Comments (0) Best Blues Player - 2009
T.J. Oshie
It needs — it demands — a name, but what? The Move? The Deke? Fans on the official NHL website voted it the "Goal of the Year," and for now that will do. Really, though, words don't do justice to the goal Blues rookie T.J. Oshie scored against the Vancouver Canucks on March 26 of this year, sending the hometown faithful into a delirium that lasted until those same Canucks eliminated the Note from the team's first playoff appearance since 2004. Dig it: Oshie takes the pass from David Perron at the boards, fakes out Rick Rypien (who falls down) and sails toward the net. Mattias Öhlund stands between him and Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. As Oshie approaches, he dekes ever so slightly to his left. Öhlund bites — a nibble, really, but by the time he recovers, Oshie has already passed him. Oshie sets up to the center-right of the goal. Luongo lunges too far to his left, leaving the net wide open, and Oshie drills home the goal. Elapsed time from the moment of Perron's pass? About nine seconds. The goal, one of fourteen the 22-year-old former first-round draft pick scored in 57 games, gave Stanley Cup-starved Blues fans a glimpse of the promise of the team's young nucleus: Oshie, Perron, David Backes, Patrik Berglund and more. What to call the goal? How about: The Beginning.
