The St. Louis Blues just did the impossible, clinching a playoff berth following a much-needed win over the Utah Hockey Club. And I say ‘much-needed,’ given the state the Blues found themselves in after losing three straight following a 12-game winning streak.
By the five-minute mark of the second period, this one was over and fans all across Arch City knew what was coming - their team was going to the NHL Playoffs when nobody at the beginning of the season expected them to. Hey, if that’s not a prime example of why you play all 82 games, I don’t know what is.
While we can and should credit the players, why not give general manager Doug Armstrong recognition? He did something most general managers never would’ve tried when he whisked Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from the Edmonton Oilers. And he made the gutsy move to bring in Jim Montgomery after head coach Drew Bannister got off to a rough start.
St. Louis Blues never backed down and deserve a playoff spot
Heading into the season, I had the Blues somewhere in outer orbit. Too good to be a bottom-tier club, but not good enough to seriously contend for the playoffs. But even before that 12-game winning streak, they were turning heads and playing just good enough to keep Armstrong from ‘selling’ at the trade deadline.
Just one week after the trade deadline, that 12-game streak commenced, and it helped put the Blues over the top and into a prime position to break into the postseason. Yeah, they lost momentum throughout that three-game losing streak, but when the stakes rose to their highest, they went out and beat Utah, proving they could handle the spotlight.
Regardless of what the Blues do in the postseason, let’s chalk this year up as a major win. Back in October, 85 points seemed like a fair deal, maybe 90 if they were lucky, but not a playoff berth. Yet, here we are in April, and the Blues got 96 points as they snuck their way in. Now, it’s all about putting opponents on upset alert.
St. Louis Blues set the stage for some fun hockey in the coming years
Despite putting together a strong season, I can’t help but wonder: What’s this team’s ultimate ceiling? Because what you’ve seen this year isn’t it. It may not even be close. And it leads you to wonder that when this core is finished and the team’s added some talent from the outside, what kind of damage will they inflict on the Central Division?
As the adage goes, time will tell. But if this Blues team is good enough to snag a spot in the postseason, I’m excited to see what their future holds. Should they win some games in the first round and make things ultra-interesting to the point we can start daydreaming about Round 2, oh, they’re going to be scary.