In a move that’s come as an absolute surprise to nobody, Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal has elected to undergo Tommy John surgery (for the uninitiated, TJ is ligament replacement surgery in the elbow), meaning he will miss the 2013 season. Furcal felt a pop making a throw in a game against the Nationals on August 30 last season and elected against surgery at that point, opting for aggressive rehab. The Cardinals tried to track his progress in the off-season, and Furcal made a single appearance in a B-team game this spring before he sought a second opinion for his balky arm.

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America

Furcal was traded to the Cardinals back in 2011 from the Dodgers in exchange for Alex Castellanos to provide a bit of stability to the shortstop position, a job he did marvelously well. He injected a bit of pop into the lineup (7 HR in just 50 games) as the Cardinals won the World Series and was an All-Star last year due to a strong first half (through May, he was batting .333) before he faltered down the stretch. Regardless of how his rehab goes, his career with the Cardinals could well be over. The team signed him to a two-year deal after the 2011 season, but he’ll be 36 by next season, and the Cardinals HAVE to look for a long-term solution to shortstop.

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Ok, maybe I should have done this recap one game earlier, as the title isn’t too catchy.

Oops.

As it stands, the Blues are currently resting in fifth place in the Western Conference, a point ahead of San Jose. While this would put them in a playoff spot, it’s a pretty far cry from where they stood after seven games, when they’d gone 6-1 and looked to be among the elite of the NHL.

What’s Gone Right?

Vladimir Tarasenko

Vlad the Tank has been the player most Blues fans have been drooling over ever since he was drafted. How’s he handled this pressure?

He deals with it.

Through his first 17 games, Tarasenko’s scored 6 goals and registered 6 assists. Although this total isn’t exactly the sexiest point total hockey fans would dream of, it’d still put him on pace for 29 goals and 29 assists in a full 82-game schedule. Obviously, that’s a rough estimate, and not everything’s going to come easy for him, but not everyone’s exactly going to come out and be the next Crosby.

Tarasenko’s just 21, and he’s still adjusting to the NHL game. Hopefully this concussion is a minor issue (both immediately and down the road; he also suffered a concussion in the KHL earlier this season) and he gets back on the ice quickly.

Jake Allen

Save of the year?

“I got this.”

Could very well be. Allen’s great play as a backup couldn’t have come at a better time. He gave up a goal on his very first shot in the NHL and didn’t look back. In his four starts, the Blues went 3-1 and he posted a respectable save percentage of .914. With a healthy Jaroslav Halak back in the net, the Blues sent Allen back down to Peoria to keep him sharp. Given the way he played in his cup of coffee with the Blues, he won’t be down there long.

Patrik Berglund

Quick, name the Blues’ leading goal-scorer.

Yeah, I’m surprised, too. After setting a career high in goals (22) and points (52) in 2010-11, Berglund regressed a big last year in the points total, tallying just 19 goals and 19 assists on the season. Through 17 games this season, Berglund’s already nearly halfway there with nine goals. Given his track record, it’s unlikely he’ll continue at this pace, but who knows? Perhaps a shortened season can keep him going strong. Given the Blues’ disappointing blue-line play, they’ll need to keep up their scoring pace (3.0 goals per game, fifth in the NHL).

What’s Gone Wrong?

Defense

The Blues’ bread and butter last year has regressed into a mess this year. During the rough five-game losing streak, much blame was assigned on Brian Elliott’s shoulders, and some of it was deserving. He let in several soft goals and rarely came up with huge saves. For the most part, though, the defense this year has been less-than-stellar. The team that gave up just 155 goals last year (an NHL record 1.89 per game) has to this point surrendered 50, tied for ninth-most in the league, and an average of 2.94 per game.

What’s changed? It’s not the system, as Hitchcock has preached a consistent style of defense in his time here. It’s not the players, as for the most part, the Blues return the same defense as last year (the addition of Wade Redden the lone exception). Perhaps the answer lies in the other zone, as the Blues have upped their scoring average (from 2.51 goals per game last year) with increased pressure in the opposing end. This pressure, though, has backfired at times, with the team caught in odd-man rushes and allowing breakaways for their opponents.

