Browse: Home / Peoria Riverman

Peoria Riverman

Armstrong Recalled

By Jeff Quirin on March 1, 2010

Blues Forward Derek Armstrong - Image via blues.nhl.com

Hockeybuzz.com’s Andy Strickland reports that the Blues have recalled Forward Derek Armstrong from their AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen. With Keith Tkachuk’s new injury (pinkie finger + surgery = out 10 days) and Cam Janssen’s 5 Game suspension, the Blues were down to 12 active forwards. With David Backes coming back from the Olympics (and a potentially tired Backes) the Blues were likely running with only 11 forwards at 100% coming out of the break. Armstrong’s recall will allow the Blues to carry 13 forwards as they await the return of Tkachuk and Janssen. With the first 6 games after the break being on the road, the Blues will likely need the depth.

Armstrong has five NHL games on the books this season. In those five games he has no points and is a Minus-2 while averaging a 7:34 in ice time per game.

If I were a betting man I would expect to see Armstrong centering a line with King or Winchester + BJ Crombeen to compose the Blues “4th line”.

Posted in , | Tagged , , | Leave a response

Andy Murray Out and Davis Payne In

By Jeff Quirin on January 2, 2010

Per the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the Blues Official Website Coach Andy Murray has been fired and Peoria Riverman Coach Davis Payne is now the Interm Head Coach.

Blues Interm Coach Davis Payne - Image via pjstar.com

Payne, 39, has a career 62-44-3-6 record with the Blues AHL affiliate in Peoria. This season Peoria is 19-13-1-2 in 3rd Place in the AHL’s Western Conference, West Division. They are tied with three other teams with 41 points, which are the 5th, 6th, and 7th spots on the Conference standings. Last season Payne returned the Riverman to the AHL playoffs after missing two straight. Payne also coached the Blues ECHL affiliate Alaska Aces to a ECHL Championship in 2006.

Former Coach Andy Murray - Image via blues.nhl.com

Former Coach Andy Murray - Image via blues.nhl.com

Murray’s time in St. Louis has been a mixed bag, full of high and low points. When he came to the team on December 11th, 2006 the Blues were in sad shape. Mike Kitchen was just fired as the team began its full scale rebuild. Andy Murray was brought in to maximize the veterans onteh roster while the organization was reshaped. The goal was a team more geared for post lockout styles and rules. Murray lead the Blues to a second half surge, but finished out of the play offs. In the 07-08 season the Blues were still a rebuilding team that Murray was working hard with. Instilling fundamentals anda solid work ethic with newer players. This trend continued to the 08-09 season where he orchestrated a history book like second half run to get the Blues in to the playoffs despite losing Erik Johnson, Eric Brewer, Paul Kariya, and Andy McDonald over long stretches. Expectations were heightened for the 09-10 camping based on returning players and Murray’s Jack Adams Nomination. The team has largely struggled this season, posting a 17-17-6 record with 40 points leading to a 4th place ranking in the Central Division and 12th in the Western Conference.

A fairly good synposis of Payne’s coaching style can be found here.

Please allow me to temper expectations Blues fans. I’ve seen some fans liken tis to the Penguins firing Michel Therrien and bringing in Dan Bylsma. As a huge Pens fan I can shed some light here. Dan did a good job because he understood what he had to work with and relates well to the younger players while still having respect of the veterans.  The high end talent level the Pens have pushed that team over the top. Please, do not put unrealistic expectations on Davis Payne because of Dan Bylsma (or Joe Sacco even). Payne did coach some of the players on the Blues roster, but not many. He will have to work hard to establish himself and that may take time. Do not expect a 5-0 thrashing of the Blackhawks tonight.

Expect some changes in ice-time since Payne is not a match-up intensive coach. Payne likes to be aggressive and forecheck and get the puck north (similar to Byslma, I know, but that’s the new style). I would say expect a high energy game, maybe not the best results to start, but the Blues should be bringing some heat.

I will not be able to get around to a Gameday, I don’t think. I am going to catch Chicago at the Fox today before the Blues game. Please stay tuned to Jeremy Rutherford and Andy Strickland on their websites and Twitter today for updates. We have links to their homes online on our Links Page.

