? When Blues goalie Manny Legace left the ice during pregame warm-ups Tuesday night with a knee injury, it was as much a surprise to his teammates as anyone tuning into the game.
Twenty minutes before the Blues were set to play Calgary, Legace got tangled up with a teammate in the corner of the rink and tweaked his right knee. Suddenly, the player largely responsible for the Blues' fast start this season was headed off the ice and ruled out of the game.
"I was like, 'What's going on?'" Blues forward Brad Boyes said. "We heard that he wasn't playing. The initial reaction was a little bit ? not fear ? but nervous. You know, 'Is he out for an extended period of time?'"
The prognosis late Tuesday was that Legace's injury wasn't serious, and on Wednesday afternoon Blues President John Davidson confirmed that, calling the netminder's status "day to day."
Legace, who had surgery on the same knee last spring, was walking with a slight limp Wednesday. He did not practice but is expected to back up Hannu Toivonen on Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.
"Manny's got a little swelling in the knee," Davidson said. "It's not a new problem; it's just an irritation of the old problem. The training staff will work the swelling out and he should be OK."
Details of Tuesday's pregame incident are still sketchy. Legace says he didn't see the collision unfolding and when he realized that he was falling, he braced himself with his right leg. No one is saying which teammate was involved, not even Legace, who insisted he doesn't know.
"I tripped in warm-up and tweaked my knee when I fell down," Legace said. "It's stiff ... stiff and sore."
The Blues aren't out of the woods yet, but it looks as though they've avoided a serious injury to their starting goalie. The club had a record of 15-8-1 before Tuesday's game, and they built that mark while scoring the second-fewest goals in the league. Legace, meanwhile, ranks seventh in goals-against average (2.22) and ninth in save percentage (.918).
"Manny is basically the reason why," Boyes said. "He's given us a chance to win every night. There hasn't been one game when he's let us down. There have been games we've let him down. So, he's definitely been our MVP ... our best player."
Said Davidson: "What has he had? One or two bad goals all year? You couldn't ask for any more. Manny has done his part."
Now the Blues hand the reins to Toivonen, who is 4-3 with a 2.00 GAA and a .927 save-percentage. Toivonen said he went tthrough a similar situation in Boston, when he replaced Bruins starter Andrew Raycroft for what turned into a 10-game stretch.
"There's no more pressure on me now than before, said Toivonen, 23. "I always have high expectations and expect to perform well every night. It's not going to change from now on and it's not going to change the rest of the season."
Toivonen made 34 saves Tuesday night against Calgary.
"Everybody's got confidence in 'Toivo,'" defenseman Barret Jackman said. "He works his butt off every practice, every game. If Manny were to be out for a week or so, we'd be more than confident with Toivo between the pipes."
At this point, though, the Blues don't think Legace will miss a week. After Friday's game against the Oilers, they travel to play the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
The club has not recalled Peoria starting goalie Marek Schwarz, but Davidson said he would do so today if the swelling in Legace's knee hasn't gone down.
"No injured reserve (for Legace), no call-ups, nothing right now," Davidson said. "If it doesn't respond, we'll look at it differently. But so far, so good."
Twenty minutes before the Blues were set to play Calgary, Legace got tangled up with a teammate in the corner of the rink and tweaked his right knee. Suddenly, the player largely responsible for the Blues' fast start this season was headed off the ice and ruled out of the game.
"I was like, 'What's going on?'" Blues forward Brad Boyes said. "We heard that he wasn't playing. The initial reaction was a little bit ? not fear ? but nervous. You know, 'Is he out for an extended period of time?'"
The prognosis late Tuesday was that Legace's injury wasn't serious, and on Wednesday afternoon Blues President John Davidson confirmed that, calling the netminder's status "day to day."
Legace, who had surgery on the same knee last spring, was walking with a slight limp Wednesday. He did not practice but is expected to back up Hannu Toivonen on Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.
"Manny's got a little swelling in the knee," Davidson said. "It's not a new problem; it's just an irritation of the old problem. The training staff will work the swelling out and he should be OK."
Details of Tuesday's pregame incident are still sketchy. Legace says he didn't see the collision unfolding and when he realized that he was falling, he braced himself with his right leg. No one is saying which teammate was involved, not even Legace, who insisted he doesn't know.
"I tripped in warm-up and tweaked my knee when I fell down," Legace said. "It's stiff ... stiff and sore."
The Blues aren't out of the woods yet, but it looks as though they've avoided a serious injury to their starting goalie. The club had a record of 15-8-1 before Tuesday's game, and they built that mark while scoring the second-fewest goals in the league. Legace, meanwhile, ranks seventh in goals-against average (2.22) and ninth in save percentage (.918).
"Manny is basically the reason why," Boyes said. "He's given us a chance to win every night. There hasn't been one game when he's let us down. There have been games we've let him down. So, he's definitely been our MVP ... our best player."
Said Davidson: "What has he had? One or two bad goals all year? You couldn't ask for any more. Manny has done his part."
Now the Blues hand the reins to Toivonen, who is 4-3 with a 2.00 GAA and a .927 save-percentage. Toivonen said he went tthrough a similar situation in Boston, when he replaced Bruins starter Andrew Raycroft for what turned into a 10-game stretch.
"There's no more pressure on me now than before, said Toivonen, 23. "I always have high expectations and expect to perform well every night. It's not going to change from now on and it's not going to change the rest of the season."
Toivonen made 34 saves Tuesday night against Calgary.
"Everybody's got confidence in 'Toivo,'" defenseman Barret Jackman said. "He works his butt off every practice, every game. If Manny were to be out for a week or so, we'd be more than confident with Toivo between the pipes."
At this point, though, the Blues don't think Legace will miss a week. After Friday's game against the Oilers, they travel to play the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
The club has not recalled Peoria starting goalie Marek Schwarz, but Davidson said he would do so today if the swelling in Legace's knee hasn't gone down.
"No injured reserve (for Legace), no call-ups, nothing right now," Davidson said. "If it doesn't respond, we'll look at it differently. But so far, so good."
