Who Are the St. Louis Blues?

With the NHL playoffs just around the corner, FanHouse takes a look at some of the lesser-known teams that qualified. Monday's installment: the St. Louis Blues.

Raise your hand if you expected to see the St. Louis Blues as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. No hands raised, eh? Not surprising. Entering this season, not much was expected from the Blues after falling short of the postseason in each of the previous three years.

Despite a rash of injuries to several key players, the Blues were one of the best teams in the NHL during the second half, and now find themselves with an opening round match up against the Vancouver Canucks. So, who are these guys?



Acquired from the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round pick this past offseason, Chris Mason has taken over as the team's No. 1 netminder and has been a rock during the second half of the season. He's appeared in 38 consecutive regular season games dating back to January 17, a stretch that has seen the Blues go on a 23-8-6 run.

Interesting Chris Mason Fact: On April 15, 2006, as a member of the Nashville Predators, Mason was credited with a goal in a 5-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. By doing so, he became the ninth different goalie in NHL history to be credited with a goal, and the second goalie to be credited with a goal in both the AHL and NHL (Damian Rhodes was the other).



The fourth overall pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, and a former Hobey Baker Award winner, Paul Kariya signed with the Blues prior to the 2007 season, inking a three-year deal worth $18 million. He played in just 11 games during the regular season due to a hip injury, and could make a return to the lineup for the playoffs.

Interesting Paul Kariya Fact No. 1: Made a brief cameo appearance in one of the worst sports movies ever made, D3: The Mighty Ducks.

Interesting Paul Kariya Fact No. 2: Proved why hockey players are tougher (or crazier) than your typical athlete during the 2003 Stanley Cup Final when, after being knocked out cold by New Jersey's Scott Stevens, Kariya returned to the game and scored a goal to help force a Game 7 in the series.



Wow.



Originally acquired by the Blues during the 2000 campaign, Keith Tkachuk is in his second stint with St. Louis after spending one playoff run with the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2006-07 season. He's a 17-year veteran and has recorded over 500 goals and 500 assists in his 1,134 regular season games. He's a two-time 50-goal scorer and a five-time All-Star.

Interesting Keith Tkachuk Fact: With 52 goals during the 1996-97 season, Tkachuk became the first American-born player to ever lead the NHL in goals.



Having played in just 51 games this season, and averaging about 10 minutes of ice time per game, Dan Hinote is not going to show up on the stat sheet all that often. He finished the regular season with just one goal and four assists, and he's never scored more than six goals in a season. He's a grinder, a fourth-liner that offers a physical presence (credited with 86 hits in his 50 games) ... so, why are we looking at him? Well...

Interesting Dan Hinote Fact: According to the NHL (via this New York Times article from May 2001) Hinote is the first, and only, player to have been selected by an NHL team out of West Point, going in the seventh round to the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.



One of the many first-round picks making an impact for the Blues, T.J. Oshie played in 56 games this season, scoring 14 goals and registering 25 assists. Selected 24th overall during the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Oshie was signed by the Blues in May 2008, leaving the University of North Dakota, where he scored 59 goals in 128 collegiate games.

Interesting T.J. Oshie Fact: Despite being six inches shorter and over 40 pounds lighter than Columbus' Rick Nash, Oshie made highlights this season for his crushing hits on the Blue Jackets forward in back-to-back games. Maybe it's not that interesting, but they were certainly fun to watch.



Andy Murray took over behind the St. Louis bench during the 2006-07 season, replacing Mike Kitchen. During Murray's tenure with the Blues, the team has gone 101-85-32. In the previous two seasons under Kitchen, the team went 38-70-19.

Interesting Andy Murray Fact: He's the first coach to ever lead Canada to three gold medals at the World Hockey Championships.


The Blues were decimated by injuries all year, losing prized defenseman Erik Johnson before the season even started because of a golf cart accident, while goaltender Manny Legace injured himself by tripping on Sarah Palin's ceremonial red carpet prior to a game. And that doesn't include the injuries suffered by Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald and Eric Brewer. Through it all, the Blues, led by a contingent of young, talented players in Brad Boyes, Patrik Berglund, T.J. Oshie and David Backes, shocked the Western Conference and put up a 92-point campaign, returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2003-04. Nobody expected this team to be here.