FanHouse

Finishing out a season where there wasn't a whole lot to cheer about, the St. Louis Blues had an opportunity to forget about the impending end of their NHL season when they were able to celebrate the 500th goal of Keith Tkachuk's career.

The goal, an empty-netter, came with just 1:34 remaining to salt away a 4-1 win for St.Louis over the Blue Jackets. The goal was his 27th of the season.

While "Walt" deserves a pat on the back -- he's lost in the crush of his teammates in that photo to the right -- I can't help but think about his achievement in terms of many of his American-born contemporaries in the NHL.

This season we saw Jeremy Roenick pot his 500th goal as he found a reason to keep skating in San Jose, while Mike Modano managed to take the all-time scoring lead for American-born players while continuting to play a diminished role in Dallas.

Simply put, we're watching a whole generation of American-born players in the twilight of their careers. All three were part of the post-Lake Placid generation of players who were inspired by the Gold Medal win in 1980, and all three wore Team USA colors in the inaugural World Cup of Hockey, helping that team to a victory that shocked the entire hockey world, Canada in particular.

But now there are fewer days ahead than behind, and one wonders if the new generation of Americans, represented by players like Patrick Kane, Jack Johnson and Kyle Okposo, among others, will be able to represent the Red, White and Blue as ably in international play.