November 16, 2010 :: 12:06pm ET
Sweet Blues under the Arch

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Though they've never won a Stanley Cup, the St. Louis Blues franchise is steeped in tradition. They entered the league in 1967 with the Great Western Expansion at the behest of the Wirtz family (yes, that Wirtz family) for primarily real estate purposes.

As the story goes, league executives wanted Baltimore to be the sixth franchise, but the late William Wirtz had an aging St. Louis Arena sitting empty and wanted a tenant.

Though St. Louis never put in a formal expansion bid, guess who won?

In 1966, the Blues were birthed and the team's name was culled from the W.C Handy song, the first step in the 40-year attachment of tradition to this franchise. Team ownership through the years reflected the life and times of the country. The first majority owner was insurance tycoon Sid Solomon, Jr. and then changed hands over a decade later when the pet food giant Ralston Purina (Remember the Checkerdome!) took control.

Not for long.

The Blues were guilty of a bad start and an even more damaging home record, the prime cause of Murray's replacement as head man. Unknown Davis Payne stepped in from the team’s AHL Peoria affiliate with little expectation of success. Though the Blues finished with only two points less than their previous total of their playoff season, they missed the post season for the fourth time in five post-lockout seasons.

Though they drafted well and traded smarty (the Blues have five former first round draft choices on defense), the team lacked a difference maker, a game changer that would make the team a serious player in the highly contentious West. As the days to the 2010 Entry Draft dwindled to a precious few, benevolence came to the Gateway City from 1000 miles to the north.

The Blues are the grateful benefactor to the never ending goaltending saga in Montreal, wresting away playoff hero Jaroslav Halak from the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge for prospects Lars Eller and Ian Schultz; a deal still discussed today and likely to be a hot button topic in the cradle of hockey well into 2011.

Some questioned if Halak could replicate his magic with a non-playoff team, but with the team at the top of the list of many NHL power rankings, those questions have been answered in the short term. While Halak is on a pace for a 40 win season and most point to his play as the main reason for the team's blistering start, there was a more subtle change in the organization that helped the team to its early success.

Blues GM Doug Armstrong decided that veteran presence in the locker room needed to be lessened over the summer. Paul Kariya's post concussion syndrome problems in combination with Keith Tkachuk failure to return signaled that a new generation of leadership in the Blues locker room commenced at the start of this season. While Tkachuk and Kariya are well established stars over the last two decades, their impact inside the room was counterproductive to their on ice efforts.

The new leaders were immediately challenged when a rash of injuries hit the defensive corps (Barrett Jackman, Roman Polak and Carlo Colaiacovo are on injured reserve), but the group has powered through, an accomplishment not lost on team president John Davidson, former Blues goaltender but more renowned as a television analyst. Though he's never coached, Davidson likes what he sees during the season's infancy.

"They've really grown thru this process as a group," he said. "When they get on the ice, there's no short cuts; not on the fore check, back check or penalty kill. The strength has been in keeping the puck out of the net; it starts with the goaltenders and includes blocking shots."

Blues backers and followers alike are evaluating this start, is it a function of a young team taking advantage of slow starts by the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks or is this team an 82 game (and beyond) threat?

Will Halak continue his mastery between the pipes or will other teams follow the book on him to shoot high like the Columbus Blue Jackets did when they drove him from the net after just 23 minutes the other night? Do they have enough scoring or will GM Armstrong have to make a move for veteran scoring talent at the deadline?

The good news is that the team is wealthy in cap space and prospects; if not cash should a player like Brad Richards or Jarome Iginla become available. How will they deal with the further adversity of the broken ankle suffered by emerging leader TJ Oshie?

While it's far too early to devise trade scenarios, Davidson is leaning heavily on the axiom that points in November are just as valuable as they are in March and April.

"I'm always one that likes to temper things; one thing I've learned in this position is that the season is a marathon," he said. "However, when you start the marathon in a good spot, it sure is a lot easier than playing catch up."

Dennis Bernstein, the man behind SCORE! Media and an NHL Analyst with ESPN Radio, is the Senior Writer for The Fourth Period Magazine and a Columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com. You can also visit Dennis on Twitter.