St. Louis Blues: If Only Every Day Could Be April 25

The St. Louis Blues have ruled the date of April 25 against the Chicago Blackhawks. It makes one wonder if we can ask the calendar makers to mark every day during the playoffs as April 25.

In a rather remarkable (and coincidental) stat, the St. Louis Blues have eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks from the playoffs three times now since 1993 and each one has come on April 25.

The Blues finished off a sweep of the loaded Chicago Blackhawks on April 25, 1993. That came in the then-Norris Division Semifinals and sent Ed Belfour into a straight jacket.

The same result happened in 2002 when the Blues knocked the ‘Hawks out of the Western Conference Quarterfinals in five games. After splitting the first two in St. Louis, the Blues took both games in Chicago before coming home for game five.

Sounds familiar right? Back then, the Blues won game five 5-3 on, you guessed it, April 25.

Fast forward to 2016. Game seven. Do or die. Win or go home. Use these cliches or else. The Blues had a chance to get a huge monkey off their back and the elimination game was being played on April 25.

Things could not have started off much better for the Blues. They scored the opening goal of the game exactly one minute into the contest with a Jori Lehtera tip in.

Then St. Louis went up by two goals and the Scottrade Center was rocking. This time it was a blast from Colton Parayko that would have made ol’ number two, Al MacInnis proud.

In typical Blues fashion, nothing could come easy and the late period jitters came back. Marian Hossa scored in the last two minutes of the first period to cut the lead in half and had a decent chance again soon after.

The Blues got outplayed for much of the second period, for the third game in a row. A questionable penalty to Kevin Shattenkirk led to the tying goal. Andrew Shaw banked it in off Jay Bouwmeester and it was even at two.

It was April 25 though. No chance the Blues lose right? Well, since most people probably didn’t even know about this odd stat, they were probably worried.

A little over eight minutes into the third period, former Blackhawk, Troy Brouwer put his current team ahead by one. It won’t go down in the annals of history as the prettiest goal, but to Blues fans it was the best thing they’ve seen in a long time.

Of course it couldn’t just end nicely. Nah, that’s not the Blues way. Especially if they’re playing Chicago.

Brent Seabrook sent Blues Nation into one of those moments where time stands still.

The anxiety levels definitely went through the roof after that.

However, in one of the most exciting finishes since that 1993 overtime winner, the crowd at the Scottrade Center did the city proud.

This rivalry is second to none. Great series, @NHLBlackhawks. #stlblues #WeAllBleedBluehttps://t.co/t3eF7g5uxS— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 26, 2016

Now, let’s be honest and say that not every April 25 has gone according to plan. Just last season the Blues lost to the Blackhawks on that date.

When the series is on the line and St. Louis has a chance to knock off the ‘Hawks though, there has been no better date to be playing on.

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Negatives

Looking at game seven, things didn’t all go right despite the win. The Blues again failed to close out a period in the first. It’s been a bad habit we’ve seen throughout the year and has crept back up. St. Louis must learn to play every minute of every game because let ups cost you.

The second period business has to stop. The Blues finally got their act together the last five minutes of the period, but before that it was almost as brutal as the game before. St. Louis can’t get shots, can’t clear their zone and spends way too much time defending in those middle frames.

Positives

The Blues didn’t let Chicago’s big duo beat them. Hossa came close to doing it on his own with some help from Shaw, but over the course of the series the Blues held Kane and Toews down.

Brian Elliott played phenomenally. Just when it looked like he was gassed and his legs were gone even though he was battling, he came back with the kind of performance you need from your goaltender in a game seven. His two stops on Kane in game seven may have saved the Blues’ season.

Ken Hitchcock. I’ve seen tons of hate for the coach online from your typical keyboard expert and from actual knowledgeable fans as well. When it came down to brass tax though, he reinserted Joel Edmundson and put Robby Fabbri back with Paul Stastny and Brouwer. The changes worked and the Blues looked like a more well oiled team.

Next: Blues Have Best Jerseys Over Time

Looking ahead

St. Louis will open up a second round series with the Dallas Stars later this week. It will likely start on Friday in Big D.

The Blues took four of five from the Stars in the regular season. However it must be said that three Blues wins came in overtime while the Stars win was 3-0 scoreline (though it was in the second game of a home and home).

It promises to be another rough series with lots of ups and downs. The Blues have proven they can do it now. However they are out of April 25 magic since it only comes once a year. More grit and determination will have to do.