St. Louis Blues 2008-09 Season Review: Milestones and Mayhem

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

It's funny how good teams come together. When everything seems to be going wrong for the moment; when the skeptics, and mainstream media, doubt your capabilities and your ever-precious heart; good teams still emerge.

I would say that the St. Louis Blues had to overcome the same feelings in the 2008-09 season.

As the season began injuries starting changing the Blues line up. The Blues traded a great player Lee Stempniak to Toronto for forward Alex Steen, and defensemen Carlo Colaiacovo.

The Blues were minus Eric Johnson the entire season. They never really had an offensive threat on defense the whole season. They dearly missed Johnson in the season, and playoffs.

But with Manny Legace being sent on waivers. Chris Mason took over, and took control of the last half of the season. Which in turn led their team to finish 3rd in the Central Division, and 15th overall with a record of 41-31-10, for 92 points. That's so much better than last year, when they ended the season with a 79-point record (33-36-13); and did not make the playoffs. 

They finished the season scoring 233 goals, and allowing the same of 233 goals. They ended with a 20.45 percent on the powerplay, and 83.42 percent on the penalty kill.

The Blues had many fortunate accomplishments:

Milestones:

1. Keith Tkachuk played in the All-Star Game for the Blues, and Patrik Berglund [rookie team] and David Perron [sophomore team] were also invited to the weekend's activities.
   
2. Andy McDonald scored his 300th NHL point on Oct. 13th vs. Toronto
3. Brad Boyes scored his 100th NHL goal on Dec. 8th VS. Nashville
4. Patrik Berglund scored the Blues 10,000th Franchise goal on Nov. 1st vs. Pittsburgh
5. Chris Mason recorded his 16th career NHL shutout on Feb. 13th vs. Chicago
6. Keith Tkachuk recorded his 1,000 career point on Nov. 30th vs. Atlanta
7. Coach Andy Murray secured his 300th career NHL team victory on Feb. 19th vs. Nashville.

The big surprise for most hockey fans was the fact that the St. Louis Blues made the playoffs. They were noted many times as being the underdog of the NHL. 

St. Louis proved many people wrong, and they showed so much to their fans, and their community. These guys are very generous with their time, and they sponsor many charities that have helped many people in the Missouri area. I tip my hats to the team for giving back.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?