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Mellow Blues

March 18th, 2008 by Jason Chen

Scott Burnside at ESPN recently reported that despite the St. Louis Blues‘ surprising start to the season, they have regressed back to the pre-John Davidson era of mediocrity. He says the hiring of Andy Murray and their surprising turnaround midway last season gave good reason for many pundits to predict moderate success for them this season. He argues that the Blues are deep and talented, and blames their lack of success on the coaching system and personnel and suggests that perhaps some changes should be made. I highly disagree.

When Brad Boyes and Paul Kariya are your leading scorers with 55 points, your captain, Eric Brewer, posts a -21 rating, and your starting goalie, Manny Legace, makes a career high 60th start at the age of 35, you know you have a problem. Simply put, the Blues’ lineup has so many holes it’s not surprising to see them at the bottom of the standings. The future looks bright to be sure, with Marek Schwarz in between the pipes, Erik Johnson anchoring the blueline, and a good crop of young forwards in Boyes, Jay McClement, Lee Stempniak, and David Backes. But the time for the Blues is not now, but rather 2-3 years down the road. Andy Murray, who in his own right is an excellent coach and meticulous in his approach, should not be blamed for their lack of success, and for the record neither should Larry Pleau or John Davidson. The Blues are just not ready to contend for a playoff spot and are still in the midst of a youth movement, and to think anything otherwise is just asinine. Remember that this a team that had 25 consecutive postseason appearances (thanks, Steve). That time will perhaps come again, but not today it isn’t.

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  1. 5 Responses to “Mellow Blues”

  2. By Steve on Mar 18, 2008

    The St. Louis Blues actually had a 25 year consecutive playoff streak. That isn’t even the best all time in the NHL though. The Boston Bruins had a 29 season streak end in 1995-96, and the Chicago Blackhawks had a 28 season streak end in 1996-97.

    In other sports, The Edmonton Eskimos made the playoffs in the CFL for 34 consecutive seasons. That’s a bit ahead of 25.

    Oh and the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers franchise in the NBA made 22 consecutive appearances in the playoffs from 1949 to 1971.

    So yeah, again… 25 is impressive, but not the best ever in the NHL, or in pro-sports.

  3. By cantstopthegrier on Mar 18, 2008

    I don’t see a bright future in St. Louis. They have some good pieces but Nashville and Chicago both have better young cores and Detroit seems to never go away. I also don’t get some of the contracts they have in place, giving too much cash to Kariya. The Blues are going to struggle for Columbus for 4th place for the next few years.

  4. By Steve on Mar 18, 2008

    The easiest way for St. Louis to get solid young talent is to finish near the bottom of the standings for a few seasons. It looks like they’ll be doing that.

  5. By Jason C on Mar 18, 2008

    Thanks for the info Steve, I stand corrected, but nonetheless, 25 years is impressive.

    cantstopthegrier, I don’t see how St. Louis doesn’t have a bright future ahead of them. They don’t have a marquee forward like a Kane or Toews, but Stempniak, Backes, and McClement isn’t too shabby. Tack on a few free agents and veterans and you got yourself a pretty good squad. Erik Johnson is the only gem on their blueline, but I can see him being better than Seabrook, Keith, or Barker.

    Kariya is a little pricey at $6m only because of his average production so far, but for comparison’s sake Markus Naslund makes the same amount but has 51 points. I’d argue that McKee and Tkachuk are bigger wastes of money.

    Check out http://www.playoffs.hockeyanalysis.com too!
    Thanks for reading.

  6. By Rick on Mar 19, 2008

    Andy Murray is doing a heck of a job right now , looks like the Blues are missing some key players to fill some holes inthe lineup but thats it.
    I see the blues as a hard working team ( just ask the Montreal Canadiens ) and with their coaching staff + 2 or 3 good players ( that will come a couple years from now ) , the blues will be a top contender for the cup.

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