St. Louis Post-Dispatch - November 15, 1989

After Slow Start, Brind'Amour is Making His Presence Felt

by Dan O'Neill

omewhat lost in the dramatic performance of Brett Hull on Tuesday night were some encouraging signs from Rod Brind'Amour. While Hull was scoring two goals, including the decisive third goal in a 4-2 victory over Quebec,

Brind'Amour was providing two assists and generally making a nuisance of himself in the opposition's zone. That's not to say that Brind'Amour hasn't been holding his own otherwise. He just hasn't been getting the rewards. ''It feels good to contribute,'' Brind'Amour said. ''I've been getting my chances, but the puck hasn't been bouncing my way. Hopefully, this is a start.'' Brind'Amour had 26 goals and 35 assists while playing mostly on left wing in 1989-90, his rookie season. He moved to center this season and is off to slow start, with one goal and eight assists in 18 games. But his contributions were big Tuesday. He started a play that resulted in the Blues' second goal. He fed Jeff Brown with a cross-ice pass, and Brown blasted the puck past goalie Ron Tugnutt.

Brind'Amour then assisted on Hull's game-winning goal with 1 minute 14 seconds to play in the third period. He fired a shot at Tugnutt from the slot, and Hull pounced on the rebound to give the Blues a 3-2 lead. At the same time, the game contained examples of the frustration Brind'Amour has had to endure. From the right slot, he blasted a shot that Tugnutt just got a piece of, and later, he just missed the net on a shot that had Tugnutt beat. But in the end, Brind'Amour gave a strong account of himself as the Blues' unbeaten streak reached five games. ''Good teams find a way to win games like that,'' Brind'Amour said. ''You have to beat the teams that are below you. We didn't play one of our best games of the season, that's for sure. But we were able to get the results we wanted.''

Hull is leading all vote-getters in fan balloting for the National Hockey League All-Star Game on Jan. 19 in Chicago. Hull has 77,096 votes, tops in the Campbell Conference and overall. Boston Bruins defenseman Ray Bourque is second in overall balloting with 55,249 votes. Los Angeles Kings center Wayne Gretzky is second in the Campbell voting with 44,380 votes. Adam Oates of the Blues is fourth in the center race with 12,340 votes.

Other Blues' totals: Brind'Amour is fifth among wingers with 16,051 votes; Curtis Joseph is fourth among goaltenders with 15,682; Mike Vernon of the Calgary Flames is No. 1 with 28,278 votes. Defensemen Scott Stevens and Paul Cavallini are third and sixth with 20,813 and 17,605 votes, respectively. Chris Chelios of the Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary's Al MacInnis are first and second with 44,002 and 35,409 votes, respectively.