Blues Set To Get Backes, Oshie, Possibly Tarasenko Back for Round One

The Chicago Blackhawks might be getting Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane back for round one, but the Blues are getting back about two lines and a defensive pairing of players.

Alex Pietrangelo, Barret Jackman, David Backes, Patrik Berglund, T.J. Oshie, Brenden Morrow, Vladimir Sobotka, and Vladimir Tarasenko are all expected to play at some point this series - all of the guys should be back for game one, and Tarasenko will be back sooner than expected. He had his cast removed yesterday and skated in practice today.

"We'll see," Tarasenko said, when asked how soon he could play. "I don't know yet. We'll see tomorrow.

"It felt good. This was my first time with the guys. It was hard, but I'm so happy to be back."

You really have to give Morrow credit for this statement, too:

Morrow says he can't worsen his injury, so why not play. #stlblue

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) April 15, 2014

Oshie needs clearance from team doctors, as does Tarasenko.

You can't deny that this boosts the Blues' chances this series. Now all that remains is getting rid of whatever mental block has been impacting the team this month. Fans should be seeing a Blues team closer to the one that they're used to, which probably isn't something that the Blackhawks want to hear.