head coach: Joel Quenneville

roster: C - Pierre Turgeon, Darren Turcotte, Harry York, Craig Conroy, Pascal Rheaume. LW - Geoff Courtnall, Tony Twist, Pavol Demitra. RW - Brett Hull, Jim Campbell, Joe Murphy, Scott Pellerin, Rudy Poeschek, Blair Atcheynum, Kelly Chase, Terry Yake. D - Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, Steve Duchesne, Marc Bergevin, Chris McAlpine, Jamie Rivers. G - Grant Fuhr, Jamie McLennan, Brent Johnson.

injuries: Pierre Turgeon, c (broken right forearm, three weeks); Jamie McLennan, g (strained groin, day-to-day); Darren Turcotte, c (bruised shoulder, day-to-day).

transactions: Recalled Brent Johnson, g, from Worcester (AHL).

standings:

Western Conference - Central Division
Team       GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA  
St Louis    9   7   1   1    15   31   18   
Detroit     9   6   1   2    14   34   19  
Dallas      9   5   3   1    11   30   20   
Phoenix     7   4   2   1     9   22   20   
Toronto     8   2   5   1     5   16   23  
Chicago     8   1   7   0     2   11   28   

game results:

10/22 at Carolina      L 4-3
10/23 Vancouver        W 4-1
10/25 Washington       W 5-2
10/29 at Philadelphia  W 3-2 
10/30 Colorado         T 2-2
11/01 San Jose         W 2-0

team news:

by Joe Ashkar, St. Louis Correspondent

Five weeks into the 1997-98 NHL season, the red hot St. Louis Blues continued their solid play as they sit on top of the National Hockey League standings. The Blues, along with the Detroit Red Wings lead all teams with 24 points.

Around the hockey world, many have questioned the Blues' fast start and some have attributed it to the lack of quality opponents. In the past week, the Blues changed that perspective when they went into the hostile environment of Corestates Center in Philadelphia and handed the tough Flyers a 3-2 home loss. Less than 24 hours later, the Blues dominated the Colorado Avalanche by jumping to an early 2-0 lead before settling for a 2-2 tie.

For the record, the Blues have actually been impressive against the league's top teams. They have a 4-1-2 record in games against top teams such as Detroit, Dallas, Colorado, Phoenix, Washington and Philadelphia. These teams have a combined 47-23-17 record. So much for the lack of a quality opponent.

In fact, the Blues' only loss to an above .500 team was against the Flyers on Monday after playing a tough stretch of four games in six nights.

Amongst other things, the Blues are off to their best start in franchise history, they tied their longest winning streak in team history at seven games and spurted an early nine-game home unbeaten streak (8-0-1). A dramatic change considering the Blues finished with a 17-20-4 home record last season.

What's the secret to the early success? Some may attribute to the 12 upcoming free agents at the end of the season, causing the players to put out their best performance. That's possible, but the recipe lies a little deeper than that.

The main reason for the fast start is the terrific coaching of Joel Quenneville. Quenneville has installed a new system in which the players have bought into. The Blues are executing Quenneville's system by playing a clever positional game away from the puck, taking away every inch of open ice, and trapping in the neutral zone. Patience is key as the Blues frustrate opposing forwards before taking advantage of scoring situations.

Special teams are another key ingredient to the team's success. The addition of defenseman Steve Duchesne has sparked a revived power play. The Blues rank fifth overall with the man advantage. The penalty-killing units have been spectacular as well - they are ranked second overall.

Last but not least is goaltending. Grant Fuhr has been nothing short of spectacular with a 2.04 GAA, .912 save percentage and a 9-2-2 record with two shutouts.

Not only has the Blues' start been surprising, it's also been impressive considering the team has been winning despite long-term injuries to centers Pierre Turgeon (broken hand) and Darren Turcotte (bruised shoulder). Turgeon will be out for at least three more weeks while Turcotte is on a day-to-day basis.

In addition to Turgeon's and Turcotte's injuries, team sniper Brett Hull has been struggling as of late. After scoring seven goals in his first seven games of the season, the Golden Brett managed just one goal in his last 10 games. Luckily, his teammates have elevated their game to compensate for his lack of offense. Defenseman Al MacInnis is second on the team with seven goals and the second line of Geoff Courtnall, Pavol Demitra and Joe Murphy has been giving opposing defensemen lots of fits with a total of 14 goals and 13 assists. Hull has been playing on left wing with Terry Yake at center and Jim Campbell on right wing.

The checking line consists of Scott Pellerin, Craig Conroy and Blair Atcheynum, all of which are former American Hockey League players. The Blues' fourth line has Harry York centering tough guys Tony Twist and Kelly Chase.

Coming up next, another tough stretch for the Blues. They embark on a three-game road trip to Chicago, Colorado and Dallas before coming home to face Boston and Detroit.

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