St. Louis Blues: The Year of the “Moose” (Brian Elliott)

This could arguably be Brian Elliott‘s best year with the St. Louis Blues. But will he be able to carry this team when they need him most?

I had a coach in high school that used to say, “If they don’t score, we don’t lose”. Brian Elliott appears to have taken this to heart.

In his last two starts, he left nothing to chance. By stopping everything the opposing teams could throw at him, he extended his St. Louis Blues career shutout record and more importantly lead his team to a two-game winning streak.

It goes without saying that Brian Elliott’s play in goal this season, has been nothing short of mind blowing. Posting 2.01 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Both of which are the best in the league.

While both of those stats are impressive in their own right, what really catches the eye is how he is handling himself between the pipes. He is standing tall with great positioning and oozing with a confidence that is infectious to every one of his teammates.

If you would have asked me at the beginning of the season where I thought Elliott would be at right now, I wouldn’t have had to think about my answer very long. I would have said that although he is a strong backup, and can still show some flashes of brilliance, this would undoubtedly be Jake Allen’s team. I probably would have been right. But luckily fate intervened.

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When Elliott was forced into the starting role, I remember thinking that not only is this his best chance to finally secure the number one position, it may very well be his last with the St. Louis Blues. If management would just give him a chance, this could turn into something very special for this club. The kid they call “Moose” must have been thinking the same thing.

Brian Elliott took this team, put them on his back, and proceeded to showcase some of the best goaltending of his career. Despite having some abysmal goal support, Elliott never cracked under the pressure. Instead, he managed to keep this battered and injured team near the top of the western conference standings.

Although, I was overjoyed with the success of one of my favorite players, I couldn’t help but wonder when the other shoe was going to drop. One of the biggest knocks against Brian Elliott has been his consistency on long stretches of play.

Just when you think he has everything under control that’s about the time it all starts to unravel. However, so far there have been no signs of any loosening strings. And the St. Louis Blues have responded accordingly.

Vladimir Tarasenko told Darren Pang during an interview how this St. Louis Blues team feeds off of its goaltenders play. If the goalie allows a few easy ones to sneak through the ripple effect can be catastrophic. When the players lack confidence in their netminder it begins to alter their play. And that usually leads to poor results.

However, if he can come up with just a couple of daring saves, all of a sudden this team feels unbeatable. They feel confident enough to start taking chances that usually lead to some quality scoring opportunities. Confidence is infectious and can elevate the play of everyone on the team.

Unfortunately, just like every other goaltender in the league, Brian Elliott is only as good as his last save. If the playoffs were to start tomorrow he would be, without a doubt, our starter.

Although, a lot can happen between now and then. Injury, loss of confidence, or just plain bad luck are all a possibility and despite being one of the St. Louis Blues most valuable players this season Elliott could once again be vanquished to the far end of the bench maybe never to return.

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Brian Elliott is only one man and on top of that, he can only contribute to one-half of the game. I mean the chances of him scoring a game-winning goal are about on par with me getting a date with Angella Sharpe (and my wife approving of said date).

However, despite what many think, defense does win championships and Brian Elliott could prove to be the most important part. If I could say one thing to him going forward it would be, “If they don’t score, you don’t lose”. For the love of all things hockey be the goalie I know you can.