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head coach: Joel Quenneville

roster: C - Pierre Turgeon, Darren Turcotte, Craig Conroy, Pascal Rheaume, Mike Eastwood; LW - Geoff Courtnall, Tony Twist, Pavol Demitra, Scott Pellerin, Michel Picard; RW - Brett Hull, Jim Campbell, Kelly Chase, Terry Yake, Blair Atcheynum, Chris Kenady; D - Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, Steve Duchesne, Marc Bergevin, Chris McAlpine, Jamie Rivers, Ricard Persson, Todd Gill; G - Grant Fuhr, Jamie McLennan.

injuries: Pavol Demitra, lw (broken jaw March 7, out indefinitely (placed on injured reserve March 7) ); Blair Atcheynum, rw (broken finger March 1, day-to-day (placed on injured reserve on March 3) ); Tony Twist, lw (rib muscle March 28, day to day); Jamie McLennan, g (groin March 21, day-to-day).

transactions: March 24 - traded Joe Murphy, rw, to the San Jose Sharks for Todd Gill, d; acquired Mike Eastwood, c, from the New York Rangers for Harry York, c; March 27- recalled Michel Picard, lw, from Grand Rapids (IHL), returned Rich Parent, g, to Detroit (IHL); March 28- recalled Chris Kenady, f, from Worcester (AHL).

standings:

Western Conference - Central Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
x-Dallas     75  43  21  11    97  219  155  
x-Detroit    76  41  20  15    97  230  181  
x-St Louis   75  41  26   8    90  227  179  
Phoenix      75  30  33  12    72  206  209 
Chicago      77  30  35  12    72  185  187  
Toronto      74  26  39   9    61  170  213  
x - Clinched playoff spot

game results:

3/26 Tampa Bay   W 3-2
3/28 Detroit     W 3-2 
3/30 San Jose    W 6-2
4/01 at Toronto  W 6-4 
4/04 Colorado    W 4-1

team news:

by Tom Cooper, St. Louis Correspondent

The Complete 180

When we last met, our beloved St. Louis Blues (or at least my beloved) were stuck in the midst of a four-game slump, a slump in which the offensive firepower that shocked "the experts" early in the season was non-existent.

But, boy have things turned around.

The Blues are currently riding the tide of a five-game winning streak, a streak that includes victories over Colorado and Detroit.

In the first game after the trading deadline, a deadline which nothing major happened for the Blues, St. Louis hosted Tampa Bay, the perfect team to play when looking to end a four-game losing streak. Brett Hull put the puck in the net twice in the first period and fellow free- agent-to-be Al MacInnis scored with the man advantage in the same frame to give the Blues a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of hockey time.

Then came the traditional letdown, a norm for this year's Blues when they have a big lead.

Mikael Andersson put the 'Ning on the board a little over five minutes into the second and Mikael Renberg scored with just under a minute left in the game, but it was too little too late as St. Louis escaped with a 3-2 win and the start of a newer, more positive streak.

The Blues then had a night of before they hosted divisional arch-rival Detroit at the Kiel Center. St. Louis once again jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Al MacInnis picked up his second goal in as many games in the first period and both Pierre Turgeon and newly acquired Todd Gill tallied scores in the first six minutes of the second to give the Blues their advantage.

Then came that damn letdown, something that you might be able to get away with against Tampa Bay, but I wouldn't try it against the defending champions.

In the final two periods, Detroit sent 30 shots in the direction of Blues netminder Grant Fuhr. But only power-play shots by Martin LaPointe at 17:09 of the second and Doug Brown 6:37 into the third got past Fuhr as he helped his team hold on for dear life and another 3-2 win.

The win gave the Blues their 800th victory in 31 seasons. For Fuhr personally, he doesn't mind having to defend a lead. "It's always easier playing with a lead," Fuhr said. "I'm not bad at protecting leads. I mean, I've had a lot of practice at it. It's a lot of fun to play that way."

But the Blues decided to make things a little easier for "der Fuhr" in their next game against San Jose. Sharks defenseman Andrei Zyuzin scored over eight minutes into the first to give his club a 1-0 lead. But then the floodgates opened. And boy did they open.

St. Louis put the puck in the net four times in the second and two more times in the third to give St. Louis' its third straight victory by a count of 6-2.

Brett Hull contributed to the effort with three helpers and Al MacInnis added another two. (Note to Blues GM Larry Pleau: Look at those offensive numbers. Now, are you 110% sure you are willing to let Brett and Al test the free agent waters?)

The scoring was spread around as six different Blues scored the six goals, something that is a great help for the team's confidence going into the playoffs.

"It obviously helps," forward Terry Yake said. "We can't depend on Hullie, Turg and Courts to get all the goals for us. Everybody has to chip in, and if we all can, it's going to make us a strong team in the playoffs."

The Blues then traveled to historic Maple Leaf Gardens for an April Fool's Day battle with Toronto. St. Louis gained a sizeable lead and it wasn't threatened. (April Fools!!!)

It was the Leafs who illuminated the scoreboard first when Derek King scored only 14 seconds into the contest. The Blues fought back and scored three goals to take a 3-1 into the first intermission.

Sylvain Cote came out of the Maple Leaf dressing room and tallied over two minutes into the second to narrow the margin to 3-2. Then, Jim Campbell pushed the Blues' lead back to two goals with a power-play goal, but Wendel Clark scored to make it 4-3 after 40 minutes of play.

But the Blues shut the door on the Leafs as Terry Yake scored with three minutes left in the game and Todd Gill netted his second with the Blues to give his team a 6-4 win and clinch a playoff spot for St. Louis, its 18th post-season appearance in as many years.

