St. Louis Blues: On The Twelfth Day Of Bluesmas 2020
By Todd Panula
On the twelfth day of Bluesmas, our true love gave to us – the 2021 NHL schedule.
The St. Louis Blues knew they were going to have a season a week or two ago. However, they were not quite sure exactly when it would start or where.
Now, the Blues received the gift of a schedule and for the 12th day of Bluesmas, they re-gifted it to the fans. We now know when the team will start and who they will play against.
The Blues 2021 season will begin just as the league hoped. They will start on January 13, though it will be on the road.
St. Louis will play two games against the Colorado Avalanche. The first will be on January 13 and the second will be January 15.
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After that, the Blues will return home and play four-straight games at the Enterprise Center. The first two will happen January 18 and 20 against our old Western Conference Final foe, the San Jose Sharks. The next two will be January 23 and 24 against the Los Angeles Kings.
In theory, the Blues should be able to win at least four out of those first six, if not five. However, with training camp not starting until January 3, there will be a rush for all teams to get up to speed. With that in mind, there is no telling which teams will come out of the gate hot or which ones will be extremely rusty.
In theory, the Blues would be sharper than a team like L.A. or San Jose. They both missed the playoffs, so they have not played since March of 2020.
One of the good things about this schedule is that the vast majority of games are clustered in home games or away games. Many of them involve four-game road trips or four-game home stands.
The Blues will not play any team more than twice in a row, with the only anomaly being a single game in Colorado on April 3. The Blues then even that all out with a game in Colorado April 20 and then home games against the Avalanche April 22 and 24.
The regular season ends with two games in Vegas against the Golden Knights on May 6 and May 8. There is a strong possibility those could decide the winner of the West Division, though Colorado would probably dispute that claim.
The only disappointing thing about the schedule was the lack of any game times. They likely did that because NBC has not figured out their television schedule yet, which will alter game times.
There is discussion among hockey analysts there might be games played in the afternoon in the local markets. This would probably affect the Blues when on the road, because they might play earlier on the west coast so that the television time in St. Louis, or even the east coast for national games, would be more palatable.
Time will tell on that. There is no doubt there will have to be a few 9 or 9:30 games in the evening in St. Louis, but there has also been talk of those earlier western games so that the teams in the Central Time Zone, and even the Avalanche in the Mountain Time Zone, won’t have so many late nights.
On the 11th day of Bluesmas 2020. dark. Next
That is not official, of course, but a possibility. For now, it’s just good to know there will be hockey and the dates it will all happen.