The St. Louis Blues continued their good news-bad news ways during the 2001-02 season.

The good news? The Blues have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last 22 years -- the current record for consecutive playoff appearances among the four major pro sports.

	2001-02 by the numbers
	Record: 43-27-8-4, 98 points (6th overall, 4th West, 2nd Central) Goals for: 227/2.77 (T11th overall) Goals against: 188/2.29 (5th overall) Differential: 39 (7th overall) 20-goal scorers: Keith Tkachuk (38), Pavol Demitra (34), Cory Stillman (22) 50-point scorers: Demitra (77), Tkachuk (73)

The bad news? Well, if you're a Blues fan, you know the bad news. The franchise has yet to win a Stanley Cup since arriving during the league's first major expansion in 1967.

Last season, the Blues were particularly hard to figure. Midway through the season, they won 12 of 13 games, including an impressive 10-game winning streak. And, in the final month of the season -- faced with the possibility of missing the playoffs -- the Blues finished with an 8-2 flourish.

However, outside of those two hot spells, the Blues were a mediocre 23-24-8-4.

In the playoffs, the Blues (who gained a favorable first round matchup due to their late run) made quick work of the slumping Blackhawks. Rookie goalie Brent Johnson posted back-to-back-to-back shutouts in his first playoff series as a No. 1 goalie.

Unfortunately, the Blues' reward for beating the Hawks was a showdown with the Presidents' Trophy-winning (and eventual Cup champion) Red Wings.

The Blues were competitive with the superstar-laden Wings until the early moments of Game 4 when captain Chris Pronger went down with season-ending injury to his right knee. (Pronger needed surgery to repair the knee and will be sidelined for the first two-to-three months of the 2002-03 season.) Without Pronger, the Wings finished the Blues in five games.

Looking at next season
General manager Larry Pleau, who built the Blues into a Presidents' Trophy winner in 1999-2000 only to mysteriously reconfigure his roster during the past two seasons, stayed on the sidelines during the summer free agent spending spree. Of course, with one of the league's highest payrolls, Pleau probably didn't have much money to work with. Certainly, he didn't have enough to re-sign veteran right winger Scott Young, who opted to sign with the Western Conference rival Stars.

Other than losing Young, though, Pleau was able to complete his summer to-do list. He re-signed star left winger Keith Tkachuk (who can opt for unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2003), left winger Cory Stillman, goalie Fred Brathwaite, defenseman Alexander Khavanov, right winger Jamal Mayers, center Daniel Corso as well as prospective defenseman Christian Laflamme and center Daniel Tkaczuk.

With a promise of NHL job opportunity, Pleau also signed a pair of veteran Europeans -- 26-year-old Czech-born center Petr Cajanek and 28-year-old Finnish defenseman Tom Koivisto.

Pleau would love to see Cajanek, who was the second leading scorer in the Czech League with 64 points, find a spot among the club's top six forwards.

As for Koivisto, he'll have an opportunity to earn some quality minutes while workhorse Pronger rehabs his knee. In signing the 5-10, 194-pound offensive-minded defenseman, the Blues are gambling that Koivisto is big enough and tough enough to succeed in North America.

Up front, center Doug Weight enters his second season in the Gateway City. He struggled during his first year, suffering a serious late-season injury to his knee and pelvis. After posting just 49 points in 61 games, he'll need to re-establish himself as a point-per-game player this season.

Pavol Demitra made a very successful transition from wing to center, scoring 35 goals and a team-best 78 points. He worked with Tkachuk and veteran right winger Scott Mellanby for a good portion of the season. It will be interesting to see if coach Joel Quenneville will keep this unit together or try to spread his offense around.

The club has a strong group of experienced third- and fourth-line forwards, including Jamal Mayers, Dallas Drake, Shjon Podein, Mike Eastwood, Tyson Nash and Reed Low, who can step up to work on the second line.

Center Eric Boguniecki, who was named AHL MVP, and sophomore winger Sergei Varlamov will push for a full-time NHL job in training camp.

On defense, veteran Al MacInnis turned 39 during the offseason. While still an effective player, MacInnis would benefit from a little more rest during the regular season. With Pronger out, though, there will be a temptation to overwork MacInnis. Quenneville would be wise to avoid that temptation and take a good hard look at D-men Koivisto, Laflamme, Mike Van Ryn as well as vets Bryce Salvador, Alex Khavanov and Jeff Finley.

In goal, Johnson begins his second season as the club's top goalie. He posted 34 wins, five shutouts and 2.18 GAA last season. But, Johnson's save percentage was a very average .902. Brathwaite, who had a 2.24 GAA and .901 save percentage, again will serve as the backup.

Certainly, Johnson has a bright future and he should be better with experience. Still, come playoff time, you have to wonder if he's ready to compete with guys like Detroit's Curtis Joseph or Colorado's Patrick Roy.

In the end, the 2002-03 Blues shouldn't be too much different than the club that finished last year with the fourth-best point total in the West. And, as you might figure, that's both good news and bad news for hockey fans in St. Louis.