The result? While the Blues are still allowing the fewest shots against per game (23.1 this year, 26.7 last year), teams are getting much better looks against the goaltending. Last year, the combination of Halak and Elliott saved 92.9% of all shots against them (a league best); this year, Halak, Elliott, and Allen have saved only 89.7% of the shots they’ve faced, which currently ranks them dead last, well below Ottawa’s league-leading 94.2%

Homeland Security

Last year, the Blues set a team record for wins at home when they went 30-6-5 at Scottrade while managing a respectable 19-16-6 on the road. This year, it’s been a complete and diametric opposite. While they’re 6-2-1 on the road, they’re just 3-4-1 at home.

Perhaps it’s due to bad bounces; perhaps the home cooking isn’t as good. The Blues scored 14 goals in their first three games at home, but in the five since, they’ve managed a total of nine, and five of them came in one game, a loss to Anaheim.

Coming Up

The good news is, there’s still time to right the ship. The Blues play their next three games at home, starting with Columbus (dead last in the Western with 12 points, 2-6-0 on the road) before they host the unbelievably hot Blackhawks (still undefeated in regulation at 14-0-3), then Edmonton (12th in the Western conference with 15 points). After that, they’ll head West for a five-game road trip and be gone for ten days. There’s still a lot of hockey to go, and even with Tarasenko out temporarily, the return of Halak should at least hopefully provide a morale boost

Way Down the Road

Keep an eye on Ty Rattie, who’s currently in his fifth season at Portland in the WHL. The Blues’ second-round pick in 2011 has emerged as a scoring presence the last two years. While he posted a respectable 79 points in 67 games in 2010-11, he exploded last year for 121 points (57 goals, 64 assists) in 69 games during the regular season, and another 19 goals and 14 assists in 21 games during the playoffs. This year, he’s registered 35 goals and 53 assists in 52 games for the Winter Hawks. Now, obviously the WHL isn’t in the league of the NHL in terms of talent, and last year he benefited from playing alongside Sven Baertschi, a first-round pick of the Flames, but Rattie is likely to head to Peoria next year to perhaps put on a little weight (he’s 6’0″, but listed at just 167lb.; currently the Blues’ lightest skater is Kris Russell at 173, and he’s just 5’10″). Questions remain about whether his game will ever translate to the NHL, but for now, he could be a dark horse to become a scoring threat for the Blues in the future.

One day after the two biggest free agents agreed to 13-year contracts in Minnesota, the Blues wrapped up negotiations with one of their young stars and will likely head to arbitration with another.

David Perron and the St. Louis Blues came to terms on a four-year, $15.25 million contract, Pierre LeBrun is reporting.

Perron is perhaps the Blues’ most potent offensive threat. He has some of the best hands, and he’s adept at scoring as well as setting up his other forwards. He missed all but 10 games two seasons ago due to a concussion sustained in a game against the San Jose Sharks, then he missed the first quarter of last season due to the lingering effects. He came back to play 57 games and still managed to set a career high in goals (21) and +/- (19).

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Watch game four of the conference semifinals online, where the St. Louis Blues take on the Los Angeles Kings. The game will be boradcasted live in HD today, courtesy of NHL.com.

This game is do or die for the St. Louis Blues, who have lost all three of their games against the Kings thus far. The Blues will have to win the next four of the remaining games in the series to progress in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Click here to watch the St. Louis Blues vs. Los Angeles Kings Free Online.

It’s not easy being a Blues fan.

Being in St. Louis, the team will always play a second fiddle to the town’s one true love, beer the Cardinals. The last decade hasn’t really been the most inspiring, either, as the Blues managed to go from a perennial playoff team (25 consecutive berths from 1980 to 2004, including the best record in the NHL in 2000) to a perennial doormat.

I grew up in the era of Hull and Oates, with Curtis “The Cat” Joseph in goal. I was overjoyed when the Blues traded for Wayne Gretzky, and I was pissed when Mike Keenan ran him out of town.

I was angry when the Blues traded Shanahan for Pronger, then ecstatic when Pronger turned into one of the best defensemen in the league.

I was pretty awed one day when Al MacInnis walked into the Total Hockey I used to work at and I got to sharpen his skates. Al was one of the best offensive defensemen in the history of the game, with his monster slapshot that he somehow did using a wood Sherwood stick while everyone else used the new composites.

