Blues rebuilding, again, without Johnson

By R.B. FALLSTROM ST. LOUIS - Erik Johnson wrecked his knee in a team golf outing a few days before the start of St. Louis Blues training camp. The franchise is determined that the season-long loss of their young star defenseman will not wreck their season. The 20-year-old Johnson was the first overall pick of the 2006 draft and is the centerpiece of the franchise's youth movement after finishing a disappointing 14th in the Western Conference. They'll just have to wait a year to plug him back into the lineup and power play. "I was done reeling as soon as I hung the phone up and they picked me off the floor," coach Andy Murray said. "It's just something you deal with, and you move on." Perhaps the biggest reason for optimism for a franchise seeking to end a three-year playoff drought and coming off a major second-half fadeout... [read full story]