Paul Stastny, Kevin Shattenkirk, Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrik Berglund and Jaden Schwartz. That’s a great group of individual talent that’s been on the shelf for varying lengths of time for the Blues and yet the team keeps on winning. How are the Blues still collecting points with so many players injured?
Depth is the answer which will likely be touted, but the real answer falls on different players stepping up on any given night. If you go back and examine the games the Blues have claimed wins in during this string of injuries, you’ll find that there has been a different player in the spotlight each night.
David Backes broke his scoring drought with two goals on Halloween. Colton Parayko has emerged out of no where to be a legitimate Calder contender. Scott Gomez took his tryout and turned it into a meaningful role on the second or third line. The same could be said for Scottie Upshall. Jake Allen was shaky in the early going but has since settled down. Ty Rattie started off slow, but has since improved and also made some great plays on Halloween. And so on and so on and so on. Depending on the night, a different player has stepped up and helped the produce pick up valuable points in the first month of the season.
This has been a testament not only to the players themselves, but also to the front office for making some brilliant decisions when rounding out the roster. Who would have thought Gomez would not only be on the roster, but be an impactful skater? Professional tryouts rarely lead to much outside of a cameo, but the Blues have rolled their tryouts into significant roles and it’s working. The same can be said for the young players – Parayko, Joel Edmundson and Robby Fabbri – who have stepped up and looked strong in their new roles.
One has to wonder how long it will be before the injuries start catching up to the Blues. Thankfully, players should be returning to action sooner than later and the Blues have placed themselves in a great position to compete while a huge chunk of the roster was sidelined.
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