Have You Seen Me?

by Brad Lee on Oct 9, 2007 11:23 AM CDT

Fun with MS Paint!

By Brad Lee

ItÂ seems like it was just last week that we were hopefulÂ and excitedÂ about seeing the debut of 2007 first-round pick David Perron in a regular season game. Hey wait a second, it was last week. And we're still waiting.

Perron, 19, has spent his first two games in the NHL wearing a tieÂ while watching from the press box. With the home opener Wednesday night, we don't expect the rookie to lace up his formerly white skates and risk getting caught up in all the hoopla.

And of course the next game is the first Friday night game of the year and we don't see Perron getting the call then--too much excitement/liquor in the building that night especially for such a fragile young guy. Next week the Blues play at Chicago, the first division road game. Nope, too risky there, plus there's the ghost of Bill Wirtz to deal with. Oct. 23, the Ducks are here at the DrinkScotch Center. Pronger could hit him harder than a carton of Pall Malls and stunt his growth.

See what we're getting at?

Perron can play in nine games without burning a year off his contract and bringing arbitration/free agency a season closer. We understand that because of his age the only choice besides keeping him on the NHL roster is sending him back to his junior team where he won't have adequate competition or professional training and coaching (minimum age in the AHL is 20). But isn't it a little risky to keep a kid dangling at the bottom of the roster and parked in the press box every night? How legitimate is this nine-game tryout? Shouldn't a 19-year-old be playing as much as possible even if it's against lesser competition? Isn't there a player in Peoria or a free agent who could benefit by being on the NHL roster, practicing with the team and fighting for ice time?

Hopefully the Perron Experiment can get underway shortly and the team makes a decision about him for the season. Otherwise, we're afraid the team will do more harm than good for his development and his chances of being a legitimate contributor on the St. Louis Blues.

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Comments

I agree with you that it’s sad that they don’t seem to give Perron his chance.

But I also must say that this talk that’s been going on about it hurting his development might not be very thought-through. I think that training daily with a NHL-team, being around veteran players, seeing how they behave, react to things, go about their life as professional hockey players and so on must be better for a young player’s development than playing junior hockey.

by Ehijo on Oct 9, 2007 12:41 PM CDT reply actions

It is probably because he is French. I’m not French, I just kiss that way. I’m sure we will see Miseur Perron very soon. Can you say Bye Bye Rucinski? Man, I hope so.

by Answer Man on Oct 9, 2007 12:52 PM CDT reply actions

there is always the “e” looking here

http://www.alaskaaces.com/team/players/

at the bottom d-man for the aces, you don’t even need to be a toddler…

ahl allowed 19 year olds, they made some changes in their “developement” rules which may have included an age cap raise to 20, and a complete scan of 6 ahl team rosters does support the 20 year old age.

the blues certainly should have had this all sussed out though when they signed him, in arguements below i attempted to should the long odds there are of him playing in the nhl (from between 2% to 4%) at his age and draft location.

wouldnt be the first time it looks like the blues did not completely plan for the end game on some player(s) [see last seasons 3 goalies making the team]

but somehow i don’t think practicing with dan hinote and ryan johnson at half speed-light contact is a superior training tool than the aces or juniors or having looked forward more than a week on what you were going to do with a player..

by Childhood Trauma on Oct 9, 2007 1:09 PM CDT reply actions

p.s. not only is that “ace” d-man pretty young, i think his mom, bless her soul, has the largest c-section scar in recorded history… cos that is one large kid

by Childhood Trauma on Oct 9, 2007 1:13 PM CDT reply actions