Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

Blues still taking cautious approach with Pietrangelo

Teenage defenseman scores first goal

He wants to be in the lineup. St. Louis Blues fans want him in the lineup.

But when it comes to 19-year-old rookie defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, the Blues believe less is more. They continue to insist he is a future franchise cornerstone, but hesitate to rush his development.

Coming off the best game of his young career Saturday against Dallas, the 19-year-old defenseman is expected to play again tonight in Carolina.

Pietrangelo scored his first NHL goal against the Stars and also tried to engage Dallas' Steve Ott after Ott leveled Blues defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo with a low hip check that earned Ott a two-game suspension Tuesday from the NHL.

"I didn't really see the hit," said Pietrangelo, drafted fourth overall in 2008. "I'm not going to do something stupid, but in the same sense I've got to stick up for my partner."

Somehow, the mild-mannered Pietrangelo drew a four-minute roughing penalty on the play.

"He got jumped by Ott there and got four minutes for I don't know what," Blues President John Davidson said. "I still don't know what he did. He got a double-minor for getting jumped."

Ott wasn't penalized for the hit, but did get two minutes for roughing as the Stars went on to score a power-play goal.

"They scored on the power play, but in the same sense you've got to prove a point," said Pietrangelo, whose performance did not go unnoticed.

"I think he certainly gave the team a lot more of an insight into where he is," Davidson said. "This kid's going to be a good hockey player. We've just got to make sure that we do things right.

"Sometimes you have too many young ones in there. It's the toughest position in the game."

What did Davidson like about Pietrangelo on Saturday?

"He played with poise," Davidson said. "He's got hockey sense, he's much stronger physically than he was a year ago. He handled everything pretty darned well."

Blues coach Andy Murray agreed after watching Pietrangelo play for the first time since Oct. 10 against Los Angeles. Pietrangelo logged just over 18 minutes of ice time and got plenty of special teams time as well.

"I thought it was a big step up from Petro's first game, " Murray said.

Two of the things most frequently mentioned when asking coaches or management about Pietrangelo were the first words out of his mouth during a recent interview.

"Consistency and intensity, whether it's in practice or on every shift on the ice," said Pietrangelo, who also added 10 pounds of muscle during offseason training in St. Louis. "I've come a long way and matured a long way in that sense. It really is just work ethic.

"Intensity is not so much just on the ice, it's also a mindset. It's preparation, doing the little things that it takes to be a pro."

One of Pietrangelo's best sources for advice is Hall of Fame defenseman Al MacInnis, a Blues vice president.

"He's around here all the time," Pietrangelo said. "He pulls me aside and we'll talk. It's casual sometimes, other times it's things I should work on. Having a guy around with experience like he has really helps."

Ott's hit on Colaiacovo draws suspension

The Blues nearly lost two more players to injury Saturday on a pair of questionable hits by Ott.

Along with the suspension-drawing hit on Colaiacovo, the Blues were equally displeased with Ott's knee-on-knee hit on B.J. Crombeen late in the game. Crombeen was sent flying, then quickly climbed back to his skates and went after Ott, drawing an instigator penalty in the process.

"You don't like somebody going after knees, you just don't like that," Davidson said. "To me, Steve Ott's a very improved hockey player. He's a player that can be a very effective player. But to go after people's knees just isn't the right thing."

Because the fracas took place in the final five minutes, Murray was subject to a $10,000 fine by the NHL that he said Monday had been removed.

"Crombeen's situation was even more dangerous," Murray said. "At that point it's a 4-1 game, it's an ex-teammate. What are you thinking?

"There's no way that Crombeen went out there to start a fight, so there's no way that they should have called that."

Also suspended one game Feb. 28 last season, Ott is now considered a repeat offender and will forfeit $34,756.10 in salary. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Stastny is back

Center Yan Stastny cleared waivers and joined the Blues for practice Tuesday after being recalled from Peoria. He is the top scorer for the Rivermen with three goals and nine points in eight games.

Stastny, the son of Hall of Famer Peter Stastny and brother of Colorado forward Paul Stastny, had three goals and seven points in 34 games with the Blues last season.

Stastny is the latest depth callup with the Blues already without defensemen Eric Brewer (back surgeries) and Barret Jackman (ankle sprain) and forwards Alex Steen (fractured wrist), T.J. Oshie (emergency appendectomy) and winger D.J. King (fractured hand).

Erik Johnson, Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald, Brewer and King also missed significant chunks of last season with injuries.

"This group played with a lot of heart last year to overcome all those," Davidson said. "It seemed like last year every game it was somebody; there was like a two-week period there where every game the doctors would come in after the game with x-rays in their hands.

"You'd just go 'Oh my God, now what?'''

Blue Notes

One area of concern as the Blues take on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight is a slumping power play that is in an 0-for-16 drought. The Blues are 6-for-37 (16.2 percent) with the man advantage this season, which ranks 24th in the league.