Come Back Jaden! Come Back!

I'm anxious for Jaden Schwartz to rejoin the Blues. He hasn't played since he left the game on Dec 9th against Detroit. He suffered a lower-body injury, which is believed to have been a broken ankle when he blocked a shot in the first period.

You may not remember, but Schwartz scored the first goal of that game before going down with the injury. The Blues won that game in Detroit 6-1. 

As training camp began and injuries started piling up, added to the off-season injuries there was a lot of worry and fret on the part of the Blues fans as to how this season would go. To the surprise of most hockey pundits, the Blues came out blazing. They won their first 4 games and went 10-2-1 in the month of October. 

Schwartz, along with linemates Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko were being talked about as one of the best lines in hockey.  They certainly were being productive. Only the line in Tampa led by Stamkos and Kucherov had more points than the St. Louis trio.

One player does not a team make, but it's hard for a car to go anywhere without an engine. Schwartz was that engine. I called him a bulldog. He was a puck-hound and never seemed to take a shift off, always chasing, always battling for the puck and always finding a way to help get the puck in the net. 

To put things into perspective on the difference with and without Schwartz just take a look at these numbers.

With Jaden Schwartz

19-8-2   3.20 goals per game  17.8% power play

Without Jaden Schwartz

9-9-1     2.31 goals per game   7.8% power play

Although he has missed 18+ games he still is among the team leaders in goals and points. He has 14 goals (4 behind Schenn and 6 behind Tarasenko) and 35 points (10 behind Schenn and 11 behind Tarasenko). 

The original timeline was for him to be re-evaluated in 6 weeks which would be around Jan 20th. He has been walking without crutches and without a boot for a couple of weeks now and was skating as early as a week ago. 

His return will be one of the most welcomed returns I can think of and I would love to be in the building at Scottrade the night he steps back on the ice. It will be a moment that I'm sure the St. Louis fans will make one of those "hair-standing-on-the-back-of-your-neck" moments. Whenever it happens, may I be the first to say, "Welcome back, Jaden Schwartz! Welcome back!"