Judge Smails

David with the goal of the year tonight - he had 2 goals and was the #1 star of the game

great, new article on David in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch - link http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...7E?OpenDocument St. Louis Blues' Andy Murray, David Perron are bridging gap BY DAN O'NEILL POST-DISPATCH GOLF COLUMNIST 11/17/2009 At times, it seems as if David Perron is the family dog and Andy Murray is the neighborhood mailman. Neither is crazy about the other. Yet, there are plenty of streets where dogs and mailmen get along just fine. They have come to an understanding, learned to respect each other, live with each other. Perhaps the 1400 block of Clark Street, where the Scottrade Center is situated, is that kind of street. Murray takes exception to the suggestion he doesn't care for Perron. Rather, he points out the two share the most important element to their relationship — a love of hockey. "I love his passion," the Blues coach said. "David has a lot of his passion; he just needs to channel it in the right way." Perhaps nothing illustrates the volatile chemistry of Perron's place with the Blues more than a recent evening against the Vancouver Canucks, a game in which he collected his first NHL hat trick, a game in which he also sat for a couple of shifts for play the coaching staff found less productive. Perron has style, Murray wants substance. Somewhere in the middle, there is a consistency, a happy medium where both will live in peace and harmony, where the Blues will flourish. This place is one both believe they are approaching, slowly but surely. "For me, I have my style of play and I have built some other stuff around that," Perron said. "Hopefully that has made me a better player and hopefully I am going to keep building around that. I know, like, sometimes the coaches want you to play a certain way. But we all have our own style of play. That's why we are here, and that's why we're going to stay here. "Sometimes it's tough for people to understand that, if you change your style of play, and things aren't going your way, now you're not in the NHL anymore. Where if you play your own style and you build around that, you can get better. That's what I am trying to do." If you took a poll in the Blues locker room, you would find sentiment on both sides of the ledger. It would suggest Murray is right not to indulge Perron. The coaching staff generally is slow to flatter any of the Blues' young players, as they push the newbies to expect the most from themselves. Be that as it is, Perron has made significant strides in recent months. Perhaps he has earned a little more slack. In quiet time, away from spotlights or cameras, Murray is more inclined to compliment his emerging winger. "He's so much more professional than he ever was, and he's getting better at that every single day," Murray said. "Now, I see it off the ice pretty well all the time." Then again, let's not get all mushy here. "There's still the odd things on the ice," Murray added, "where you wonder, 'David, what were you thinking there?' and you scratch your head." Truth is, there have been numerous sources for head scratching in recent days while the Blues try to crawl out from a slow start. But if people are wondering about the credibility of the team's youth movement, Perron has offered endorsement. Now all of 21, he leads the team with seven goals and has 11 points and consistently has been among the Blues' most visible players. At the same time, he continues to take the occasional bad penalty, make the occasional baffling play. He continues to digest what Murray preaches and tailor spontaneous instincts to a more scripted hockey discipline. Perron will not lie to you. The relationship between individuality and conformity is not always natural, not always pleasant, not always understood. But it is a relationship he is determined to make work. A native of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Perron explains in his halting-but-engaging French accent. More than 90 percent of the population in Sherbrooke speak French as a mother language. "Not just with the coaches but with everything, with being in the NHL, with getting used to everything, I think it's fair to say I've had maybe a tougher route than some other guys on the team, maybe less of a pass," he said. "But that's all right. I mean, I'm a young guy and that's what every young guy should get. You have to prove yourself, prove you want to be in the NHL and want to be a great player in this league." The lay person might not fully comprehend the monumental jump Perron has made. Less than three years before he played his first NHL game he was playing at the Midget B level in his home suburb of Fleurimont. He played just one season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey league — scoring 83 points in 70 games — before the Blues made him a No. 1 pick in the 2007 NHL draft, the 26th player taken overall. One draft earlier, in 2006, Perron was passed over entirely by all 30 teams. The leap to making the Blues roster out of training camp in 2007 is akin to a baseball player making the Cardinals' major league roster after one season of Class AA ball. Moreover, risk-taking and head-scratching incidents always have been part of Perron's profile, along with the mad puck-handling skills. Murray spotted the rookie's ice time during the initial 2007-08 season, playing him in 62 games overall. Perron had 13 goals and 27 points. He nearly doubled that output last season, registering 35 assists to go with 15 goals. His pace this season would net more than 30 goals and 50 points. Last April, Perron emerged as one of the Blues' most dynamic performers in a playoff series with Vancouver. Creating chances and antagonizing the Canucks with his grit, Perron had a goal and an assist and was a plus 3 in the four games. He demonstrated the same kind of tenacity last Tuesday against Vancouver, scoring two of his goals in front of the net. For Perron, the line that leads to more prominence is directly connected to ice time. "I had a lot of ice time in the playoffs; I think I had like 25 minutes in Game 4," said Perron, who has averaged 19 minutes of ice in the Blues' last three games, including 21 minutes in Saturday's loss to San Jose. "For me, I think the more I play, I just feel better out there. Sometimes there are going to be nights where you don't feel good in the first period, but by the second and third period you work yourself into it and you're playing well and really helping the team out." For Murray, that explanation is slightly backward. Ice time ahead of performance is the cart before the horse. He doesn't deny he expects a lot from Perron, but he insists the motive is to ensure that kind of juxtaposition doesn't happen. Anything else would be doing the player a disservice. "I just think that you have to earn it," Murray said. "And when you earn it, you appreciate it. When it's given to you, sometimes it's a short-term thing. We're looking at the long-term development of our kids. To me, if you give something to somebody, I don't think they appreciate it as much. "I'm a big believer in the ability to listen. When you're a good listener, when you have something to say, people are going to hear it." For young players, self analysis can be a most difficult thing. For veteran coaches, patience and forbearance can be hard to show. Years from now, Perron and Murray will look back at this time with a different perspective. But as the Blues search for answers, David Perron is listening better and certainly being heard from more often. And both player and coach have one goal in mind — winning. "I want to win, most of all," said Perron. "I think our relationship is good overall. What are we going to do, anyway? We can't do anything else, we just have to deal with it. Like with anybody, you're going to have a different mentality sometimes, different personalities. We just have to deal with it. I talk to him and he talks to me. That's the most important thing."

