Perron and Johnson

This season is a disappointment. The tact the team has recently taken is to get behind by two or three goals early by playing piss pour and then dominating the second half of the game only to fall short. It is desappointing but not completely disheartening. The fact that the Blues can play well and at times dominate their opponents is a good sign. They just need to find that consistently for 60 minutes a night. The question is whether they can do that.

The rookie seasons for David Perron and Erik Johnson have been as good as could have been hoped for. Both started out playing well and only got better from then on (even if the numbers aren't there for Perron). There was been much written lately on the handling of the two players (precipitated by David playing less than 6 minutes in Montreal). But if you look at their individual performances at the begining of the year and now (and not necessarily at team performance or the stats), it cannot be argued that they are not better players now. Playing the rookies part time has worked. This might be the solution to next year as TJ Oshie is expected to play in the NHL and Patrik Berglund will come to North America (whether in the NHL or AHL is yet to be determined). If these two players are rotated into the lineup, perhaps with a third player, onto the third line, they would probably play 2/3 of the season. Not far off from what David has played. This might also allow the Blues to keep more forwards (as there is a glut of them) if it is understood that they won't be full time players.