St. Louis Blues Injuries Squeezing Team Like A Python

The St. Louis Blues knew they were in for a rough ride when their injury list started picking up big names. They have gotten through it, but fate seems to keep giving them more obstacles.

The St. Louis Blues have been a walking, or skating if you will, M.A.S.H unit over the last month or so. They have not only lost several players to injury, but they have lost several big names off their roster.

The Blues lost their best scorer in Vladimir Tarasenko early on. Tarasenko went out with a shoulder injury on October 24, 2019 and was scheduled to be out for around five months.

When Tarasenko went down, the question was where were the goals going to come from. That was bad enough, but then the names started piling up.

Alex Steen picked up a high-ankle sprain on November 6 and would not even be re-evaluated until after four weeks. Sammy Blais picked up a 10-week wrist injury on November 20 and Oskar Sundqvist got a foot injury on November 27 that would keep him out an indefinite time.

That is four of your top 12 forwards on the injured list. One third of your starting forwards to open 2019-20 are hurt and have missed significant amounts of time and the calendar has not even turned to 2020.

The funny thing is the Blues have overcome all of this. Guys have stepped up and the roster has continued with a team-first attitude that has driven them to success.

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Through early December, the Blues remain at the top of the Central Division and the Western Conference. The scoring is sporadic and the defending has holes, but through solid goaltending and sheer will power, the Blues have done it.

Even so, you wonder how long this can continue. With the team’s depth challenged each and every night, they need some form of relief.

Everyone has played up to their capabilities and beyond on most nights. Yet, it is taking a toll and even fate seems against the Blues at the moment.

It is bad enough to have one third of your forwards injured. Then, on December 7, the Blues lost around one sixth of their team to injury in that game alone.

At one point, the Blues were without Robert Thomas, Colton Parayko and Zach Sanford all at once. Thomas got hit in the face with a puck, Parayko got hit in the face and Sanford picked up the dreaded “upper body” injury and did not return.

The Blues have had to make line changes as it was. Losing that many guys within a game forces things to become even more jumbled.

It also puts more pressure on the remaining top guys to score. Unfortunately, hockey by its nature is a streaky game.

David Perron was one of the hottest players in the league for a time, just when the Blues needed it. However, his goal against Toronto on December 7 was his first in seven games. That’s fine when you have everyone healthy, but when you depend on him to score, it’s a little too far between.

Ryan O’Reilly continues to pick up points, but only has six goals over a quarter through the season. He currently has one goal in his last 13 games. Alex Pietrangelo currently has more goals than O’Reilly.

Nobody expects O’Reilly to put up gaudy goal numbers, but unfortunately, at the moment, the Blues need more from him than just assists.

The same is true of everyone. It would be great to sit back and allow Thomas all the time he needs to develop. You see the kind of player he will become, but right now, the Blues need it right now, not tomorrow.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. Blais, Steen and Sundqvist are skating with Steen and Sundqvist actually practicing.

However, more than anything else, the Blues just need a break. Hockey is a rough and tumble sport and you are going to pick up injuries, but it is getting to a ridiculous point.

During this injury plague, the Blues brought up Klim Kostin for a look. He performed well, but they wanted him to keep that momentum going in the AHL. Kostin immediately got hurt upon returning to San Antonio.

The Blues would like to have called up Jordan Kyrou. He was dealing with returning from a preseason surgery, so the Blues have let him settle back into the AHL first.

The Blues won a Stanley Cup because they could roll out four lines and had depth to plug holes. They have continued to do that early in the 2019-20 season, but it is becoming tougher with injuries squeezing the team like a snake. The more they struggle, the tighter it seems to get.

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The team needs to start getting bodies healthy or their current two game losing streak might compile more L’s. The guys that are healthy are giving their all, but without help, they are likely to get worn down.

It’s great to have everyone with a next man up mentality. It would just be nice to not have to rely on it so much.

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