Lars Eller gets on the scoresheet 42 seconds into his North American debut, and St. Louis native Jack Combs chips in an assist as well. Chris Morehouse, who was at the Pro Orientation Camp, looks to be working hard to win a spot on the roster as well.

Hannu Toivonen gets bowled over by Akim Aliu -- who sounds like he's going to be a serious thorn-in-one's-side that the Rivermen will have to deal with all year long -- but stays in the game, and stops 36 of 39 shots against for a 92.3% save percentage.

Here's a nice photo of Eller, by Ron Johnson of the Peoria Journal-Star staff:

Game aricle from Rivermen.net.

Game article from the Peoria Journal-Star.

Box score, also courtesy of the Peoria Journal-Star.

ICEHOGS 4, RIVERMEN 2

Scoring ... 1st . 2nd . 3rd . F

Rockford ... 1 ... 1 ... 2 -- 4

Rivermen ... 2 ... 0 ... 0 -- 2

First period -- 1 Rivermen, Cracknell 1 (Morehouse, Eller), :42. 2 Rivermen, Ryznar 1 (Richmond, Combs), 5:25. 3 Rockford, Kearns 1 (Nesbitt), 7:01. Penalties -- Hellstrom, Peo, minor-double major (2-min instigating, 5-min fighting, 10-min misconduct), 9:03; Aliu, Rck, major (5-min fighting), 9:03; Reaves, Peo (highsticking), 19:23.

Second period -- 4 Rockford, Hodgman 1 (Danis-Pepin, Ewing), 19:32. Penalties -- Morehouse, Peo (roughing), 10:46; Danis-Pepin, Rck (roughing), 10:46.

Third period -- 5 Rockford, Aliu 1 (Davis), 15:20. 6 Rockford, Nesbitt 1 (en) (Cullen), 19:09. Penalties -- Fast, Peo (slashing), 2:17; Flinn, Rck (goaltender interference), 9:15; Morehouse, Peo, major (5-min fighting), 13:25; Brennan, Rck, major (5-min fighting), 13:25; Love, Peo, minor-major (slashing, 10-min misconduct), minor served by Combs, 15:38; Cullen, Rck (holding), 16:57.

Shots on goal -- Rockford 10 15 15 -- 40. Rivermen 7 14 9 -- 30.

Power play chances -- Rockford, 0 of 4. Rivermen, 0 of 3.

Goalies -- Rockford, Richards 1-0-0 (30 shots-28 saves). Rivermen, Toivonen 0-1-0 (39-36), 1 empty-net goal.

Officials -- Referee, Kaval. Linesmen -- Bokal, Kneale.

Attendance -- 1,807.

It's a prospect samiche.

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan -- The St. Louis Blues' prospects have been hot and cold thus far in the annual Traverse City Prospect Tournament. 

On the hot side, the Baby Blues' top line of Philip McRae between Aaron Palushaj and Anthony Nigro -- all recent draft picks by St. Louis -- have combined for seven goals and 16 points through three games played, and the scoring has been ably backed up by forwards Anthony Peluso (3 GP, 2-1-3, minus-1, 7 PIM) and FA Jack Combs (3 GP, 1-2-3, even, 4 PIM). The special teams, both power play and penalty kill, are leading the tournament, and the local players attending camp on a tryout basis (Combs and defenseman Tony DeHart) have played well.

Cold as ice, however, have been highly-touted draft picks Alex Pietrangelo on defense, and forwards Brett Sonne and James Livingston. Each is projected to play a key role in the Blues' near-term future, but they are a combined minus-8 with two goals and two assists between them at the tournament.

After the jump, a look back at the three games played by the Blues thus far in Traverse City, and a preview of the third-place tilt coming up on Sept. 10. 

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Tomorrow's Blues Online with Brian Weidler

The Blues will be making their annual trip to northen Michigan over Labor Day weekend to take part in the annual Traverse City Prospect Tournament, hosted by the Evil Empire Detroit Red Wings.

Joining the Blues in the Western Conference alignment of this tournament will be Central Division rivals Columbus, as well as Dallas and Minnesota. The host Red Wings lead the pack in the Eastern Conference lineup, joined by Atlanta, Carolina, and the New York Rangers.

This year's tournament will feature some outstanding prospects from the eight teams involved, and the Blues' lineup is second to none in the number and quality of the prospects involved. Nearly all of the Blues' roster for this tournament is comprised of draft picks from the last four drafts (2006 to this year), and there will be no less than 25 recent first- or second-round picks involved in this tournament, including six on the Blues' roster.

After the jump, we'll take a look at the Blues' roster for this year's tournament, and preview some of the top young talent that the Blues will be facing off against.

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Tomorrow's Blues Online with Brian Weidler

The Blues are quietly building a very impressive stable of young defensemen, through both trades (Carlo Colaiacovo) and free-agent signings (Brendan Bell), but especially through the NHL Entry Draft. In each of the last four drafts, the Blues have spent a first-round pick on a defenseman (Erik Johnson, 1st overall 2006; Ian Cole, 18th overall, 2007; Alex Pietrangelo, 4th overall, 2008; and David Rundblad, 17th overall, 2009).

In total, 12 of the Blues' last 35 picks in the NHL Entry Draft, going back to the 2006 draft, have been blueliners. Of these picks, 2009 second-rounder Brett Ponich is the tallest at 6' 6, and brings with him perhaps the loftiest set of expectations as well, considering his draft position and ranking going into the draft.

After the jump, check out what the latest addition to the Blues' burgeoning stable of potential impact defensemen has to say about being drafted in the second round, who he patterns his game after, and more...