Its a dawning of a new era Blues fans. Right or wrong, both the players and Murray are at fault for the mess that this season has become. As much as I like Murray (and I honestly do), he is just not the coach to take this young team forward. Blues fans had to question if he was able to adapt to the new styles of the post lockout game. From what we can see, he cannot change under adversity. Hopefully Payne can bring his “new school” approach and ramp this teams level of play up like Bylsma, Sacco, and Boudreau have for their teams.

Posted in | Tagged , , , | 1 Response

Blues Recall Derek Armstrong & Kariya on IR

By Jeff Quirin on December 30, 2009

Derek Armstrong recalled from Peoria - photo via blues.nhl.com

Derek Armstrong recalled from Peoria - photo via blues.nhl.com

Per the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the Blues Official Website, the Blues have recalled Forward Derek Armstrong from their AHL affiliate Peoria Riverman.

It appears the Blues are trying to add a little bit of toughness and leadership to the roster. At age 36 Armstrong has 471 career NHL games played, many of which were with Andy Murray in Los Angeles. Murray was quoted in the Post Dispatch saying:

“I think he brings a Danny Hinote personality to our room, which is good for us. I think we miss Danny’s personality.”

“I think Army is a great addition and brings a lot of energy and so on, but Derek Armstrong is not going to ride in here on a white horse tomorrow and save the group. It’s up to the group itself.”

Important words from Coach Murray. With Paul Kariya on IR with a upper body (likely head) injury and McClement being banged up by a Shea Weber shot the Blues saw a need to recall Armstrong under Emergency Conditions. It is very likely that McClement could play so the interesting part is who sits out when Armstrong arrives? He isn’t be brought up to sit in the box (or work out w/ Nelson Ayotte). So who is out.

My hope is Berglund. Why?

This presents the Blues with a chance to dress a real, big, physical 4th line in Winchester-Armstrong-Janssen. A line that can go out for about eight minutes and just pound the other team. David Perron can go back on a line with McClement and Crombeen, a line he has had success with.

We shall see how this plays out for the Blues tomorrow night. However, this is a good move for the Blues today to help them win now. He is a player that fits in to Murray’s preferred style of play and inserts energy in to the team to light up the home crowd.

Posted in , | Tagged , , , | 2 Responses

Eller Returned to Peoria

By Mark Massa on November 13, 2009

Lars Eller

Lars Eller

The Blues rturned rookie Lars Eller to the Peoria Rivermen today after a four game stint with the Blues.  After an impressive first two games in which Eller scored a goal, his play slipped a little.

Eller’s future is quite bright but the 20 year old can still benefit from seasoning in the AHL.  This will allow recent healthy scratch Brad Winchster to return to the lineup.  It also takes the Blues roster down to 22 players so a move will likely not have to be made in a few weeks when Alex Steen is ready to return to the lineup from his broken wrist. 

As I wrote yesterday, Winchester needs to make the most of his return to the lineup as he might just eventually find himself as the odd man out if he continues with lackluster play. 

Odds are good that we see Eller in a Blues uniform again later on this season.

Posted in | Tagged , , | Leave a response

Strachan and Stastny Sent To Peoria

By Randall Ritchey on November 1, 2009

PEORIA BOUND

Strachan

Strachan

The St. Louis Blues have assigned forward Yan Stastny and defensemen Tyson Strachan to the Peoria Rivermen.

Strachan, 25, played in six games with the St. Louis Blues this season, recording two assists and registering five shots in those six games. Strachan, a fifth round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, was signed as a free agent on October 9th, 2008.

Stastny

Stastny

Stastny, a St. Louis native, played only three games with St. Louis this year, registering a goal. Stastny, was was sent through recall waivers, and cleared, will not have to go through waivers, as the Blues only had 12 forwards available, it was an emergency recall and will NOT have to pass through waivers to be sent back to Peoria.

The Blues are in a slump, as they have not scored a goal in the last two games and are off until Thursday until they play the Calgary Flames at home. They will be looking to rebound and put the puck in the back of the net for the first time since the 28th of October.

Posted in | Tagged , , | Leave a response

Flu Strikes Peoria; Oshie’s Appendectomy; Brewer Getting Closer

By Randall Ritchey on October 24, 2009

St. Louis' AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen

The Peoria Rivermen

The Blues organization are feeling it in their locker rooms.

