I don't know what it is about going to play in Denver that turns the Blues into complete mush. Maybe it's the altitude. Maybe it's the snow on the ski slopes. Maybe it's years of having seen Patrick Roy in net, Joe Sakic at center, and Peter Forsberg terrify the defense on every shift. (No, it's not the new marijuana laws; the Blues were crap there before that.) I don't know, but I'm glad that when (not if) the Blues finally make the playoffs this year, their opponent can't get permission to play every home game at the Pepsi Center.

Last night was one of those games that seemingly from the start, you knew it wasn’t going to end well. The Blues had a lack of urgency and a lack of focus; it was like they expected to just show up and win against the West’s worst team. That “play to the level of the opponents” attitude has crept in way too often this season, and it’s cost the Blues some valuable points – points that would have them solidly in 4th and a playoff spot right now.

The highlight of it all was a massive gaffe by David Perron on the PK with the Blues down 2-1. After making a smart move to pick the pocket of Ryan O’Reilly, Perron decided to try and stickhandle with the puck … in front of Brian Elliott. O’Reilly stripped Perron of the puck and dished to Jamie McGinn, who beat Elliott cleanly from almost straight out to make it 3-1. It was exactly the kind of bone-headed play we’ve seen Perron make this season, just that usually it happens in the offensive zone where he tries to go 1-on-3 on the defense and loses the puck.

All in all, it was the kind of game we hadn’t seen from the ‘Note in a long time – the kind we had hoped we wouldn’t see again this season. With 3 to play and the playoffs looming, we should probably expect this every so often going forward – which tells you what to expect from this team in the playoffs.

***

What do you do with Perron at this point? I said way back in the early part of the season that it was clear he was being selfish and he needed to sit for a game or two; after last night, I think he absolutely must sit to get the message. I was never overly critical of Perron’s defense – I didn’t think it was stellar, but it wasn’t down to the level of a Petr Klima – but last night he was terrible on the PK. When you look at his stats, at even-strength he’s out there for about 2.14 goals per 60 minutes, one of the better marks on the team. On the PK, though, it’s 9.10 – the worst mark for any Blues player who’s been with the team the entire season. Put another way: he’s on the ice for a PP goal against every 6:36; the league averages a PP goal every 8:59 right now. When Barret Jackman is on the ice, it’s well over 16 minutes per PP goal against.

However, the bigger problem is that he just hasn’t learned to quit doing the same stuff over and over again. Sure, he might “get it” for a game or two, and then he slips into the same habit of trying to stickhandle the puck over every square inch of ice during a game. Sure, Hitchcock keeps throwing him out there – but let’s not pretend even the greatest of head coaches didn’t make mistakes at the height of their careers. Perron has high-end skill, and he certainly has great individual instincts – but does he have enough team instincts to keep him around? That’s a question the front office really needs to answer before the draft.

Speaking of “what to do with people,” … Patrik Berglund. Yes, I thought he was going to finally break out this season and be the controlling 2-way center he has the potential to be. He certainly has that (here comes that word) potential to be that guy, you can see it on occasion when he comes to play with intensity – but when he doesn’t play with intensity, he looks lost out there. Maybe worse yet, he seems way too content to play that way. If Hitchcock went in this morning and told Berglund, “you’re playing the 4th line” I think Bergy would take it and roll over. If Hitchcock sent him to the press box, I think Bergy would meekly accept it. As much as we see flashes of excellence I see way too much inconsistency and listless play (especially on offense) - and that's a real problem coming from a guy with great size and hands and who should be using it to just dominate play on both ends.

Chris Stewart? I still think he’s salvageable, but not in the style of play he’s being used in right now. Stewart is much more effective parked in front of the net, shoveling in garbage; instead, he’s trying to stickhandle the puck around the boards. That’s where we saw him go nuts 2 years ago after coming over from Colorado; let the defense fire away, let Stewart go get the puck and jam home rebounds. He’s mediocre at best defensively, so he has to be generating offense to be most effective – and he’s not going to do that if he’s trying to be a playmaker. With him, I think it means finding the right combination of guys to fit his skill set – a guy who can snipe, and a guy who can do the setting up. Say, a Tarasenko and a Schwartz (just an example, not a recommendation … yet).

***

Days to the end of the regular season: 5 (plus the Boston-Ottawa game on Sunday)

The Blues did not clinch a playoff spot last night – but they’re a little closer after Dallas lost to Los Angeles. All they need is any of the following to clinch:
-- Any win or OTL, or
-- Any 2 of the following: any loss by Columbus, a regulation loss by Detroit, or any loss by Dallas

Minnesota’s loss to Calgary ensures the Wild cannot be in the top-4, and it leaves the Blues 3 up on the Wild with 3 to play. It also means that Vancouver clinches the Northeast by either picking up a point in any of its 3 remaining games, or the Wild losing in any of its 3 remaining games. Anaheim can clinch the Pacific (and the #2 seed) with a win in regulation; they’d also clinch the Pacific with a Kings loss in regulation, or an OTL and a Kings OTL.

Over in the East, it’s down to 5 teams for 4 spots. New Jersey was eliminated yesterday, and Winnipeg sits 3 out with 3 to play and with the 2nd hardest remaining schedule of the group (only Washington has worse). The Jets likely need to go at least 2-0-1 to have a shot; a loss on Tuesday night at Washington would not only give the Capitals the Southeast Division title, it would effectively end things for the Jets.

***

Finally: yesterday afternoon marked the end of an era in Peoria, as the Rivermen played its final home game as an affiliate of the St. Louis Blues (unless that changes at some point in the future). In front of an announced crowd of 4,302 the Rivermen fell to Milwaukee 3-0 (after dropping an equally listless 5-0 result to Charlotte the night before) to complete a disappointing 33-35-5-3 season that saw the team start off slowly and never recover from it. This completes an off-and-on affiliation between the Blues and Peoria that goes back to 1984, when the Blues changed affiliation from Springfield (AHL) and Montana (CHL) after being in Salt Lake City (CHL) from 1977-1983.

The Rivermen are the only minor league franchise to win the Turner Cup (IHL champions) and Kelly Cup (ECHL champions), taking the former in 1984-95 and 1990-91 and the latter in 1999-2000. While very competitive in those earlier years, in the current stint in the AHL the Rivermen struggled to get into the playoffs and drew the Houston Aeros in all 3 trips, getting swept out in ’05-06 and ’10-11 and losing in 7 in ’08-09 (and all 3 series-clinching games coming at the Civic Center). Peoria fans were understandably not happy with the Blues organization for failing to provide players for a competitive team most of the time, and calling players up when those guys started showing signs of promise to fill needs at the NHL level; the decision by Tom Stillman to sell the franchise only poured salt in that wound, and the fact that it was announced after reported denials of any intent to sell the team just aggravated it even more.

A few Rivermen trivia answers to remember for years to come:

-- Last Rivermen goal: T.J. Hensick (assisted by Nathan Longpre and Evgeni Grachev) at 3:31 of the 1st, on April 19 against Grand Rapids (which means the Rivermen were scoreless in the final 176:29)
-- Last Rivermen goal in Peoria: Evgeni Grachev (assisted by T.J. Hensick and Andrew Murray) at 14:37 of the 3rd, on April 16 against Charlotte. (The Rivermen were up 3-0 at this point; they’d go on to lose 4-3 in OT - which sums up their entire season.)
-- Last Rivermen win: April 13, 4-3 in OT at Grand Rapids
-- Last Rivermen win at home: April 10, a 4-0 win over Rockford

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