Blues’ Campbell Has a Point to Prove

St. Louis rookie Jim Campbell gets his first face-to-face opportunity to show up the Mighty Ducks tonight.

Not that his statistics haven’t already made them look as if they made a mistake.

Campbell, 23, who wasn’t re-signed by the Ducks after scoring two goals in 16 games for them last season, has eight goals and 15 points in 19 games for the Blues and ranks among the NHL’s top rookies. He was also leading the league in game-winning goals with four.

The Ducks better keep tabs on him tonight, because as Campbell said recently, “I want to show them I can play.”

“I wouldn’t blame him at all,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “He’s done a good job there. I haven’t really watched any tape of him, but he’s getting an opportunity to play and he’s taking advantage of it. He’s skating well. I’m happy for him. We picked him up as a depth player and I guess we didn’t see him being a regular this year the way we finished the season.”

A prolific minor league scorer, Campbell is finally showing he can produce at the NHL level.

The Ducks weren’t the first organization to miss out on Campbell. Montreal traded him to the Ducks for defenseman Robert Dirk last season, convinced that he had no future in their organization nearly five years after being a second-round pick in 1991.

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Young defenseman Darren Van Impe had played well recently, but he made some crucial mistakes during the Ducks’ 4-3 loss to Dallas on Friday.

“That’s the whole process, two steps forward, one step back,” Wilson said. “You don’t like to see it, but you can’t not expect it.”