Blues sign Crombeen, Toivonen

BY NORM SANDERS - News-Democrat

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Restricted free agent winger B.J. Crombeen signed a new two-year deal worth $1.745 million with the St. Louis Blues on Monday, while the team also re-signed goalie Hannu Toivonen ."B.J. played a huge role for us up front with his scoring and toughness in his rookie year," Blues President John Davidson said in a statement. "We expect him to provide the same competitiveness and intensity next season."

The 25-year-old son of former Blues forward Mike Crombeen was picked up on waivers from Dallas and became a regular on the team's checking line.

He had 11 goals and 17 points in 66 games with the Blues, along with 122 penalty minutes.

Crombeen's offense came in bunches. He became the first Blues rookie to net game-winning goals in back-to-back games Dec. 6-8, also netting his first NHL hat trick Dec. 8 against Nashville.

Toivonen is a former first-round draft pick whose first season with the Blues started well before imploding down the stretch. He was 6-10-5 for the Blues in 2007-08 with an .878 save percentage and 3.44 goals-against average.

Toivonen was 29-23-9 last season for Tampere, a pro team in Finland. His two-way contract includes $600,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 in the minors.

For more on this story, see Tuesday's News-Democrat or visit www.bnd.com.

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