St. Louis Blues: St. Louis Sports Teams Need To Win When It Counts

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 23: St. Louis Cardinals mascot Fredbird and St. Louis Blues mascot Louie pose for a photograph after a game against the Vancouver Canucks on March 23, 2017 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 23: St. Louis Cardinals mascot Fredbird and St. Louis Blues mascot Louie pose for a photograph after a game against the Vancouver Canucks on March 23, 2017 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images)

The St. Louis Blues were eliminated on the final day of the postseason a year ago, and playoff failure is becoming a trend in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Blues and the Cardinals have had recent struggles in both the regular season and the playoffs. Both teams have allowed others to control their own destiny, instead of the Blues and Cardinals taking charge themselves.

The Cardinals were eliminated from postseason contention on Saturday night after slipping down the stretch. The Cards were in control of their own destiny up until the final weekend of the season.

Both the Cardinals and Blues were in control of their own destiny going into the final two weeks of the season, all they had to do was take care of business and win games. Instead, they stumbled down the stretch and allowed other teams to pass them in the standings, forcing the Cardinals and Blues to play from behind and lean on other teams to beat the ones in front of them.

Although baseball and hockey are two different sports, the city of St. Louis shares a unique bond between the Cardinals and Blues. Historically, the Cardinals have been one of the best franchises in all of sports.

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The Blues have not had the same success that the Cardinals have had, however, their previous seasons can be comparable.

Ever since the Blues Western Conference Final run three years ago, it has been an uphill battle to return to a team that can go deep in the playoffs.

The St. Louis Cardinals have now missed the playoffs entirely for the third straight year.

The narrative around both the Blues and Cardinals is now becoming more and more similar. Teams have had a hard time attracting the top tier free agents and have had to rely on their young players to get the job done.

John Tavares was one of the best free agents in recent memory and the Blues could not even get an interview with his people over the offseason, while the Cardinals have missed out on names like David Price and Jason Heyward in recent years.

Whether it is a geographical disadvantage for these teams or they have shown free agents they are not capable of winning, the Blues and Cardinals need to right the ship.

The Blues have gone out and added a bundle of forwards and now have one of the deepest core of forwards in the entire league. Acquiring Ryan O’Reilly and signing Tyler Bozak and David Perron hopefully will help change the pattern of St. Louis not being able to acquire top talent.

St. Louis always has and probably always will be one of the greatest sports towns in the entire country. Whether or not the Blues and Cardinals bring home championships will not deter St. Louisans from loving the note and loving the birds on the bat.