The St. Louis Blues are thinking too much and it’s been costing them performances in the playoffs. They need to ditch all that, just go out on the ice and let their skills take over on instinct.
It sounds strange to say the St. Louis Blues need to not think so much. We hear things from pundits all the time about how this player is so intelligent or that player has a great hockey mind.
However, that’s exactly what needs to happen. That’s not to say that players need to play dumb. They still have to have their wits about them, but thinking too much can actually take you out of the game you’re in.
The one common denominator with the Blues has been thinking too much. They’ve had bad games, mediocre games, games where they fail to show up for one period and games where they failed to show up at all. Some games there was not any energy and other games there was a decent effort, but the Blues could not counteract anything their opponent was doing.
The bottom line? Thinking too much.
Nobody knows for sure what’s creeping into their minds except the players. Maybe they’re worried too much about line combinations. That was a big issue earlier in the season with the players openly petitioning for Ken Hitchcock to have more consistency with his line pairings.
It could be line match ups with the Sharks. That’s likely one of the reasons the Blues haven’t played as well at home, since they’re so preoccupied with matching up with certain lines instead of just playing.
It could be something as simple as a few poor passes. A few bad passes and then everyone gets thrown off their game, wondering where each pass will go or come from.
Maybe it’s a bad goal. Maybe they’ve gotten so used to Brian Elliott stopping everything that if a softy goes in, they don’t know how to deal with it.
Whatever it is, it clearly affects the Blues. There’s little explanation, other than the mental side of the game, for the Blues ability to have the entire team on their game when they play well and then have the entire team play poorly when they aren’t.
We need all five guys working together if we’re going to be successful and I think there were too many times we got caught watching a bit. – Paul Stastny
Players have bad games. Anyone who has played sports at any level knows it’s impossible to replicate your performance every single time, no matter how hard you try.
Even so, there should be some players who are on their game to pick up those who are having an off night. Not so with the Blues. It honestly feels like the Blues’ entire team has off nights on the same night.
That boils down to thinking too much. That causes players to grip the stick too tightly, clench the cheeks a bit so to speak.
When you’re playing tight and worrying about this and that, then you’re not playing free and loose. If you’re too concerned with making a mistake, you tend to make more mistakes.
Even Jeremy Roenick of NBC has begun to pick up on this with the Blues. After St. Louis’ Game 2 loss, he mentioned how the Blues kept trying to pass off their mistakes.
More from Editorials
- St. Louis Blues Need Kasperi Kapanen To Be On Best Behavior
- Hayes’ Debut And Other Bold Predictions for the St. Louis Blues
- St. Louis Blues Captaincy Is Suddenly A Huge Problem For 2023-24
- St. Louis Blues National Games Cause More Problems Than They’re Worth
- St. Louis Blues Brayden Schenn Has To Be An Impact Player In 2023-24
One player would get into trouble and just try to give the puck to someone else. That player would not be in a good position, so the mistake was just passed around instead of actually looking for a good play that would get the Blues out of trouble.
“I think we’re worried about what we do and how we play. I don’t think it was a systems thing,” said Paul Stastny. “As a unit of five, we weren’t on the same page and there were too many times, when we were on a power play, or PK, or 5 on 5, we need all five guys working together if we’re going to be successful and I think there were too many times we got caught watching a bit.”
That quote says quite a bit. If players aren’t on the same page, they’re thinking too much about what page they’re on and not just feeling the game and its ebbs and flows.
When one player starts worrying about the mistakes of another, it takes them out of their own game. That causes mistakes on their end, which ends up in a snowball effect.
They must just let the game unfold. Mistakes are going to happen, but don’t compound them with another.
You can’t play foolishly or without any intelligence. You can’t literally take your mind off the game or thinking about situations, but the Blues are doing too much thinking about what could happen.
Next: Time For Steve Ott To Take A Seat
The Blues need to just take their brains out, metaphorically of course, and let their bodies take over. They’ve got so many hockey miles under their belts, whether they’re rookies or veterans, that instinct is good enough at this point.
Play the game. Feel the game, don’t think it.