St. Louis Blues Release 2016 Preseason Schedule
By Todd Panula
The 2016-17 season just got a bit more real. The St. Louis Blues just announced their slate of 2016 preseason games with plenty of familiar foes.
To borrow a word from entertainment correspondent John Campea, the release of the 2016 preseason schedule for the St. Louis Blues is the “tangiblization” of the 2016-17 season. It makes it one step closer, one step more real and gives us an actual timetable or countdown clock if you will.
From the date of this article until the puck actually drops is 100 days. Not close enough for us hockey nuts, but not so far away either.
The Blues will open up baseball-style with a split-squad matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets on September 25. Half the team will travel to Columbus for a game and the other half will stay in St. Louis to host the Blue Jackets.
The result of that game will matter very little, but it will probably be our first taste of Mike Yeo behind the Blues bench since you would figure Ken Hitchcock would coach one game and have Yeo do the other. The drawback will be that nothing major will be gleaned in terms of style of play, since you’ll probably have a mix of players on each squad rather than the top team playing at home and the prospects playing on the road or vice versa.
The Blues will then reconvene as a team to take on the Dallas Stars the very next night in Big D. Those teams will play a home and home, with the Blues part of the series closing out the month of December.
More from St Louis Blues News
- St. Louis Blues Giving Nick Ritchie A Look Is No Lose Situation
- St. Louis Blues Torey Krug Already Injured Before 2023-24 Season
- Former St. Louis Blues Forward Going Into Hall Of Fame
- Can Hofer Upstage Binnington in Starting Goalie Spot for Blues?
- St. Louis Blues 2023-24 fourth line depth chart could be surprisingly strong
The Blues go on the road to open up October against the Chicago Blackhawks. Then they play in Washington on October 3 (yours truly’s birthday), before facing the Capitals at the Sprint Center in Kansas City on October 5.
Those games are usually fairly entertaining. There are enough Blues fans that make the trek combined with Blues fans living in Kansas City and curious onlookers that the crowds end up with a decent size for preseason games. From a St. Louis perspective, it would be great to have another rival on I-70 in Kansas City, but the league is too determined to put one in the desert.
The preseason closes out with a home game against the Blackhawks. What better way to prep for the regular season with a preseason finale against your biggest rival. Regardless of who plays, whether some vets or just the younger crew, it gives you a bit of that regular season flavor with the option to still tinker on a few items one last time.
2016 PRESEASON SCHEDULE
Sept. 25 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets – Noon (split squad)
Sept. 25 at Columbus Blue Jackets – 6 p.m. (split squad)
Sept. 26 at Dallas Stars – 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 30 vs. Dallas Stars – 7 p.m.
Oct. 1 at Chicago Blackhawks – 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 3 at Washington Capitals – 6 p.m. CT
Oct. 5 vs. Washington Capitals (in Kansas City) – 7 p.m.
Oct. 8 vs. Chicago Blackhawks – 7 p.m.
In reality, none of these games means much. It’s all about getting the lineups to gel and getting the legs warmed up for a long, grueling season. All you really want is to escape uninjured and perhaps get a clearer picture of line combinations and perhaps a starting goaltender.
Next: Backes Departure Would Create Opportunities For Others
For fans, especially those of us already starving for the return of the game, it’s at least something to look forward to. Like our baseball brethren who can’t wait until pitchers and catchers report each winter, we hockey loons actually look forward to little things like the release of the schedule and preseason games.
One more box is checked on the way through the desert wasteland of the summer. You can almost feel the cool breeze of the ice already. Only 99 days to go after today.