from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

We’ll take a look at different storylines over the next couple of weeks as camps near, but here are two of the teams that grab my attention right away: the St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks.

ST. LOUIS BLUES

This is an important season for this franchise. They’ve been knocking at the door for three years and have one playoff series win to show for it.

Of course, losing to powerhouse Chicago in the opening round last spring is hardly anything to be embarrassed about. And they lost to Los Angeles the other two postseasons. Talk about playoff royalty. It just underlines yet again the imbalance that exists in the NHL right now in terms of the predominance of the Western Conference.

It’s difficult, yes, but the Blues have to figure out how to join the Kings and Blackhawks at that level.

continued