Every time the NHL playoffs roll around, there are book makers, analysts and prognosticators that all have their best ideas about who will win each series and in how many games. Due to multiple factors, the St. Louis Blues are not expected to go far in the 2021 playoffs.
As soon as the Blues knew they’d be playing the Colorado Avalanche, the odds makers were against the Blues. MoneyPuck only gives the Blues a 15.7% chance to advance to the second round, which is the lowest out of any NHL playoff team.
The odds for the Blues to win a short series are even slimmer. If you divide up the 15% chance, it looks even worse.
The Blues are given a 1% chance to sweep and 2% to win in five games. The odds go up to win in six or seven games, but it’s still just 6% for either of those.
While those numbers seem to be a slap in the face, there is reasoning behind it that is not bias. The truth is the Avalanche enter the playoffs as the better team on paper.
However, the NHL has proven in recent years that being better on paper means absolutely nothing. We need look no further than 2019 when everyone thought the Tampa Bay Lightning would sweep every team and win the entire thing. They got swept in the first round by Columbus because they were not playoff ready.
With all that in mind, let’s take a deeper look to why the Blues won’t beat Colorado and some reasons they will.