The St. Louis Blues don’t have the hardest schedule of all time to begin the season. It is definitely not easy, though, and will show how far this new roster has come.
The St. Louis Blue have almost a perfect schedule in the month of October. By perfect, that does not mean easy or light. It is a very good schedule to test this new roster, however.
By now, everyone has the month of October almost memorized, given how giddy we have all been for the return of the Blues. For those that need a refresher, here is our preview of October.
Things are not exactly easy for the Blues right out of the gate. They play Winnipeg in their season opener. The Jets are a team some are considering as the favorites to win the Western Conference.
After that, you’ve got Chicago coming to town. While the Blackhawks might be somewhat diminished, they’re still the Blackhawks until they consistently prove otherwise or breakup the team. Any team with two All-Star forwards and two All-Star defensemen will always be tough to deal with.
More from Analysis
- St. Louis Blues and Cardinals Similar In All The Wrong Ways
- St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2022-23 Game 82 At Dallas
- St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2022-23 Game 81 Vs Dallas
- St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2022-23 Game 80 At Minnesota
- St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2022-23 Game 79 Vs NY Rangers
After those games, you get a nice four day break. That sucks for fans, but is great for the team. You get two difficult games to gauge where you are at as a team and then get back on the practice ice to smooth some things out.
After that, the Blues face Calgary, Chicago – twice more in one month for some reason – Anaheim, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Columbus. With the exception of Chicago, every team the Blues face in October made the playoffs or was in the hunt until the end.
St. Louis also has to navigate those Canadian teams on the road in one trip. However, none of this is a murderer’s row.
The games are all spaced out. With the exception of one back-to-back game, all the games have some room in between.
In theory, we might only see Chad Johnson once this month. As long as the team believes he is healthy, that gives Jake Allen a good stretch to get into the season with without being overworked.
The same is true for the team’s new forwards. Players from the Eastern Conference, such as Tyler Bozak or Ryan O’Reilly, get to jump into the rivalries for the Central Division right away. Nashville might not be on the first month’s schedule, but Chicago always remains a rival and Winnipeg is getting up there rather quickly.
The way the schedule is laid out also benefits the young guys. With so few games crammed up right off the bat, the rookies like Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou can get their legs under them.
St. Louis does not have the luxury of getting off to a slow start, playing in the toughest division in hockey. That said, October is set up nicely for this team to come together and have success without wearing themselves out.
November will be a little bit different with two sets of back-to-backs and 14 games total compared to the 10 in October. If St. Louis can get off to a running start in the first month, though, they’ll be set up much better to survive the second month as opposed to needing maximum points in November.
The new guys will have plenty of experience meshing with the old guard by then. The Blues will also have a good idea of what they are and what to fix with a little bit of practice time available at the end of October as well. We should know quite a bit about this team by Halloween.