Despite a rough 2010-11 season, the St. Louis Blues have some reasons to be optimistic heading into next season.
Their offense might not have a genuine superstar, but it’s deep with options from young standouts such as David Backes and T.J. Oshie to newly added veterans Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner. The Blues defense has some question marks, but many expect a lot from young offensive blueliner Alex Pietrangelo. They could even get a better year from their splashy 2010 goaltending addition, Jaroslav Halak.
The biggest mystery for the Blues is the health of another one of their young rising forwards, David Perron. After reaching the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career in 2009-10, Perron’s 10-11 season ended on Nov. 4, 2010 after Joe Thornton hit him right as he left the penalty box. Perron suffered a concussion that he’s still fighting through to this day, while Thornton received a controversial two-game suspension for that check.
It’s possible that he could be quite a few steps removed from being ready to go again, but the Blues announced some fantastic news today: Perron will return to the team and hold a press conference on Monday. This is a promising step in the right direction, although many (including Blues beat writer Jeremy Rutherford) believe that he won’t practice on Monday.
The recovery process for post-concussion syndrome can often be a mystery, but even if this is just a baby step in the right direction, it’s still great to hear that Perron is moving that way.