SIGH It must be nice to root for a good team.
SIGH It must be nice to root for a good team.
Let's get weird!
The Blues, with that goaltending, stand a really good chance to go deep in the playoffs.
Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
Cincinnati Reds - 75, 76, 90
Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13, 15
University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98
“Everything that happens before Death is what counts.”
― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
I'm really concerned about their scoring. History is against the Blues because it is very rare for a team that isn't in the top 10 scoring to make a deep run and win the Stanley Cup. They also haven't proven to me yet that they can consistently win against good teams on the road.
All that said, the Blues are also something like 5th or 6th in man games lost in the NHL due to injury. To me, it's amazing to see what they are doing considering that they have had at least one of their top 6 forwards out the entire year. At one point they were missing David Perron and Andy McDonald. Both of those players are back now but Alex Steen is out. Steen, I would argue, was their best forward when he got injured and was statistically one of the best two way forwards in the NHL. If the Blues can get Steen back come playoff that, that drastically increases their chances. However, he is dealing with a concussion so his time table is iffy and unknown, unfortunatelly.
The team that truely scares me the most is Nashville. They are a team that is gritty and will leave you bloody nosed. Rinne looks like a mixture of Patrick Roy, Jaques Plante, and Martin Brodeur at times. They got drastically better, in my opinion, in the trade deadline. That is the dark horse team in the Western Conference.
Speaking of the Blues goaltending, it's the first time in NHL history in which two goaltenders on the same team have 6 shutouts or more. Halak has been playing insane since his early struggles.
Sorry to post again but something is really annoying me looking at the scheduling. Going into tonight and tomorrow, the Blues will be playing their
13th back to back game of the year, the 5th this month. I think you have to look at Detroit as the next closest with 9 back to back games. Who the hell schedules this stuff? Does Gary Bettman hire the equivalent of Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber and Zach Galifianakis from the Hangover to do the schedule for NHL teams? It's almost like they just throw a dart at a dartboard and schedule teams that way. Half of this scheduling in the NHL doesn't even make any logical sense.
Off my soapbox.
You owned us last night Mike. That defense is more and more impressive everyday and I've got Halak on my fantasy team so nothing he does surprises me anymore. Frankly I was more surprised he gave up that goal in the 3rd. Once he got rolling I expected him to clamp it off completely, but hey tipped goals happen to even the best.
I'm telling you, St Louis being #1 or 2 should not surprise anyone. If Detroit doesn't get some of their stars back [I can relate as Captain Serious has been out a couple weeks now] they are possibly a first round casualty against Nashville. That'd leave Vancouver the only real threat to the Blues at least making it to the same building as Lord Stanley. I do love my Hawks, but it would take something unreal for us to go past the second round.
Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
Cincinnati Reds - 75, 76, 90
Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13, 15
University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98
“Everything that happens before Death is what counts.”
― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
Looking at that Chicago team, it just seems they are missing something. I know Toews is out but even with him, it just seems there is something lacking. I can't put my finger on it. I haven't seen a systematic destruction of the Hawks like that in years by the Blues. As the game went on, it looked like the Blues just wore down the Hawks and towards the end there was very little effort on their part. That's what it seemed at least.
I believe that win in Nashville for the Blues was the game of the year for them. They got over the Nashville mental block and proved that they can win on the road. Since then, they have looked completely confident in their ability to dominate teams. I have watch the Blues since 96, when I moved here. This is possibly the most dominant Blues team I have ever seen. They even rival the 99 President's trophy team. The goaltending is better and I would even go so far to say that the overall defense is better this year than that 99 team. That 99 team had Pronger and McInnis but this year's team probably has better defensive parts than that team. The Blues offense was better in 99 though.
Joseph, I had a horrible feeling going into last nights game because the Blues spanked the Hawks around last time they faced them. I knew the Hawks weren't going to lay down. You deserve that win. The blues played absolutely pathetic, gutless hockey. It was about as sloppy of a game I have seen them play all year. I don't understand all the penalties, all the offsides, and all the turn overs. Hitchcock needs to light the fire under the butts of those players.
Agreed Mike. The Blues started hot and then just stopped playing the hockey they've played over the last 4 months. If they fall into that trap in the playoffs my compliments of earlier posts will be moot.
I can only assume they thought they had a 3-1 lead on a team they'd just smoked a week before and they could coast, but this is the NHL, you can't even do that against the lower tier teams much less one like the Hawks.
Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
Cincinnati Reds - 75, 76, 90
Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13, 15
University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98
“Everything that happens before Death is what counts.”
― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
David Backes, the Blues captain, said exactly what you were saying. They just seemed to stop playing after getting that 3-1 lead. In a way, I'm kind of glad that this kind of game happened because it once again shows that they can't rest on their hind legs and that every game they need to bring that "60 minute, 200 foot" mentality.
Even though it was frustrating to watch, it was still a fun game to watch. That game reminded me of the old school, Black and Blue division battles that those teams had back in the day.
I think the lead was more a result of bad goaltending..... 3 goals on 6 shots, 2 of them very very saveable.
Blues never had their feet last night. The quick strikes just made it look like they did.
First time they have lost all year by scoring 3 or more goals. Hard to be too mad at them...
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