St. Louis Blues Bye-Week Comes At Worst Possible Time

By Todd Panula |

Feb 20, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center Paul Stastny (26) passes the puck away from Florida Panthers right wing Reilly Smith (18) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Panthers won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Blues are in the midst of a league mandated bye-week. While the players don’t mind a few days off, it comes at the worst possible time given the Blues situation.

The St. Louis Blues are taking in a few days off during their bye-week. The league mandated time off means the team cannot even practice until Saturday afternoon.

The team is facing the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, so that’s the first reason the bye comes at an inopportune time. The Blues are currently trying to chase down the Blackhawks, even if it is very unlikely to happen.

So, not really being able to prepare for one of the league’s best is not doing the Blues any favors. People might say you can get all you need to know from video and rivals know each other so well anyway. That’s not untrue, but the team doesn’t have a chance to put any new wrinkles in their game plan.

Additionally, the Blues are coming up on the trade deadline very quickly. With the bye-week coming when it is, the Blues now only have two games left. They play Chicago on the road on the 26th and then Edmonton at home on the 28th. The deadline then comes a day later.

Now, at this point of the season you likely know who you think can make an impact on your team in terms of prospects. You also know what deals you are more willing to accept. Still, that doesn’t mean it could not have been more beneficial to get prospects more NHL time before potentially including them in a deal.

There have been no rumors of any Blues’ prospects being included in a trade. However, if the team is wanting to get any significant return from the Kevin Shattenkirk trade, there will have to be sacrifices made. Teams want cost certainty and Shattenkirk will not provide them of that.

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Last, but definitely not least, the bye-week is a killer for team records. 20 teams have already had their bye and are a combined 4-12-4. Even worse, they have been outscored 60-23 in those games.

The Blues have put themselves in a position where they cannot afford to lose. Nashville has every opportunity to leapfrog St. Louis during this week off and the Blues will need to hit the ground running on the other side.

While the Blues gave themselves a tiny cushion, there is a small possibility they are out of the playoff picture by the time they play Chicago. More than likely they would just fall to the final wild-card spot.

Regardless, they have little room for error once the break ends. Playing against teams that know how to score in Chicago and Edmonton is difficult on its own, let alone if you have not even skated in five days.

None of this is to shed tears for the Blues. 20 teams have already gone through this and 11 more have to do it as well.

The league seems to be talking out of both sides of their mouths though. They want to give the players some rest, but are unwilling to spread the season out. The bye-weeks do nothing but further condense an already rough schedule.

The Blues played 60 games in 132 days, according to Jeremy Rutherford. They will play their final 22 games in 43 days.

Playing a game almost every other day wears on players and gives no room for practice time. So, taking away time to have light skates or practices comes off even more detrimental even if you understand the thought process behind a true week off.

Don’t expect things to change though. The league is unwilling to start earlier due to a fear of low attendance. The league also seems unwilling to recognize that players keep in shape all year long. The need is not there for training camps to start during the summer.

“Our training camps are all summer long, said Scottie Upshall. “We start skating in July and come August, you’re on the ice four times a week. The days of guys coming in and getting in shape at camp are no more. So if they’re worried about a condensed schedule, I think you just expand it a little bit at the beginning of the year.”

Whatever the reasoning behind it, the Blues just don’t seem to get much benefit from a late bye-week. Yes, they get some rest and relaxation but they also have a chance to fall even further behind.

Next: Blues Fans Probably Disappointed With Shattenkirk Trade Return

If the Blues do not buck trend and find a way to win, then the rest does them no good. The Blues need to be firing on all cylinders to finish the season and this break doesn’t help that.

Coming off a two game losing streak does not help matters either. That’s the last thing on the minds of everyone now and might be hard to break with only one day of practice before the Blackhawks.

It is what it is though. The Blues will just have to deal with it. All we can do now is hope they come back with a chip on their shoulders.

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