The St. Louis Blues are a team in dire need of some changing. What better time to start than with a new year and what better unit to focus on than the defense?
When we came into the 2018-19 season, we all thought the St. Louis Blues had a sure thing when it came to defense. Nobody thought this team was going to be the second coming of the 1995 New Jersey Devils, but they did not have to be.
The defense was the mainstay. There was no need to make any big offseason adjustments to that unit since they had been the strength of the team over the past couple coaching regimes.
How wrong we were, apparently. To open the season, the unit was about as big a mess as you could have.
There were players overskating and over reaching in how much they would join the offense or when. Conversely, you would have guys that looked like they had never skated. Defenders were set in stone, regardless of whether it was the right or wrong position to begin.
It was a depressing time that has not fully erased itself as the season progressed. How could things have gone so wrong when everyone coming back was a veteran?
The only player without significant NHL experience was Vince Dunn and he was one of the team’s brighter spots in 2017-18. Instead, the defense seemed to trigger everything wrong with the team.
Their lack of scoring seemed due to the forwards having to defend too much. The goaltending was an issue because even Hall of Fame goalies in their prime would not have made saves on some of the chances the defenders gave up.
Things have progressed. The defense has tightened up and the Blues look better because of it. There are still things they must strive to do better in 2019 though.