The question seems almost absurd to ask, but they keep setting franchise records. This current incarnation of the St. Louis Blues is now the first to top 100 points in three consecutive seasons
Editors note: There was a 60 point season in lockout shortened 2012-13, so this only counts full seasons
Just on the eye test it seems hard to call this current Blues squad the best ever. There were the squads with Hull and Oates that had more flair.
There were the teams that made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in the 60’s. Surely those teams were far better.
There were the Blues of the late 90’s and early 2000’s that included a President’s Trophy winning team. Those teams have to be better.
The truth is these current teams actually could be some of the best in Blues history.
There are obviously huge caveats all over this argument.
The teams in the late 60’s made the finals but were playing in a conference of nothing but expansion teams. The 1967-68 team actually went 27-31-16. One could argue that playing in a 12 team league is more difficult than one with 30, but the bottom line is they went under .500 and got to the finals due to having so many veterans that knew how to get there.
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The Hull and Oates era teams are fond memories for Blues fans, but really didn’t achieve all that much. They took on the Chicago Blackhawks in some memorable playoff series, but never won a division with Brett Hull on the team. They also only crossed the 100 point plateau once in that era, though they had 98 points in Hull’s final season with the team.
From a consistency standpoint, only the teams from 1999-04 match up in a league wide race. They crossed the 100 point barrier twice, but only won one division crown. That year they shared the dubious feat most people attribute to the current Blues team in crashing out in the first round.
Surprisingly, the team as currently constructed (obviously including a piece here or there that was traded or left via free agency) might be the best ever.
Before you completely scoff and close the page, just think about it objectively. This current squad already has two division crowns with a chance at a third this season. They could have had another division title as well in 2013-14 but fell short by one point to the Blackhawks.
In addition to the division accolades, this team has several club records. They set the record for most wins in a season with 52 in 2013-14. They have two of the three highest point totals in team history with 109 in 2011-12 and 111 in 2013-14, with only the 1999-00 team having more at 114. Even the team in 2012-13 would probably have had over 100 points because they had 60 in half a season.
This team also helped put together the longest shutout streak in team history. Putting the ongoing debate between Brian Elliott and Jake Allen as starter aside, this is likely the best goaltending duo in team history and they strung together 4 straight shutouts and combined for over 258 minutes of scoreless hockey.
None of it meshes together well in the brain. This is the same team that causes fans to want the coach fired on an almost weekly basis. It’s the same team that had people clamoring for trades every offseason and trade deadline for five years. It’s the same team that struggles to score and fails to defend at key times.
How can that possibly be the best ever? On paper it shouldn’t be. Sure there are decent pieces like Vladimir Tarasenko, but how many of the Blues top players right now outside of Vlady would make the top line or even top two lines on some of those other teams? Not many, if any.
So how can anyone argue they’re the best team? Because of a key word in that phrase – team. Under Ken Hitchcock, whether you give him credit or not and whether you think it’s a positive or negative, the Blues have been greater than the sum of their parts.
Elliott and Allen (and Jaroslav Halak for his part) have been fantastic, but if you don’t look at cold stats there are few that would put them in their top five list of goaltenders in the NHL.
Vladimir Tarasenko is beloved in St. Louis, but around the league he’s another very good player, not necessarily the phenom Blues fans see.
The Blues have a pretty good defensive corps, but teams like Chicago have the higher profile guys.
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Some of that has to do with living in a mid-sized Midwestern market, but some simply has to do with there being better individual players in the league. But that only strengthens the argument that, as far as a team concept goes, the group of Blues that have been under Hitch might be the best.
Not only are they not as good individually as some of the other Blues’ rosters, they aren’t even as good as some other rosters in the current league. They win though. Their lowest winning percentage under the current regime was .598 and happened the year they had 109 points and won the Central.
We can all argue until we are blue in the face about individual years and whether this team would have beaten that team. Playoff success, or lack thereof, also plays a gigantic role in the argument.
From a regular season perspective though, this is the best Blues fans have ever seen.