It is probably pretty nice to be the best at something. It is also pretty sweet to be really, REALLY good at everything. That seems to be the case with the St. Louis Blues this season. At the midpoint of the 2013-14 season the Blues are sitting in second place in the Central Division. They have played 44 games, winning 31 of them while outscoring the opposition 161-99.
Winning over 70% of your games is typically good enough to put you in first place, but the Blues are trailing defending Stanley Cup champ Chicago by three points. Never mind the fact that St. Louis has played four fewer games than the Blackhawks, or that the Blues have a goal differential almost 20 goals better than Chicago.
The Blues score more goals per game than any other team in the NHL (3.57 G/Game) and only two teams allow fewer goals per game than St. Louis (2.20 GAA/Game). Those numbers indicate that the Blues are a pretty darn good club, but they just might be the best team in the NHL.
St. Louis has never won a Stanley Cup but all of the pieces look to be in place for a serious run for the title this season. Here are five reasons why the St. Louis Blues can add an inaugural Stanley Cup banner to their rafters this season.
1.The best defensive corps in the NHL-I suppose all Jay Bouwmeester ever needed was a good team to play for. After spending the first part of his career in Florida and Calgary, the now 30-year old defenseman is playing for a winner. Playing with the likes of Kevin Shattenkirk, Barret Jackman and Alex Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester helps comprise the deepest and most gifted defensive unit in the league.
2. Two-headed goalie monster-Brian Elliott was a throwaway goaltender before he resurrected his career in the Gateway City. Jaroslav Halak was cast off from the Montreal Canadiens before finding a home in the Midwest. Together they are one of the most formidable goaltending tandems in the league. While you can only start one goaltender at a time, coach Ken Hitchcock has to quality starters at his disposal every night.
3 .Now or (maybe) never-I’ve long been convinced that Ken Hitchcock has a four-year window for success with his coaching style. He is hard on his players and has been demanding and abrasive at every stop in his career. There is no question that Hitch gets the most out of his teams; he got Columbus to the playoffs. However, professional athletes have a statute of limitations before they stop responding to a heavy-handed taskmaster. This would be year number four in St. Louis. Tick, tick, tick…
4. Offense equals the defense-For a change, the goals in St. Louis have been flying into the net. Defense has been the first priority during the Hitchcock era in St. Louis, but now there is offense to match. As mentioned earlier the Blues are the highest scoring team in the league. They have maintained that status even after losing their goal scoring leader, Alexander Steen to a concussion three weeks ago.
5. Blended roster-A healthy mix of veterans for St. Louis is mixed together with some talented youth. The Blues have only three roster players older than 30 and have a great mixture of talented youngsters that are hungry for success. They know little or nothing of the Stanley Cup heartbreak in St. Louis’ hockey history and want to build their own legacy in a baseball town. The Blues roll four lines deep of players that can all hit, grind and score. While almost every other NHL club is lucky to have one or two lines that can do one or two of these things well, the Blues have four.