Golf Cart Accident Knocks Out Johnson for 6-9 Months

Sometimes it seems like we've been hearing about the eventual arrival of St. Louis Blues defenseman Erik Johnson as an elite level talent for just about forever. If you watch the game closely, it was hard to miss the coverage as Johnson made his way up the American development ladder first as a cornerstone of Team USA in several World Junior tournaments, through a stop at the University of Minnesota and his debut last season with the St. Louis Blues.

Well, it looks like Johnson's appointment with hockey stardom is going to get delayed, and significantly, thanks to the freak injury he suffered last week while getting out of a golf cart at a team-sponsored tournament:

Blues defenseman Erik Johnson has a torn ACL in his right knee and will undergo surgery in a couple of weeks, a source has told the Post-Dispatch.

Johnson, 20, is expected to be sidelined six to nine months after injuring his knee in a golf-cart incident last week at the Lake of the Ozarks.

When you're talking about bad news, it can't get much worse than this for St. Louis. At 6'4" and better than 220 pounds, Johnson was expected to play top pair minutes and run the team's power play. Needless to say, that's not an all-inclusive package that's readily available, and for a team like the Blues that's already committed to a youth movement, it's the kind of injury that's devastating both on the ice and at the box office.

Here's how the folks at St. Louis Game Time saw it before the news leaked to the media:

For the Blues to compete this season, they need to get better on the power play. They need a better transition game. They need to play smarter in their own end. A healthy Erik Johnson would be a big part of that possible improvement. A defenseman who still can't legally buy beer in St. Louis in his second season won't cure all the team's woes, but it would be nice to watch him continue learning on the job and benefitting from a full NHL season under his belt.

Too bad it won't be happening. Looks like the Blues better schedule that team-wide revival for 2010 and beyond.