St. Louis Blues: One Way or the Other, the Blues Must Exercise Their Playoff Ghosts

One of the big topics in my house, and I’m sure yours too, is who the St. Louis Blues will face in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter. The Blues have to face their demons one way or the other.

Likely it will be the Chicago Blackhawks, but there is still a chance it could be the Minnesota Wild. Again, it doesn’t make a big difference in terms of the Blues’ recent history.

The St. Louis Blues have lost in the first round the last three years. Two years ago they won the first two games against the Blackhawks, only to lose the next four.

Last season, there was a collective sigh of relief by avoiding Chicago and taking on the Minnesota Wild. That scenario played out essentially the same way this year’s matchup would in that the Blues would win the division only to meet a Minnesota squad that has been fighting for their playoff lives for over a month. By the way, the Blues lost that series four games to two as well for anyone who forgot.

Either way, the St. Louis Blues will have to exercise their demons in order to gain access to hockey’s holy grail. The Blues have no easy paths. Unless you’re in the Eastern Conference (and even then arguments could be made) there are no easy paths anymore.

Let’s say the Blues take on Minnesota. Win that and you have to face the winner of Dallas and Chicago. Win that and you take on one of the western teams that the Blues always struggle with.

The Western Conference is a figurative landmine littered, booby-trap filled, quicksand infested wasteland that might resemble one of the levels in Dante’s Inferno. There are no easy outs and when you think you got a lucky break, you get slapped in the face.

No, the Blues have to face their fears and take on the ghosts of playoffs past no matter what happens. Even a trip to the conference finals might pit you against the LA Kings who unceremoniously ushered the Blues out in consecutive seasons in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

People will argue until they’re blue in the face, but despite my own misgivings, I suggest that playing the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round is the best option for the Blues.

St. Louis hasn’t always played their best against Chicago in the regular season and it took two #roarbacon games to add to their win total. However, the Blues did take the seasons series against the ‘Hawks 3-2.

St. Louis proved they could come back against adverse conditions against one of the NHL’s perennial powerhouses with a wild 6-5 comeback win where they trailed 5-0 at one point. They then did the same at the end of the season with a 2-1 victory where they looked bland and tired until the last two minutes of the game.

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Playing Chicago right now might be the best option because of the Blackhawks as well. While Chicago has been hot in April, winning three straight before losing to St. Louis, they had a rather woeful March.

In addition to their up and down play, much of which allowed St. Louis and Dallas to take the lead in the Central Division, they’ve had plenty of bodies missing.

They will be without Duncan Keith for the first game of the playoffs and he will have missed six games straight when he returns to their lineup. Similarly, Corey Crawford is likely to start in the playoffs but, at best, will have only one regular season start since mid-March and possibly none heading into the playoffs.

While coach Joel Quenneville says Crawford is absolutely in there game 1, there remains the possibility that Scott Darling might open the series as well.

So really, taking all of our fan anxieties out of the equation, it makes the most sense to play the Blackhawks first. You’re getting them at perhaps the weakest they’ve been in years. You’re getting them without their top defenseman and with their goaltender being rusty and injured.

Sure, you can take on the Wild and hope to avenge last season, but you run into the same situation you did last season. Although St. Louis didn’t have to fight for positioning like they have this year, you would still go in as division champions against a team that knows how to shut down opponents and has been playing playoff hockey for a long time.

Also, if you win that series, then you either have to play a Blackhawks team that has momentum on their side having just won their own series or you play Dallas…the team that just proved they could beat Chicago in this scenario.

Just imagine the glorious taste if the Blues could pull off wins in those scenarios. It would be like the 1990-91 Chicago Bulls in reverse.

The Blackhawks would represent the Detroit Pistons, who the Bulls beat in the conference finals. St. Louis would vanquish their long time nemesis in round one and not only get the monkey off their back, but Brock Lesnar-suplex it into the 10th row.

The Stars/Wild would represent the Philadelphia 76ers to the Bulls. Both teams filled with players, like Charles Barkley, who are league stars and have managed to give grief to the Blues but would be sent away with glee.

Then the LA Kings or San Jose Sharks or Anaheim Ducks would be the NY Knicks. A team from the coast that has the size and skill and has consistently been a problem in the regular season, but now done away with in the postseason.

Ah what sweet victory it could be. But those are just the musings of an insane man who’s had too much preworkout while writing hmm?

Next: Blues Proving They Can Beat the Best

No, that very scenario may not play out. However, regardless of who the Blues play in the first round or anytime thereafter, they have to overcome themselves.

The Blues are going to be playing tough teams no matter who lines up across from them. We’ve seen all season though, when the Blues play “Blues hockey” they are nearly impossible to beat. However, we’ve also seen them allow teams to beat them.

It doesn’t matter who they play in the playoffs because they’re playing their playoff ghosts in their minds. Stop that and play hockey. It’s time for the Blues to step up. Man up. Don’t give up. Win.

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