For St. Louis, luck was on its side, as Toronto had two goals disallowed, one after the puck was hit by a high-stick, the other when Mats Sundin was in the crease.

"That crease rule helped us tonight, that's for sure," Blues captain Chris Pronger said.

The Blues also got the assistance of a power play that was previously non-existent. The Blues scored on their first three chances of the night.

"It (the power play) certainly needed to get going. It's been a little lackluster the last couple of games," Pronger said. "We just got the puck towards the net and made sure we got bodies in front."

And that power play continued to click as the Blues hosted Pacific Division-leading Colorado Avalanche in a Saturday afternoon matchup.

The Blues scored their first two goals on the power play and Grant Fuhr stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced as the Blues destroyed a Colorado team that appeared to leave all of its fight back at Joe Louis Arena by a final score of 4-1.

Center Pascal Rheaume started the scoring with 17 seconds left in the first to give the Blues the 1-0 going into the locker room. Colorado center Joe Sakic, in his first game back since being injured at the Olympics, tied the score a little over halfway into the second, but Geoff Courtnall scored six minutes after Sakic and both Craig Conroy and Darren Turcotte scored in the third en route to the win.

Grant Fuhr stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced giving him his 27th win of the season and 380th of his storied career, moving him to fifth place on the all-time list ahead of Patrick "Psycho" Roy. Pierre Turgeon and Scott Pellerin helped the winning cause with two assists each.

This winning streak couldn't have come at a better time for the Blues. Six of their last eight games are against teams that are in playoff positions, including games at both Detroit and Dallas, teams that St. Louis has winning records against in both season series. And with the playoffs only two weeks away, every team in the 16-team field has to consider the Blues a serious threat to go all the way.

All The Right Moves

Two weeks have come and gone since the March 24 trading deadline, and the Blues couldn't be any happier with the results.

"I feel strongly that we're a better hockey team today than we were yesterday (Monday)," GM Larry Pleau said.

St. Louis made two deals on deadline day, none of which included stars Brett Hull, Al MacInnis, Geoff Courtnall or Steve Duchesne, all of whom have contracts that end after this season. The Blues did send veteran Joe Murphy to the retirement community that is the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Todd Gill. Pleau also green-lighted a deal that brought center Mike Eastwood from the New York Rangers to help out on the fourth line. In order to acquire Eastwood, Pleau had to let go of up- and-coming center Harry York.

"We felt strongly about helping ourselves," Pleau said. "On defense, Todd Gill really makes us stronger as a group. With this type of strength and depth, and with the young kids and their enthusiasm, I really like our defense. Eastwood gives us more experience on our fourth line and gives us somebody who can play the type of game defensively that Joel (Quenneville) wants. He fits into the type of team we have here now."

With Eastwood and Gill coming from a team that is completely out of the playoff picture and a team that is still fighting to make it into the second season, respectively, it's nice to play for a team that doesn't need to worry about making an early tee-time in late April if they don't play in the hockey post-season.

"I'm excited," Gill said. "It's not often you get a chance to get on a team that has a chance to go all the way and has some really great players. I'm happy it happened, especially to a town like St. Louis. It's a great hockey town."

And, so far, St. Louis is happy with Gill, who has scored two goals in his five games with the team. Joe Murphy, whom he was traded for, has yet to pick up a point for his new club, but did score a two-game suspension for slashing Dallas Star Richard Matvichuk.

With these great personnel moves, Pleau looks like he has made the right moves for a strong Cup run. But, it will be the moves he makes in the off-season that will ultimately determine the future of this franchise.

And Now...A Golden Oldie

Let's flashback to the year 1995.

The Proclaimers were still telling us they would be glad to walk 500 miles. An embattled Bill Clinton was threatening the mighty military nation of Haiti. And a team formerly from French Canada won a Stanley Cup under the flag of the great state of Colorado.

But do you remember this "masterpiece" from that year?

Back when Satan-in-a-two-piece-suit Mike Keenan, was in charge of the Blues, he made a little personnel move that sent some forward by the name of Brendan Shanahan to the once mighty, and once existent for that matter, Hartford Whalers for some little known but large in stature defenseman by the name of Chris Pronger.

Remember that?

Well, do you still think that was a bad deal?

If you do, you still have plenty of company. I mean, come on, did you see Shanny on those Canadian TV commercials for Esso and Wheaties? How could someone not want an actor of his caliber?

But, many people in the hockey community are looking at that deal as an excellent one for the Blues.

"I don't know too many general managers who would trade Chris Pronger for Brendan Shanahan right now," Florida general manager Bryan Murray told the Toronto Sun. "(Pronger) is the best defenseman in the league right now, bar none."

Right now, the 6 foot-5, 210-pound defenseman from Dryden, Ontario is one of the leading canadates for the Norris Trophy, given to the NHL's top defenseman. Coach Joel Quenneville, in a surprising move, made Pronger his team's captain at the start of the season to help the 23- year-old grow up. Although he is still committing some stupid penalties, his play has become something that the Blues could not live without, and something that he hopes to earn some respect for.

"I have displayed my consistency," Pronger said. "To me, how you perform during the entire season is how the award winner should be determined."

OK, I'm going to do this. And for all of you Blues fans out there, yes, I still hate Keenan more than I hate Hanson. In fact, I have a picture of him being harassed by the Kiel Center crowd in his first game back in that building on my hard drive. So, I'm not being a turncoat, OK?

But, I have to say it.

OK...whew...I'm gonna do this...just breathe, Tom...OK, here it is...

Good job, Mike!

Ewwww! I feel dirty!

I better go take a shower.

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