Blues extend GM Armstrong for five years

2012 GM of the Year to remain with club through 2017-18

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The reigning general manager of the year will be staying in St. Louis for a while longer.

And new chairman Tom Stillman had absolutely qualms about whether this was the right time to extend Doug Armstrong's contract or not.

The Blues announced that they have signed Armstrong to a five-year extension that will keep the 48-year-old in the fold with the Blues through the 2017-18 season.

"I just thought this was very important to the future of the Blues’ franchise," said Stillman, who bought the Blues with a group of investors in last May. "Doug has just been recognized by his peers as the best general manager in the National Hockey League, and that is solidly backed by the work that he has done here for the St. Louis Blues.


Doug Armstrong

"I think the five-year term is important for two reasons. First, he's an outstanding general manager, so we want to make sure he’s with us for a longer period. And second, I think you have to give him time to do his work and to develop the team he wants to develop."

Armstrong was named the the Blues' vice president and 11th general manager in franchise history on July 1, 2010 after serving two seasons as their vice president of player personnel.

Armstrong spent 17 years in the Dallas/Minnesota organization as an assistant GM and the Stars' GM from 2002-2007 before being relieved of his duties.

"It’s certainly an exciting time for myself and my family," Armstrong said. "I’ve really only been with two organizations and I’m excited to be here for another five years and hopefully a lot longer than that. We believe that we’re on the right track.

"A lot of people have put in a lot of hard work. (Former amateur scouting director) Jarmo Kekalainen and Larry Pleau and John Davidson and now there’s a group in here now that (is) looking to continue what they’ve started and take it to the next level. It’s just an exciting time to be part of this organization."

News filtered quickly into the Blues' locker room after practice Wednesday, and all were appreciative and supportive and consider it a well-deserved contract for Armstrong.

"It gives him a great chance to see what he's built come to fruition," said captain David Backes, who was rewarded by Armstrong with a five-year contract prior to last season. "He turned us from kind of a team that was toiling and trying to rebuild into a legit team last year and some see us as a playoff contender for sure and hopefully playing deep into what's going to be late June now."

Added defenseman Barret Jackman, who got a three-year deal from Armstrong this past summer: "He's a very bright and a very patient GM. I think he really knows what it takes throughout the organization. It's not just in the dressing room or on the ice. It's building a team around him. ... He's done a tremendous job of sticking with youth and putting key pieces in that are really going to help bring everybody together.

"I've had plenty of conversations with him before we even got into contract talk. He's straightforward. He asks you what you want out of your career and he tells you where you would fit within the organization. He's very straightforward but he's very personable about it. It makes things very easy to deal with and you're comfortable talking about anything."

The Blues transformed into one of the NHL's elite teams a season ago by going 49-22-11 (109 points) and finishing second in the Western Conference behind Vancouver. They lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Kings but the feeling is this could be a formidable franchise for years to come and Armstrong would like to continue to be the orchestrator.

"The reality is, this is a very good franchise," Armstrong said. "And one of the reasons when I was looking to join (in 2008), I looked at a team that seemed to have a bright future and some pieces in place that you could go and manipulate and work with, and build a championship-contending team.

"The people before me put those pieces in place and we’ve added to that and moved some pieces around. But if you’re looking at a team on paper that has the nucleus to be competitive for the next five years and beyond, there’s not many teams in a better situation with personnel than St. Louis. That doesn’t mean anything unless we get it done on the ice. But I know that we have a committed ownership group that’s going to give us the resources to continue to push."

Talks between Armstrong, who had one year remaining on his contract through June 30, and Stillman began some time ago but got really serious over the summer and it didn't take long to consummate a deal.

"I have spent a lot of time talking and working with Doug over the last several months," Stillman said. "I just have a very high level of trust in his ability to manage the team and the entire hockey operations side of the franchise."

Some of the deals Armstrong has been behind have included the trades for Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, Kevin Shattenkirk and Kris Russell. He also brought coach Ken Hitchcock into the fold (the two worked previously when Hitchcock was coaching Dallas) and also signed contract extensions with Backes, T.J. Oshie, David Perron, Jackman, Roman Polak and Alex Steen.

