Just one year ago, goaltender Manny Legace was representing the St. Louis Blues in the NHL All-Star Game.

This year, any of the teams in the NHL can have Legace without having to give up a player or prospect.

Legace was placed on waivers by the Blues on Friday, just two days after his 36^th birthday. Legace’s third season with The Note was filled with sub-par performances. In his most recent outing — on Monday in Detroit against his former team — Legace let in a couple questionable goals before being pulled for Chris Mason. Three of the eight shots he faced found the back of the net before the Blues came back to salvage a point in a shootout loss against the powerhouse Red Wings.

Legace was obviously disappointed to hear the news he was put on waivers. Legace told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “It’s extremely tough. You play your heart out for a team, and the minute you hit a little bit of a rough patch, they dump on you.”

The line on Legace this season: a serviceable 13-9-2 win-loss record, but a shoddy .885 save percentage and a 3.18 goals against average.

Chris Holt has been recalled from Peoria of the American Hockey League to backup Mason in the meantime. If none of the other teams in the league claims Legace, Blues president John Davidson said Legace will be sent down to Peoria so he can get more work.

The Blues had to make a move. Although Mason hasn’t put up big numbers (7-14-3, .915 save percentage, 2.60 GAA), he has been the hotter goaltender of late – he shut out Philadelphia last week at home and has turned back 131 of the last 136 shots he has faced.

Legace could resurface with the Blues if Mason struggles or gets injured. The Blues sent Legace to Peoria to help keep him sharp instead of just pouting on the bench.

Davidson told the Post-Dispatch, “If he goes and plays well, we have to re-visit the whole situation. Manny may think the book’s closed and, well, that’s his business.”

Legace’s struggles put the Blues in a tough spot. They can’t keep putting Legace on the ice with his continued struggles, but sending him to Peoria takes away valuable playing time from prospect Ben Bishop.

With the salary cap in place, teams might not have the room to fit in a goaltender who has a cap number of $2.15 million, so Legace could be ‘Playing in Peoria’ for a while unless he catches fire. The Blues would prefer to see another team take Legace off their hands or to see him regain his ‘A’ game to aid them in their bid for a playoff berth.

Rookie center Patrik Berglund has been everything the Blues’ brass thought he would be and is a candidate to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie.

Berglund has amassed 21 points in 27 games, including 11 goals. Also, he’s far and away the team leader in plus/minus at a +11.

With the rash of injuries, the Blues have had to rely on their farm system and the waiver wire. The latter has produced big dividends in the form of B.J. Crombeen, the son of former Blues forward Mike Crombeen.

B.J. Crombeen was claimed off waivers from Dallas and has scored six goals in 16 games.

Further giving Blues fans hope is the recent rankings put out by Hockey’s Future. For the second straight season, the Blues have been tabbed as having the league’s best pool of prospects.

And if the Blues continue to wallow in the depths of the Western Conference, chances are good they can add yet another top shelf prospect in next year’s entry draft.

–Congratulations are in order for Blues forward Keith Tkachuk, who scored career NHL point 1,000 with a goal in the Blues’ 4-2 win at Atlanta on Sunday.

We keep waiting for the 36-year-old Tkachuk to fade into the background and for his days as a top-six forward to come to an end, but “Walt” keeps coming back for more and despite a recent scoring slump, has 16 points in 22 games. He will be a free agent after this season.

Speaking of the Blues, goaltender Chris Mason may be aligning himself for more playing time in the future. Mason got the win on Sunday and has won his last three starts. He has stopped 106 of the last 109 shots he has faced. His goals against average this season is 2.29, compared to Manny Legace’s 3.19.

–Things were looking rosy for the Saint Louis University Billikens when they upset then-ranked Boston College by a 53-50 score at home on Nov. 22. But since then, SLU has dropped a pair of road games at Nebraska (71-57) and Detroit Mercy (62-57). Next up is a date at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Tuesday. While SIUC’s 2-3 record doesn’t look too glitzy, keep in mind that two of the Salukis’ losses came against Duke and UCLA. Simply put, if SLU wants to put key wins on its resume in order to entertain NCAA Tournament hopes, a triumph in Carbondale is paramount.

–The St. Louis Rams have been just plain offensive on offense this season. The Rams rank dead last in the NFL in touchdowns scored (12) on offense and overall (13). It was more of the same on Sunday in a 16-12 defeat at the hands of Miami. All of the Rams points came off the foot of Josh Brown via field goals. The Male Sheep have gone eight straight quarters without a touchdown.

–Rams quarterback Marc Bulger, who suffered a concussion the week before against Chicago, had a passer rating of 22.2 and threw three interceptions. The Rams picked a bad year to have a bad year — Detroit and Cincinnati seem to have dibs on the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Bulger is clearly on the downside of his career. He was exposed way too much in Mike Martz’s system and the hits are starting to take their toll. Despite already giving big money to Bulger in 2007, the Rams have to draft a quarterback next spring.

–Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel will apparently have a void to fill on his coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Dave Christensen has reportedly accepted the head coaching job at Wyoming. He’s expected to stay on board as the Tigers prepare for Saturday’s Big 12 title game date with Oklahoma in Kansas City.

Who says it can’t be 1991 again?

Future Hall of Famer and free agent forward Brendan Shanahan is available now after hearing from the New York Rangers that they won’t be able to find room for him under the salary cap.

Shanahan would have preferred to stay with the Rangers, but now it appears the left winger will sign elsewhere.

Why not St. Louis? Blues president John Davidson has already contacted Shanahan’s agent, Rick Curran, and expressed interest in obtaining the services of Shanahan, who previously donned the Blue Note from 1991-95. In fact, Blues chairman Dave Checketts contacted Shanahan personally during the summer. So it appears the Blues’ interest is truly genuine.

The Blues definitely have the salary cap room, something a lot of teams can’t boast right now. Many of the expected Stanley Cup contenders are up against the cap and can’t afford to sign the 39-year-old, even at a discounted rate. Chicago and Philadelphia are reportedly interested in Shanahan, though the Flyers are less than $1 million under the cap.

But the sticking point is, do the Blues need Shanahan?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

The Blues entered the 2008-09 season by going the youth movement route. Rookies Patrik Berglund and T.J. Oshie are being counted on to play every night, same with sophomore David Perron, who showed flashes of being a top-six forward by scoring 13 goals in 62 games last season while winger David Backes became a regular last season. Giving a regular shift to a veteran like Shanahan could impede the progression of the young forwards.

The thinking from this corner is as follows: there is always room for a player of the ilk of Shanahan. He can be a stalwart on the Blues’ power play with his quick release from the slot or even along the sideboards. The three-time Stanley Cup winner can set an example for players like Berglund, Oshie and Backes.

Adding Brendan Shanahan, who has 650 career goals, would give the Blues some good insurance. Injuries are always part of the game and with Oshie now being sidelined with a high ankle sprain — an injury that could take weeks to heal — and veteran Paul Kariya back in St. Louis for an MRI, it makes sense to bring him aboard to bolster the forward ranks. And if the Blues fade from playoff contention, having Shanahan as a trading chip at the deadline with much of his salary already paid (assuming the Blues only commit one year to him) could bring back a nice draft pick.

Another benefit to inking Shanahan would undoubtedly mean an increase in ticket sales. There are a lot of fans out there with No. 19 Shanahan sweaters (this writer included) hanging in their closets just waiting to be brought out of mothballs for home games at Scottrade Center.

[tags]st. louis blue, nhl, brendan shanahan[/tags]

Yet no one would have blamed Wamsley if he was thinking that he might be pressed into emergency duty last week when the St. Louis Blues hosted the Florida Panthers.

Wamsley, an assistant coach and goaltender coach for the Blues, watched in the third period as Marek Schwarz became the fourth goaltender to see action for the team this season.

Schwarz helped finish off a 4-0 shutout Saturday for Blues rookie and hometown prospect Ben Bishop (Chaminade High), who limped off with what was termed a “lower body injury.” That vagueness has been a staple of NHL injury reports this season as teams now aren’t required to divulge specifics about player injuries.

Ben Bishop, all 6-foot-7, made his NHL debut a night earlier in a 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings when starter Manny Legace suffered a freak injury before he even made it onto the ice. Legace apparently injured his hip when he went to step on carpet that was laid down on the Scottrade Center ice to welcome Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who was on hand to drop the puck for the ceremonial opening faceoff. The carpet gave way and Legace let two goals by in the first period before calling it a night. Check out the video:

The other goaltender to occupy the crease for The Note this year has been Chris Mason, acquired from Nashville during the offseason to back up Legace. In typical freaky Blues fashion, Mason underwent an emergency appendectomy on Oct. 16. The good news is, Mason resumed skating on Monday and is expected to be in goal on Thursday when the Blues play host to Carolina.

Legace and Bishop didn’t practice on Monday, but neither is expected to be out long-term, which is good news for the Blues. The season isn’t even 10 games old and you don’t want to see your organization’s No. 5 netminder seeing live rubber.

The injury bug doesn’t just have prejudice against goalies in St. Louis. The Blues were star-crossed even before the season started when former No. 1 overall draft pick and defenseman Erik Johnson was injured getting out of a golf cart during a team outing at the Lake of the Ozarks before training camp commenced.

The Blues have managed to keep their heads above water despite the tough luck. They are 5-3 and are two points behind Central Division leading Detroit. Helping matters has been an early-season seven-game home stand.

[tags]nhl, st. louis blues, manny legace, sarah palin[/tags]