Is there such a thing as reporter’s intuition?  I sure hope so.

St. Louis Blues beat writer Jeremy Rutherford tweeted Monday that David Perron could be ready for Saturday’s contest against the Chicago Blackhawks.  Here are Rutherford’s tweets about Perron:

"’@Potato_33: @jprutherford is [Perron] in [Washington] with team?’ ... Yes, but not playing. I think if you have tix to Sat game, you might see No. 57.”

“It's purely a guess on [Perron] being in lineup Saturday. But it makes sense ... couple more good practices, last line change at home, etc.”

So there you have it; Rutherford is giving hope to Blues Nation that David Perron could be ready for Saturday.

What does this mean for the Blues’ opponents?

In 19 career games against the Blackhawks, Perron has amassed 8 goals, 5 assists and 13 points while accumulating an astounding 43 shots-on-goal in that time.  That may not be eye-popping numbers to you, but let’s take a closer look at what he did just before his knockout blow from Joe Thornton on November 4 of last season.

It has been 10 games since Ken Hitchcock has taken over the St. Louis Blues’ on-ice product.  He has gone an impressive 7-1-2 and is making Blues GM Doug Armstrong look like a genius for the change behind the bench.

But how much can 10 games really tell us?  It is not even 1/8 of a full NHL season. 

This is not the first time that a coaching change has happened mid-season.  Far from it.  So how have the last five coaches that took over mid-season faired the rest of the way? 

Here are the last 5 changes that have occurred behind the bench in the middle of the season:

1. New York Rangers – John Tortorella replaced Tom Renney on February 23, 2009.

2. Philadelphia Flyers – Peter Laviolette replaced John Stevens on December 4, 2009.

3. St. Louis Blues – Davis Payne replaced Andy Murray on January 2, 2010.

4. New York Islanders – Jack Capuano replaced Scott Gordon on November 15, 2010.

5. New Jersey Devils – Jacques Lemaire replaced John MacLean on December 23, 2010.

Much to the dismay of Blues fans, Drew Doughty was not given a suspension for his illegal hit on Blues forward T.J. Oshie.

I am not implying anything by using the term “illegal.”  While Doughty was not suspended for his actions, he did receive a small $2,500 fine from the NHL. 

Don’t know about the hit or the punishment?  Here is all that you need to know.

What happened?

The Los Angeles Kings had a 3-2 lead on the St. Louis Blues late in the 3^rd period of their game Tuesday, November 22 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.  With just under two seconds remaining in the game, the Blues defense fired the puck toward a swarm of Blues forwards.  T.J. Oshie received the puck and carried the puck into the zone.  He skated along the boards and was watched closely by Kings defenseman Drew Doughty.  The young King skated with Oshie along the boards until Oshie turned his back to Doughty and faced the boards, still skating with a head of steam.  As Oshie turned his body, Doughty met him with a shove to the small of his back that sent Oshie into the boards head/shoulder first.  Oshie was estimated to be about 2 ½ to 4 feet away from the boards at the time of the hit.  Doughty was given a two-minute minor penalty for cross-checking on the play.

When asked about Oshie’s status after the game, Head Coach Ken Hitchcock said, “He’s good.”

Maybe I am a little late in seeing this week’s power rankings, but I feel it deserves a closer look from hockey fans in St. Louis. 

Every week, The Hockey News compiles a list called The Hockey News Power Rankings, in which they rank all 30 NHL teams based mostly on their play from the week before, but also taking into consideration how they have looked as a whole throughout the season.  This list is compiled every Monday.

So not including Tuesday’s win over Detroit and Thursday’s victory over Florida, the Blues had gone 2-0-1 in the previous week, allowing them to go 8-7-1 on the season.  The wins came against the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning (both 3-0 victories mind you), and the overtime loss came at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs (a game in which the Blues were down 2-0 and rallied back to take the game to overtime). 

So where did the Blues place in the power rankings? 

That 23 means 23^rdplace and the 25 means that the Blues were in 25^th place the week prior.