Photo: Nathan Kerley

During the offseason, the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, picked up a solid defensive veteran to help lead the young club.  The former captain of the Milwaukee Admirals and the current captain of the Peoria Rivermen, Scott Ford was supposed to give the Rivs a big body on defense to help improve their game.  Instead, the organization has chosen to part ways before the end of the year.

St. Louis Blues Assistant General Manager and Peoria Rivermen General Manager Kevin McDonald announced on Tuesday that the Rivermen had traded Scott Ford and future considerations to Milwaukee for forwards Jani Lajunen, and Andre Bouvet-Morrissett along with goaltender Zoltan Hetenyi.

So far this season Scott Ford has posted two goals and four assists in 43 games, but something must not have fit in Peoria.  It is not known if Ford requested a trade or if the Rivermen did not think that he fit with the club.

Jani Lajunen is just 22 years of age and has appeared in 40 games so far this season with the Admirals.  In that time, Lajunen has managed to net only one goal and four assists and is a -9.  In the last two seasons with the Admirals, Lajunen has played a total of 115 games and scored just six goals and 15 assists.

Andre Bouvet-Morrissett has appeared in just two games with Milwaukee this season and has spent most of his time with the Cincinati Cyclones of the ECHL.  In 20 games in the ECHL, Bouvet-Morrissett has only two assists, but this is his first professional season after leading Drummondville with 39 goals last season.

Zoltan Hetenyi, on top of having one of the best names a goaltender could ever have, is currently playing his first season in North America and has played just 13 games with the Cincinati Cyclones this season posting a 5-4-0-2 record with a 0.913 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against-average.  Hetenyi attended the Nashville Predators training camp in January, but obviously did not impress the Preds.

More to come as we have it.

LET’S GO BLUES!

-Alex Hodschayan

Things are pretty slow around Blues camp these days, but the team has made a few minor moves over the last few days. First, the team signed veteran forward Dave Scatchard to a two-way deal for the upcoming season. Scatchard posted 30 points (20-10) in 36 games for the AHL Milwaukee Admirals last season, and he added 59 penalty minutes in that time. He also posted five points (3-2) in 16 games with the Predators. Scatchard formerly played for the Canucks and the Coyotes. He will likely start the season in Peoria, but expect to see him in St. Louis at some point this season.

The team also made a trade, as they sent defenseman TJ Fast to Florida in exchange for forward Graham Mink. Mink had 37 points (20-17) and 86 penalty minutes in 67 outings for the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Mink has spent the last nine seasons in the AHL, and he is well-traveled, playing for four teams in that time. He is a big boy at 6-3, 220 pounds, and he should add some toughness to the minor league squad.

In other news, the team has expressed some interest in former Edmonton Oiler forward Ryan Potulny. He had 15 goals for the Oil last season, so we will keep you updated if anything comes of this. Also, the team promoted Bill Armstrong to the head of amateur scouting. The entire staff is still in tact with the exception of Jarmo Kekelainen, so it should be an easy transition.

Stay tuned for a prospect update later in the week, as I will take a look at some Blues yougsters who are preparing for this year’s World Junior Classic.