"During the All-Star break, Ken Hitchcock contacted seven friends in the coaching profession, sent them tapes of the Blues in action and asked them to make assessments on how they could improve. That said, one of the flaws doesn't require a trained eye.

After all, new Cardinals manager Mike Matheny doesn't need John McGraw to explain that his club will have to find ways to replace Albert Pujols in the middle of the lineup. Jeff Fisher doesn't need Knute Rockne to suggest his Rams will need to score more points. The obvious needs no witness.

If the Blues are going to continue down a path to the postseason and beyond, they must improve on the power play. There's no ifs, ands or wasted opportunities about it.

As they practiced at St. Louis Mills on Tuesday, the Blues were ranked 28th in power play efficiency grid in the NHL. In other words, needles in haystacks get found only slightly less often than the Blues find power-play goals."