The St. Louis Blues general manager can crow just a bit now that patience has been rewarded and the franchise is in the NHL's final four heading into a matchup against the San Jose Sharks. The roster has come together with Andrew Cogliano Jerseya mixture of long-term veterans who have move past playoff futility, newcomers accustomed to success and rookies who know nothing about the past and hit the ice at a sprint.''I never recommended to ownership that we start from scratch,'' Armstrong said Friday, two days ahead of the Blues' first appearance in the Western Conference finals since 2001. ''I said we should tinker, and we have to try to get better. I didn't lose http://www.authenticducksstore.com/cam-fowler-jersey_c-427.htmlsight of how well the team played for six months.''The Blues finished second overall in the West this season, forged by adversity from numerous long-term injuries and fueled by contributions from old hands (Troy Brouwer) and fresh-faced kids like 20-year-old Robby Fabbri, tied for the team lead with 13 http://www.authenticducksstore.com/carl-hagelin-jersey_c-431.htmlpoints in the playoffs, and fellow rookie defenseman Colton Parayko.Nobody blinked when it took three chances to finish off the Blackhawks in the first round, or when they missed a chance to clinch at home against the Stars in the second round.''We have handled adversity differently this year,'' coach Ken Antoine Vermette JerseyHitchcock said. ''We've learned to hang together.''Much of the core survived the lean times.Captain David Backes, http://www.authenticcoyotesstore.com/brad-richardson-jersey_c-430.htmla former second-round draft pick in his 10th season with the franchise, has had a standout postseason with six goals and six assists. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has been rock-solid on the back line playing every other shift. Forwards Alexander Steen and Jaden Schwartz excel at two-way play, Patrik Berglund has raised his level of play significantly for the postseason and Vladimir Tarasenko is the scoring threat no opposition can ignore.''You know how much work it takes to get here, even just this season, this playoffs,'' Backes said. ''One of these four teams is going to win the Cup and we're thinking in this room, 'Why not us?'''It's still largely a homegrown team, driven by first-round picks Berglund (2006), Pietrangelo (2008), Tarasenko (2010), Schwartz (2010) and Fabbri (2014). Jake Allen, a second-rounder in 2008, is behind red-hot Brian Elliott after the pair shared the goaltending job during the regular season.
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