St. Louis Blues Fans Would Not Be Happy With The Holy Spirit In Net

My apologies for the semi-blasphemous title, but it’s true. You could have the second coming in goal for the St. Louis Blues and there would be a section of the fan base that still found fault with him.

I’ve known this for a long time, but was able to brush most of it off. Now things seem to have hit a feverish pitch with the ridiculousness of the goaltending battle that goes on among fans.

It’s nothing new. People have fond memories, but as beloved as Curtis Joseph was, there was a vocal section of the fan base that got tired of him rather quickly. The claim was he choked in the playoffs, which while true to a point was still a bit harsh. People wanted Guy Hebert, a goaltender that amounted to very little in his career, to get a shot.

Grant Fuhr was one of the last goaltenders to play 70 or more games in a season. He had good stats and often kept the Blues in games they didn’t have any business in.

Despite that, people wanted Jon Casey in net at times. Well, Casey got in net when Fuhr was injured and the Detroit Red Wings proceeded to beat the Blues and go on to the Cup Finals.

Then there was the goaltending carousel where nobody could settle on anything. We don’t like Roman Turek so play Jamie McLennan. Turek chokes, give Brent Johnson a shot. Johnson stinks, let’s play Fred Brathwaite.

Chris Osgood, Manny Legace, Chris Mason, Ty Conklin and Ben Bishop. All had their fans and all had those that thought they were garbage and wanted to play the next guy.

I can only imagine what hate would flow if there was social media when Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante were splitting the time. Doesn’t matter that both were Hall of Famers, because whoever isn’t playing must be beter

Next we come to the more current age. Jaroslav Halak was brought in to be the guy after having a fantastic playoff run with the Montreal Canadiens.

Injuries, inconsistent play and poor defending in front were all a recipe for Halak to not have much success in his first season with the Blues. The Blues were not ready to have Bishop be the backup, so they brought in Brian Elliott.

Elliott, who had had a relatively mediocre career to that point, was brought in to be the backup and proved to be much more. He and Halak ended up being a fantastic tandem that pushed each other to get better and play harder.

Halak’s injuries and some issues with Ken Hitchcock saw him traded away but the Blues did what fans had been clamoring for for years. They traded for a top-name goaltender.

In came Ryan Miller. Miller had single-handedly kept the Buffalo Sabres in the postseason many years and the Blues decided he was the man to take them to the next step.

Mar 19, 2016; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller (30) stops a shot by St. Louis Blues forward Kyle Brodziak (28) during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports /

Blues fans had wanted a goaltender they could confidently call their starter without worry for years. As soon as Miller had a bad game, they turned on him.

There was immediately regret for the trade, which in the end was founded by Miller’s play, but even before we saw how things turned out people whined that Elliott had not been given his chance.

Miller goes in free agency with no major cries from the faithful, then Elliott and Jake Allen form a nice tandem. Allen earns the nod for the playoffs by playing well down the stretch and then the fans throw their arms in the air again.

Poor Elliott was overlooked again. Never mind that Allen had earned it, the way Elliott earned his spot this season.

Now we come to present day. Stuff has really hit the fan with Blues supporters and it has gone to a different level.

Nothing is good enough for anyone. Nobody can be happy that the St. Louis Blues have two quality goaltenders. No, they are firmly entrenched in one man’s camp and the other is the enemy.

Elliott is by far the biggest reason the Blues have gone as far as they have in the 2016 playoffs. Despite that, he has a mediocre performance with a soft goal or two and there are actually fans who want his head. Out of nowhere, he is terrible and has no lateral movement, blah blah, etc. and so on.

The Blues do pull him and it was the right decision, but Elliot fans cry. They’re taking away his confidence. They’re not being fair. They’re not giving him his shot again. It’s maddening.

It’s true the other way too. Allen makes several quality saves in Game 4 and gets a win. People in Elliott’s camp say he played OK and was just lucky the Blues played in front of him. One game into the future, Allen is at fault for nothing in reality but those same fans blame him for the entire loss.

May 23, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) makes a save in net against the San Jose Sharks in the second period in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

Just like the situation with Ken Hitchcock where there is no consistency with the arguments against him, the same is true with the goaltenders. People pick whatever argument fits what they want to believe.

There is a constant spew about how Elliott has not been given a fair shake in the playoffs with the Blues. It makes my head spin.

When Halak went down, Elliott was given the reigns. He helped them beat the Sharks and then both he and the team played poorly against the Kings. He lost.

Elliott had another shot against the Kings the next year. He lost.

He lost to the Kings twice and never looked very good doing so. Yes, the team didn’t play in front of him, but he wasn’t great either.

He wasn’t given his shot though. Blues fans were over the moon when Miller was brought in, but because it didn’t work out, Elliott was not given his shot.

Supposedly Elliott’s stats in 2013 are so much better than Allen’s lone playoff run, according to some. They both played six games and both allowed 12 goals.

That argument that the team didn’t play in front of Elliott against the Kings? Nowhere to be found when discussing Allen against the Wild.

Elliott has supposedly led the Blues to the playoffs time after time, but no credit is given to those that helped him shoulder the load?

The tiring thing about this entire situation is how it turns fans against the other. I will admit that I was a fan of Halak then and Allen now. My argument was Elliott had been a career backup and served his role well, but was not cut out to shoulder the load.

He had proved it time and time again as well by underperforming when there was no goaltender to push him from behind. He even got sent to the minor leagues because his play was so poor.

However, even as a fan of someone else, I can say Elliott has more than rebounded. He has been unbelievable in 2015-16.

Allen has not played poorly though. He won 26 games this year and 22 last year. Because you can apparently like only one player or the other, he sucks by some’s standards.

May 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) makes a save against San Jose Sharks right wing Melker Karlsson (68) in game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

If the loud fans are to be believed, he has poor rebound control, lets in soft goals, gets out of position too much and doesn’t show up in the big moments.

All those same things have been said about Elliott himself, when he was not the goaltender of favor.

Both goaltenders have similar positives and negatives. This season, the only thing separating them has been Allen’s superior stick handling and puck movement.

Yet we still can’t acknowledge anything contrary to what we want to believe. The player one side likes is the savior and the other is the cause of all our woes.

The Blues and their fans are not alone in this. Pittsburgh has a Cup winning goaltender in Marc-Andre Fleury and fans have had a love/hate relationship with him for years, constantly trying to push him out.

However, as a goaltender myself, I simply can’t stand the simplicity of it all anymore. Goaltenders are always blamed, whether it’s fact or not.

Goaltenders are the NHL’s version of quarterbacks. The backup seems to always be the best player on the team because there is this odd belief that he’s going to be better.