St. Louis Blues: Five Things Blues Fans Can Be Thankful For

Every year, we give thanks for all the things that make our individual lives great, good or at least bearable. With that, we take an annual look at what the Blues and their fans have to be thankful for.

The St. Louis Blues have gotten off to one of the best starts in their team history. That is saying something for a team that has won a President’s Trophy, been to Western Conference Finals and Cup Finals.

Of course, a good start does not mean anything without a good finish. Nevertheless, it has been an extremely fun ride to begin the season. That is especially true since so many fans were wondering if the Blues would even make the playoffs.

Right now, missing the playoffs seems like a stretch that would have to include an epic fall from grace the likes of which we may have never seen before. Fingers crossed that does not happen.

Focusing on the positive, there is plenty to be thankful for with the St. Louis Blues.

The team is playing incredibly well. Individual players are doing a lot more than we anticipated. Guys we hoped would step up and be stars have done so as well.

Fans have plenty to look forward to each game. With that in mind, we take a look at the five things Blues fans have to be most thankful for.

Of course, there are way more than five. So, if we miss one, make sure to let us know in the comments.

5. Doug Armstrong

I know there are some fans out there that would be throwing their remotes if they were seeing this on the television. As much as he has to do with the team’s current success, there are some that will always be against Doug Armstrong.

That said, we have to thank the guy who put this team together even if we would have liked for him to add other pieces along the way. Things can easily change over the course of a season, but right now his plan seems to have worked quite well.

If nothing else, his addition of Brayden Schenn by dumping the contract of Jori Lehtera was a master stroke. Those are the kinds of deals legends are made of.

Amstrong has been much smarter with his contracts as well. People will always whine about the Paul Stastny deal, but that was the going price at the time. Jay Bouwmeester was worth his contract money when the deal was signed.

We can and we all do love to look at things in hindsight. Overall, the architect of this roster has done a very good job.

We all want those homerun moves every time out. It’s not realistic though and we’d know that if we followed the stuff every fanbase has wrong with every GM.

4. Brayden Schenn

Springboarding off the Armstrong idea, we have to be thankful for his most recent addition. Schenn has been an unbelievable addition to this team.

Schenn is off to the best start of his own career, on pace to set personal bests in goals and points. As of the holiday, Schenn has 10 goals and 30 points. Even the most optimistic of us could not have predicted that.

What is even better is Schenn has already shut up all his critics. Beyond just his overall stats, he quickly shed the image he built up about being a power play specialist.

Eight of his 10 goals have come at even strength. That already ties him with how many he scored all of last season with the Philadelphia Flyers and we are only a quarter of the way through the 2017-18 season.

At this point, even if Schenn cools off, he’s already set the bar so high that we’d have to be happy with anything from here on out. We all know that is not how fan brains work, but we aren’t likely to see that kind of cool down either.

Schenn and the entire top line have been incredibly good. They’ve found a good enough chemistry that even a slight cool off would not damper the team’s progress.

3. Team Chemistry

Speaking of chemistry, it is not just the top line that has it in spades. The entire Blues roster is playing for the man next to them right now.

During the team’s trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2016, that’s all we heard about. The Blues were playing for each other and the locker room was a fun place to be game in and out.

The talk of this team’s chemistry has us dreaming of similar results come the end of the season. We are hearing similar stories about how close everyone is right now.

Even those of us that do not have access to the locker room can see that chemistry on the ice. You can see every person trying to pick up the next if they are not having the best of games.

Jake Allen has had a great year so far, though some would say his stats could be better and would not be completely wrong. That said, he has made the saves he needs to make and those that he has no business making too. He’s bailed out the defense on several occasions as has Carter Hutton.

The defense is also doing their part. If the offense is struggling or the goaltenders are just a little off, they come up with solid play or manage to clear pucks off the goal line.

Defense not playing so well? Worry not, for the offense is here. The Blues have the most goals in the Western Conference and only a couple teams in the entire league have more.

The November 21 game against Edmonton was a perfect example. The defense had an off night in the third period, but when your team scores eight goals, it takes a lot of the pressure off.

Every season will have some clunkers by the entire team, but they have been few and far between. This team always seems to have a player or two ready to come up with a big performance.

2. Vladimir Tarasenko

The St. Louis Blues have not had as much luck as other teams when it comes to having superstar after superstar. So, when they do have one it makes it all the more special.

The Blues always have good players, but it has not been since Brett Hull that they’ve had someone you could count on to be a true scorer. Vladimir Tarasnenko is that superstar that the team can count on for scoring.

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Through 22 games, Tarasenko leads the team in goals again with 12. That number doesn’t sound overly impressive, but with the way the top line has spread out their scoring, for Tarasenko to still be at the top is pretty impressive. As of writing this, he’s only five goals behind the NHL leader too.

Beyond just his scoring ability, Tarasenko continues to be a playmayker too. He has 14 assists to go along with his goals. If he kept pace, he’d set a new career high for helpers.

Also, he’s gotten much braver. He always had the talent, but he would seem somewhat timid or get frustrated with the physical part of the game.

Now, he’s gotten himself into the mindset that it’s ok to step up for yourself or your teammates. Tarasenko got the second Gordie Howe hat-trick of his career when he picked up a fight against Edmonton. It wasn’t just a tug of war either, he landed some solid punches.

You don’t want your stars risking their health like that, but you love the fact that he was willing to stick up for what he saw as a dirty hit on a teammate. Tarasenko fits in perfectly with the city of St. Louis and we should all be grateful he’s here.