The St. Louis Blues had one of the better teams in the league in 1991. Why did it all come crashing down though?
Sometimes time can cloud the memory. That is true in general, but especially true when it comes to sports and the St. Louis Blues.
It is easy to forget some of the great teams they had because they did not have the ultimate success. Most of us remember the flame out in 2000 because, even though that is 20 years ago, it is still somewhat fresh in the grand scheme.
However, 1991, as in the 1990-91 season, is one even those that are old enough to remember don’t always remember. Perhaps we have blocked it out in our subconscious.
The truth is, that was one of the best Blues teams the franchise had and they were legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. As we know, it did not happen. But why?
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
The Blues finished the regular season as the second best team in the entire league. They had 105 points when the regular season ended.
The Blues had scored the most goals in the Norris Division. They had the fourth most goals in the entire NHL.
St. Louis was solid defensively too. They allowed the second fewest goals in the conference and the third fewest goals in the league.
They had talent up and down the lineup. The Blues had Brett Hull and Adam Oates in their prime, both of whom had over 100 points that season.
Jeff Brown was one of the best offensive defenseman the Blues had up to that point. Scott Stevens might not have quite become the legend he would be with the New Jersey Devils, but he was still one of the best defensive defensemen in the league.
Geoff Courtnall was a solid scorer. The team had a young Rod Brind’Amour, the Cavalini brothers, Dave Lowry, Bob Bassen, Cliff Ronning and Sergio Momesso. Even at 34, Ron Wilson was still productive too.
In goal, the Blues split time between Vincent Riendeau and Curtis Joseph. Joseph did not feature in the playoffs that year, due to injury, but he was behind Riendeau in the pecking order at the time anyway.
Neverthless, the Blues seemed to have all the pieces. They seemed to have luck on their side too.
Their main rival, the Chicago Blackhawks, was ousted in the first round. They got upset by the Minnesota North Stars.
It seemed as though it was just an improbable outcome. Minnesota was the last team in the playoffs from the division, 37 points behind St. Louis and 38 points behind Chicago.
Going into everything, the consensus was the division final would be between Chicago and St. Louis. The winner would likely play the Los Angeles Kings or Calgary Flames.
With Chicago out of the way, the Blues path seemed paved in gold to the conference final at the very least. However, we should have seen their demise as an omen and not one of good fortune.
The Stars had some good players, but at the time nobody really measured up to St. Louis’ top guys. Yes, Mike Modano was on that team, but he was only 20 and still getting his game established.
64 points is nothing to sneeze at. Still, Modano was just third on the team in goals and fifth in scoring.
The North Stars were led by Dave Gagner and Brian Bellows. They were both solid NHL players with long careers, but they were not the guys that would strike fear in your hearts, even though they had 40 and 35 goals respectively.
The Blues had Hull. Hull had 86 goals that year.
St. Louis had already beaten Detroit, who finished the season eight points higher than Minnesota. Overall, the Red Wings were close to equal to the North Stars, top to bottom.
St. Louis had also done very well against the North Stars during the season. They went 5-1-2, collecting 12 points off their divisional rival.
Unfortunately, just as the Blues were a team on a mission in 2019, the North Stars were a team on a mission in 1991.
The Blues scored 17 goals in six games against Minnesota. It was just a combination that they could not score enough when the score was low and the defense/goaltending withered when the score was high.
The North Stars and Jon Casey, who was hot when he needed to be, took that team of destiny mantle all the way to the final. It was there they ran into another team of destiny.
The Pittsburgh Penguins knocked off the beat team from the regular season in the East, the Boston Bruins. Despite finishing in first in the Patrick Division, the Penguins only had 88 points in their regular season.
They got by on offense alone, scoring the second most goals in the league. They surrendered the third most goals in the league though.
So, it was a topsy-turvy year. A St. Louis vs. Pittsburgh Stanley Cup Final might have been epic.
The Blues had a good enough defense to slow down Mario Lemieux and company. They had a good enough offense to hang with the Penguins.
Unfortunately, the North Stars thwarted all that in the divisonal rounds because, as happens in the playoffs, sometimes another team just gets hot at the right time. Now, that 1991 St. Louis Blues team gets lost in the shuffle because of the trademark Blues flameout.