The Peoria Rivermen had to fly in defensemen T.J. Fast and tough guy Anthony Peluso from the Alaska Aces and sign goaltender Andrew Martin from the IHL, Bloomington Thunder, to replace the sick players on their roster.

Though names of the sick players have not been released, Hannu Toivonen is expected to be one of the sick as recently signed Martin will back up Ben Bishop in tonight’s games against the Rockford IceHogs.

Peoria is off to a 3-2-1 start and will look to add an extra win to that record tonight.

T.J. Oshie is out indefinitely after having an emergency appendectomy last night after the Blues beat the Minnesota Wild by a score of 3-1.

T.J. Oshie

T.J. Oshie

The recovery stage for Oshie could take anywhere from two weeks, to upwards of a month.

Chris Mason, Blues goaltender had emergency appendectomy surgery last season as well and missed two weeks. No time table is set for his return just yet.

D.J. King will be in the line up tonight as the Blues have not recalled anyone from the Rivermen.

Eric Brewer

Eric Brewer

Team captain Eric Brewer is easing his way closer to a return to the line up as he is practicing full time with the club and he isn’t shying away from battles. Now he is not giving a percentage of his health, or how close he might be to returning, but he is practicing at a high level and a return could be closer than most think.

Posted in , | Tagged , , , | Leave a response

Prospects Profile : Yan Stastny

By Randall Ritchey on October 22, 2009

Yan Stastny has split the last two seasons with the St. Louis Blues and the Peoria Rivermen

Yan Stastny has split the last two seasons with the St. Louis Blues and the Peoria Rivermen

When people hear the name Stastny, thoughts of offensive prowess likely comes to mind. The Stastny brothers – Peter, Anton and Marian – took the NHL by storm in the 1980’s when all three came from Czechoslovakia to play for the Quebec Nordiques. Peter, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998, has two sons who play pro hockey – Paul, who is a dynamic center for the Colorado Avalanche, and eldest son, Yan Stastny. Yan, the newest Peoria Rivermen captain, hasn’t had quite the same success as some of his relatives has had a long road to get to where is today but is still pushing to become an NHL player.

Yan Stastny, 27, who along with his brother Paul, grew up playing youth hockey in the St. Louis area and high school hockey for Chaminade College Prep before moving on in 1999 at the age of 16 to the St. Louis Sting of the North American Hockey League. He played one full season for the Sting, notching 35 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 45 games. Yan played six games with the Sting in the 2000-01 season before moving up to play with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League, the top level of Junior-A hockey in the United States. Stastny played in 44 games with the Lancers and posted 31 points (17 goals, 14 assists).

After a solid showing with the Lancers, Stastny was able to earn himself a hockey scholarship with the University of Notre Dame. Yan started his college career in 2001 and spent two seasons with the Irish. After registering 17 points in 33 games his freshman season, Yan was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 8th round of the 2002 NHL entry draft. Yan followed that up by putting up 23 points in 39 seasons in his second season with Notre Dame.

After two seasons of college hockey, Yan looked to take his game to the pro level and opted to try his hand in Germany to play for the Nurnberg Ice Tigers of the German Elite League (DEL). Stastny played for the Tigers for two seasons, registering 29 points (9 goals, 20 assists) in 44 games in the 2003-04 season and then improving to 54 points (24 goals, 30 assists) in 51 games in his second season with Nurnberg.

After the impressive showing in Germany, Yan looked to bring his game back to North America. The Bruins traded his rights to the Edmonton Oilers for a 4th round pick and the Oilers sent Yan to play for the now defunct,  Iowa Stars of the American Hockey League for the 2005-06 season. Yan spend a majority of the season with the Stars, becoming a fan favorite in the franchise’s first year, but was able to get into three games with the Oilers. Later on in the season though, Yan found himself back with the Bruins organization as he was part of a trade along with Marty Reasoner and a 2nd round pick which took Sergei Samsonov to Edmonton. Yan got into 17 games for the Bruins, scoring four points (1 goal, 3 assists) and was then send to Boston’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, to play in the AHL playoffs. Stastny put up 5 assists in the 6 games before Providence was eliminated from the playoffs.

After playing for four different teams the previous season, Yan was hoping for a little more stability for the 2006-07 season but it ended up being almost as crazy as the season before. Yan started off the season bouncing between Boston and Providence. He played 21 games with the Bruins and 11 games with the Providence Bruins before being traded to his home town team, the St. Louis Blues, on January 16th, 2007 in exchange for a 5th round pick. Stastny then finished off the season playing for the Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, scoring 11 goals and 17 assists in 39 games before the season ended.

