Stanley Cup Outsiders: St Louis
I know this piece will probably seem a bit hypocritical to some seeing as I basically slated the St Louis Blues during the off season and implied that they better not hold their breath waiting for the glory days to come! Well after last night's 6-0 thrashing of Edmonton, it seems this year could well be the year that hockey goes big in Missouri!
So far the Blues firm has been nothing short of exceptional and currently they stand 4th overall in the Western Conference with only four points separating them from previous cup champs Los Angeles and Chicago! Last season brought a similar result and despite their best efforts, they were eliminated by the Kings in the playoffs first round.
It seems head coach Ken Hitchcock has been firmly wracking his brains in the off season. His solutions to plugging the gaps seem to be working as the Blues have the third most goals in the Western Conference with 125 goals and have been led by the free scoring forward Alexander Steen with 38 points! Blues captain David Backes has also chipped in with 30 points while Derek Roy has proven to be an inspired free agency signing!
I know regular season can never be an accurate indicator of how a team will fare come playoff time, but this season St Louis are surging forward with a new found belief and confidence and in their numerous high scoring victories, they look like genuine contenders! Looks like Hitchcock has finally found an offense combination that could do some major damage!
But the difference this year has come from the terrific defensive pairing of Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester, who together have stemmed the flow of goals and have only allowed 81 goals against, which is the second lowest total in the Western Conference! Plus Jaroslav Halak has proven to be a real star in net this season and holds an impressive GAA rating of 2.39 with 16 wins and two shut outs!
I hope for their sake that St Louis can finally capture glory, because since their formation in 1967 they have never once made a cup final and you have to admire the fans' patience because if the Carolina Hurricanes have a Stanley Cup and you don't; something in this world isn't right! The Blues have the team to pull this off, now they just need the belief'
So far the Blues firm has been nothing short of exceptional and currently they stand 4th overall in the Western Conference with only four points separating them from previous cup champs Los Angeles and Chicago! Last season brought a similar result and despite their best efforts, they were eliminated by the Kings in the playoffs first round.
It seems head coach Ken Hitchcock has been firmly wracking his brains in the off season. His solutions to plugging the gaps seem to be working as the Blues have the third most goals in the Western Conference with 125 goals and have been led by the free scoring forward Alexander Steen with 38 points! Blues captain David Backes has also chipped in with 30 points while Derek Roy has proven to be an inspired free agency signing!
I know regular season can never be an accurate indicator of how a team will fare come playoff time, but this season St Louis are surging forward with a new found belief and confidence and in their numerous high scoring victories, they look like genuine contenders! Looks like Hitchcock has finally found an offense combination that could do some major damage!
But the difference this year has come from the terrific defensive pairing of Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester, who together have stemmed the flow of goals and have only allowed 81 goals against, which is the second lowest total in the Western Conference! Plus Jaroslav Halak has proven to be a real star in net this season and holds an impressive GAA rating of 2.39 with 16 wins and two shut outs!
I hope for their sake that St Louis can finally capture glory, because since their formation in 1967 they have never once made a cup final and you have to admire the fans' patience because if the Carolina Hurricanes have a Stanley Cup and you don't; something in this world isn't right! The Blues have the team to pull this off, now they just need the belief'
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