took to Twitter to voice their support:
Alex Steen (@Steener20): "Congrats to big Bish on AHL all star MVP honors."
Andy McDonald (@10_AMac): "Great job by @BenBishop30! Always works his tail off; happy to see he was AHL allstar game MVP!"
David Perron (@DP_57): "Fully agree (with McDonald)."
Click here to read Dave Eminian's coverage in the Peoria Journal-Star.
