St. Louis Blues April 16, 2019: Thoughts From The Common Fan

The St. Louis Blues have plenty of fans worried about the team’s next game. Game 4 is not always completely pivotal, but it feels like it will be for the Note.

The St. Louis Blues as a team, this season, have given us plenty of reason to be confident about their performance in the upcoming Game 4 against the Winnipeg Jets. The Blues, as a franchise, have given us plenty of reason to be sweating bullets, even though the team is up 2-1 in the series.

The problem, mostly, sits in the fact of how the team lost. The Blues reverted to their form from October and November, for whatever reason.

There was loose defensive coverage, if any defensive coverage. The Jets were allowed to pick up too much speed through the neutral zone.

St. Louis had little possession for long stretches of the game and when they did, there were far too many one-and-done trips into the offensive zone.

Somehow, blame got heaped onto Jordan Binnington‘s shoulders. It was by a vocal minority, but the ability of Blues fans to always find a scapegoat when it is a team-wide problem astounds me.

But, let’s wipe all that away. Put it all to the side and enjoy the game tonight.

This team is not your same old Blues. This team feels different. Most of the hangups are going to be from the fans.

I am not a huge believer in fans being able to affect anything, but sometimes negative energy can flow. Don’t pack the Enterprise Center with all the bad vibes. Feel good about the game and figure they are going to win.

If they don’t, we will all be sweating bullets and crapping bricks and you can read all about it in my Pros/Cons series. I for one, have a good feeling about it.

If the Blues played any kind of defense, they would have been right there at the end of the game. They also took the Jets best shot. Maybe that got them going or maybe that was all they had. The Blues can definitely be better and they will be.

Three Goalies?

Apparently, the Blues have decided to call Jared Coreau from the San Antonio Rampage. The team announced it on their website.

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This raises all sorts of questions. Why do you need three goaltenders at all? Is someone hurt and they do not want them getting injured in practice or warmup?

We should assume Coreau will never see the light of day on gameday. Again, if that is the case why is he the one getting called to the NHL? If it is just to get someone practice time with the parent club, why not Evan Fitzpatrick? Ville Husso might still be injured, since he missed the end of the AHL season, so I get that, but this one is puzzling.

Overall, it is not a huge deal. It is just curious to bring up someone who has been with the organization for a cup of coffee, though he has played in the NHL – 21 games with the Detroit Red Wings. So, he’s got that going for him.

Game 4 Big, Not All Important

We are all searching for things to make us more calm about this series, or any series for that matter. Clearly Game 4 is huge for the Blues.

Lose this one and the series is tied, going back to Winnipeg and the Blues will have to win at least one more game in Canada. Win and you are sitting pretty.

To keep your hopes up, however, rest assured that math is still on the Blues side, even if some fans have bailed out. According to the article on the Blues website, teams that take a 2-0 series lead win over 86% of the time.

Overall, that record currently sits at 318-50. That is a lot of wins by teams that took that 2-0 series lead.

This game will play a big part in whether the Blues become 319 or 51, but it is not the be-all, end-all. Still, we would all sleep a little better if/when the Blues get the W.