Mostly, though, I’ve been left hanging on the promise of a Stanley Cup. The Blues finished the 1999-2000 season with the best regular-season record in the league, only to be knocked out by the Sharks in the first round.

Then, the Blues made it to the conference finals the next year, only to be knocked out by Colorado 4-1.

I hate the Sharks.

I hate the Red Wings, but it’s more of a respectful hate. They play the game hard, but they win. Although they didn’t win this year. Bazinga.

I hate the Predators, again with a hint of respect. They’re a blue-collar team with one of the best goaltenders in the league.

I just flat out hate the Blackhawks.

I bleed Blue.

Well, really, I bleed crimson. If you do bleed blue, you’re either incredibly sick or not quite fully human.

UPI/Bill Greenblatt

When this season started, I was cautiously optimistic. How many times in recent years have we Blues fans said, “Yeah, but wait til next year. When our young guys start to develop, look out”? I thought this might be another one of those years, especially after the team started out 6-7. The hammer was brought down on Davis Payne, and they brought in Ken Hitchcock, who’s done nothing but turn this team into one of the best in the league.

Actually, I take that back. The team had the talent all along; they’re simply buying into it now under his tutelage. He brought the team within three points of finishing with the best record in the NHL.

He took a struggling Jaroslav Halak, gave him some room to breathe while Brian Elliott went into beast mode in goal, then brought back Halak with a sense of confidence. This tandem allowed the fewest goals in an 82-game season.

He introduced shorter, more intense shifts. This showed at times during the season, when late in the game, the Blues seemed to play with a bit more intensity than the other teams.

He implemented a smothering defensive system that preached pressure throughout the neutral zone. The team ranked first in fewest shots on goal allowed, which made the jobs of Elliott and Halak infinitely easier.

And now this team has made it past the first round with an easy 4-1 series win over the Sharks. They’ll face a tougher opponent in the LA Kings, who ousted Vancouver (who finished the regular season with the best record) in five games. Both sides feature excellent goaltending, with Halak and Elliott for the Blues and Jonathan Quick for the Kings. The Kings have an excellent defense as well and took three of four games from the Blues in the regular season.

I don’t see this series turning out that way, though. I don’t think they see it coming.

They didn’t see Andy MacDonald at all during the regular season. They didn’t see David Perron or Alex Steen for two of those games. In terms of goals-per-game, those are our top three scorers right there. Once Andy Mac got back on the ice, he rolled with 10 goals and 22 points in 25 games. He was unstoppable in the series against the Sharks, racking up four goals and four assists.

Right behind him is Patrik Berglund, who tallied three goals and four assists in the series. He broke out last summer in the World Championships, but for some reason it didn’t carry over to the regular season.

Manning the blue line is Alex Pietrangelo, who could be the best young defenseman in the game today. Expected to quarterback the defense for years to come with Erik Johnson, he stepped up when Johnson was traded away and his slow promotion to the big leagues was well-deserved.

And then, of course, there’s the Roman Polak door.

From a realistic standpoint, this season has to be considered an astonishing success; anything from this point on is just gravy. Delicious gravy.

From a pragmatic standpoint, there’s a long way to go, and the road doesn’t get any easier. These teams didn’t get here just by accident.

Forget all that crap, though. The playoffs are meant for us to dream about.

Remember last fall, when the Cardinals made their improbable run? The love the other teams showed. That’s one thing I love about St. Louis. When one team does well, the whole city does well. The Rams and Blues didn’t get jealous and ignored them; they embraced them with open arms.

Well, now it’s the Blues’ turn to revel, and it’s time for others to show their support. James Laurinaitis posted a message on youtube on behalf of the Rams, and the Cardinals have a giant banner hanging from Busch. It’s been 42 years since the team’s even been in the Stanley Cup finals. Still, the “experts” don’t think it can be done. Just look at their expert picks. Six professional hockey writers, picking their favorites. Six picked the Penguins (oops!) to win the East and the Stanley Cup. Five picked either Vancouver (my bad) or San Jose (oof) to win the West.

Go ahead. Doubt. Turn the Blues’ backs to the walls. See what happens.

If you do that, though, just please…open the Roman Polak door.

Four down. 12 to go.

This is what we’ve been waiting for.

Let’s. Go. Blues.