"I personally have come here to win a Stanley Cup and we haven’t done that yet," Armstrong said. "We’ve made really good strides and I think we’re in a good spot. But until we win the ultimate prize then we haven’t accomplished what we came here to do yet.

"But from a personal standpoint, a place to have my kids go to high school and graduate from is going to be very important. My wife and I love the atmosphere in the city; you really feel like it is a smaller community, where in the NHL that’s sometimes hard to find. We have it here. So from a personal standpoint, we couldn’t have asked for anything more than we've gotten."

The Blues are 87-60-22 in Armstrong's two seasons as GM.

Blues bring in defenseman White

Veteran blueliner brought in on a pro tryout basis to compete for slot on team

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Colin White understands the end of the line is near.

That's why the 35-year-old wants to give the NHL one more shot.

White, who played for San Jose last season, was brought in by the Blues Tuesday on a pro tryout basis.

The 49th pick in the 1996 NHL Draft, appeared in 54 games for the Sharks last season and recorded one goal and four points. He will compete with Jeff Woywitka for a potential seventh slot on defense after it was thought that Woywitka had the position locked up.

(St. Louis Blues/Mark Buckner)

Colin White (left) was part of Tuesday night's scrimmage.

"I get another chance here," White said after playing in Tuesday night's 4-4 scrimmage between the Blue team and White team. "I'll come in, have some fun and work hard. A great group of guys here playing against them last year. Very hard to play against. I was surprised, but I'm very excited too."

A left-handed defenseman, White is 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds and provides the Blues with another look on the backend as they attempt to fortify the left side.

"He's a big body," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said of White. "He's another piece of the puzzle ... he certainly didn't hurt himself today."

White is a 12-year veteran of the NHL and won a pair Stanley Cup titles with New Jersey in 2000 and 2003. In 797 career games, White has 129 points (21 goals, 108 assists) and 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 114 career playoff games.
With no guarantee of a contract, White's agent Ben Hankinson got a call from the Blues seeking interest. He'll stay with Jamie Langenbrunner, a teammate with the Devils for eight seasons, while in St. Louis.

"I've been around a long time," White said. "I'm enjoying this right now. I'm going to work hard. That's been my game for the last 13-14 years. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to try and help out and be a good teammate.

"It is what it is, and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm going to work hard and let the outcome take care of itself."

White played in Games 3, 4 and 5 for the Sharks against the Blues in the Western Conference quarterfinals last season. He scored a goal in Game 3, a game the Blues won 4-3.

"I wasn't going anywhere at the time," White said. "It was surprising (to get the call from the Blues), but I was happy to get that opportunity again. I want to come in and enjoy it.

"This was a big team last year ... played them in the first round and I always liked their style of play. Physical ... lot of big bodies in this room. It's a short season ... big bodies pay off."

Blues scrimmage ends in 4-4 draw

Tarasenko, Schwartz shine, impress coach

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Sitting atop and watching his players go through their first scrimmage, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock was able to get a little bit of everything: the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly.

The Blues split two groups into Blue and White teams, and after three 25-minute periods, two shootouts and six two-minute power play groups, the game finished in a 4-4 tie before more than 8,000 fans at Scottrade Center on Tuesday night.

If anything, with some of the guys that have been around the NHL level for some time, a pair of 2010 first round draft choices continue to make strong cases to remain mainstays when the season opens Saturday here against Detroit.

(St. Louis Blues/Mark Buckner)

Vladimir Tarasenko played in front of the home crowd Tuesday

"We all know we're going to be a good team, but we've got work," Hitchcock said. "I think what we come out of this thing with is right now, unless things change, it looks like (Vladimir) Tarasenko and (Jaden) Schwartz can more than keep up."

Tarasenko played with Alex Steen and Andy McDonald, while Schwartz continues to shine playing with Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart. Both lines stood out, according to Hitchcock.

"I thought the whole three white lines were effective," Hitchcock said. "Even the line that came in and played from Peoria (Philip McRae, Evgeny Grachev and Andrew Murray) had some great continuity. A lot of good work.

"Berglund's line was very effective, Schwartz was on the hunt and created a lot of issues for (the) defense, and obviously McDonald's line with their skill and puck support was very effective."

