Friday, January 17, 2014

The Return of Alex Steen

On Friday, the St. Louis Blues announced that they had activated forward Alex Steen from the Injured Reserve, ahead of their match-up on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.  Steen has been out since Christmas with a concussion and his absence has been felt, especially in the pool, in that time.

On Friday afternoon, Steen ranks 44th overall in pool scoring with 24 goals and 14 assists in 35 games, as he was one of the leading scorers when he left the line-up with the head injury.  His 24 goals is still tied for 5th in NHL scoring.

The Blues, a hard-working unit as it is, has been able to continue motoring along in the Central Division, as they have gone 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, even without their best trigger man this season.  His return should only bolster this line-up and give the Chicago Blackhawks a good run down the stretch.

ImplicationsSteen's return couldn't come at a more needed time, as Grant, who was in 1st place when Steen left the line-up, relinquished his lead this week and has fallen on hard times over the past two weeks.

The first week without Steen, the rest of Grant's team rallied to put together an 18-point lead in Week Fourteen, but since then, his team has only managed to pick up 18 points in total, which has now dropped him down to 4th place, only 2 points up on 5th & 6th.

No comments: