The Top Reasons the St. Louis Blues are Back

Don't look now but your St. Louis Blues are seven games over the five hundred mark and holding the 8th and final playoff spot. They are back in the habit of consistently selling out the Scottrade Center and once again capturing the hearts of the fans.

So, what can we attribute the turn around to?

There are so many reasons as to why "Baseball Heaven" is bleeding blue once again.

Let's take a look at the top reasons why the Blues are back!

Albert Pujols agrees that JD is the mang!

Davidson was named President of Hockey Operations for the Blues on June 30, 2006. From that day forward things have started looking better. At Brett Hull's ceremony, JD not only pledged to get this team back to consistent greatness, but to bring Lord Stanley's cup to St. Louis.

When he talks about his job and the performance of his team, he does so with pride and enthusiasm. JD is not just going through the motions. His words are sincere and his actions are intelligent and calculated.

I Want My Two Dollars

Eleven Dollar seats and locked in season ticket prices. Are you kidding me?

Blues ownership brilliantly lowered certain ticket prices and added undeniably genius promotional days. Free hot dogs and sodas, mortgage paid for four months, and many other giveaways littered the scene as the blues advertising and marketing departments were challenged to help salvage this brand. Bravo! Job well done.

These Aren't Your Grandma's Sweaters

Dreading the days of the flashy red striped jerseys of old, I think all the Blues fans were pleasantly surprised when we saw the new style. Sleek, classy and they were even able to fit in half of the McDonald's arches.

Our Alternate Jerseys were named the second best in the entire league, on a poll hosted by nhl.com, behind the powder blue Penguins sweaters. Not too shabby.

Bam Bam Cam Janssen

February 26, 2008 the St. Louis Blues brought the local boy home. Cam Janssen was back in town and Bryce Salvador was off to the Devils. Many Blues fans were struggling with the notion of letting Bryce, a more than adequate defenseman, go for a "thug" and boy were we all taken by surprise.

Cam, just as the prophet JD told us, has won our hearts and when he takes the ice for two of his five minutes in the game, we know something exciting is bound to happen.

When Cam is out there we know that our players are protected. Too bad we can't say the same about the opposing enforcers face.

Looks Like We Had Too Manny goalies

When the news broke that Manny was being waived, my heart sunk down into my stomach I actually thought we were giving up. I assumed a salary cut was the endgame here. Mason wasn't exactly stellar to that point in the season. Sure his offensive support was lacking, but he had yet to wow anyone.

Eventually we should all just trust the judgment of the Blues ownership because look at the results so far. Mason is now Twenty-Four and Twenty-One with a 2.5 GAA, 91.6 save percentage and has five shutouts.

Mason has started the last three-hundred and ninety four games and doesn't look like he will ever take a night off.

The Kids

TJ Oshie, David Perron, Patrik Berglund and I'm going to go ahead and throw David Backes in there. The new found nucleus of our team is the number one reason for this late playoff push. Backes, after his four goal night against the evil Red Wings, now has a career high. Somehow this twenty-four year old is considered a veteran on the club.

Berglund, Oshie and Perron playing like they've been in the pros for decades are only a combined sixty-two years young. Almost as old as Big Walt. If the Blues can keep these lads with the Note on their sweaters past puberty, we as fans will have a lot to look forward to.

Horn-Horn-Horn
Let's Go Blues!