Goals in the game came from Mark Cundari for the Blue and the White got goals from Andy McDonald, Chris Stewart and Schwartz. Goals in two rounds of shootouts -- shooters were 6-for-20 -- came from McDonald, Alex Steen, Stewart, Jamie Langenbrunner, David Perron and David Backes, who also got into competitive but playful scrum with defenseman Roman Polak. Perron also scored a power play goal.

"I did," Backes said laughing when asked who got the better of the tussle with Polak. "We'll have to figure that out over a little sushi on the road.

"It's always good to get back into a battle and get into it a little bit. These guys have been playing (in Europe) and he's got that adrenaline flowing. It's a new feeling for me in the last eight months. It's good to get those feelings back."

The two got into a bit of a bear hug scrum near the Blues bench and were able to laugh it off afterwards.

"It's two guys that like to play hard in a little bit of a battle," Backes said. "We hugged it out and life goes on. That's the good thing about hockey. You can buy him a cold beverage tonight and we'll laugh about it."

The Blues, who will practice again Wednesday, scrimmage on Thursday and practice again Friday before hitting the ground running against the Red Wings, have a better understanding of where they stand.

"We saw kind of what we thought we saw," Hitchcock said. "We had some lines with good continuity ... they had continuity at practice and then they showed up in the games again today. And then we had guys ... you can see they didn't play. There was a lot of rust at times from people who haven't played. We've got plenty of time to get up to speed.

"We needed to look at today and decide, 'OK, these are the areas that we need to work on,' and I think we got that. We know the areas that we need to work on, we know the players that we need to talk to to pick up their pace, we know the team part of our game we need to work on, we know what works and what doesn't work and then we'll just make some tweaks and changes tomorrow to what we want to get done and then keep moving forward."

As any team looking to get ready in a hurry, the pace was good at the beginning of the scrimmage but tailed off as the game progressed.

"The first 16 minutes of the first period was as any league game you're going to get into," Hitchcock said. "It was fast and hard-played with great tempo. And as people got tired, you saw mistakes or when people got tired, you saw the lack of polish because they haven't played. We've got three more days to get ready to play, which is plenty of time."

Schwartz making early statement in training camp

Blues' 2010 first round pick setting sights on permanent spot on NHL roster

Jaden Schwartz

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- When Jaden Schwartz got a seven-game audition in the National Hockey League last season, he got quite the reality check.

"I knew guys in the league were big and strong, but until you actually go up against them, you don't realize how much," the Melfort, Saskatchewan native and 14th pick of the 2010 NHL Draft said.

Schwartz, who was drafted out of Colorado College by the Blues with one of their two first round picks (Vladimir Tarasenko was the 16th pick), came into the league listed at 5-foot-9 and 179 pounds. Compared to today's player, where 6-4, 220-pound players seem like a dime a dozen, Schwartz would be labeled as a can't-miss project but severely lacking the size to make it at this level.

Well, the 20-year-old Schwartz can't do anything about extending his height. Chances are he's done growing, but Schwartz certainly can put on some bulk to compete with guys that would love nothing more than to just brush him aside without any effort.

"Obviously I needed to get a little stronger in the off-season," said Schwartz, who came into camp this year at 192 pounds. "I feel like I did a good job of that. It's a big jump from college."

With a plethora of depth at forward for the Blues, who went through a second day of training camp Monday at Scottrade Center, vying for playing time will be ultra-competitive. And Schwartz knows it. But judging by coach Ken Hitchcock's willingness to play Schwartz on a line with Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart, Schwartz doesn't appear to be vying for a spot on the Blues, he seems be gaining momentum every day that he'll be among the final 23.

"The way he practiced today, right at the top of the heap," Hitchcock said Monday when asked where Schwartz fits in. "I don't know. He's 192 pounds, he's not a light player. He's a heavy, hard, strong player. For his size, he's heavy on the puck. He does all the things ... he's a coach's player. He does things that you like as a coach. So right now, I thought that line was excellent today.

"He's right there. He's got speed, he's got quickness, he gets into the hard areas. He's really good on the forecheck. It'll be interesting when things get dialed up for real, but I think right now, he's showing more and more every day he's here."

