3 Reasons The St. Louis Blues Repeat As Stanley Cup Champions
Very few Stanley Cup champions repeat in the modern era. The St. Louis Blues have several reasons why they can and likely will.
While we do know that the St. Louis Blues and the NHL will finish their 2019-20 season, we still do not know exactly when. Regardless of that, the Blues will have their opportunity to defend their Stanley Cup championship.
The Blues will attempt to do the almost unthinkable. After winning their first Stanley Cup in team history, they will look to repeat.
It has happened. In the “modern era”, Montreal did it in 1930 and 1931, Detroit in 1936 and 1937 and then Philadelphia in 1974 and 1975. Pittsburgh did it in the early 1990’s and also Edmonton in the 1980’s.
Even so, back-to-back championships are rare in today’s game. Obviously, it is even rarer for a team to win it’s first championship and then a second right away – partly because only new or moved franchises have not won a title yet, but still.
Regardless of first title, the Blues will be looking to win back-to-back Stanley Cups for the first time in the NHL since Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017. They would only be the third team to accomplish it since 1998.
Plenty of good/great teams have tried. Obviously few have succeeded.
Even with that in mind, the Blues actually have a very good chance. They still have the talented team that won it just a year ago, minus three pieces but adding some good ones.
They also have several things going for them. With that in mind, let’s look at why the Blues will repeat as champions.
1. Tarasenko
When the St. Louis Blues brought Vladimir Tarasenko in, we all believed he would be something special. Unfortunately, as fans, we might have put too much pressure on him to be the next Brett Hull.
Tarasenko is a franchise player. Hull was a generational player.
Nevertheless, Tarasenko gets forgotten at times. Part of that is his penchant for going cold for long stretches, but lots of great scorers do that.
Part of it is because he has the talent to take games over, but often plays too much of a team game. That helps lead to wins, but less from a personal standpoint. Nevertheless, only Alex Ovechkin has been more consistent over the past decade.
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Some might ask why Tarasenko would be a key to this team winning when he did not accomplish much against Boston last year and missed almost the entire 2019-20 campaign. Both are valid points.
However, the very thing that would normally be an issue will be a driving force for Tarasenko. He was more than ready to return to the Blues when the pandemic hit and the NHL shut down.
Some worried the Blues might be rushing their scorer back too early when it was rumored he was going to play the Sunday following the Blues last game. I believe Tarasenko was ready and he was itching to go.
Delaying his return will only intensify that mental readiness. Tarasenko is going to come out with a purpose.
Add to that Tarasenko being a strong starter, this will essentially be like starting a new season for him. Tarasenko sometimes cools off during the winter months, but with the return to hockey coinciding with the playoffs, it will be the perfect recipe for him to lead this team.
A rested, motivated Tarasenko is going to be hard to stop. Adding him to a team that was already near the top of the league and with all teams being on a level playing field, the NHL better watch out.
2. Their Style Plays Anywhere/Anytime
One of the biggest fears with all teams when the NHL resumes is rust. Nobody has even touched the ice, unless they have their own rink somehow, for months.
That affects the legs. You can workout all you want, but there is still something vastly different about skating on ice. It involves different muscles and ankle stabilization.
Another thing that gets affected is timing. Nobody has been allowed to practice, which means no passing, no touch, no timing with your teammates.
While anyone would be right to fear teams like Tampa Bay, Colorado or Washington under normal circumstances, those are the teams that a long layoff will affect. Those are the teams that need the timing.
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They rely heavily on their offense to provide wins. Go cold at the wrong time, like Tampa did last season against Columbus, and it’s game over.
While there will be short training camps and round-robin or play-in games, anyone can get hot or anyone can go cold when playing real games for the first time in months. However, the Blues are not those teams.
Their style plays any time or anywhere. The Blues have the talent to score goals, but they don’t rely on that alone.
As proven by the way they won the Cup in 2019, the Blues win with physicality. The have the depth and the will to punish their opponents in a way other teams can’t do. San Jose had lots of talent, but they showed they could not beat the Blues at their own game.
If the Blues can’t score, they can still defend and they’re going to hit people. It doesn’t take timing to have the will to battle in the corners and play the body the way the Blues do.
That’s going to give them a definite edge.
3. Pietrangelo
Last, but not least, we cannot ignore the elephant in the room regarding the Blues captain, Alex Pietrangelo. He is going into his free agent offseason and still hoping for a big payday, cap issues due to the pandemic not withstanding.
That might seem like a bad thing, given the uncertainty. It can actually work in the Blues favor.
Pietrangelo is a motivated player any time, but he’s going to be extra motivated to show his worth during this time. All eyes are going to be on the NHL if it can be one of the first sports back and Pietrangelo can use that to his advantage.
If anyone had any doubts about his abilities, he can put that all to rest by dominating the 2020 playoffs. That will benefit him in his quest for a big payday in the offseason, but clearly benefit the Blues during their quest for a second Stanley Cup.
Just imagine being able to go into a negotiation with the Blues, or any team, and being able to say you’re the only player in history to captain the Blues to two Stanley Cups. One would be enough, but two is just asking for Scrooge McDuck-like money.
Additionally, Pietrangelo strikes me as someone who does care about legacy as much, if not more, than money. He is going to be just as motivated by the idea of winning that second Cup, regardless of what it might accomplish for his bank account.
Whether he stays or goes, Pietrangelo is going to want to be that captain that led his team to back-to-back Stanley Cups. He’s going to want his name with the likes of Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman as captains of repeat champions.
Whether he stays or goes, Petro has only ever known NHL life with the Blues. He got married here and had kids here. He is going to want that final year in St. Louis to be that much more special or he will want this season to legitimize the team giving him a long-term deal.
All of that works in the Blues favor. All of that leads to a road with another silver chalice being held aloft in the Gateway City.
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The Blues have plenty of reasons they can win. They have lots of depth. Jordan Binnington can lead them once again. Without fans in the stands, they don’t have to worry about home-ice benefiting any other team.
Nevertheless, their style, their best scorer and their captain are the three reasons they will repeat.