If the lone goal of the St. Louis Blues last season was to prevent a repeat upset in the first-round of the playoffs, then their mission was accomplished. However, the Blues had loftier aspirations.

	2000-01 by the numbers
	Record: 43-22-12-5, 103 points (6th overall, 4th West, 2nd Central) Man-games lost to injury: 311 (6th) Goals for: 249/3.04 (8th) Goals against: 195/2.38 (T5th) Differential: 54 (T4th overall) 20-goal scorers: Scott Young (40), Pierre Turgeon (30), Pavol Demitra (20) 50-point scorers: Turgeon (82), Young (73), MacInnis (54)

While they proved their resiliency during the regular season by overcoming lengthy injuries to their top two defensemen -- Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis -- as well as key forward Pavol Demitra, their fate was ultimately decided by goaltending in the playoffs.

The Blues took the Colorado Avalanche to five games in the Western Conference finals series, the last three of which went to overtime. But the Blues had to come from behind in four of them. Roman Turek, who seemingly banished his demons against San Jose and Dallas in the first two rounds, gave up 14 goals and posted an .872 save percentage in four games of the series.

Looking at next season
The Blues may be considered one of the top four "haves" in the Western Conference, along with Colorado, Dallas and Detroit, however, there is no assurance they will finish in the top four next season.

The Blues' most glaring weakness is still in goal. The Blues dispatched Turek to Calgary for Fred Brathwaite, who has shown he has the ability to be a No. 1 goalie. Last season, Brathwaite posted a career-best 2.32 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and five shutouts. Brent Johnson also posted impressive numbers last season -- a 19-9-2 record with a 2.17 GAA and a .907 save percentage -- but it was only his first full season in the league. When it comes to playoff experience, Brathwaite and Johnson combine for a whopping 61 minutes. The pair ensures competition for the starting job in September and gives the team a form of depth, but it pales in comparison to Colorado's Patrick Roy, Dallas's Ed Belfour or Detroit's Dominik Hasek.

The Blues put the depth of their organization to the test in obtaining Keith Tkachuk from Phoenix and Doug Weight from Edmonton. Weight signed a three-year deal upon his arrival and Tkachuk signed a one-year pact this offseason, prolonging a contract squabble for at least another season. The Blues now have a premiere center in Weight and depth on the wings, led by one of the few true power forwards in the league in Tkachuk. And by the time the team is done reaping the rewards of the duo, their minor league system will be restocked.

However, if there is one weakness on offense, it's the Blues' lack of a natural center who can play behind Weight. They may end up regretting their decision not to re-sign Pierre Turgeon, as they traded away five players who could have played the position in the Tkachuk, Weight and Cory Stillman deals. While wingers who can play center, like Tkachuk and Stillman, provide versatility, they aren't a permanent fix.

Once again, defense will be the Blues' strength next season. The only change general manager Larry Pleau made was signing free agent Rich Pilon to provide a little attitude in front of the net. Pronger, who missed 14 games with a broken forearm and 15 with a knee injury, and MacInnis, who missed 23 games with an eye injury, will be back to their Norris-caliber selves next season.

The Blues will base their analysis of the 2001-02 season on winning the Stanley Cup, not how close they got to it. Without a goaltender who can standup to playoff pressure like the Avalanche, Stars and Red Wings have, it's unlikely the Blues will finish better than they did last season.

Sherry Skalko is the NHL Editor for ESPN.com.