Schwartz was thrown right into the fire last season when the Blues were fighting for the top spot in the league. He flew into Chicago on March 13th to join the team and played in his first game March 17th at Tampa Bay, scoring a goal on his first NHL shot.

Schwartz finished with two goals and three points in seven games but the wealth of experience was extremely beneficial.

"It was a great experience for me," Schwartz said. "I was really glad I got to do that. It helped me a lot, I learned a lot from the older guys. The fact I got to play in seven games helped, but even watching the games and just being around the guys helped, too. It was a great experience and it's been beneficial for me this year.

"How big of an advantage it is or not, it's definitely an advantage for me. I'm excited. I feel like I'm in game shape and I'm ready to go."

Schwartz, who scored 33 goals and added 50 assists in 60 games for the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League in 2009-10, won't change who he has been just because he's now on the big stage. If he does that, it could be a detriment in his development and impede his chances of staying here.

(Getty Images)

Jaden Schwartz (right) skated in seven games for the Blues last season.

"I think I've just got to stick with how I play," Schwartz said. "I don't want to change too much. Obviously I've got to manage the puck well, make sure I'm sticking to systems and be responsible defensively. My game's making plays, but I've just got to manage the puck well and work as much as I can.

"Being smart and responsible defensively's huge. ... Once you go through practices and games, the experience is going to help you."

Schwartz has a leg up as well because he was able to get into 33 games playing for the American Hockey League's Peoria Rivermen during the lockout, collecting nine goals and 19 points along the way.

Hitchcock is not sure yet what will become of Schwartz by week's end, but for a guy who's coached in 1,110 career regular season games, it doesn't take long to spot talent. And Hitchcock likes where Schwartz's game is headed.

"I don't know that yet. I'm not sure," Hitchcock said. "It's different when you're playing in league play and everything. Right now, he looks like a real good player. But when you're playing against other sweaters ... I think we'll get a better read here in the next couple of scrimmages."

Schwartz knows there's five lines of forwards here competing for a spot among 12 regulars. Most slots are filled. He wants to make it unanimous that he's not on the fringe.

"There's a lot of good forwards up here, no question," Schwartz said. "It's a really deep team, but that's only going to help the team. ... This is where I want to be and I'll do whatever it takes to help this team win."

Blues open camp, race for season begins

Team draws Red Wings in opener after lockout officially ended Saturday night

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Now that crunch time has begun and the race for the start of the abbreviated season is underway, although there's no panic from players and coaches, the Blues know the the clock is ticking faster than usual.

Ready or not, here comes the regular season.

Basically, the NHL's message was: the lockout of officially over, you have six days to prepare. Good luck.

(Getty Images)

David Backes (pictured) was one of 25 skaters to open Blues camp Sunday
at Scottrade Center.

When the four-month lockout officially ended Saturday night when both the NHL and NHLPA signed the Memorandum of Understanding, "Game On" became a popular trend around the league, and training camps opened Sunday. Teams were given a week to prepare to play 48 games in 99 days.

Let the sprint to the Cup begin.

"You wish it could have been in September, but that's life and you're going to have to deal with it now," Blues winger Chris Stewart said. "It's January here and we're excited to be back out here."

"The old six-day training camp, it was good," quipped center Alex Steen. "We had a good pace throughout the practice. First practice, I think there was a little more tempo to the actual structure of the practice. The second half was more strategical things. It automatically slowed it down a little bit. It was well-planned."

The Blues, who open Saturday at Scottrade Center against the Detroit Red Wings, will play six games in the first nine days of the season. They will truly get tested early in the abbreviated season.

The average age of the 25 players in camp is 26.7, and even with the compressed camp and schedule, players feel they're equipped to get the ship started.

"I think everybody's done a good job of maintaining their conditioning, strength and everything else. I think we look good," Steen said. "Conditioning and stuff ... it's already there. We've got a week to get our tempo up a little bit in practice and work on some structural things. Practices and games are completely different. It'll take some games to get the timing and all those things to 100 percent. We're not the only team that's going to be dealing with that. There's 29 other teams that are going to be dealing with the same problems."

So if conditioning is not a concern, what is?

