St. Louis Blues Past, Present, And Future

The NHL season may still be weeks away, but here at Bleedin’ Blue hockey is always on our minds. While we wait for regular-season St. Louis Blues hockey to come back this fall, fellow editor of Bleedin’ Blue, Kate Cimini, took the time to answer some questions about our Blues.

Among other topics, Kate gave her take on the St. Louis Blues captain selection, favorite goals, 2015-2016 playoff prediction, and which Blues legend should get a statue outside the Scottrade Center.

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Andrew Martin: Who on the Blues current roster would make the best head coach later in life and why?

Kate Cimini: I think I’d have to go with Alexander Steen, here. Coaches need to be able to see the game as a whole, not just their part of it, and out of all the Blues rostered, he’s one of the best at doing so. He’s a great two-way player who is creative when necessary and his hockey sense is off the charts. Steen knows the game extremely well, and he’s already got that media-friendly personality, so he’d probably have an easier time flying below the radar than some others did (coughTortorellacough).

AM: If you had to pick a new captain and two alternate captains who would they be?

KC: If we’re just talking the upcoming season, I’d actually keep it pretty similar – Backes as captain and Steen and Pietrangelo wearing the As, though — and I know this is breaking the rules — I’d add in Tarasenko as a third A. He’s the star of the franchise and I see them as likely being interested in grooming him for a captaincy in a few years. This is a good way to see how he handles that kind of responsibility as well as keeping it relatively light, having him rotate in as an A every other game or so.

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AM: Which non-STL player would you like to have on the Blues roster this year and where would he fit?

KC: Ignoring salary cap issues for the moment, I’d love if the Blues took on Cody Franson, simply based on his ability. However, St. Louis already has two top right-handed D-men and probably need a lefty more, so Franson’s a no-go, despite his amazing numbers. I think I’d be open to seeing the Blues sign Carl Hagelin (who at the time of this writing is unsigned) and really jamming themselves up at the left wing position. It would fill the 3LW hole left by Chris Porter and give us a stable top-nine, to say the least. And who knows, maybe we’d see Schwartz and Hagelin fight it out for the second-line position. That would at least be entertaining. Again, this is pretending the Blues have millions upon millions floating around somewhere in a secret safe and no salary cap penalties would be issued at all.

I think it’s a given that Tarasenko will one day see his own statue outside Scottrade. But I want to see him earn it, first.

AM: Should the Blues wear throwback jerseys? I for one would like to see the red and blue sweaters with the trumpets on the shoulders again.

KC: God, no. If the Blues stuck only to their third jersey, I’d be an extremely happy girl. That thing is beyond sharp. Their home and away sweaters are fine, but don’t really cut the mustard. As for that ’90s jersey of which you speak…that is when I’d switch to exclusively listening to the Blues on the radio

AM: Which past Blues player, and which current Blues player should have their own statue outside Scottrade Center? (currently Bernie Federko, Al MacInnis and Brett Hull have statues)

KC: As for past Blues players, Al Arbour is 100% my favorite and the fact that he doesn’t have a statue is a travesty. For him to step up the way he did for the Blues was tremendous. Not everyone could do what he did. For those who don’t know, Arbour was called into GM Scotty Bowman’s office on game day and told that he wasn’t playing on the Blues any longer, he was to act as the head coach in their game against Toronto. And he just did it. If that isn’t deserving of a statue outside the Scottrade Center, I don’t know what is.

For current, I think it’s a given that Tarasenko will one day see his own statue outside Scottrade. But I want to see him earn it, first.

AM: What’s your prediction for the postseason? How far will the Blues get? Who will they face? How many games will there be in each series?

KC: The Blues will get past the Stars in Round 1 with 6 games, but will fail out of the second in four to Chicago. No one will be happy, Chicago fans will be obnoxious on social media, and Ken Hitchcock will sign yet another one-year contract saying, “next year, we’ll be different.” They won’t be.

I’m not bitter. Why do you ask?

AM: Favorite goal from last season by a Blue?

KC: Tarasenko’s MSG goal (that he later repeated against the Wild) was pretty fantastic, but my favorite of all has to be the Backes goal that came from a backwards, between-the-legs T.J. Oshie assist. That was a gorgeous play and will be how I remember Oshie’s time on the Blues.

AM: Does David Backes have a shot at amassing more PIM than Ryan Reaves this season?

Feb 15, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Shawn Thornton (22) and St. Louis Blues right wing Ryan Reaves (75) fight in the second period at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

KC: I think the question is: does Reaves have a shot at amassing more PIM than Backes? And the answer is: no.

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