Five Keys to Playoff Success

Jaybo, Backes, and Pietro must be prime playoff performers.

Well, here we are again. Another spring, another improbable journey that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs lies ahead of the St. Louis Blues. The first step in that journey: beating their most hated rivals and defending Stanley Cup Champions, Chicago Blackhawks.

Here are the five keys to the Blues hoisting the cup for the first time in franchise history:

1. The Defense. These guys have got to be a wall as well as a gateway. They have to keep the Blues defensive game in check and also provide some offense for a depleted forward group. Pietrangelo and Bouwmeester have got to be minute-munchers and play like the pairing that backed a defensive-minded Canadian team to Olympic gold. Shattenkirk must shake the demons of playoffs past and play great two-way hockey. Jackman and Polack have to avoid being over exposed, be warriors and minimize mistakes, while getting in the face of the opposition and shutting down their offense. Leopold, Colaiacovo, and Cole must step up when called upon. The Blues first step to the Cup starts with the backend.
2. Ryan Miller. Pretty simple: he’s got to be a deference- maker. Plain as can be.
   
3. Jaden Schwartz. A “Mr. Hockey” in the making. He is my pick to be the prime playoff performer in this lineup. With so many regulars down, he must continue his goal scoring ways and then some in the playoffs. He was arguably the Blues best forward last post-season. Now he has become a finisher, and for the Blues to finish on top, Schwartz has got to take control.
4. David Backes. He’s the leader, MVP, and heart and soul of this franchise that should be accepting his third Selke Trophy this summer. With all of the injuries, this is the one that the Blues can NOT afford to have extended into the playoffs. Backes must be in the lineup, making a difference, every shift, every game. He personifies what it means to wear the note.
5. Luck. It seems that in years past this has not been on the side of the Blues when it comes to the post-season. They’ll need a little to get through the playoffs and march down Market.

Thanks for reading and Let’s go Blues!

Western Conference Semifinals: Game 1

Blues, Pietrangelo go down in game one.

Highlights:

How's This For Parity?

You want parity in professional sports? Then look no further than the NHL.

The following list represents the seed number of all eight teams headed to the semifinals:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

That's right. The winners from both the Eastern and Western Conference Quarterfinals have no duplicates, that is, every seed is represented in the next round:

#1 New York (East)
#2 St. Louis (West)
#3 Phoenix (West)
#4 Nashville (West)
#5 Philadelphia (East)
#6 New Jersey (East)
#7 Washington (East)
#8 Los Angeles (West)

This is a shining tribute to the level of competition and parody in the NHL. There are no more favorites and anyone can win once they are in the playoffs.

Not only are the series tight, but the games themselves have been so far as well. The NHL set a first round record with 16 overtime games.

Nothing but fun and excitement left ahead in the playoffs!

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.

July 6, 2011: The Day the Blues Became Contenders

When the Blues power play struggled early on in the season, whose booming shot did they turn to to score on the PP?

Jason Arnott.

When the Blues needed a leader to provide energy and edge, who was there?

Jamie  Langenbrunner.

When the Blues needed a big shift after giving up a goal, or just some good solid two-way hockey, who went on the ice?

Arnott and Langenbrunner.

When the Blues signed veterans Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner in the off-season, they put the pieces in place to be successful in the postseason.

Look no further than the clinching game 5 over the Sharks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals: The Sharks were in control, up 1-0 on the Blues who had generated little offense. The crowd at Scottrade was mute and preparing for a sixth game in San Jose.

But along came Langenbrunner, scoring a huge goal that set off a 45 second rally and propelled the Blues to the Western Conference Semifinals.

Langenbrunner has a history of scoring big goals in the playoffs, he is the active leader in playoff overtime goals and ranks third in playoff game-winning goals.

And Arnott? He only scored the game-winning overtime goal clinching the Stanley Cup for New Jersey in 2000.

For years the Blues have been a "bubble" team, poised to make the post season and take that next step. But lack of leadership and inexperience seemed to trump their talent, hard work, and potential season after season.

This off-season, Armstrong added Langenbrunner and Arnott on the same day with identical contracts. Both had been captains. Both had won the Stanley Cup.

