When I was in Atlanta last season, general manager Don Waddell asked me a couple of weeks before the trade deadline if I would be interested in going to a contending team should a deal come up. Because I figured I was playing my last season in the NHL, I said yes.

	Ray Ferraro, right, finished his NHL career with 408 goals and 490 assists in 1,258 regular-season games.

Not long after that I was scratched for a game against Pittsburgh, giving me an idea that something was going on. One of the Thrashers' media relations staffers grabbed me after that game, before I even got to the lockerroom, and said that Don wanted to see me in his office. I walked upstairs and, when I got to the door, I knew why I was going in.

"I traded you to St. Louis," Don said.

I felt a rush of adrenaline when I heard that, because I was excited at the idea of heading to a playoff team and playing games in which every shift would mean something.

Don and I had a good relationship, and there was no reason to talk around things. He got me in touch with Blues GM Larry Pleau, who also happened to be the first coach I had in the Hartford Whalers organization.

I gave Larry a call, and after he told me how excited he was to have me on his team, I asked when he wanted me there.

"Well, we play Nashville tomorrow night," he said. "I'll have our travel guy give you a call."

It was 11 p.m. by the time I left the rink that night, calling various people on my way home. I told the St. Louis travel department I couldn't take the first flight out because I had to get home and see my kids. I explained everything to my boys, Matthew and Landon, the following morning, and was on a plane by about 10 a.m. It was 3 p.m. before I got to the hotel in St. Louis, and getting to the rink at 5:00 gave me just two hours before faceoff.

I knew some of the guys on the team already, including coach Joel Quenneville, and that helped me get comfortable in the dressing room. Joel was an old teammate of mine, I had played with Scott Young and Jeff Finley before, and I had known Dallas Drake for years.

Plus, you don't need to know Keith Tkachuk well to be comfortable around him. He is an easy guy to get to know and made me feel welcome in a hurry. And it's not like I didn't know who Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger were.

I really couldn't have wound up in a spot that was any more welcoming. That's not to say I felt at home right away, but those guys made the transition easier.

And I definitely assimilated much better in St. Louis than I did the first time I was traded. I was dealt by Hartford to the Islanders early in the 1990-91 season, and it was a huge shock because I had basically grown up in the minors with my Whalers teammates.

That trade was a real kick in the pants and the team in Long Island wasn't very good at that point. The Islanders struggled, which didn't make playing there very easy. The hurt I felt about being dealt probably had something to do with that, too.

As far as St. Louis went, the on-ice transition was a little harder than in the dressing room. The Blues played a more up-tempo style than Atlanta and their level of play was higher with the All-Star caliber players on the roster. I simply tried to adjust my game to their system because it doesn't go the other way around. It took a couple of weeks, that's for sure.

It was all quite a whirlwind experience and also a little stressful, but I was excited to be on a team that was playing meaningful games.

When I arrived, we still could have ended up anywhere between fourth and ninth in the conference, so every shift was important and it was fun to play like that. It's a feeling that makes your step lighter and makes you feel better on the ice. I felt energized and ended up scoring in my first couple of games there, which I hadn't been doing a lot of in Atlanta.

The Blues also did everything first-class to make my situation at home a little easier. They let me fly home to see the kids whenever we had a couple of days off. And the first time the boys came to a game the team had jerseys ready for them with my name and number on the back. It was a little thing, but it sure made me feel good about where I was. Anytime you have that kind of balance in your life things work pretty well.

The year had started out tough for me in Atlanta, but everything the Blues did made a crazy time a lot easier. It was a great experience, and I only wish we could have played a little longer.

Ray Ferraro is a hockey analyst for ESPN. He retired from an 18-year NHL career after the 2001-02 season.