No Tomorrow.

The word around St. Louis from some is that the Blues' season has been a success: a division title, third in the NHL, and the first playoff series win in ten years.

Reading a forum on stltoday.com entitled "What do you consider a successful season for the Blues?", many suggested simply winning a playoff series was the goal and anything else is considered gravy.

I hope the players think like myself.

I believe, when you make the playoffs, anything else than raising the Stanley Cup is a failure.

With the Western Conference so wide open, why should the Blues not expect to reach hockey's holy grail? I'll be damned if I am going to watch Phoenix, Arizona or Nashville, Tennessee have a cup parade before us.

Not one team in the Western Conference has ever won the cup. In my opinion, the West is far and away the stronger conference even if the "experts" don't agree (Of course they picked the Pens and Canucks to win it all).

Looking at the East, not one team is strong defensively. There are no stand-out goalies like the West contains. Come Thursday, seeds five through eight could be all that are left. In my honest opinion, most of the Eastern Conference's elite would have struggled to even make the playoffs in the West.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The West is were the Blues will really be tested. Nashville and St. Louis have to be the favorites to come out of their conference. Both have strong goaltending, play well defensively, and can score as needed.

Once again, let's not jump over Los Angeles, which will be a real test for the Blues. The number eight seed just took down Vancouver in a physical series where Jonathan Quick was lights-out.

Everyone around town is saying that Los Angeles and Nashville are scary match-ups for the Blues. I have news for you, they are all going to be scary from here on out, it's the Stanley Cup playoffs!

And why should the Blues be scared? To me, if I was another team, I would be afraid to face the Note:

• a red-hot power play.
• a red-hot McDonald (who has a history of being a red-hot playoff scorer on a cup-winner).
• red-hot goaltending.
• Great leadership, from the Captain to Vets like Langenbrunner, Arnott, and McDonald.
• we've been good all season long, never faultering under Hitchcock.
• Oh yeah, experienced coaching, who put in a system that has worked wonders and put belief in some underachieving players (See Oshie, Berglund). And...he's won a cup before.

I know I am looking through biased eyes while writing this, but to me, the Blues have to be favorites, especially if they can get out of the extremely tough Western Conference.

These opportunities are fleeting, fellow Blues fans, and our mantra does not need to be "We'll be good years to come, it's been a success, let's win it next year when we'll be even better." Look how tough the league is, look how tough the West is, and look how tough the Central is. You can bet that early exits by Detroit and Chicago are going to spark change in those organizations to make them competitive next season. Nashville will be back with virtual the same team, and Columbus will  be on the rise someday.

The parody in the NHL is remarkable. A cup contender one year can miss the playoffs the next. There has not been a repeat cup winner since 1998 (Detroit). The Blues were poised in 2009 to break out and be a perennial playoff team. They missed the playoffs for the next two seasons.

There are no guarantees to make it to the playoffs, and once you're there the goal is to win the cup.

"Think how good we'll be next year" is a phrase Blues fans need to lose. The time is now. The opportunity is right in front of this team, and it is time they seize it and not hope for a better tomorrow. There should be no tomorrow in the locker room or the expectations.

Playoff Bound!

The Blues become the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot with their 100th point on the season.

With a 3-1 win at Tampa Bay Saturday night the Blues reached 100 points, and more importantly, clinched a playoff berth. They became the first team to reach those two milestones in the NHL. The New York Rangers are the next closest team with 95 points.

The game-winning goal came from Jaden Schwartz in his first NHL game. He became the 13th player in franchise history to score in his debut.

Schwartz got acclimated to the "loose Blues" in the warm up skate when the team had him lead them onto the ice, but they all stopped at the bench. Schwartz proceeded to the ice and did two laps alone while the rest of the guys got a good laugh from the tunnel.

Berglund opened the scoring with a short-handed goal in the first made possible by a fantastic set-up from Alex Pietrangelo. Perron added the third goal on a partial break. Halak made 22 saves.

Andy McDonald did not play and is "week to week" as Hitchcock puts it. David Backes left the game early with a foot injury, not great news.

Even with all the injuries, the Blues continue to win. They are surging and doing it on the road. All this is a great testament to the system that Hitchcock has sold to the team.

Here We Go Again With Berglund...

It's that time when fans get excited about the big Swede down the stretch.


Like clockwork, Patrik Berglund is playing like he should. At 6'4" and 210 pounds, Berglund rarely uses his size to his advantage until the latter stages of the NHL season. Last year he came on about this time and infused belief back into many Blues fans with most of his 22 goals and 30 assists coming down the stretch. His powerhouse performance continued in the 2011 World Championships, where he received MVP consideration.

But also like clockwork, he began the current NHL season flat again. He was nonexistent for the first 50 games. His defensive play was average at best, and he showed little enthusiasm on the ice.

Last year, assistant coach Scott Mellanby allegedly lit a fire under Berglund with his own unique-style of heart-to-heart with the young Blues forward (think of the language that was used). It worked well, but if you are an NHL player, do you constantly need a coach questioning your manhood to get you going? Do the Blues want that kind of player on the roster?

Cup contenders have self-motivated players, and THAT is what it's all about. This fan is not interested in a good season, MVP awards, breakout players, attendance, entertainment value of games, etc. He's interested in a big shinny silver trophy making its way down Market. And I only want players that are interested in that path as well (i.e. David Backes and Perron).