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Tomorrow's Blues Online with Brian Weidler

Since taking over as the Blues' Director of Amateur Scouting, Jarmo Kekalainen and his team have found a number of pretty solid hockey players in the late rounds of the NHL Entry Draft. The recently-signed Roman Pola'k was a 180th-overall seclection by Kekalainen and the Blues in 2004, and the year before that, Kekalainen found a college0bound kid named Lee Stempniak with the 148th-overall selection.

Going back to Kekalainen's days in Ottawa, he was able to find NHL'ers Greg Zanon, Martin Prusek, and Brooks Laich with the 156th, 164th and 193rd picks, respectively.

It's beginning to look like Kekalainen and his scouts have found another late-round gem in Blues' prospect Anthony Nigro, the 155th-overall selection in last year's NHL Entry Draft. Your Game Time Prospect Department sat down with the Ottawa 67's top returning scorer from the 2008-09 season after a practice at the P-O Camp, and after the jump, you'll get the scoop on what Nigro thinks about St. Louis and the Blues' fanbase, his strengths and weaknesses, and much more.

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What on Earth are future 'Notes Philip McRae (L) and Alex Pietrangelo (R) thinking here?

Bring the funny in the comments...

Tomorrow's Blues Online with Brian Weidler

At 5' 8", 170 pounds, David Warsofsky was hardly the biggest guy on the ice at the Blues' Pro Orientation Camp earlier this month. But, as the saying goes, "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog," and Warsofsky -- no dog, he -- has plenty of fight in him.

Your Game Time Prospect Department sat down with the Boston University sophomore for a chat after a practice at the P-O Camp, and after the jump, you'll get the scoop on what the Marshfield, MA native thinks about winning last year's national championship, and about his chances of cracking the Blues' star-studded lineup of defense prospects.

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Left wings left off of Blues' prospect list: The Blues have been among the top clubs in the NHL at drafting in the last few years, but one area in which they've come up a little short is in drafting left wingers.

The GTPD 2009-10 Blues Prospect Database contains just four "natural" left wings: Simon Hjalmarsson, Matthew McCollem, Chris Porter and Steve Regier. Of the four, Hjalmarsson is the only one who will be in attendance at the Pro Orientation Camp, as Porter and Regier are veteran pros, and McCollem is still in college out East (at Harvard).

Center Anthony Nigro is the only other Blues draftee listed as a LW who will be attending the Orientation Camp.

To compensate for this organizational deficiency, the Blues have invited several free agent LWs to the camp. Two that merit special attention are St. Louis native Jack Combs, late of the Saginaw Spirit (OHL), and Nick MacNeil, a Martimer from Al Macinnis' home province of Nova Scotia.

	JACK COMBS   LW, shoots L 6-00, 201 pounds, born 01-26-88 in St. Louis, MO.

	NICK MacNEIL   LW, shoots L 6-04, 211 pounds, born 01-01-89 in Cregnish, Nova Scotia.

Both Combs and MacNeil are AHL-eligible this season (Combs is 21, and MacNeil is 20), and both are offensive-minded players with decent size. As a quick glance at their stats will tell you, both players seem to thrive on the power play, which is an area of Peoria's game last season that will certainly need improvement going into the 2009-10 season.

Both players also had solid playoff performances in 2009. Combs chipped in nine goals (3 PPG, 2 GWG) and 13 points for Saginaw in 8 OHL playoff games, and MacNeil was 5-3-8 in 11 games for the QMJHL's Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Three of MacNeil's playoff tallies were also power-play markers, and he chipped in a game-winner as well. 

These are two players that your GTPD will certainly be keeping an eye on over the next few days, to see if one or both could be the answer to the Blues being able to bolster their organizational depth at LW.

Welcome To St. Louis... For The First Time: 2008 draftees Jake Allen (G, second round, 34th overall), David Warsofsky (D, fourth round, 95th overall) and Kristoffer Berglund (D, fifth round, 125th overall) will be attending their first-ever Blues Prospect Development Orientation Camps.

Allen's presence is of particular interest, as his strong showing in the 2008 U-18 World Juniors for gold medalist Canada catapulted him into the limelight, and into a place among the top up-and-coming goaltending prospects in the NHL. For a franchise that his been trying to grow a franchise goaltender ever since the current team president was a fifth-overall selection in 1973, Allen represents the Blues' best shot in decades at drafting and developing an elite goalie.

2009 draftees Brett Ponich (D, second round, 48th overall), Tyler Shattock (RW, fourth round, 108th overall), Dsvid Shields (D, sixth round, 168th overall) and Max Tardy (C, seventh round, 202nd overall) will also be making their St. Louis debuts at the Orientation Camp.

Ponich, a tall and lanky blueliner at 6' 7, 204 pounds, was drafted about 100 spots ahead of where "conventional" wisdom said he should go; Tardy, a small, speedy center from Duluth, was drafted at the specfic request of Minnesota scout Mike Antonovich (the same scout who "discovered" both T.J. Oshie and David Backes).

Band(its) On The Run: The three-time defending North American Hockey League champion St. Louis Bandits will be well represented at the Pro Orientation Camp this yeat. Goaltender Keith Kincaid (Farmingdale, NY) and defenseman Tyler Elbrecht (Edwardsville, IL) will be particpating in the camp, trying to catch the eye of Blues brass before moving on to Division I college programs in the fall. Kincaid will be attending Union College in New York, and competing in the ECAC, while Elbrecht will take his East Side attitude and 6' 5, 225 pound frame to Backes' alma mater of Minnesota State-Mankato (WCHA).