Blues optimistic after 24-point improvement

~ St. Louis missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

ST. LOUIS -- In mid-December, the St. Louis Blues were seemingly destined for a second straight last-place overall finish in the NHL.

Next season, they could be a franchise to watch.

"We're building something here," defenseman Christian Backman said. "It looks very, very, very interesting."

Through 32 games this season, the Blues were 12 games below .500. After Andy Murray was hired as coach, they were 11 games above .500 the rest of the way. In the final four months, they beat many of the NHL's top teams, and they remained competitive even after star forwards Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin were sent to contenders at the trade deadline.

"I think we can look back and be proud of that," goalie Curtis Sanford said. "It just shows how much character we have, how much everybody cares and how much pride we have."

St. Louis finished 34-35-13 with 81 points, a huge improvement after trailing the NHL with 57 points a year ago. They've missed the playoffs the last two years after a 25-year run of consistency, but believe they're ready to contend again.

"We'll give it a run," team president John Davidson said. "We've come a long way. We can compete."

Even while they're stockpiling for the future. The trade deadline deals leave the team with three first-round picks in the Entry Draft and eight picks in the first four rounds. Defenseman Erik Johnson, the first overall selection last year, could make the jump from the University of Minnesota next season.

Forward T.J. Oshie, the No. 1 pick in 2005 who helped North Dakota advance to the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Louis, also could be ready to sign. There's plenty of young talent in place already, including forwards Lee Stempniak, Jay McClement and Brad Boyes.

"Since the trading deadline, we've had the youngest team in the league and yet we've continued to get points, and get points in a lot of places," Murray said. "We ended up being above .500 at home since Christmas and we ended up being over .500 on the road.

"You do those type of things and you'll get the results."

Murray, who has a reputation for being good with developing talent, deserves much of the credit. Davidson said he was worried another franchise might beat him to the punch before the Blues let Mike Kitchen go and hired Murray on the same day.

The well-respected Murray has been named coach of the Canadian entry in the world hockey championships that begin later this month. He made an immediate impression, saying the slate was clean for all in his opening news conference and then backing that up by benching veterans who didn't measure up.

Previous Blues ownership alienated a loyal fan base by trading Chris Pronger before the 2005-06 season. Blue-collar play helped win a lot of them back by the end of the season.

"The people of St. Louis came to respect how hard we worked, and we've laid a foundation," Murray said. "Every season stands on its own and we need to come out next season and play just as hard, but I like to think we did end it on a positive note."

The Flames grabbed the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 96 points, so it'll take another big step up. To bridge that gap, the franchise will need to upgrade at center.

Goalie and defense already have been addressed, with Manny Legace and Eric Brewer signing contract extensions.

"If we can get some guys off the injury wagon and get all of us playing together for a string of games, I think we've got a heck of a team," Brewer said. "You have to look at all the positives because it's easy to look at the negatives when you don't make the playoffs and you get off to a terrible start.

"At the end, you've got to look at what worked, what didn't work, and work with that."

The last four months, most of it worked.

"There's a lot of structure and there's a lot of players that I think are going to be looking forward to camp in the fall," Davidson said. "They probably wish it was a month from now.

"We all do, because things have gone that well."