"You may not see things my way, Like My methods or My Reasons . . . but I'm Not Asking."-- Bluetonic, The Bluetones - Expecting to Fly, 1996.

With approximately 20 games to go in the season, a radio station started hating on the Blues every night during their pre-game show. Paraphrasing, they were simply saying the Blues were done. Unbeknownst to them, a certain player, a local St. Louis boy known for his, well, feistiness was listening - every night. And he was fed up.

"I called up and I told them who I was, so of course they put me right on."

Who was he? Cam Janssen, that's who.

"And I said, I'm headed to the game and you just got me fired up and I'm gonna fire the boys up. And we ended up winning that game 6-1."

Personally, I wish more players did that, showed that kind of fire with the media. It wasn't disrespectful or out of control, but he stood for his team and it worked.

It will carry over this year.

Despite the loss of the valuable leadership of Keith Tkachuk and Darryl Sydor (retired), players like Janssen are expected to pick up take their lead. Providing that leadership along with captain Eric Brewer, newly named assistant captain David Backes and veterans like Andy McDonald.

It wasn't far back in time, from that point, that the Blues had changed their coach from Andy Murray to Davis Payne. Murray was a strict, formal and controlling coach- to a fault. Payne is the youngest coach in the league at 39 while the approximate average age of the team is 28.

Payne went 23-15-4 in 43 games with the Blues. While the coaching change was made too late into the season, Payne will helm this group all season with a style that is more fitting then Murray. Murray often was noted as not utilizing young talent in his stint with the Los Angeles Kings; forcing players into roles and styles that didn't suit them or maximize their potential.

On July 1, Doug Armstrong also took over for 13 year veteran Larry Pleau as General Manager of the Blues. He is promising a more aggressive approach to a team often criticized for a lack of commitment. From the looks of it, he's walking the walk. The last personnel change is the hiring of Dave Taylor as Director of Player Personnel. Taylor's most recent experience is Director of Player Personnel with the Dallas Stars; before that he held a gamut of positions with the Kings including being GM.

It wasn't enough of a push to crack the Wild West Conference playoffs. This year the Blues, won't be, well, so Blue. Let's break this down, shall we?

You Might Be a Big Fish, In a Little Pond. Doesn't Mean You've Won. 'Cause Along May Come a Bigger One, and You'll Be Lost
Lost, Viva La Vida, Coldplay 2008

Notable additions:

Jaroslav Halak: Arguably the biggest splash in the NHL, on June 17, the Montreal Canadiens traded Halak to the Blues for, wait for it, center Lars Eller and winger Ian Schultz. Eller was a top Blues prospect and Schultz and third round pick in 2008.

What did Halak do last season? In 45 games - 26-13-5 .940 save percentage, 2.40 goals against and five shutouts. Let's not forget leading the Canadiens in two stunning playoff rounds that surpassed the favored Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. With two Game-7 thrillers and a three-game come-back against the Capitals, the Canadiens still chose Carey Price and dealt Halak. He's been inked, by the Blues, to a four-year, $15 million deal that includes a $3.75 million dollar cap hit.

While attending practices and player events, trying to get an impression of Halak is difficult. Not because his teammates are hard to talk to. Not at all. None of the players I spoke to has met him, talked to him, or had any kind of contact with him yet.

Vladimir Sobotka: Acquired from the Boston Bruins for defenseman David Warsofsky. The 22-year-old left winger was signed to a one-year deal. Playing in 66 games last season, he had 10 points and 30 penalty minutes. While the Blues are lacking at left wing, with the retirement of Tkachuk and loss of Paul Kariya, Sobotka hasn't provided the needed offense with the Bruins.

Alex Pietrangelo, a 20 year-old defenseman that played in the AHL is expected to make it out of camp this year after being named the Blues top prospect in March and playing in nine games. Drafted fourth overall by the Blues in 2008, Pietrangelo won the silver medal with Team Canada in the World Junior Championships last year. In five games, Pietrangelo scored an essential three goals and eight assists. The Blues 2010 first round draft pick, 18 year-old forward Jaden Schwartz, is committed to playing at Colorado College next season.

*Additional note, Jaden's sister, Mandi Schwartz, is battling Leukemia at 22-years-old. After finding a perfect match that would provide a stem cell transplant, Mandi is now prepping for surgery. For more information and the continued dedication of the Schwartz family in this cause, please go to www.becomemyhero.org.

Of course there is 18 year-old Vladamir Tarasenko. The highly talented, high risk, left winger is already causing a stir by signing with the KHL. Ready to make the NHL jump now, and despite the Blues needing help at left wing, he still signed with the KHL for two years. Blues sources say it could easily be worked to one-year and are not concerned with bringing him to the team next season.

Player Re-signings:

Erik Johnson, a St. Louis Fan favorite, defenseman Johnson signed a two-year deal worth $5.2 million. The 6'4, 235 lb defenseman hit career highs in goals, points, assists and shots last season, leading all St. Louis defensemen. His full potential still has yet to be realized.

