Since the regular season doesn’t seem to matter, why don’t we go straight to the playoffs in every sport.
They fired Mike Yeo.
Not a Blues fan, but this story got me excited for a cinderella story (plus Boston is the worst)...definitely going to watch the finals. Go Blues!
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What a great piece of journalism. I recall reading about St. Louis before Christmas. Their season was then described as "forgettable."
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This Wing fan will never forget one of the worst trades in NHL history when Detroit traded Gary Unger to the Blues for Pete Stemkowski! In fact they did it twice to us when the Wings traded Adam Oates for Bernie Federko!
Go Blues!!!
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The Blues have had a Stanley Cup dirge for 49 years after having appeared in the Cup finals their first three years of existence. But during the finals in 68, 69, and 70 they really didn't have much of a chance being from the six team expansion division and having to play in order, Montreal, Montreal, and Boston. They were swept away each year so now have an 0-12 record in the competition for sport's most valued trophy. They have really not come close since then and many Blue's fans considered the drought a part of a curse. That is in the past now as The Note cruise into the finals on equal footing with the Bruins as the two hottest teams in the NHL. It should be a great series.
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I'm a lifelong Blues fans, but I really wish there wasn't this much laziness in the narrative. On the day they were dead last, as this lede hyperbolizes, there were actually no fewer than SIX WORSE teams ahead of them in the official NHL waiver order for having worse records. The Blues were terrible, sure, but 15-18-4 was not a worse record than 15-21-6 (Chicago). It was not a worse record than 15-21-5 (Ottawa). It was not a worse record than 15-20-7 (Detroit). It was not a worse record than 15-19-5 (Philadelphia). It was not a worse record than 16-22-3 (Los Angeles). It was not even a worse record than 17-21-2 (Arizona). Watching the NYT therefore lean into such a lazy narrative reminds me of when Peter Baker headlined "Bound To No Party, Trump Upends 150 Years of Two Party Rule" and nobody there stopped it.
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Great story. It's going to be an exciting final with two teams on top form.
From what I've seen of Boston, though, they look unbeatable.
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Looking at the standings after January 2, the only amazing fact is that the worst record in the league was so good, that so many teams were nearly tied at the bottom. Anyway, St. Louis did not have the worst record, just fewer games played. Six teams had worse won-lost ratios. With most teams making the playoffs, the fact that a team slightly under .500 after 37 games made it to the finals is barely remarkable. A more relevant question is, how many times has a team with a worse winning percentage than .455 after 37 or more games reached the finals?
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As a Blues fan back in the day of the Plager Brothers, Noel Piccard and Red Berenson, LGB!
That's Let's Go Blues for the uninitiated.
As a diehard Cardinal fan, the Blues are a fantastic story and a great distraction from the mess that the Cardinals are currently.
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Yeah, well, it's been a long time since the last Boston Championship (all the way back to Feb 2019 with the Patriots), so let's hope the Bruins end the Boston championship drought of 4 months!
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Marchand is no Orr. Blues in 7.
Only Tukka can save you now....
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The St. Louis Blues are the second worst team in the NHL for cheap shots and dirty play. The officiating is at fault. Now they meet the worst team, the Boston Bruins, in the Stanley Cup championship finals. Maybe they will cripple each other silly. Is this what the league really wants? I appreciate honest checking as essential but prefer that checking and other playing skills prevail over cheap tricks expertise which, judging by these two teams, improves with practice.
An arena about 12 feet wider (olympic, international and IHF standard) would not only reduce this stupidity but also lessen the considerable time spent in defensive and cautious (boring) play by the team in possession of the puck. It might also enhance our success at the Olympics.
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@Dan K
I have argued for years that the NHL needs a wider ice surface, to allow the speedier and more skilled players to play the role that they play in international hockey.
The players are bigger and faster than in the past, and need a larger stage to perform on.
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@Dan K
I agree and disagree, if that's possible. There is no room for dirty play in hockey, but compared to where the league was in years past (the 70's and 80's were BRUTAL), they have made strides (with a ways to go) in trying to assess "dirty hits". I do not think any team is worse than others when it comes to these plays. You can pick any game between any team and pull out a few hits that, intentional or not, are questionable. St Louis and Boston earned the finals from their play, not their "dirty play". I'm not convinced a bigger rink is the answer, although it could improve the flow of play.
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@Brian I think a foot added around the circumference of the ice would be just right.
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Great article about our Blues’ unlikely path to the Stanley Cup finals but as anyone here in St. Louis can tell you, the team did not use the uncalled hand pass and subsequent game 3 loss to the Dallas Stars to channel “the slight into comprehensive victories” in the next three games. As Craig Berube and all the players stated, “There’s nothing we can do about it, the teams gotta move on, we’ve all gotta move on, really that’s all you can do.” Instead of extending the story as the media was pressing for, they refused to dwell on the missed call or use it as an excuse and kept trying to play their game and improve the things they could control. Berube deserves to be the coach of the year and we all hope the Cup finally comes to St. Louis.
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Wow, what an incredible story
Reads like a Hollywood script
Good luck to St Louis in the Stanley Cup finals
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