NHL: St. Louis Blues Looking to Succeed Next Season

With the way the St. Louis Blues when into free agency this week, it's clear to see that they are serious about making a run at the Stanley Cup. The Blues went out and signed long time Blue Keith Tkachuk who had been dealt to Atlanta last season at the trade deadline. Tkachuk has never won a Stanley Cup in the 976 games he has played in the NHL. Buffalo defensemen Teppo Numminen leads this list with 1,314 games without hoisting the coveted trophy. Tkachuk's career is coming to a close, as he is getting older and probably only has a few years left. Before signing with the Blues again, Tkachuk wanted to make sure they were serious about winning. With the acquisition of superstar Paul Kariya from the Nashville Predators, the Blues proved they are ready to win.

In 2005-2006 the Blues had the worst record in the NHL, and Blues management hope this statistic is far behind them. The Blues are looking forward to the future, and not dwelling on the past. As well as Tkachuk, Kariya has also spent a long time in the league without a Stanley Cup. Kariya has played 821 games without a cup, and he hopes that his $18 million deal with St. Louis will provide him with the platform to finally become a champion. Not only have the Blues added new players, but they have decided to keep important role players as well. Doug Weight will be returning to the Blues lineup as well as former NHL rookie of the year Barret Jackman. Jackman is the heart of the Blues defense and just re-signed with the Blues for another year. Last season, the Blues were fourth among teams with the lowest amount of goals scored at 214. Also only the Chicago Blackhawks were worse on the power play than the Blues at 12.1 percent success rate. The Blues hope that Kariya can bring his offensive punch to the Blues power play. Last season Kariya had 25 of his team leading 76 points on the power play. Kariya will serve as the Blues power play keystone next season. Tkachuk also is quite an asset on the power play, as among his 27 goals last season, 10 were on the power play. Kariya's kid brother Martin, 25, was also one of the reasons he decided to make the trip to St. Louis. Martin Kariya led the Finnish Elite League in scoring last season and the Blues are hoping the brothers can combine into an offensive force to be reckoned with.

Even with all these additions to their line up, the Blue have a long way to go. The most important piece of the puzzle for the Blues is still missing, goaltending. The Blues still do not have a quality, reliable goaltender, and this will be the most important piece to help them make the playoffs. Without a number one goaltender, the Blues won't be able to stop goals, they'll only be able to score them. In this day in age, stopping pucks is just as important as scoring goals.