St. Louis Blues: Ryan Reaves On The Edge But Blues Fans Love It

When it comes to getting the fans going, outside of scoring goals, there is little that fans love more than the actions of their own fourth liners. Ryan Reaves had the perfect example of just that in Game 3 against Dallas.

As you can see if you check out the video or if you saw it live and in person or on televsion, the St. Louis Blues current enforcer had a cheeky little message to send to the Dallas Stars bench after a quick fight with Curtis McKenzie.

Reaves has long been that kind of player. He’s known around the league as someone who will try to instigate a fight and wants to either get under your skin or in your head.

If the Stars are not careful he might have done both with one, seemingly small action. When you’re a player on a team that just got embarrassed in one of the few playoff blowouts this season, you’re going to remember those actions of Reaves.

Now the question becomes how does it affect them. If it affects them negatively and they try to just go after Reaves, then he has done his job and then some.

That is his job really. He is out there to be physical, get the opposing players off their game in that game and throw them off their game for the next one as well.

If his little kiss gets anyone to take a run at him or focus more energy on him then he should get a bonus. Any time or energy spent on Reaves is a bonus to the Blues because it means energy taken away from the effort against the actual team.

It does have the potential to backfire though. Noobdy outside of Reaves and the Dallas bench knows who the kiss was intended for – assuming it was even meant for a single target as opposed to the entire team.

However, it could still ignite some passion that has been slightly missing from an incredibly offensive team in the Stars. Jamie Benn has produced, but outside of that most of the scoring has been done by the Stars’ third and fourth line players.

When you poke the beast, sometimes you get it to wake up. The Blues are still talented enough to deal with that, but it would be easier to deal with a potentially downtrodden team as opposed to one looking to get back into the fight. Reaves’ airborne smooch could very well have brought about the latter.

Blues fans don’t really care though. With the exception of nervous people who always worry about the comeback (like me if I’m honest), fans don’t think of the repercussions and shouldn’t. After all, they’re there to enjoy the spectacle and Reaves surely provided that.

That’s what players like Reaves and Steve Ott are in the league for. They get the crowd going. They get their team going. Just seeing Kevin Shattenkirk‘s reaction on the bench was proof enough of that.

Reavo and Otter are almost WWE personalities. To their hometown crowds, they’re fan favorites and in other cities they’re the heel. They’re the villain. It’s suits Reaves and Ott very well.

They’re both agitators, they both play with an in-your-face type of style, they both want to get physical, but when they’re off the ice they’re both some of the best people anyone could meet.

Ott is a family man, incredibly focused on his wife and kids when he’s not making other people’s blood boil.

Reaves is one of the more jovial and outgoing guys on the team. Just ask Vladimir Tarasenko. Despite a huge language barrier, Reaves was one of the first people to befriend Tarasenko when he came to the Blues and now they look like friends who have been together for years.

Reaves was put into the Dallas series for just this sort of reaction. Ott stayed in the Chicago series because he was doing his job. He was able to get under their skin and drive people crazy. Since Chicago reacted to his particular flavor, he stayed in the lineup. Dallas is different.

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Reaves brings an more punishing physical style in addition to the mental aspect. Ott is going to hit and he could very well have stepped into the same fight. The fight would not have been over as quickly and the end result may not have been the same though.

Teams around the league know not to mess with Reaves. He’s got fists of granite and going back to the wrestler comparison, he could likely cut a great promo. He makes it hard not to react even though you know you’re in trouble once you do.

Purists can say the kiss might be a little over the top. It might be a little in poor taste. It’s Reaves though.

That’s what he brings to the table. That’s why his teammates love him. That’s why fans love him.

Could it backfire? Sure. Anything that can be used as “bulletin board material” is a possible catalyst for some repercussions, but he doesn’t care and fans don’t care.

Next: Pietrangelo Is Sneaky Good

The Blues have to deal with it and fans enjoy it. Would we like it if a Dallas player did it? Not a chance. That’s the WWE nature of it all though. It is entertainment after all.