by BY JEREMY RUTHERFORD ¿ jrutherford@post-dispatch.com > 314-444-7135 , St. Louis Post-Dispatch

But even with Brewer back sooner than expected, the addition of Sydor has been a blessing, factoring in both his mentoring of the Blues' young defensemen and the ankle injury suffered by Barret Jackman.

"Everything happens for a reason," Sydor said. "I'm just thankful to be able to get that opportunity. I just want to be steady."

Sydor was a plus 4 in 12 games before Thursday night's meeting with Calgary. With Jackman missing his 10th game, Sydor has played more NHL games in his career (1,256) than the five other defensemen combined (1,099).

"He's a guy that can really teach a lot of our guys," Blues forward Keith Tkachuk said. "He's the type of player that's played in every situation possible, in every big game possible. He comes across with some good points in the locker room. Obviously with Brew out for a while, we needed some leaders in our locker room. There's not a better guy to have around the 'Syd.'"

Blues defenseman Erik Johnson has seven assists this season and credits Sydor for his flexibility to join the offensive rush.

"He pretty much just says, 'I'm going to give the puck to you and I'm going to let you go ... I'll be back there,'" Johnson said. "It's nice to know that when you're working with a stalwart guy back there. He gives me that comfort zone."

Sydor, 37, was born on May 13, 1972, making him the second-oldest player on the roster. Tkachuk was born a month-and-a-half earlier, on March 28.

"He's been around a long time," Tkachuk said. "I kid him all the time that even though I'm the oldest, he's the oldest."

"You know why he says that?" Sydor said. "Because he found a media guide one time that said my birthday was (March) 13th. He keeps saying the media guide is right."

ELLER DEBUTS

Blues forward Lars Eller, who was the 13th overall pick in the 2007 draft, played his first NHL game Thursday. With Eller in the lineup, nine of the team's 20 players in Thursday's game against Calgary were Blues' draft picks.

Six of those nine were first-round picks: Eller, Johnson, Patrik Berglund, Alex Pietrangelo, David Perron and T.J. Oshie.

BLUE NOTES

Andy McDonald (upper-body injury) practiced Thursday morning, wearing an orange "no-contact" jersey. His status for the weekend is still undetermined.

Copyright 2009 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc. All Rights Reserved
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.