Blues D-man Jay McKee told me he fully expects to be back in the lineup Wednesday in Chicago. He’s been out since September 26th with a fractured foot.
Eric Brewer is also skating. He would like to play on Wednesday but the Blues may elect to hold him out until the weekend.
If Brewer returns on Wednesday the Blues will probably place Erik Johnson on IR to make room for both McKee and Brewer. The club only has 22 players on their active roster after Micki Dupont was sent back to Peoria. If Johnson is put on IR he can come off at any point since it would be retroactive back to when he last played. Johnson is also hoping to play on Wednesday but the Blues may take their time with this one.
Power-less Play!
The Blues better find a way to produce with the extra man. Right now they are having trouble sustaining pressure on the power play. Two things would certainly help.
1. Allow a forward to carry the puck in the zone
2. Get Brad Boyes on the ice
The Blues have no point presence on the power play whatsoever. Opposing teams penalty killers are collapsing down low and taking away time and space form the Blues playmakers. The fact that the Blues don’t have a true threat up top on the PP certainly hurts. Erik Johnson is the Blues best D-man on the PP and he will improve the PP when he returns from injury. I would like to see Lee Stempniak pounding one- timers up top. I have always been a huge believer in having your best players on the ice on the power play.
The Blues should allow their forwards to carry the puck into the offensive zone with the man advantage. This would help the unit get set up. The dump-ins have been soft and their puck retrievers are not winning battles. The bottom line here is Paul Kariya and Doug Weight need the puck on their stick. Neither guy has the puck enough on the PP. Why isn’t Brad Boyes, the Blues hottest forward, on the ice with the Blues first PP unit?
Rink Rats!
How long will it be before Anaheim trades Llya Bryzgalov? Brian Burke is working to get this done as quickly as possible.
Avalanche future superstar forward Paul Stastny lost 12 pounds over the summer. His older brother Yan deserves a lot of credit for pushing Paul over the off-season.
Yan, by the way scored twice this past Saturday for Peoria and will become a group VI free agent if he doesn’t play in 39 NHL games this season.
Defenseman Jamie Rivers, who played two games with Montreal this season before being suspended after failing to report to Hamilton, has a signed a deal to play with Spartak in the Russian Super League. Rivers will leave for Russia by the end of the month. The transfer window closes November third. Rivers is being compensated quite well by Spartak.
Former Blues forward Eric Boguniecki is leading the German league in scoring.
Blues Clues!
The Blues will likely keep D-man Steve Wagner even after Brewer, McKee, and Johnson return from injury. Wagner has impressed by keeping his game simple and playing smart hockey. The Blues will have to make a move to make room for all three. These situations usually work themselves out but if the Blues don’t suffer any injuries between now and then things could become pretty interesting.
University of Maine Goaltender Ben Bishop stopped 46 shots in a 2-0 loss to Denver over the weekend. This is exactly what the Blues like to hear. Sure they want to see him win games but they also want him get some work to see as much action as possible.
Goaltender Mike Mckenna has signed a deal with the Portland Pirates of the AHL.
Injury Update!
Just returned from practice. Erik Johnson tried to skate but is still pretty sore. He is probably the furthest away of the three.
Brewer will likely wait until next week to return. He felt better today and had his first full day of practice with the team. He could play Sat. at the earliest.
Jay McKee looks good to go for Wedneday.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
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St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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