The Saga of David Perron Unfolds Itself

Posted 4:55 PM ET | Comments 2

As Blues fans may have noticed, rookie forward David Perron has been spending a lot of time in the pressbox during games instead of being out on the ice with his teammates. Perron has played in two out of the last six games recently. An article written by Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch describes why coach Andy Murray and team president John Davidson continue to hold Perron out of games.

According to the article, coach Murray states, "There's a code of conduct that has to be learned to be a professional. And David isn't quite there yet." Murray goes on to say, "You're going to go like this," Murray says, waving his arms, "to Keith Tkachuk? You've got to be careful."

You could tell Perron bit his lip when answering these questions about why he's not getting the playing time he deserves. Says Perron, "I'm so passionate about the game. Even in practices, you can notice if I shoot and don't score, I get mad at myself. The only reason I have to explain this is I'm so passionate about hockey. I'm not (upset) at my teammates. But it's something me and JD and Larry (Pleau) talk about from time to time. It needs to be better."

You can read the whole article here:
http://www.stltoday.com/s...73FD0010A46B?OpenDocument

To me it seemed like the Blues left Perron hanging out to dry in the article. I don't fault Jeremy Rutherford for writing the article, I just feel the issues addressed by coach Murray and management were not handled in the best way, and it made Perron to look like some kind of trouble-maker or nuisance in the locker room.

The bottom line is this. The Blues need scoring help. When in the lineup and on the ice, Perron has helped in this category. The Blues are 19-17-7 when Perron plays. If they weren't going to play him, then why did they keep him on the team out of training camp. They should've sent him back to juniors in Lewiston and let him gain more experience and log more ice time there. The kid is going to make mistakes...he's 19 years old. But to solve those mistakes by sitting him repeatedly doesn't solve a thing. It only adds to the woes the Blues have had in the scoring department because you are keeping one of your most talented players off the ice. If the Blues are going to solve a problem with a young kid making mistakes, do it on the ice, not off.

As of yet, Perron is not in the lineup tonight against Phoenix. Hopefully that changes by gametime.

Filed Under: blues nhl

bcallaway

February 29, 2008 10:37 AM ET | Delete
I wish he were in the lineup more. I like what I see from him, he makes things happen, creates energy and has a knack for drawing penalties. But I can also see what the Blues are trying to do. They knew he was a bit of a risk and a "wild card" when they drafted him and they want to make sure he grows up and learns to play the game the right way. He has a tendency to over handle the puck trying to go end to end and ends up losing it all to often and the incident the other night in Phoenix was inexcusable. He creates a scrum in the corner by laying a hit on a guy after the whistle and then skates out of the fracas he created waiting for things to settle down before skating back and getting his helmet. With the Blues safely out of playoff contention, I hope they find a way to get him out there and playing regularly.

BluemanGuruu

February 29, 2008 7:09 PM ET | Delete
yeah becal and perron stated the referee warned him not to go back in. i think murray is plain wrong. tkachoke deserves everything he gets and that at this point should and is mostly criticism. a code should be to have pride and give full effort and tkachoke hasn't displayed those attributes. when he skates hard his game is so completely different it's hard not to notice his nonchalance. so if a rookie makes a statement maybe also the veteran should be held just as accountable as well. this is a team game and anybody who makes the team should be deserving of their spot and have the responsibility to call each other out for poor play. as far as time in the nhl giving way to the here and now and effort put forth i am in disagreement unless it's a funk then some players should be given the benefit of the doubt. walt has been in a funk since we got him. he is the cancer of the blues. he is a loser from losing teams. like some other plaers on this team who are also veterans.

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