"I think our timing," veteran winger Jamie Langenbrunner said. "You get to playing at a game pace, the passes, the crispness of everything is going to be a little bit tough. But I think the fact that for the most part, everybody's back from last year. Not a lot of turnover. We have that familiarity. It's going to help a lot."

According to coach Ken Hitchcock, it's about getting out of the "summer hockey" mode and back to organization and structure.

 "You see it when they get tired," Hitchcock said. "They make the dusty plays and the casual plays. It’s a real wake-up call and I’ve said this before, the biggest challenge isn’t without the puck, it’s with the puck. Getting your hands back ... you could see as soon as they got tired, pucks were exploding off of sticks and everything. When they weren’t tired, we had great tempo. It’s just building that endurance level, that’s going to be the challenge for us as we get more and more out of them as the week goes on.

"If we’ve got to cut (practice) off because they can’t keep up, then we’ll shut it down like we did today and go to teaching."


Added captain David Backes: "It's just getting back into NHL mentality, NHL shape. It's no longer the summer skates where you're just out there wheeling around hoping to keep your lungs. It's leaning on guys, physical play, a lot more structure than the summer and what the guys who went and played in Europe had. It's a steep learning curve, but we've got a group of guys that was together for most of the year last year and we're going to continue to strive in this environment."

Familiarity is an area the Blues feel they have a distinct advantage. As Hitchcock said last week, the teams that have to go through the getting-to-know stage might have a harder hurdle to overcome.

(St. Louis Blues/Mark Buckner)

Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk skates with the

puck in a game last season.

"It's nice that we basically have the same team as last year and (Hitchcock) hasn't tried to change it too much," defenseman Barret Jackman said. "The system's pretty much the same. It's just a refresher for us. He's going to have a theme each day in camp of different things that we need to focus on.

"There's been a lot of changes around the league. You've got big players going to different teams. You have a lot of moving parts on different teams that have changed, but for here, it's the same team and we have a lot of depth. That's going to help carry us, especially in the first part of the season where guys are getting back into it. The depth and the chemistry we had last year is going to help."

Added defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk: "I think (lack of roster change) is extremely important. If you look at some of the best teams in the Western Conference and in the league the past few years, they’ve kept most of their team together and that’s why they’re so successful because they know each other. With the few guys coming in and the few guys going out, it’s a huge, huge advantage if we can make it back."

But the Blues, who were 49-22-11 last season and finished second behind Vancouver in the Western Conference, know the slate's wiped clean. Last year is a memory. They will be perceived as a formidable foe and there will be no easy nights.

"It's a new year. That record's gone," Steen said. "Can't fall back on that record just because we've felt like we took the next step ... you've got to take the next step now.

"For us, it's a clean slate. Start another year. You've got to show up and prove yourself again, show the league that this is a team that's ready to contend, be a strong two-way hockey club. It starts on Saturday ... it starts today actually. We've got six days to get ready for a game. That's where all the focus and energy is going right now."

Blues fans welcome back boys of winter in style

Thousands congregated to Scottrade Center to welcome opening of camp

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- When Brian Elliott stepped onto the Scottrade Center ice Sunday morning, he had thousands of friends waiting with open arms.

Little did Elliott know that 5,500-6,000 loyal Blues fans were waiting for him. They were loud. They were clear. And when fellow teammates followed, the noise got louder and louder.

Hockey was back. And Blues fans couldn't have been happier.

"We couldn’t hear anything (on the ice) ... it was a little bit of a shock for all of us," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "You expect two or three thousand, not 6,000 or whatever. That's why we simplifed some of the drills. We just went back to familiar drills; everybody just went back to where they had to go and we just went from there.

"I just thought the crowd was unbelievable, the fans, the noise in the building. I thought that was the best part."

When the lockout officially ended Saturday night, training camps opened up Sunday for teams trying to cram in a months' worth prepping for a shortened 48-game season.

It didn't take long for chants of "Let's Go Blues" to fill the air capacity of Scottrade, and the 25 players attending camp certainly noticed.

"It's great to see that many fans out there and cheering for us," center Patrik Berglund said. "It's really exciting to be back.

