3 Reasons St. Louis Blues Can Beat Colorado And 3 They Won’t

Will: Physicality

As far as actual, physical size, there is not a ton of difference between the Avalanche and the Blues. As a roster, the Blues check in at an average of 6’2 and 200 lbs. The Avalanche average 6’0 and 198 lbs.

Some of that is immaterial. Devan Dubnyk checking in at 6’6 and currently injured Erik Johnson at 6’4 prop up the Avs a little.

Regardless of all that, the styles of these teams could not be much different. The Blues are the superior team when it comes to taking the body.

From a pure numbers standpoint, the Blues outhit the Avalanche by over 300 hits. The entire Avalanche roster had 926 hits in the regular season. St. Louis had 1258 spread out among their roster.

Beyond size, the Blues are just more likely to make this a physical series than the Avalanche. Even younger or smaller players on the Blues have quickly picked up on the style they’ll be asked to utilize in the postseason.

Jake Walman was known for nothing but offense. Now, he’s had a hit per game on average. That’s not overly impressive, but it showcases how the Blues are taught to take the man.

Niko Mikkola had almost 50 hits in 30 games. Robert Bortuzzo had 85 hits in 40 games and Sammy Blais had a whopping 103 hits in just 36 games played.

Additionally, Justin Faulk hit a career high for hits per game. With 128 hits in 56 games, he averaged over two hits per game. He has fully bought into the Blues system in his second year and even being smaller than your traditional physical defender, Faulk will take no crap.

The Blues ability to wear out Colorado physically is going to be paramount to winning this series. Grind them into dust the way the 2019 team did to San Jose and the Blues advance.