One of Caron's last duties as a consultant for the Blues in 1999 was take a look at a defenseman in Regina named Barret Jackman. Just one look and "The Professor" could see the glare, the focus, the desire that we all see in the eyes of a Mark Messier, a Bryan Trottier, a Scott Stevens or a Steve Yzerman.

And that, my friends, is like the difference maker when you pit the skills of players and have a standoff.

I remember Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, who lived with the aura of Wayne Gretzky and the look of Messier. After watching a game between the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks in early January in which Jackman stood up to Sharks tough guys Owen Nolan and Scott Thornton -- making them so exasperated at him that they both took penalties, while he stood there and smiled at them.

Lowe laughed and remembered Jackman's draft day in 1998.

"You could see the fire in his eyes right there on the draft floor," Lowe said, almost as if to say where were Edmonton's scouts when this guy was captaining Regina of the Western Hockey League. ''You knew the Blues had just drafted themselves a player who would soon become a presence on their defense.''

And yet, Jackman was considered too small at 6-feet, 180 pounds to be an impact player in the NHL -- considering the fact that 16 others were picked ahead of him in the first round.

But, even at 17, Jackman had the intestinal fortitude and confidence in his ability to play in the NHL.

''I think if you ask players I've played against,'' Jackman told me on Draft Day, ''they would say I hit like I'm about 6-4, 230. I like to make an impact in a game -- and whether I'm 5-5 or 6-5, I'm going to do it.''

Jackman ignored the whispers of his being too small to withstand the grind of the NHL and went out and captured the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year after his stellar 2002-03 campaign.

Poise. Confidence. Tough to play against. Those are not the usual adjectives that come up about a young defenseman -- a position that everyone agrees takes years to master - - yet alone the guy who was chosen NHL Rookie of the Year in 2002-03.

Even the Blues weren't sure what they had when they selected Jackman.

''I wouldn't lie and say that Barret Jackman had the kind of skills that caught your eyes immediately,'' said former Blues chief amateur scout Ted Hampson. ''He is one of those players whose uniform number keeps popping into your memory, if you know what I mean. When the game was over, he easily won me over ... every time.''

That is called staying power -- a player who doesn't just provide a snapshot, but rather a whole roll of highlight reel hits, blocks, etc.

And it all came to the Blues last season -- four years after Jackman was drafted and after he went through the St. Louis developmental program.

If Blues GM Larry Pleau had pushed Jackman along, who knows whether the rawboned defenseman would have made the same impact in the NHL as a rookie.

''Was I as poised as Barret is when I was his age?'' laughed Blues future Hall of Fame defenseman Al MacInnis. ''I don't know if I even am today -- and this is my 21st year in the NHL. I just like everything about him. He's clearly an impact player.''

Everyone wonders where J.S. Giguere came from last year, but the Anaheim goaltender was a highly sort after commodity at the 1995 Entry Draft, where he was taken with the 13th overall pick by the Hartford Whalers.

''Honestly, I think you can look back and see that the top 15 players in most drafts have done just fine -- and that's a tribute to the way teams scout,'' Pleau said. ''It's just that many of those youngsters are put under the gun -- and teams are put under the gun -- to produce right now.

''Look at J.S. Giguere. Everyone wonders where he came from. Well, he was the 13th pick by Hartford in 1995. He was always highly regarded, even if he went from Hartford/Carolina to Calgary and then to Anaheim before he found his game. The point is: There's nothing wrong with the scouting. It's the win-now situations they go through and the impatience that need to be questioned.''

The teams that are most patient wind up with players who have an upside like Jackman.

Larry Wigge has covered the NHL since 1969. He writes a column for each issue of Impact!