This post was originally published at TheHockeyWriters.com.

After the Blues finished off a 3-2 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets Saturday afternoon, there will be a lull in their six-game road trip until Monday night when they travel to Calgary to take on the Flames.  The Blues will take to the ice at the Scotiabank Sattledome six hours after the NHL Trade Deadline has passed.

The same group of players heading from Winnipeg to Calgary Saturday night may not differentiate from the team that will take the ice Monday night.

Earlier this month, Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that major changes are likely not in the future for the St. Louis team.

"We started the year saying that we need to find out about these players,” Armstrong said.  “Well, there's no better time to find out about a player than a drive into the playoffs. To bring in other players and put guys we want to find out about in different roles, then we're just pushing off the process. The season is going to end the way it's going to end. There's no guarantee that you bring in a player, and all of a sudden you're going to become the high-scoring Detroit Red Wings. Those players aren't out there. We need to see what these players can do when the game is on the line."

Armstrong took a dip in the free-agent pool last summer, signing some veteran NHL talent to one-year contracts to go along with the Blues’ young roster.  Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner both signed $2.50 million contracts, while checking forward Scott Nichol notched a $600,000 contract.  Defenseman Kent Huskins was also brought to the Gateway City, signing a $1 million contract.

Goaltender Brian Elliott also inked a one-year deal but due to his outstanding performance this season, he has since been rewarded with a two-year, $3.60 million contract extension.

This post was originally published at TheHockeyWriters.com.

The Blues have been dominant against every division in the NHL… except their own.

The Central Division is arguably the best division in the NHL at the moment.  If the season ended today, four of the five teams would be in the playoffs.  No other division can boast the same honor. 

What may even be more impressive is that three of these four teams in the playoffs have winning records against their Central Division foes.  Currently, the Nashville Predators have posted an astonishing 13-3-2 record against the other Central teams, while the Detroit Red Wings are 10-5-0 and the Chicago Blackhawks have cataloged a 9-4-2 record. 

The St. Louis Blues are 5-8-2 when facing the Central Division.  As hard as this is to admit, the Blues recorded a loss to the infamous Columbus Blue Jackets on February 14.  The Blue Jackets have less than half the points that the Red Wings have accumulated this season.

There is a lot of success to be had when you are competitive in your own division.  Every division winner since the lockout has had a winning record against its own division. 

This post was originally published at TheHockeyWriters.com

December 3, 2011 will be viewed on the Blues’ schedule as a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks for the rest of time.  What is lost in that date is the large gain that the team received that night.

David Perron, the Blues’ 1^st round, 26^thoverall, draft pick in 2006, returned to the lineup that night after missing 97 games with a concussion.  He last played on November 4, 2010 after receiving a crushing blow from Sharks center Joe Thornton early in the second period.

Perron came back with a bang, scoring his first goal of the season on his third shift at 6:51 of the first period.  It came in classic Perron-style as well, holding patiently onto the puck in front of the net, then roofing it over Blackhawks goalie Ray Emery.

“It’s a good feeling to score a goal anytime in the NHL,” Perron said after the game. “And much more so when you miss that amount of time.”

After that thrilling moment, Perron hit a bit of a slump.  He found the back of the net just one more time in 17 games played.  That was followed by a four-game point streak, scoring two goals and two assists in that time.

The real story of Perron’s return has been his play as of late.

Currently, Perron has scored six goals in his last four games, two of them coming against the Colorado Avalanche Saturday night at Scottrade Center.

This post was originally published at TheHockeyWriters.com

Sometimes a trade has the most unexpected player shine brighter than the original cornerstones of the deal.

That can be said for Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who continues to prove that he is a player that should be held onto no matter what he may bring you in return.

Shattenkirk was traded along with right-winger Chris Stewart and the Avalanche’s 2^nd round draft choice in 2011 (Ty Rattie) to St. Louis for Erik Johnson, Jay McClement and the Blues’ 2011 1^st round draft choice (Duncan Siemens) on February 19, 2011.  The trade occurred just 46 games into Shattenkirk’s rookie season.

The big name in the trade belonged to a player headed to Colorado.  Even TSN had the article title as “Blues Send Former No. 1 Pick Johnson to Avalanche.” 

Johnson was the name behind the Blues’ rebuild.  He was the player selected first overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft just a few short months after the Blues finished dead-last in the NHL standings.  He was the player that was supposed to right the ship in St. Louis in the post-lockout era. 

Shattenkirk was not even the one getting the publicity on the other end of the deal.  Chris Stewart, a 28-goal scorer just the season before the trade, was the marquee name headed to the Blues.  Stewart was believed to be a future star and a perennial power-forward in the NHL.  Shattenkirk seemed like he was the afterthought that Avalanche GM Greg Sherman threw in to sweeten the deal.

Time has shown that may not have been the case.