St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Blues Knock Out Joe Louis

The St. Louis Blues might still be way behind when it comes to championships, but they got the last laugh at Joe Louis Arena.

The St. Louis Blues won their final game ever (unless the unthinkable happens) at Joe Louis Arena. The Blues still trail Detroit in titles won, but in a small way they got the last laugh.

The final game for St. Louis in the famous arena was not a classic. It did not evoke the memories of the past when the teams used to hack, punch, claw and maul each other for 60 minutes. In actuality, it was a somewhat bland affair when viewed in the grand scope.

That does not mean there were not good moments. Ivan Barbashev opened up the scoring barely two minutes into the contest with a stick-bending wrist shot.

Carter Hutton was not tested too often, but when Detroit made their push, he was there to stop it. He did come up huge at the end when there were several insane scrambles in front of the Blues net. He also collected his third shutout in five games, which isn’t anything to scoff at.

Taking nothing away from any individual performances though, it just wasn’t going to be game of the year quality. We all knew that going in.

The Blues are a good team, with the unrealized potential to be very good and borderline great. Detroit is not. The Red Wings have not fallen to the depths of being a bad team, but they are in transition and the young guys have not fully taken over yet.

Detroit is likely to miss the playoffs this season, leaving them tied with the Blues for the third longest playoff streak ever in the NHL. It’s not for lack of trying.

There is talent on the Red Wings roster. Like the Blues of the mid-2000’s, they are going through their growing pains stage and whether we take joy in it or not, missing the playoffs is part of the process after such prolonged success.

Last night was just a good example of St. Louis getting the job done. They did not crush the opposition, but they didn’t give the Red Wings a ton of hope.

If the Blues stayed out of the box more, the Red Wings likely would not have put up as much of a fight. St. Louis did not dominate possession or the shots. Once the Blues went up by a goal though, there was little sense they would not win except when they took their foot off the gas.

As long as you win, those performances are fine. You’re not going to have your A-game every single night for every single minute. When you can win in spite of that, you have a good team.

The Blues have long teased us with that this season and are finally putting it together. Call it what you will – coaching change effect, players being looser, the coach giving pats on the back, etc. – as long as the team is winning, then things are golden.

It’s nice to not feel like Blues Nation is Mt. Vesuvius waiting to erupt at any moment. Winning sure does cure a lot. Taking the final game in a building that crushed a lot of dreams is a cherry on top as well.

Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your day started off right.

The Blues had been quite awful on the road for much of 2016-17. While it can’t change a season entirely, much of that bad feeling has been erased with the Blues great road trip and fine defensive performances. (STLToday)

While I don’t personally buy into it, there has long been a question of whether Ken Hitchcock was holding Vladimir Tarasenko back. There were certainly times the two clashed, but one blogger seems to think the shackles have been taken off Vlady with Mike Yeo. (Real Sport 101)

It’s a very short turnraround for the Blues as they come home to play the Vancouver Canucks tonight. Jake Allen will be in goal and Jeremy Rutherford has all your other particulars regarding the game. (Post-Dispatch)

While the Blues are ascending back to close to last year’s form, the Red Wings are heading the other direction. While the Blues feel pretty good about last night’s game, the Red Wings were left wondering what might have been. (Detroit Free Press)

Next: It's Easy To Love An NHL Team

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a first place team firing their coach, but Montreal just did it. Now, Claude Julien is taking a Mike Yeo approach saying he only wants to tweak things and not make drastic changes. (ESPN)

The league’s website has released it’s weekly look at some top names that might be on the move by month’s end. See if any of these names tickle your fancy as potential returns in a Blues deal. (NHL)

Have a great day Blues fans!