Cam Janssen, a 26 year-old right wing, native of St. Louis, crowd pleaser and team agitator, avoided arbitration by signing a one-year deal for $600,000. He has said to me numerous times that staying in front of the home crowd and remaining with a team that has such a bright future was of incredible importance to him. Providing leadership, more offense, and keeping up his tough role to defend his teammates are goals for this season. Watching practice, his stick handling work seemed quite the priority to help round out his game.

Alex Steen, a 26-year old center, set a career record last season with 24 goals and 47 points. He ranked first on the Blues in 2009 with seven powerplay goals and tied for first on the team with 24 goals and four game-winning goals.

David Perron, a 22-year old left winger, scored a career high 20 goals and 47 points in 2009. The twenty goals put him just four behind McDonald and Steen who were tied for the team lead with 24. At left-wing, Perron's impact on the season will be paramount with the absence of left wing depth.

Carlo Colaiacovo, a 27 year-old, was second among a banged-up defensive corps, with a needed 31 point; playing consistently, in a career high 64 games.

Matt D'Agostini, a 23-year old right winger was traded to the Blues from the Canadiens in March and played in seven games. He was signed to a two-year deal.

Brad Winchester, a 29 year-old left winger, played in 64 games, scoring eight points; putting in a career record of 108 minutes in the sin bin.

Tyson Strachan, a 25 year-old defenseman, inked a one-year deal and is expected to make the team out of camp this year. Playing in eight games last season, he had two assists and four penalty minutes.

Notable Trades:

DJ King/Stefan Della Rovere: After the Blues re-signed 26-year-old forward King, he was promptly traded to the Capitals for Della Rovere. The 20-year-old prospect has played for Team Canada twice in the World Championships, notching a silver and gold medal. In the OHL, Della Rovere was the captain of the Barrie Colts, who had the best record in the league and won the Eastern Conference Championship.

I'm Feeling Glad, Got Sunshine in a Bag ... the Future is Coming On
Clint Eastwood, Gorillaz, 2001

Last year, the St. Louis Blues went through a lot of turmoil after making the playoffs in 2008-2009. And making it worse, the worst home record in the NHL, calling for stlouisgametime.com to nickname Scottrade Center, the "Drinkscotch Center" (best. nickname. ever).

However, the injuries, the absolute wrong coach, and Kariya's disappointing play until the last stretch of the season, all contributed to this poor showing in front of the home crowd. And all of these factors, with injuries being the only wild card, admittedly, are gone this season.

Add to this the following: The injuries that are gone? Let's talk defense - Barett Jackman, an underrated defenseman and often used as a scapegoat (along with Brewer wearing the "C") by St. Louis fans. However, even when Jackman did play last season, he was injured and lined-up with Roman Polak as part of the first pairing. Is Jackman good? Yes. First pairing good? Uh, No. This year he goes back to bottom four.

Johnson? His potential has yet to be seen. He hit career highs last season. He beats them this season and leads the defense in all offensive stats, again. Mark it down.

Polak is one of the most underrated defenseman in the league. Partially because he was run around game after game like Alex Ovechkin if he were put on speed. You would have felt bad for him. Watch him this year - just watch that whole defense this year. It is going to shut down the Western Conference like Halak shut down Pittsburgh and Washington. Oh, and speaking of your best defenseman - Halak.

Loss? Sydor. I'm not concerned. It isn't that he didn't play well. He just wasn't what he was in the past, and truly one of the few players that called it quits in time.

The offense? Ok, the Blues lost both Tkachuk and Kariya; where this hurts more than anything is that both played left wing. However, with Perron setting offensive career best statistical production, he could pick up the slack. Kariya didn't produce, so that's a wash. Losing Tkachuk hurts any team, any time. The Blues have to deal and move on. But with the offense power the team possesses (in potential and proved talent, it is there - don't doubt its chi), this is not the concern in losing Tkachuk.

If you include Erik Johnsson (39 points) eight players had 40 point seasons in 2009. Was Kariya one of them? Yes. Twenty, (10 of his 18 goals) of those points didn't come until after January 23. Andy McDonald (who had an incredible season in ways that stats don't show) had 24 goals, as did Steen. Perron had 20 goals, TJ Oshie had 18 goals. Do you think those numbers aren't going up? I agree with coach Davis Payne, who briefly said to me at a recent appearance, "I'm happy with what we've got." One other note? Colaiacovo had 32 points with a banged up defense. His production goes up as well.

Summary:

The St. Louis Blues have an across- the-board potential for even-keel offensive production instead of a one-line, one-player, shut-down approach for all teams to take with them. Stop crying for a 40-goal scorer. It isn't needed and will suck up needed cap-room to keep not only the young team together that the Blues have now, but also help a pretty loaded farm system that John Davidson is building, remain intact. Did the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup? Yes. But St. Louis knows better than anyone - don't be the Hawks.

The defense stays healthy and they are going to be shutting other teams down like the Pittsburgh Steelers' Steel Curtain in the 1970s. Or, the St. Louis Cardinals. Now.