NHL: St. Louis has 'em singing the blues

This year has been a tale of three seasons for the St. Louis Blues. The first season spanned the period from October through December, when the Blues had an outstanding record of 25-5-4-0, and not only were on top of the Western Conference Central Division, but were on top of the world. The heartbreak from last year’s quick exodus in the playoffs was behind them and completely forgotten.

But then came the second of three seasons.

Right wing Pavol Demitra sat out for the entire month of January and only played in six contests in February and March. The Blues sorely missed the play of the gritty Czech, but still managed to record a respectable mark of 9-6-0-2 in January. However, the increase in losses proved to be the beginning of a disturbing trend in the Gateway City.

Injuries struck at the heart of the St. Louis blue line corps in February. Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger both missed significant amounts of ice time due to injuries. MacInnis sat out for 23 games in February and March, and his counterpart Pronger missed 31 games during the same time frame. Is it any wonder that the Blues tumbled to a 7-10-7-3 record for the duration of those two months?

General manager Larry Pleau was thinking along those same lines, and made some moves that should pay dividends for St. Louis. He acquired defenseman Alexei Gusarov from the Rangers on March 5 in a deal that sent Peter Smrek to New York.

Then—in a move that might earn the Stanley Cup—Pleau acquired Keith Tkachuk from Phoenix for three players and this year’s number one draft pick. The hard-playing Tkachuk strengthens an already-strong team that includes the physical presence of Scott Mellanby, Dallas Drake, Jamal Mayers, MacInnis, and Pronger. Add to that the solid goaltending of Roman Turek, the strong offensive play of Pierre Turgeon and Scott Young, and you have a recipe for winning Lord Stanley’s chalice.

The Blues’ drive for playoff immortality started in April, and has proceeded well. They finished the regular season off with a 2-1-1-0 mark after April Fool’s Day, and have proved to the rest of the NHL that they are no joke.

Just ask the San Jose Sharks.

Last year, the Sharks eliminated the Blues in the first round of the postseason tournament. This year, the Blues paid back that loss in spades as they defeated the Sharks in six games.

Just ask the Dallas Stars.

The Blues swept the Stars in a series where the outcome was never in doubt. After taking the first two games at Reunion Arena, the only question for St. Louis was who would be the opponent in the Western Conference finals?

The answer: Colorado Avalanche.

The Avs were taken to the seven game limit by a frisky, overachieving bunch from Los Angeles. The Kings whipped up on the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round, and nearly upset the highly favored Colorado team in the semifinal round, extending them to the final game.

So now is the time for St. Louis to step it up a notch. Turek has been a wall in goal, allowing only 1.60 goals-against-average and saving nearly 94 percent of the shots that he has faced. His numbers were even better in the sweep against his former team, the Stars. If he continues to perform at an elevated rate, he could cast aside all doubts and prove that he is indeed a Stanley Cup goalie.

The aforementioned injured Blues have had a chance to rest and recover from their injuries, and that, coupled with Colorado’s grueling seven game series against Los Angeles, might make the Blues a slight favorite to advance to the finals.

Only time will tell, but if the Blues can play as well in their "third season" as they did in their "first," coach Joel Quenneville and company might be sipping from the "Stanley" next month.