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Patrik Berglund looks to be the secret weapon in St. Louis

St. Louis Blues v Detroit Red Wings

DETROIT, MI - MARCH 30: Patrik Berglund #21 of the St. Louis Blues looks on the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena on March 30, 2011 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

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If you were to ask people right now who their pick for the sneaky, surprise team in the Western Conference might be this season, the St. Louis Blues is the one team you’re going to hear a lot. With a healthy Jaroslav Halak in goal and with guys like David Backes, Chris Stewart, and T.J. Oshie to lead the way at forward and growing into better players with coach Davis Payne at the helm, some feel that that’s a good mix to shake things up in the West.

One guy who might be the key to seeing the Blues get things turned around for good is Patrik Berglund. The Swedish center is coming off his best season as a pro in 2010-2011. After three seasons in the league, the Blues are hoping his 22 goal, 30 assist season is the first of many that see his offensive numbers climb. His performance in the 2011 IIHF World Championships (8 goals, 2 assists in nine games) showed that his big regular season wasn’t a fluke.

Lou Korac of In The Slot talked with Berglund and finds out that maturing and growing into the game at the NHL level could be the keys to help him become even more of a factor in helping the Blues bounce back into being a perennial playoff team.

Berglund, 23, feels good about where he is as well as the Blues, but he also understands there’s more where that came from. There’s more to achieve and with the effort he’s putting into his progress, boundless opportunities exist.

“I’m not satisfied. I want to keep developing,” Berglund said. “That’s the only thing I’m thinking about when I’m working now.

“I had a great year, but I don’t want to stop. I want to be ... this year, in five years, I want to be a player that is one of the best in the league. That’s my goal. I know I can get there if I work hard and things go my way. That’s my belief. I think it’s important to have those expectations on yourself and not just be happy you had a good year. ... If I play well all over the ice, the results will show. We’ll see where it takes me.”


Korac sees Berglund lining up with Oshie and Stewart on one of the Blues’ scoring lines. With that kind of mix on one line and with Backes, Andy McDonald, Jason Arnott, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Alexander Steen finding their way around elsewhere on other lines, the Blues could indeed be a handful to deal with.

If Berglund can have another 50+ point season and improve upon what he did last year, it’s a huge lift for a team that’s missing one of their other young and talented guys in David Perron thanks to his recovery from a concussion going slowly. The forwards for St. Louis look to be good and strong and if they can get solid play from their defense, the Blues very well could be a surprise team in the West.

With the likes of Chicago and Detroit being in their division along with an always difficult Nashville team and an improved Columbus squad, it’s going to be difficult. That said, the Pacific Division showed last season that everyone in a division can have a good season and if the Central Division works out to be as tough as it’s setting up to be, the Blues mix of youth and veteran experience could make them a fun team to watch.