Darren Pang Tweeted at the time: "These two signings are going to be significant for the development of players ready to take that next step."

It was not just significant for the development of players, but the development of a team as a contender.

"Smile You Son of a ..." Time to Finish off the Sharks

I've heard the golf courses in San Jose are nice. The Blues need to let the Sharks enjoy them next week.

This is the hardest one to win; the forth one. The Blues look to eliminate the Sharks tonight in front of a home crowd that will be rocking. With the series 3-1 in the Blues favor, Coach Hitchcock knows the importance of clinching as soon as possible. He talked before game four about wrapping up the series and not prolonging it for the players or extending travel time.

"I was in a lot of these [series] coming in and out of Dallas and they were not easy series. When it got to Game 5, 6, and 7 they were not easy for players, for coaches, for sleep patterns and they really impacted the next series."

Not to jump too far ahead, but Nashville has already clinched, and the other two Western Conference series stand at 3-1, with the Kings and Coyotes ready to move on as well. The Blues clinching in five will do wonders for rest and preparation for the next round.

Still, the Blues are not looking ahead and know that tonight's game will not be easy.

"We need to realize this next game is going to be the toughest one," Andy McDonald told stltoday.com. "If we don't play our best hockey, they're going to beat us."

Hitchcock added that the Blues are going to get the Sharks' "A-game. We know it. We just have to have an A-plus game."

There's blood in the water. Time for the Blues to clinch their first playoff series in ten years.

Western Conference Quarterfinals: Game 4 Highlights

Western Conference Quarterfinals: Game 3 Highlights

Won't Back Down

The Blues showed their fortitude with a win Saturday night.

Some talking points about the series so far:

• The Blues have been the better team in the first two games, but are tied 1-1 in the series. Will San Jose's experience help them or will the Blues learn fast and rely on veterans like Langs, Arnott, McDonald, and Jacks to show the way?
• Elliot will play game three. Not sure of the extent of Halak's injury but what a job by Hitchcock keeping both netminders on their game late in the season. The Blues are one of the few teams that can put in their "backup" and not skip a beat. (Need I argue...improve?)
• Look for game three to get fights out early, or late, or not at all. My guess, things will calm down due to both team's fear of going down by one in the series. I don't expect much carry over from game two.
• Will the Blues win on the road in the playoffs?
• Blues are easily winning the top two lines battle. (Backes V Thornton)
• Look for T.J. Oshie to emerge as a playoff star. (Followed by Perron)

Let's Go Blues!

Game 2 Highlights:

Bring on the Sharks! But Who Will Hold the Net?

The Blues finished the season with a victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. The Pacific division shuffled around and with a Vancouver win, the Blues were seeded second in the Western Conference. This means they will face the Sharks in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to begin Wednesday.

The NHL network will reveal the schedule live at noon today.

The Blues were 4-0 against the Sharks this season and have dominated them in recent years. But this is the post season and the Blues have not been at the top of their game of late while the Sharks have been on fire.

The Pacific division came down to the wire. The Coyotes won on the last game of the season (defeating the Blues a night before) to clinch the division and making the final game between the Kings and Sharks a battle for seventh and eighth place.

The Blues' final opponent, Dallas, was in first place in that division five games ago. Now their season is over, sitting in ninth place.

The Sharks had to battle to get into the playoffs and the Blues stumbled on their way in. A few days off should give them time to regroup, rest, and get back to the style that made them an elite team this year.

The time off will also give Hitchcock a chance to think about the roster. The forth line could be made of any number of players. The goaltending situation is a good thing, but no easy task to pick a starter for game one.

Could the NHL leader in GA and Save %  be sitting the first game of the playoffs? It certainly appears so. Elliott did not get much support in his 4-1 loss against Phoenix, and his entire miraculous, best season by a goalie from start to finish that I have ever seen by a Blues goalie may be unfairly summed up by that loss. 


On the other hand, Halak does have more playoff experience which includes that amazing run with Montreal two years ago. Of course, when he did that, he was a back-up goalie that out-shined the starter (sound familiar?)

2012 "Because It's the Playoffs"

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.