Three St. Louis Blues 2022 New Years Resolutions

Here we are at the dawn of another year. We’ve flipped the calendar to 2022 and St. Louis Blues fans wonder what new glories or horrors are in store.

A new year is always an interesting prospect. You have 364 days, obviously not counting the first day, where all things are possible.

Recent history has taught us that thinking it can’t get any worse than the previous year is erroneous thinking, at least when it comes to the “real world”. However, when it comes to hockey, we have had it pretty good.

The Blues hosted a Winter Classic in 2017. They won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and then hosted the All-Star Game the following year, just before everything shut down.

Oddly, everything that has happened since fits perfectly with the Blues history. St. Louis has long been plagued by what ifs and the present day is no different.

In the past, it was What if we were in a division that didn’t include Detroit or Chicago or played in a different conference than Colorado. Any time the Blues were good or great, they always had some team on the verge of being a dynasty in their way.

Now, we have wonderful diseases and protocols standing in the way (tongue firmly in cheek). The Blues were one, if not the best team in the NHL prior to the stoppage in 2020.

They never recovered mentally after that extended break and got embarrassed in the bubble tournament. In 2020-2021, the talent was there again and the will returned too, but the team was decimated by injuries. There was a stretch of about nine games or so where someone literally got hurt each and every game. Perhaps they returned the following game, but just the mental strain of continually playing short, even for a period or two, was not something they could overcome in the end.

In the latter half of 2021, the injury bug kept up. St. Louis has lost 14 players to the covid protocol list and a handful more to actual injuries.

The reason to be hopeful for 2022 is the fact the Blues have weathered the storm. Other teams have been plagued by this pandemic and faltered, such as the New York Islanders.

As we turn the page to 2022, the Blues are in first place based on points – they have played two more games, but that’s just how things work now.

So, to make 2022 even better than how they ended 2021, there are just a few things they need to resolve to be better at. Here are the three things the Blues should make their New Year’s resolutions.