Blues played with heavy hearts Saturday in light of Ari's death; Bouwmeester
skates, joins Blues along with Berglund on Canadian trip; Yeo shuffles lines
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- News came fast to the Blues, and it wasn't good.
When they received word that 11-year-old Arianna Dougan has passed away Saturday morning, succumbing to neuroblastoma, a form of nerve cancer, players were faced with having to play against the New York Islanders with heavy hearts.
Ari inspired players last season when 'Ari' accompanied them on a two-game trip late in March through Arizona and Colorado and touched those that got to experience her courage and wisdom.
The Blues fell to the Islanders 5-2, a game in which the team paid tribute to 'Ari' with a moment of silence, and there were two ways to go: play inspired for 'Ari' or be distracted by the news.
"Obviously it was terrible news," said goalie Carter Hutton, who hosted a 'zero to 60' segment with 'Ari,' and Ryan Reaves in Denver. "She was a big part of our team. We got to share a lot of memories with her and stuff like that, but I think for the most part, I can say everyone in this room are professionals. We come to play and there's no excuse for that effort yesterday.
"Me and 'Reavo' obviously had a lot of fun when we did those 'zero to 60's and having her on there was such a unique thing. We always had the guys and for her, us getting to meet her in a different light like that, seeing her personality shine through and just how strong she was for what she was going through and what she's dealt with her life."
Hutton, who just recently became a father, said it puts life in perspective.
"Yeah, without a doubt," he said. "Now obviously as a new father and just seeing my little guy at home and just seeing what [Ari] went through, what her family went through and just how strong she was during the process of what she went through, it's pretty amazing. She's definitely inspiring for us. We're fortunate as athletes to get to do what we do. We have a very fortunate career and life we get to live, so being able to see that definitely keeps things in perspective for us."
It's pretty evident that 'Ari' touched the lives of not only the players but coaches and management alike.
"Very much," right wing Alexander Steen said. "She was part of our family here. It was tough to get the news yesterday.
"Everybody that's felt a loss before knows the feelings, the emotions that you go through. It was difficult."
* Bouwmeester skating, to join team in Canada along with Berglund -- Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester was a surprise participant at Sunday's practice.
Bouwmeester, who sustained a fractured left ankle blocking a shot during a team scrimmage on Sept. 17, hasn't played in a game this season and has done little on the ice.
Each time he's skated on his own, there haven't been any positive updates regarding his progress after initially the Blues claiming that Bouwmeester would be re-evaluated in three weeks after the injury.
But eight weeks to the day, Bouwmeester was skating well during drills but not participating in any contact drills yet, but the fact he joined the team to the trip to Canada means progress is being made, albeit a first step.
"Totally," Bouwmeester said of the process. "Frustrating is probably the big thing. At first, you don't know. We thought it would be a four-week thing, usually you're back practicing, at least on your way back at that point, (but) it wasn't the case. It's just, nothing you can do about it. (It's) the way it is. It's starting to come around now. I wouldn't say I fully practiced today. It was more of a lack of ice, but it was good to get out there, good to pass the puck, be out there with other teammates and just get a sense of, more than anything, playing hockey a bit.
"It's just been slow. Just kind of slow. One thing's kind of led to another. We're kind of over the hope now and a matter of I'll probably take more time, but now skating, moving things along that way, at least makes you feel more part of things, that's for sure. You're around the rink, but it's different when you can go out there and skate with guys."
Berglund has been skating for a couple weeks with the team now after sustaining a dislocated left shoulder during a training session during the off-season in his native Sweden.
Both accompanied the team on the trip, and Blues coach Mike Yeo actually sounded encouraged by both being there.
"Both guys will come. You see them out there with the group, we're gone for seven days here, that's some quality time they can get with the team, hopefully push them a little bit closer to being returning players," Yeo said. "[Berglund's] at the point now ... let's say he's not going to be ready for this trip and we'll re-evaluate when we get back."
Berglund was not likely to return until at the very least, mid-December, and he still needs to take on contact, which is the most important sign a player is on the cusp of returning, but the fact he's now traveling, along with Bouwmeester, is encouraging news.
"It doesn't mean [Bouwmeester's] necessarily right around the corner," Yeo said. "It's a step to helping him get ready and he looked good and 'Bergy' looked really good. 'Bergy's coming along real well. It's good."
The Blues were allowed to take their time regarding Bouwmeester considering the way the defensemen have played thus far.
"I'm not playing on this road trip for sure. It's a progression," Bouwmeester said. "I practiced today. Ideally, if we had ice, I wouldn't have practiced. I would have been skating on my own or with other guys. There's steps you have to take. Morning skates, certain things you can't do. Hopefully way things are going, that's progressing, that will turn pretty quick and I'll get back out.
"It's awesome [the Blues' 13-4-1 start]. I think it's a testament to our depth from the start of the year. You look back at camp, we had a number of guys get hurt with 'Fabs' [Robby Fabbri] being done for the year. There's a lot of people questioning a lot of things. I don't think anyone in here doubted what we had. We're a team last year that made the playoffs, won a round in the playoffs, that was supposed to be kind of a down year. It's always exciting. I went 10 years without making the playoffs, so anytime you're part of a good team, you want to enjoy it and make the most of it and not take it for granted. I think this year so far has been real good. It's got a long way to go, but anytime you start good, you have to start good now because all the points add up and it's hard if you get to Christmas and you're playing catch-up. You end up playing your division all the time and it's hard to catch up, so the start of the year is very important in getting those points and we've done a really good job."
The next step for Bouwmeester is to push it more and more each day so as long as there are no setbacks.
"You go out there and do what you can," Bouwmeester said. "You're not going to jump in the deep end right away. There's a bit of a progression but as long as one thing's not bugging you, you can move on to the next thing. Hopefully we move along pretty quick, get over this hump. Because I've missed training camp and a lot of time, there's still an element of timing and skating and conditioning you have to get in there too. Hopefully we'll move that along on this trip and see where we're at."
* Line tweaks -- Yeo moved some pieces around Sunday during practice. Some of it made sense, some of it (playing Scottie Upshall, Chris Thurburn and Magnus Paajarvi during some shifts as a fourth line) did not.
But from most of the matchups, here's what the Blues rolled out:
Alexander Steen-Paul Stastny-Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Beau Bennett
Vladimir Sobotka-Oskar Sundqvist-Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Magnus Paajarvi
The defensive six remained the same with Carl Gunnarsson with Alex Pietrangelo, Joel Edmundson and Colton Parayko and Vince Dunn and Robert Bortuzzo.
"Just tyring to spark something," Yeo said.
Could these be used Monday?
"I think so," Yeo said. "We'll think more about it tomorrow. We wanted to give it a look here in practice. Felt like the last couple of games things were getting a little stale, see what we come up with tomorrow."
As for goalie Jake Allen, who is likely to start against the Flames and pulled from his first game Saturday after allowing the fourth goal early in the second, Yeo likes the fact that his goalie brushes aside -- good or bad -- the previous performance and moves on.
Allen stopped 14 of 18 shots against the Islanders.
"I think that's one of the most important qualities of a starting goalie, and the elite starting goalies, is that reset button," Yeo said. "But at the same time, you hit the reset button with the idea, it's sort of a mentality of let's get it back here. I think he looked focused today. That's what he's done in the past. I wouldn't expect any less."
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