Blues center plays through injury

ST. LOUIS -- The biggest offseason pickup for the St. Louis Blues is a role player in the playoffs.

Center Doug Weight, who missed 20 games with an injured pelvis, still is playing hurt. He has an $8 million contract, but spent all of Tuesday night's Game 3 of the team's second-round playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings playing on the fourth line.

Weight, who finished third on the team with 49 points in the regular season and was the No. 1 center before the injury, played only 12:38. He understands because his game is suffering, also.

"This isn't a shoulder injury," Weight said. "You don't just go out and be the same player. You can't get from point A to point B very fast. In this game, especially in May and June, speed is what you need and it isn't all quite there."

Weight was acquired from Edmonton for Marty Reasoner, Jochen Hecht and Jan Horacek on July 1, 2001. He was hurt when his legs took the brunt of a check into the boards by Calgary's Bob Boughner Feb. 28.

The team has compared Weight's injury to something like that sustained in an auto accident instead of a sports contest, and progress has been slow.

He didn't return to the lineup until the next-to-last regular season game April 13 against the Red Wings, and hasn't practiced during the playoffs to save himself for the games.

"I think he's coming off a pretty tough injury, and the fact he's playing shows the commitment," coach Joel Quenneville said. "He's doing as well as he can and he's trying to be a factor."

Weight, a former 100-point scorer, has a reputation as one of the game's better playmakers. Now he's working a lot more to keep the other team off the scoreboard, totaling one goal and one point in eight playoff games.

"I've got to realize I've got to play a smart defensive game and play my role," Weight said.

He's hoping that role is expanded as the playoffs progress.

"If I come out flying in Game 4, hopefully I can get a little more ice time," he said. "I've got to prove myself early in the game. I feel like a young kid."