HAZELWOOD, Mo. --The ice was full, with the right names, the right faces, the right numbers on the backs of sweaters. These were the players general manager Doug Armstrong assembled last summer, with the intent to bring the St. Louis Blues back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Except it didn't turn out quite the way Armstrong planned. The Blues did make the playoffs with 107 points and a second-place finish in the Central. But they didn't do it with Armstrong's full group, as one after another after another fell out of the lineup with injuries, as one after another returned, as the roster shuffled and shifted.
Pain, but plenty of gain for Blues
Feel injuries have made them a stronger team heading into playoffs
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