St. Louis Blues' Keith Tkachuk eyes the puck as Los Angeles Kings' Michael Cammalleri defends Oct. 6, 2007.
It was early December last season. The St. Louis Blues failed to live up to expectations and Andy Murray was brought in to coach, replacing Mike Kitchen. Then, in just his second game with the Blues, Murray asked veteran power forward Keith Tkachuk to switch from left wing to center.
An odd move, Tkachuk thought.
"I didn’t know what to think," Tkachuk remembered. "Most kids, at one point in their career, played center. Not me. I was always a left winger. I told Andy I’d give it a try. Honestly, I figured it would be over in a couple of games and I’d be back at left wing.
"But, all of a sudden, I started to feel better about myself, my game. I felt sort of reinvented. I was skating more. Making things happen."
A 35-year-old, two-time 50-goal scorer who is closing in on 500 career NHL goals and 1,000 points ... reinvented?