"I think everybody was kind of curious how many people would show up. When we stepped on the ice, it was great to see that many people out there."

Added center Alex Steen: "It was nice, good seeing everybody. A lot of cheers. Good atmosphere. It was good."

Steen said the atmosphere was so impressive that it might be a good idea to do it on a regular basis.

"In Sweden they do it every year. The first practice of the year is always open to fans," Steen said. "There's one town way up north ... there's not a lot of people that live in the town but they usually have about 5-6,000 the first practice. It's fun. Maybe it's something that we should start with here."

The Blues, who open their 48-game schedule Saturday night at Scottrade Center against rival Detroit, opened camp with 15 forwards, eight defensemen and two netminders.

Everyone's healthy, but what players noticed most was the forgiveness Blues fans displayed to them. If the feelings resonate around the league, the NHL will be back on its feet in no time.

"It was a lot of fun. Andy McDonald was saying it was definitely the most people he’s seen at training camp in his career," defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "For us, it meant a lot that they were there to watch us and come support us. It was just great to see."

And in response, when the Blues finished up, they congregated at center ice, offered stick taps and salutes to all that were there at the end of their hour-and-a-half skate. A Q&A session with fans followed afterwards.

"That was probably one of the better moments," Shattenkirk said of the salute at the end. "To get that kind of noise from the crowd and the numbers that they showed up (with) is awesome to see."

Even with the warm welcome, one can never assume the best after a lengthy and at times bitter lockout.

"It's always an uncertainty when you wipe 30 games off the schedule and hear a lot of the banter of the people not coming back asking for refunds," captain David Backes said. "It's good that there's still the passion and people still care."

Said defenseman Barret Jackman: "You don't assume they're going to come back. You've got to go out there, battle every time you're on the ice and put your heart and soul out there.

"We all are in it because we love the game. The business side, it's one thing and it's over with now. We're able to lace up the skates and do what we were born to do. Putting a winning product on the ice is the only way to get the fans back."

Even newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko, who stepped onto Scottrade Center ice for the first time, was impressed.

"I really liked it," Tarasenko said. "Russia is the same. This was a real good one ... guys from the team and the fans can be together."

But in case there are some that refuse to come back, Steen said there's one sure way to get them back:

"Win hockey games," Steen said. "That's what it comes down to.

"We're a hard-working group. That goes without saying. I think the last few years, one of the staples of our game has been how hard we work as a group and how tight-knit we are. If we show that same work ethic, hopefully everybody still appreciates that. Obviously it was a rough go here for a couple months, but the game's back on the ice and obviously we as players are thrilled and we'll have to wait to see what it looks like on Saturday. But it should be a good game. Detroit's always fun."

Blues' last line of defense armed and ready

Team will be well off if netminders Halak,

Elliott can post similar numbers as last year

By LOUIE KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- As great as the regular season was last year, it's no secret that goalies Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott were the backbones for a Blues team that made life difficult on most nights for all opponents.

The Blues, who allowed the fewest goals (165) in the NHL, were 22 clear of everyone else (187 allowed by the New York Rangers). And it was a 1-2 punch that even had a veteran coach like Ken Hitchcock, who had the luxury of picking between the two, marveling at their play.

Halak and Elliott, both 27, took home the William M. Jennings Trophy last year, which is given to the goalie(s) who played a minimum of 25 games and allowed the fewest goals against. It was an honor well-deserved.

(Mark Buckner/St. Louis Blues)

Jaroslav Halak bounced back after a poor start last year to finish 26-12-7.

But as the Blues open their 2013 training camp Sunday at Scottrade Center with a 48-game schedule staring them square in the face, as much as they needed the Halak-Elliott tandem last year, they might need it even more this season.

Considering how packed the games will be played through April, having a pair of No. 1-type netminders gives the Blues another reason to feel like they are equipped to handle the rigors of a condensed season.

"If we play the same as we did last year, we'd be really happy," Hitchcock said.

However, what the Blues will have to monitor closely is who looks sharp early and who might have an upper edge between the two. Between them, only Halak (one game) played a competitive game in Europe (Germany) during the lockout.

Could there be some rust? Perhaps. But confidence plays a major role for any netminder.

