The St. Louis Blues have fired head coach Davis Payne and hired Ken Hitchcock. Payne coached a total of 137 games with the Blues, but the team never played up to its talent level. Hitchcock arrives with a career .588 winning percentage and a Stanley Cup ring to his credit with 1042 career games coached in Dallas, Philadelphia and Columbus.

David Backes scored his third goal of the season in the Blues' 4-2 loss to Edmonton Sunday night. Despite the struggling Blues dropping their second consecutive decision, Backes managed a productive game with a plus-1 rating, six shots on goal and two penalty minutes to along with his marker. Alex Pietrangelo also notched his second goal of the campaign during a third period power-play with the game already out of reach.

David Backes (head) plans to play in Wednesday's game against the Canucks. Backes admitted that he had experienced some concussion-like symptoms after he was hit by Chris Pronger on Saturday, but they didn't last. He's felt much better over the past two days and he even took part in Monday's practice.

David Backes is reportedly making progress from an upper body injury. Doctors will take another look at him on Monday, though. The St. Louis Blues would only reveal that the power forward is dealing with an upper body injury. On the bright side, head coach Davis Payne said that Backes is feeling much better than he did after that Chris Pronger hit on Saturday, though his captain is still "sore and stiff." Stay tuned for an update on his progress sometime on Oct. 24.

David Backes left Saturday night's game in the second period after colliding with Flyers' defenseman Chris Pronger. It is unclear if Backes left the game due to a shoulder injury or a concussion as after the collision he hit his head on the ice. Either way, this is major concern for the Blues and for anyone who is relying on the underrated Backes in their respective hockey pools. We will update you once more is known about the nature and severity of the injury.

David Backes led the Blues with five shots in a 5-0 defeat to the Los Angeles Kings. The St. Louis captain has one goal and one assist in six games this campaign despite 16 shots on net. Backes needs to get going offensively with Andy McDonald sidelined with a concussion.

David Backes has been named as the 20th captain of the St. Louis Blues. The captaincy was open after the team traded defenseman Eric Brewer to Tampa Bay on February 18th. The rugged forward notched 31 goals, 31 assists and 93 penalty minutes in 82 games last season. Backes inked a five-year extension with the Blues last November that will pay him $4.5 million per season, so he'll be leading the charge for quite a long time.

The St. Louis Blues are expected to discuss naming a new captain when training camp begins. "We're discussing that now," GM Doug Armstrong Armstrong said. "We want to get the input of some of the other people in our organization - the coaches, some people in our management staff - and we'll have that decision by the first day of training camp ... whether we go with a group of players that will make up a leadership group or we name a captain." David Backes, Alex Steen or Barret Jackman could be considered favorites to be named the Blues' next captain.

Blues GM Doug Armstrong will be looking to acquire a depth forward or two during the 2011 NHL entry draft. The Blues were hit hard by long-term injuries last season and they want to be better prepared for a similar situation in 2010-11. "Your depth is not only what you have on opening night, but when you have those two or three injuries, what are you putting on the ice?" Armstrong asked. "What you need is you need NHL-ready replacement players. Someone that knows how to play the position, knows how to play in big games, knows how to navigate through those difficult times of the year and can lend that experience." If they can't trade for a depth forward, they will look for them during the free agent period.