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: Rudy Poeschek, d (back spasms, day-to-day); Tony Twist, lw (sprained knee, two weeks); Brett Hull, rw (broken left hand Dec. 27, 4-6 weeks); Joe Murphy, rw (surgery to repair torn ligaments in left wrist Nov. 6, indefinite (placed on injured reserve Nov. 6)).

transactions: Recalled Libor Zabransky, d, and Rory Fitzpatrick, d, from Worcester (AHL); recalled Chris Kenady, rw, from Worcester; assigned defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick to Worcester; assigned Chris Kenady and Libor Zabransky to Worcester; signed Michel Picard, lw, to an offer sheet.

standings:

Western Conference - Central Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
Dallas       47  28  11   8    64  144   97  
Detroit      47  27  11   9    63  153  110  
St Louis     47  26  15   6    58  141  115  
Phoenix      46  20  18   8    48  128  123  
Chicago      44  16  19   9    41  102  102   
Toronto      43  14  22   7    35  103  129

game results:

12/15 Ottawa         L 3-1 
12/18 New Jersey     T 4-4 
12/20 Pittsburgh     W 4-1 
12/22 at Tampa Bay   T 2-2
12/23 at Florida     W 3-2
12/26 Chicago        L 4-1
12/27 Anaheim        T 5-5
12/29 at Washington  L 4-2
12/31 at Detroit     L 5-2
01/03 Calgary        W 4-3
01/06 at San Jose    W 5-1
01/07 at Vancouver   W 3-2
01/10 at Calgary     W 5-1

team news:

by Jim Iovino, St. Louis Correspondent

Ahh, the Pacific Division...

Ya know, when things are going bad, there's nothing like a string of games against Pacific Division teams to get your team back on track. Just ask the St. Louis Blues, who were mired in a four-game winless streak dating back to a 4-1 embarrassment at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks on the day after Christmas.

But the schedule makers looked kindly upon the Blues and gave them five straight games against the lower half of the Pacific. And so far, the Blues have taken full advantage of the opportunity. They've won the first four games and play the Edmonton Oilers Monday night.

Four straight wins have helped the Blues keep pace in the Central Division. At press time St. Louis was third in the Central with a record of 26-15-6. They are six points behind the division-leading Stars and five behind the Wings.

Hull in pain

The surprising thing about the Blues' recent win streak is the fact that they're doing it without Brett Hull. Hull broke his hand after being slashed by Tomas Sandstrom on Dec. 27. At the time the prognosis was for Hull to be out for four to six weeks. Hull should be back in time for the Olympics.

Hul still leads the Blues in goals scored with 19, but in his absence several other players have had to step up offensively. Geoff Courtanll is just one goal behind Hull at 18, but he's finally tied him for the team lead in points with 36. Pierre Turgeon is scoring at more than a point-per-game pace. He has 29 points in 25 games. Pavol Dimetra and Al MacInnis recently came back from injuries to add some offense, as well.

Pronger a plus

Defenseman Chris Pronger continues to develop into one of the game's best. Pronger has 20 points in 47 games, including six goals. He also has accumulated 102 penalty minutes. But more impressive is his +24 plus/minus rating. His +24 is the best on the club, and one of the best in the league. The only other Blue who has a plus in the double digits is Courtnall at +14.

Knowing all of this, I probably still wouldn't have traded Brendan Shanahan for him, but at least it's nice to know the Blues didn't get completely hosed on the deal.

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