It must have been the Spaghetti - "David Perron scored a hat trick Tuesday night with his parents and some friends in the stands as they made the trip down from Quebec. Prior to the game Perron’s mom made her traditional Bison meat spaghetti which he should consider sharing with his teammates next time. " http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Andy-Strick...hursday/5/24245

congrats David - hopefully the first of many more hat tricks in a Blues uniform

David's a monster again - 2 goals already, would love to see him get the hat trick

David's having a great game today against Atlanta, drawing penalties, had a breakaway but got hauled down - would have had a penalty shot but McDonald scored on the same play. edit- now with a power play goal as well 2-0 Blues in the 3rd, David with a goal and an assist

link to a live blog update from Sweden, video of David about halfway down http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/morning-s...-linkopings-hc/

great article on David in a local St. Louis area paper http://www.bnd.com/sports/story/941481.html

David not in tonight's line up 9/18 vs. Colorado Forwards: Kariya Berglund Boyes Oshie Tkachuk Winchester Steen McClement Crombeen Tallackson Drazenovic Talbot Defensemen: Johnson Polak Junland Jackman Colaiacovo Strachan Goalies: Ty Conklin, Allen

from the game story "If you weren’t at Tuesday night’s game, you missed the first fight of David Perron’s career, as he took on Minnesota’s Danny Irmen in the third period. Some aren’t going as far as to call it a fight, but it was a tussle nonetheless. “We were just wrestling and then I put him on his (rear end),” Perron said. “I’ve never been in a fight before. It just happened. Some guy tried to run me behind the net and I think I got someone back. I thought it was clean. I turned around and there’s like three guys coming at me. Me and (David) Backes were pushing two or three guys . . . I think (Backes) had more guys than me. I didn’t think too much . . . just dropped the gloves and put him down.” Blues enforcer Cam Janssen was taking notes. “I love how everybody sticks up for themselves,” Janssen said. “You don’t have to drop the gloves and square off with anybody, but stick up for yourself. That goes a long way . . . even if you are a skilled guy, and you’re not a big guy. But man, Perry throws his weight around. He’s a strong kid. He’s going to play that pest role out there and when he wants more room, he’s going to have to stick up for himself one way or another. It’s good that he did that.” Janssen has gotten in fights in the past because opponents were upset with Perron. I asked Janssen if he minds fighting Perron’s battles sometimes? “I don’t mind it, unless the guy is 6-foot-7,” Janssen said, laughing. “But no, I wanna keep (Perron) comfortable, so that he can do his role.”

