T.J. Oshie Has Broken Ankle, Surgery Needed - Including Video

Blues fans were hoping for the best but feared the worst when Samuel Pahlsson fell on top of T.J. Oshie. The young Blues forward got his left leg twisted underneath and was in obvious pain on his knees down on the ice. He couldn't put any weight on his left leg, mainly because his ankle was broken and he now needs surgery, according to the Post Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford on Twitter. Let the worrying begin.

As Average Joe reminded me, this is the second major ankle injury Oshie has suffered during his young career. In his rookie year in 2008-09, he suffered an ankle injury against Pittsburgh and missed just over a month of time. Last year he missed time after having his appendix out. Now this setback.

Oshie plays a tough, physical, fast game. He puts pressure on the puck in both ends, is a key penalty killer and is one of the personalities that has driven this team to the best start in franchise history. He's emerged as a crafty setup man for emerging sniper David Perron (who coincidentally has been out for a week with concussion symptoms). Make no mistake, Oshie is a wildly popular player because of his highlight reel hits, but he's been key to the Blues winning. Besides not having Oshie, there isn't a lot of talent in Peoria. The Blues have been skating with seven defensemen and 11 forwards with Perron out. That can't be by choice because two rookie defensemen need to be in the rotation. That's a lack of answer at forward in the minors.

What this means is coach Davis Payne will be earning his paycheck for the foreseeable future. Task No. 1 is to get this team ready to play Thursday night at home against the pesky and motivated Nashville Predators, a team that doesn't exactly like the Blues. Task No. 2 is to figure out how this team is going to score more goals. Good luck, coach.

The worst part about this turn of events is that it gives ammunition to my illogical and misguided but somehow tonight accurate feeling that with this kind of start for the Blues, something bad was going to happen soon. This isn't the end of the season by any means. Jaroslav Halak is still a monster. The Blues are still one of the fastest teams in the league. A lot is yet to be written about this team and how they respond to this situation.

Your move Blues. It's been a wild ride so far. Where do we go from here? Video of the fall below.