MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
This award could be shared by goalie Manny Legace and right wing Brad Boyes, but the nod should go to Legace. Taken off the scrap heap in 2006 when Detroit declined to re-sign the free agent, Legace was 17-10-2 with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage through mid-January. His record suffered as the Blues failed to score goals in the second half. Boyes was the only constant on offense, scoring a career-high 43 goals.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER
Drafted in the fifth round in 2003, Lee Stempniak looked like a steal last season when he scored a team-high 27 goals. But this season, after signing a three-year, $7.5 million contract extension, he scored just 13 goals and had 37 points. He scored just once in the first 19 games and had only three goals in the final 36 games.

FREE AGENT FOCUS
The Blues have one key unrestricted free agent they would like to re-sign: center Ryan Johnson, one of the premier shot-blocking forwards in the NHL. Right wing David Backes and center Jay McClement are both restricted free agents whom the team probably will want to bring back. Left wing Martin Rucinsky, who scored just five goals this season, has completed his two-year contract and will retire or sign elsewhere.

PLAYER NOTES

--LW David Perron, 20, says that he'd like to add some weight after playing at approximately 185 pounds during his rookie year. He scored 13 goals and had 27 points in 62 games. "I don't want to gain too much," Perron said. "Ten or 15 (pounds) would be good... lose some body fat. I want to come here stronger and bigger, but not the expense of my skills."

--D Eric Brewer wasn't named captain of the Blues until after the NHL All-Star game last January. But in the last few months of the season, he embraced the role and said he looks forward to wearing the "C" in 2008-09. "It was awesome... I enjoyed it," he said. "It definitely opened my eyes a little bit to some things... we filtered a few things through me, which I enjoyed."

--RW Jamal Mayers, who made his Blues' debut in 1996, was on pace to play all 82 games for the first time in his career in 2007-08. But a severe eye injury forced Mayers to miss the last two games, halting him at 80. After tripping on the ice in Nashville, Mayers was inadvertently hit by a stick in the left eye as he tried to stand up. "Not being able to see for a few days was pretty tough," said Mayers, who is reportedly recovering nicely.

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