Will The St. Louis Blues Have The Necessary Talent To Bring Home The Stanley Cup In 2014?

All avid St. Louis Blues fans are delighted that the new 2013-2014 NHL season has begun.  Most training camps are well under way and the pre-season has just begun.  All die-hard St. Louis fans are elated and even more passionate about the new season and the ultimate dream of bringing the Stanley Cup to St. Louis for the first time in Blues history. Many changes have occurred in the offseason, which lead us to ask the question, will the Blues have the necessary talent this year to make this dream come true?

The Blues and all of us die-hard fans are eager to see what is in store for the team this season.  After making several changes over the summer, the Blues seem to have everything in place to make this one of the best years in hockey.  With the addition of a lot of new promising talent, the signing of new contracts, the trade of David Perron, and the long anticipated wait for the Blues and Defenseman, Alex Pietrangelo to finalize a long-term deal, the smoke has cleared and we can see that the available power and skill that we now have on hand puts us into a great position to start the season.

Some of the changes that occurred over the summer included a lot of potential stars for this coming up season:

• Re-signed Forward, Adam Cracknell, to a one-year contract
• Re-signed Defenseman, Ian Cole, to a two-year one-way contract
• Defenseman, Taylor Chorney, to a one-year, two-way contract
• Re-signed Forward, Patrick Berglund, to a one-year contract
• Re-signed Defenseman, Kevin Shattenkirk, to a four-year contract
• Signed Defenseman, Jordan Leopold, to a two-year contract
• Signed Forward, Maxim Lapierre, to a two-year contract
• Signed Forward, Mark Mancari, to a one-year, two-way contract
• Signed Forward, Alexandre Bolduc, to a one-year, two-way contract
• Signed Forward, Keith Aucoin, to a one-year contract
• Acquired Forward, Pat Cannone, from the Ottawa Senators for further considerations
• Trade Forward, David Perron, to the Edmonton Oilers for Forward, Magnus Paajarvi, and a second round draft pick in 2014
• Signed Forward, Magnus Paajarvi, to a two-year contract
• Signed Center, Derek Roy, to a one-year contract
• Re-signed Right Wing, Chris Stewart, to a two-year deal with the Blues.
• Signed Goaltender, Jake Allen, to a two-year contract
• Signed Defenseman, Jay Bouwmeester, to a five-year contract that begins with the 2014-2015 season, as he has one year remaining on his five-year deal he negotiated in the past with the Calgary Flames
• Signed Forward, William Carrier, to a three-year contract
• Signed Defenseman, Alex Pietrangelo, to a long-term, 7-year contract

May 8, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; The St. Louis Blues watch the action during a power play against the Los Angeles Kings during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Kings defeated the Blues 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

In addition to changes on the roster, the St. Louis Blues have made a few changes to the make-up of their leadership team.  Doug Armstrong was named President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Alternate Governor.  In addition, Bruce Affleck was named President of Business Operations, Alternate Governor. Social media and the internet has been buzzing with the news of infamous hockey legend, Brett Hull, being named Executive Vice President, after reluctantly leaving St. Louis 15 years ago.

We hope to see positive results from the many changes to the leadership team and the overall roster.  As we support the Blues this season, we hope to see a lot of strong defensive/offensive ice time while the team join together to learn how to master their skills with Coach Ken Hitchcock. In the meantime, we will have to wait and see what happens throughout the pre-season while the Blues prepare for the regular season to begin on October 3rd against the Nashville Predators. Let’s Go Blues!