The St. Louis Blues have had a wild and unexpected first 36 games of the season. As the halfway point is nearing, and Christmas bells are ringing, one last test down in the Sunshine State could make it a very happy holiday.
When looking back on the beginning of the season, and head coach Jim Montgomery's tactic of making the line combos like a revolving door, it was chaotic and messy. But, with a slew of injuries and a good chunk of the opening night lineup, not in the present day lineup, the strategy might be working to the Blues' advantage.
Let's talk about it.
Blues are used to this
The season has had its fair share of trials and challenges that have gotten in the way of successful hockey. Through it all, the Blues are within earshot of a playoff spot.
That is in large part to being used to the changes. When something doesn't work, find what does. If a player is hurt, move the roster around by any means to get them out there. It is truly baptism under fire every single night. Most notably, Jake Neighbours, who was a third-line guy on opening night, has seen a bunch of first-line minutes due to his fantastic play around his time away with injury.
Constant evolution
Even General Manager Doug Armstrong has seen it take place and understands its place. The Blues have had to resort to signing former Blues forward Robby Fabbri, calling up a bunch of guys from Springfield, and then bringing in the newest x-factor in the lineup, Jonatan Berggren.
“It’s a next-man-up league,” Armstrong said. “Fabbri’s come in and given us some good games. Dvorsky scored a couple. You look at (Matt) Luff and (Hugh) McGing. We’re getting production from guys that are coming up and they’re stabilizing us. You just try to keep it close long enough where something good happens and you squeak out a point. You support each other and you build each other.”
This team is constantly evolving. It is still trying to figure itself out, in terms of what the ending of the 2025-26 campaign has in store. It is a scary thought, with the halfway point in just a handful of weeks, but they are still in a position where they can go either way and make it there. They can start the next generation early, with Dalibor Dvorsky and Otto Stenberg leading the way for now, while also shipping off some aging contracts. Or, they go all in on another miraculous winning streak to push themselves into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The puck is still in the Blues favor, and Montgomery has been a catalyst as to why this is possible. That is what you get out of a former Jack Adams Award winner.