So for the Blues, the big question this season is: Will Berglund's fire keep burning in the playoffs? If it does, I will take the slow start. Cup contenders always have a hot goal scorer in the playoffs. But notoriously, skill players such as Berglund do not fair well in the post season. Time and space, something that Berglund should create with his size but often does not, will be limited to "nowhere to be found" in the postseason. His play in last year's World Championships was encouraging, but that was when he was playing for Sweden, not St. Louis.

Blues Begin 2012 with a Win

The Blues halted their longest winless streak at three games by defeating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 at home last night.

Christ Stewart is quietly heating up and scored the first goal of the game. Jamie Langenbrunner added a goal in the first on a tip in from Barret Jackman's shot from the point. Phoenix scored late on a power play making the score 2-1 at the end of one. Speaking of things heating up as of late, T.J. Oshie scored on the power play in the Second on a nice neutral zone transition. Berglund added an empty netter to close out the game's scoring.

Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves and was the games number one star. David Perron and Alex Pietrangelo both had 2 assists. Jackman had a notably strong game on defense, which is significant since the Blues are shorthanded in that department due to injuries and suspensions.

The Note improved to 15-3-2 at home, and have nabbed 32 of a possible 40 points. The Blues have become one of the league's best home teams, which should come in handy during January when they play 9 of 11 at Scottrade. In February and March the team goes on the road for 19 of 30. They were in playoff contention last year until an awful January. This team looks to have a great January and rack up the points at home.

Highlights:

Blues Have Reasons to Worry

It is reality check time. A lot of positives have been written about the Blues this year and it's about time we had some pessimism. The Note did not finish out 2011 well (dropping 3 of 4 including 2 to the wings) and need to find a way to fight through some worries so the city of St. Louis can see some Competitive playoff hockey, which has been missing for about a decade now.




Here is a list of concerns the Blues need to address:

1. Offense: Of course this would be number one. The Blues inability to score goals seems to be their biggest weakness. If they fall behind by any number of goals it is tough for them to come back. The main catalyst for this weakness is their power play, which has shown signs of being better of late, but still not good enough. Teams in the playoffs generally have great special teams. Also, minute production from players such as Patrick Berglund and Chris Stewart have hurt the ability to score goals. Stewart has played well, but Berglund looks like his same old self after last Spring's hopefulness that was just a tease for fans. Look for Berglund to maybe be dealt at the deadline if the Blues are in the hunt and they can resolve issue #9 on this list.
2. Schedule Down the Stretch: Have you seen the February and March Schedule? To say it is brutal is an understatement. The Note plays only 11 home games in that two month period. They have 19 on the road, including a 7-game road trip in mid-March. For at team fighting for a playoff birth and below .500 on the road (see #7), that is a tough way to go.
3. Division Record: The Blues are 5-3-2 within their division. Yeah, this is a winning record, but when you take out bottom-feeder Columbus and consider that the rest of the division teams are all playoff contenders, the record does not look as good (3-3-2). They are winless (0-1-2) against Nashville and .500 against Chicago (1-1) and Detroit (2-2). Teams that do not beat those in their division generally miss the postseason.
4. Injuries: They are beginning to pile up. The Blues showed they have depth, but the quality of players that are beginning to go down is hurting them. Andy MacDonald's absence is a big reason the offense is stagnant. Defensemen newcomers Kris Russell and Kent Huskins both played tremendously well until they were sidelined. The most detrimental injury however has been Alexander Steen. The unsung MVP of the Blues for the past few years is out with "concussion-like symptoms," and the Note better hope it is just the symptoms, or they may be looking at missing the playoffs again this season. Steen is a hard player to replace, no matter what your depth is.
5. Current Team has Virtually the Same Record as Last Year's: That is correct, the Blues are 21-12-5 through 38 games, and were 20-13-5 last season at this same point. We know how last season ended, and how horrid January was. But you say, "this January they have a favorable schedule, 9 of 11 at home." Yes, but do I have to remind you of February and March? They better rack up some points in January.
6. Goaltending: Many would say that this has been the Blues' biggest strong suit since the regime change, but one question remains: Can either Halak or Elliott truly be a number one goaltender? Neither one has proved it in the past. Elliott has slowed his spectacular pace he set at the beginning of the season but still remains at the top of GAA and Save%, and Halak has remained serviceable, but can either one lead this team into and through the playoffs?
7. Road Record: 7-9-3. Not good. Needs to be at least .500 to make the playoffs, and you need to be able to win on the road to be successful in the playoffs, especially if you do not have home ice advantage.
8. Shootout Record: 0-5. Do you miss Brad Boyes? The Blues have only scored 1 goal all season in the shootout. That extra point has gotten some teams into the playoffs in recent years (more the reason to get rid of it, but that is a different rant for a different day).
9. Ownership: Will the Blues be sold and the ownership issue resolved anytime soon? We keep getting hopeful news that it will, but it just never seems to happen. It is important if the Blues maybe wish to spend some money down the stretch and go after someone to improve that struggling offense.
10. Experience: The addition of Arnott and Langenbrunner have been tremendous to the team and it has shown, but is it enough? We still have a team full of kids with little to no playoff experience. And those that have that experience remember that is was not good (being swept by Vancouver, anyone?) How much can the veterans help the youngster focus down the stretch, and hopefully the playoffs, remains to be seen.

Of course, even with all of these concerns the Blues have played well this season and seem to have a different attitude about them than any team in recent history. They play tenacious defense and very well in tight games, which will help them in the postseason. This team is also much more disciplined than recent Blues teams. Being virtually unbeatable on home ice also helps. At this point though, if the Blues miss out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs again, there will be some very demoralized fans. And Army will certainly be busy again in the off season.