David drops the gloves in tonight's exhibition opener against Minnesota!!!! The crowd goes crazy for David - who I'd say took a decision against the Wild's Danny Irmen.

not Perron at center, just putting the 3 together Backes at center with McDonald and Perron on wing then: Berglund at center with Kariya, Boyes Tkachuk at center with Oshie, Winchester McClement at center with Steen, Crombeen note that Blues GM Larry Pleau now says Lars Eller will start in Peoria unless he really stands out due to his shoulder surgery

looks like David will anchor a top line of McDonald, Perron, Backes; then, Kariya, Boyes, Berglund; Tkachuk, Oshie, Eller McClement, Steen, Winchester/Crombeen

word out of Blues camp is that David is considered "untouchable" by Blues management

hey JR - let David know that the fans in St. Louis are on board with him - the talk in the stands was "he's no longer a kid - he is a man" and "that's a player you build a team around" I personally think he can become the next Henrik Zetterberg and play in all situations including killing penalites - which I'd LOVE to see him do.

the fun question aroud St. Louis is "who will have the best playoff beard between Berglund, Oshie and Perron" Dman Mike Weaver says Berglund because he doesn't think Oshie and Perron even shave. Congrats to David and best of luck in his first NHL playoffs - time to turn up the intensity

yet another amazaing game from David last night, 2 big assists on Berglund goals (JR - ask him if that first one was a pass and not a shot - looked like he purposely banked the puck off the back boards around the goal to Berglund) someone mentioned about him drawing penalites - David is 7th in the league in penalties drawn against with 33 this season

another great game from David tonight, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2nd star, great power play goal, quick snap shot, popped the water bottle, this team can be frustrating but they are fun to watch

got my season ticket renewal packet today from the Blues and guess who's on the "Benefits For Season Ticket Holders" brochure - #57 himself, and in the enclosed "Letter From John Davidson" is the line "We have excelled with the explosive play of TJ Oshie, Patrik Berglund and David Perron..." and once again during last night's game, David's brilliant play setting up McDonald's goal, the fans - myself included - came out of their seats when he broke into to offensive zone.

awesome game tonight by David, possibly his best game as a pro. 2 great goals - the 2nd on a highlight real play by Oshie with a dish to David for the finish, he almost had the hattrick on a backhander late in the 3rd. The crowd really is rallying around David and it's great to see his game continue to develop.

awesome pics JR - post some more when you get time

"The Blues are going to make a serious pitch for Ducks D Chris Pronger and could be offering up LW David Perron as part of a package in return." http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/Senators/2...584361-sun.html you know, it's funny and a little sad how stuff like this grows legs, the local St. Louis columnist Bernie Miklasz made a small note in his "bits" column last Sat about the idea of getting Chris Pronger from Feb 28th; Reading Time, 3 minutes Free T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and David Perron. Give us The Kid Line! If the Blues make a trade-deadline run to acquire Anaheim defenseman Chris Pronger, Perron would most likely be part of the deal. ... The Blues have the NHL's best penalty-killing rate (88 percent) since Jan. 1. later that night it gets mentioned on HNIC's Hot Stove and now other media outlets pick it up as " the Blues are trading Perron for Pronger" nonsense

and another beautiful, game winning goal from David tonight. picks up the puck along the boards at the blueline, reverses down, cuts across to the top of the circle and lets a quick shot go over the shoulder, short side on Bryzgalov. by the way, the Pronger rumors are baseless, adding Pronger would give the Blues $22 million in salary on defence next season. David's not leaving St. Louis.

good lord - I guess David's about 11 in this? http://cgi.ebay.com/2001-peewee-DAVID-PERR...%3A1%7C294%3A50

David played his best game in awhile tonight and was rewarded with a great fluke goal that will make all the highlight shows, basically he flipped the puck in toward the net from outside the blueline and headed to bench on a line change and the puck skipped past Bryzgalov for a goal.