Missing the NHL Playoffs is not acceptable if you’re a St. Louis Blues fan, and the way this team performed for the most part between 2009 and 2024 is one of the main reasons why. St. Louis, whose last playoff series win came in 2022 when they beat the Minnesota Wild four games to two, finished with just 173 points over the previous two years, or 86.5 per season, one of the lowest numbers in the league.
So, if you just started paying attention to Blues hockey, you may not know about how successful this team was throughout most of the previous decade-and-a-half when they won a Stanley Cup and nine playoff series. The latter number ties them with the Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars, and even if the Stars earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, St. Louis would still reside in 11th.
The obvious highlight of this era came in the 2019 playoffs when new coach Craig Berube and company defeated the Boston Bruins four games to three to take the Cup to Gateway City. And while there is still some building left to do for the current incarnation of the team, more deep playoff appearances could be on the horizon.
Will the St. Louis Blues notch more playoff series wins in the 2020s?
Drew Bannister has since taken over for Craig Berube following a better-than-expected trial run as interim coach during the 2023-24 season. But St. Louis must still find consistency, and it’s something they lacked this past year despite the vast improvement in points.
It also won’t be easy to get past powerhouses like the Stars, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Winnipeg Jets, and all of the above boast different identities. The Nashville Predators, another team from the Central Division, can also improve, and that means the Blues will more than have their work cut out for them.
But this organization has a good front office in place and an excellent executive leading it in Doug Armstrong. So let’s not say ‘no’ to the Blues earning a trip back to the playoffs during the Bannister era, which will give them a chance to win a 10th playoff series, not necessarily since 2009, but since they beat the San Jose Sharks four games to one in the 2012 playoffs.
(Additional statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)