With former Golden Gopher Erik Johnson returning to the Blue's opening night roster after missing the entire 2008-2009 NHL season with an injury, (lost battle with a golf cart in the pre-season) and with the return of former Maine Black Bear star Paul Kariya who also missed all but 11 games with a leg injury, the St. Louis Blues are going to be a much stronger hockey team.

Seriously! How can anyone think that the St. Louis Blues aren’t going to be a major force during the regular season, but also a make a run deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

What makes last year's electric run a potential precursor of even better things is that the Blues accomplished it without Erik Johnson, their most talented defenseman who was out for the season following pre-training camp knee injury, Paul Kariya, a seven-time All-Star who saw his season cut to just 11 games before having surgery on both hips, plus captain/defenseman Eric Brewer, whose surgically repaired back ended his season Dec. 11 after just 28 games.

"When I see Erik Johnson wind up and then rip one into the net now, I realize even more what we were missing last season and what we accomplished without him," Blues President John Davidson said. "You don't just assume that things are going to be better, but how can they not be with us getting Erik, Paul (Kariya) and Eric (Brewer) back this season?"

"I think we're going to see a fired-up Paul Kariya," added Murray. "I'm convinced, with his pride as a player, he's going to come back very determined."

"The way we look at it is adding Kariya, Johnson and Brewer to your lineup is almost like gaining a few free agents," Davidson explained. "Plus, the extension of Andy McDonald's contract was a key, since he would have become a free agent."
[NHL.com]