Will the St. Louis Blues endure a long season in 2024-25, or will they be that sneaky good team that catches everyone off-guard? Few teams hold more mystery than the Blues this season, but if they can win most, if not all, of the seven games listed below on their schedule, there’s a good chance they’ll enjoy a better season than we may all otherwise believe.
October 11th at Vegas Golden Knights
This is the first of quite a few measuring stick games as the Vegas Golden Knights, like many teams on this list, will be surefire contenders. This will be the third game of the season and the finale of the opening road trip the Blues will find themselves on, so a win against such a good team will give St. Louis some momentum before their home opener vs. the Minnesota Wild.
October 24th at Toronto Maple Leafs
This was an easy matchup to put onto the schedule, mainly because it will be the first time the Blues will face their former head coach, Craig Berube. While Drew Bannister and the Blues will be looking to stay relevant, Berube would like for nothing more than to crush his former team while bringing the same magic he brought to St. Louis to a hard-luck Maple Leafs franchise. And nobody would like to try and spoil that more than the Blues.
November 7th vs. Utah Hockey Club
Another easy one to jot down since it will be the first matchup in history between the Blues and the Utah Hockey Club. I can’t stress enough that the Utah team does not share a history with the Arizona Coyotes, so, technically speaking, these two teams have never met, even if the faces on the other bench will be familiar ones.
November 25th at New York Rangers
There isn’t much of a relationship between the Blues and the Rangers, but with the latter winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season, this one serves as another good measuring stick game. If the Blues can find a way to snag the W, it will be a major confidence booster as the playoff races begin to take shape in the season’s early stages.
December 14th at Dallas Stars
The third major measuring stick game listed here, pitting the Blues against the team that won the Central Division. While the Stars may not enter the 2024-25 season with the same momentum, the Blues would like nothing more than to kick off their season series against Dallas with what would still be an upset win.
December 20th at Florida Panthers
There is no better way to make a statement as 2024 edges toward a close than to defeat the Stanley Cup Champions. You can chalk this one up as yet another measuring stick game but with an even greater opportunity, as nothing will make a bigger statement than the Blues getting the best of Florida.
December 27th vs. Nashville Predators
Before NHL free agency, there was no way I would have seriously considered putting the Predators on this list, but now that there’s a chance this team could become a major player in the Central Division race, they could be the team to beat. We don’t know how good the Blues will be this season, but we do know they’ll gain some momentum heading into 2025 with a big win over what will be a talented hockey team.