Yan has been overshadowed offensively by his brother Paul, center for the Colorado Avalanche.

Yan has been overshadowed offensively by his brother Paul, center for the Colorado Avalanche.

The 2007-08 season was Stastny’s first full season in the Blues organization and he had hopes of sticking in the NHL. Yan was able to get into 11 games with the Blues (1 goal, 1 assist) but spent a majority of the season with the Rivermen, tallying 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 43 games. After a couple of seasons of bouncing between the NHL and AHL, Yan knew he was capable of playing in the NHL but that it would not be an easy path.

When the 2008-09 season began, Stasnty wanted to build on his success from the season before. He did just this as he played a career high 34 games with the Blues. He scored three times and added four assists while with St. Louis as a checking line player but Stastny was unable to stick in the NHL full-time. Yan ended up breaking his thumb and upon returning from injury, finished the season with Peoria playing in 30 games and notching 19 points (12 goals, 7 assists). Yan then added 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 6 AHL playoff games.

Stastny came into the 2009-10 season on a one-way contract and was looking to finally establish himself as a full-time NHLer. Unfortunately, mostly due to a logjam of forwards the Blues had to choose from, Stastny was sent to Peoria during training camp.
Although he has still not reached his goal of being in the NHL, not all is bad for Yan. Since he is on a one-way contract, he is receiving an NHL salary instead of a much less AHL salary and on October 20th, 2009, Stastny was named captain of the Peoria Rivermen. The captaincy was up for grabs as ex-Rivermen captain, Trent Whitfield signed a contract with the Boston Bruins in the 2009 offseason and Stastny was a natural choice as he is known for his leadership both on and off the ice.

Stastny currently leads the Rivermen in scoring with nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in seven games and has points in his last five games. Stastny could potentially be called up this season if injuries take hold of the Blues, but for now, the Rivermen captain is enjoying the start of the season in Peoria and hopes his hot start continues throughout the season with the Rivermen. Stastny is a hard working professional who could fit on an NHL checking line without much problem.

Randall Ritchey
randallritchey@gmail.com

Posted in | Tagged , , | Leave a response

Peoria Update – Captains Named, Fletcher Injured

By Mark Massa on October 21, 2009

Much like the Blues, the Peoria Rivermen have started off with a mediocre start to the 2009-10 season.  After 6 games the Rivermen have a record of 2-2-1-1 (note: in the AHL, overtime losses and shoot-out losses are categorized separately but as in the NHL, both count as one point in the standings). 

After a 4-3 shoot-out loss to Rockford on Saturday, they will play the IceHogs two more times in a row, the first being this evening and then again on Saturday evening.  Both games will be at Carver Arena in Peoria. 

Leading the way yet again this season is veteran Yan Stastny.  More of a checking line player at the NHL level, Yan is a veteran offensive force at the AHL level and it shows as he is leading the team with 7 points in 6 games.  Also having good starts to the season are second year defenseman Jonas Junland (6 points in 6 games) and rookie forward Lars Eller (5 points in 6 games).  In the event the Blues need to re-call players from Peoria, expect those three, along with veteran forward Derek Armstrong and defender Brendan Bell, to be among those most likely to get the call. 

Yan Stastny named Rivermen captain.

Yan Stastny named Rivermen captain.

More good news for Stastny is that he was recently named team captain.  Cam Paddock and Danny Richmond were named alternate captains.  All three provide a veteran presence in the AHL and have shown good leadership skills.  Stastny in particular is a very valuable part of Peoria’s lineup – both on the ice and in the locker room. 

Some bad news is that the Rivermen will be without defenseman Justin Fletcher for the next 6 – 8 weeks as he broke his hand blocking a shot in Saturday’s game against the IceHogs.  He will be a big loss as he was the team’s leading scorer from the blueline last year with 32 points in 68 games.  Newcomer Adrian Veideman had been serving as the team’s 7th defenseman so should now see more consistent action along with a core group of Junland, Bell, Danny Richmond, Steve Wagner, and Bryce Lampman.

Posted in | Tagged , | Leave a response

Share this blog

Share |

AD