"I think you just have to trust yourself and trust what you've trained for, your instincts going into the season. I'm definitely excited," said Elliott, who was 23-10-4 and led the league in goals-against average (1.56) and save percentage (.940) to go with nine shutouts in 38 games last season. It's getting back to that game speed (that) is always a little difficult.

"What I'm going to go into this training camp is have those good practice habits. You're focusing on every shot, you're wanting every shot, kind of playing it like a game so when the puck does drop, you're not scrambling to get focused. You're already there."

Halak, who was 26-12-7 with a 1.97 GAA and .926 save percentage in 46 games, is coming off a high ankle sprain suffered in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against San Jose. He would not play the rest of the playoffs and took time during the summer to heal. But he has since considered himself 100 percent healthy.

"I felt 100 percent in August," Halak said. "In August, I was good to go. Since then I was just waiting like everybody else.

"I was getting my workouts every day (in his native Bratislava, Slovakia). I was skating, having goalie practices every day. I felt good, but obviously it is different to practice with the whole team than with a few guys that are shooting on you."

Instead of looking for just any job in Europe, Elliott decided to stay primarily in St. Louis and work out with a sizable group of Blues teammates to remain sharp.

(Mark Buckner/St. Louis Blues)

Brian Elliott (right) finished No. 1 in the NHL in goals-against average

(1.56) and save percentage (.940) a year ago.

"It was tough for a goalie to find a job overseas," said Elliott, who allowed 58 goals on 972 shots a season ago. "For the amount of import cards they were burning, it's hard to burn one on a goalie that would not be there for the whole season or may not be there for the whole season.

"It was tougher to find jobs, and where there were job openings, the league level was probably not at the NHL or AHL level. It almost works against you as a goalie to go face slower shots, slower speeds. I thought it was more beneficial to be around NHL players and take those shots on a regular basis."

Halak played for Lausitzer Fusche and was the winning goalie in a 2-1 shootout win. He had signed a one-month contract but that would be the extent of his games played.

"I was going to go there and stay for a month, but then I had to go back home and take care of some stuff," said Halak, who allowed 90 goals on 1,211 shots last season. "Then in mid-December, it looked like we would start playing in the NHL so I just stayed at home and then my contract expired after that. I just stayed at home and waited and I was hoping it would start soon."

And now that the NHL season will start in a week, teams will be playing once roughly every two days. Keeping two fresh goalies is going to be crucial, just as it was for the Blues last season when they were 49-22-11.

When the league last played a 48-game schedule in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, only Montreal's Patrick Roy and Calgary's Trevor Kidd played all 48 games. The Canadiens did not make the playoffs and the Flames were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs.

"If what they're saying is right that basically you're playing every second day or if you're playing at least four games a week, probably four games a week or three-and-a-half games a week, that's a lot of hockey for one guy to have to play over a short period of time," Hitchcock said. "So we're going to need both guys.

"I think we've got a lot of advantages but only if we use them. We have depth in goal. ... But I don't know what happens when you don't play. Are you refreshed? Are you focused? Are you seeing things better? Are you not tired mentally or physically? Are you not worn down? I have no idea."

Both Halak and Elliott are fully aware they will rely on one another again. If it weren't for Elliott's stellar play early last season, who knows how long Halak's early-season funk would have lasted. History might be worth repeating itself but only with both flying out of the gates.

"If you look at the schedule, you've got 48 games," Halak said. "It's going to be game after game after game. We both need to be ready. We just have to play one game at a time. That's all you can do and don't worry about the next game. Stop all the pucks in the game you play and don't worry about anything else.

"We could repeat the same thing or one of us ... I don't know, something could happen, but hopefully we can both play at the level we played last year. I know it's not going to be easy, but everybody thinks we can do it. We'll see what happens."

Hitchcock won't alter a formula that obviously worked, at least at the start of the season. But if someone should falter, there's someone in the wings eager and capable of stepping in.

"I think somebody's going to have to prove that they're not up to speed because I think both guys deserve the chance to play and we're going to do that," Hitchcock said. "But if one guy doesn't look like he's up to speed, then we'll have to go with the other guy because we don't have time to build on it or recover. We've got to get going."