This season has been a wild ride for the St. Louis Blues. There were coaching changes, and a non-dramatic trade deadline. Back that up with .500 hockey all season long, and you get a team that should be nowhere close to a playoff spot.
But, as the Blues defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 in Overtime on Thursday night, they have the oppurtunity to do the funniest and most unexpected thing you could have imagined for the 2024-25 season. If you were to think that the Blues would be in this great position back in mid-November, you would think this was improbable.
The Blues hold the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference, and as hot as they are, they could make a definitive impact in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Win it all
Talk about unexpected and hilarious. This hockey team has been, for lack of a better word, average all season. In some areas, they were even less-than-average, especially in the key statistics like goals scored and power-play percentage. The Blues were hovering around the bottom 10 in the entire league in both of those categories for a majority of the season.
That should spell a disappointing season, but it has been anything but. When the Blues hired potential Jack Adams Award finalist Jim Montgomery back in late November, this team took a liking to their new coach. The transition was flawless, and as time went on, the more comfortable the players got to their new agenda.
The 4 Nations face-off break was the best thing that could have happened, as the Blues have been tearing it up since then. At 10-2-2 over the 14-game stretch, they have climbed their way up to their wildcard spot with an abundance of momentum. That, coupled with the easiest remaining schedule in the NHL, spells out an easy path to the playoffs.
The Blues have a real and valid claim to lifting the Stanley Cup come June. There is a vibe surrounding this team that breathes confidence and a lack of fear. They weren't supposed to be in this position, so the pressure is off of them as they can treat this season as a success already.
It was supposed to be a re-tooling year, right?
This was supposed to be a bridge season. It was clear when General Manager Doug Armstrong did not make any moves at the trade deadline, despite all the rumors swirling that captain Brayden Schenn was as good as gone. They did not want to put this team back another couple of years, and instead, relied on the players at hand to try and make the most of the season.
Now, they can go as far as they can go this season, and enjoy the thought that a highly talented prospect pool will be making their arrival at the NHL level next season. This could be a dynasty in the making, but it is going to take a lot of hard work and quite a bit of luck to make that happen. This has been anything but a re-tooling season, as the pieces were there all along; they just needed the right head coach and a few small add-ons to make this team that much better.