St. Louis Blues Dream Opponents For 2020 Stanley Cup

The St. Louis Blues have lots of hurdles to jump to even get to the Stanley Cup Final again. If they do, there are plenty of opponents that would be fun to see.

St. Louis Blues fans are sitting on pins and needles waiting to see if they get to see their favorite hockey team defend their Stanley Cup championship. So few teams get that opportunity.

The Blues went into this season with every intention of giving their team a repeat chance. That was not just for the franchise, but the team.

St. Louis made next to no changes to their roster, so it would be almost the dictionary definition of a title defense. The Blues made two roster moves and everyone else came back.

Of course, we were all saddened by the loss of the hometown hero, Par Maroon. St. Louis went for cap savings and opened up a roster spot for younger players.

Then Doug Armstrong pulled off a huge surprise just prior to the season starting. Thinking everything was set, Armstrong dealt Joel Edmundson to Carolina for Justin Faulk.

St. Louis was cruising along, sitting in first place in the conference for most of the season until a late push by Colorado. Then, the pandemic shut down the NHL and all sports.

Now, we are left hoping that the league will be able to finish their season in some form. Of course, plans have been solidified as far as the playoff format and the teams involved.

However, the players association has not officially ratified Phase 3 or 4 of reopening the league. Some positive tests with the Tampa Bay Lightning throw the return of hockey back into question.

As fans, all we can do is continue to hope and dream. With that in mind, why not discuss some of the teams that would be most fun to see on the opposite side of the ice if the Blues managed to play for the Stanley Cup again?

Boston Bruins

Why not, right? Boston was the best team in the Eastern Conference for basically the entire 2019-20 season, so why not have the best in the east play the best in the west to settle it all?

It would be an intriguing matchup just based on the talent level and compete level of both teams in and of itself. Regardless of what outsiders thought, the bottom line is last year’s series between these two teams was one of the most entertaining and competitive we have seen.

Also, there have not been a ton of rematches over the years. In fact, very few.

Pittsburgh played Detroit two years in a row in 2008 and 2009. The St. Louis Blues would want to avoid that fate since the team that won it the previous year lost the following.

Prior to that, the last time both teams made the final the next season was Montreal and Boston in 1977 and 1978. St. Louis would prefer that result since the Canadiens won both times in that matchup.

Even having just won it, it would be crushing to get to the final and lose. But, it is hard to beat a good rivalry and St. Louis has quickly established one with the Boston Bruins.

So, playing them again for all the marbles would be fun.

Washington Capitals

This is another matchup that would be great on multiple levels. There are so many intriguing aspects to this potential series.

First, and foremost, you’d have the last two Stanley Cup winners playing against one another. That’s never really happened before. The closest thing is when Montreal played Philadelphia in 1976, but even then, it had been two seasons since the Canadiens won.

On top of that, you have the crossing stories of each team. The St. Louis Blues were always held back by some fateful moment that kept them from winning a Stanley Cup. Similarly, the Capitals had similar problems always come up.

Both teams always had some rival that was just slightly better at the time. Washington has always run into Pittsburgh, Detroit or Philadelphia at the wrong time, while the Blues had the Red Wings, Blackhawks and Avalanche to contend with.

There is the T.J. Oshie connection too. Oshie facing his former team for hockey supremacy would surely be mentioned a million times on NBC.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Ovechkin are two of the most consistent scorers in recent NHL history. The fact they are both Russian would not go unnoticed either.

There’s just a lot of similarities between the two teams and franchises, even if they play different overall styles. Another fun one to see.

Tampa Bay

This would be a classic confrontation of styles. You have offense against defense.

Goal scoring prowess against shut down, pound you into a corner physicality. A conflict of styles so epic that it puts pitcher’s duel vs. homerun derby-type games to shame.

Part of the intrigue of this matchup would be that Tampa is actually where the St. Louis Blues traditionally were. While the Lightning have won a Cup and been to another finals appearance, they have also choked with some supremely talented teams, the 2019 playoffs as the biggest example.  There’s a laundry list of the times the Blues did that – I’m looking at you specifically 2000.

Would the Lightning get redemption on the level of Virginia University losing to a 16 seed one year and then winning it all the next? Or, would the Blues and Jordan Binnington be able to quiet their offense and win a second title overall?

Of course, you cannot mention playing Tampa without another group of former Blues. The Lightning picked up Pat Maroon for the very reason the Blues did last year, to provide a bit of size and nastiness right when you need it.

Tampa also has Kevin Shattenkirk. Would the blue liner’s offense be enough to carry the day or would his defensive deficiencies give the Blues’ forwards too much room?

On a personal note, it would be neat to see the Blues go up against Jon Cooper, the Lightning’s coach. He was the St. Louis Bandits coach when I broadcast for them in their first season here.

Now, of course, as a Blues fan, he could get swept for all I care, even though I like him.  But, it would still be a nice little addition to the story.