The 2010-2011 NHL season is officially over. Congratulations to the Bruins and their stuck up, spoiled Boston fans for winning yet another championship. It’s good to see guys like Timmy Thomas, Mark Recchi, and Zdeno Chara get their first rings. But as usual I couldn’t help but think about the Blues, their failure to reach the playoffs this year, and how I wish I was seeing a normal sized David Backes hoisting the Cup rather than Big Z Chara.
So naturally I began to wonder if the Blues have what it takes to get to the Cup (in the next 5 years-ish). It didn’t take me long to decide that the answer was a definite yes, and here’s why (in no particular order):
1.) Doug Armstrong – Blues GM
This past season was Dougie’s first year as Blues GM, and did he ever have the big shoes of Larry Pleau to fill. Pleau was the longest tenured and possibly most successful GM in Blues history from 1997-2010, posting a 260-153-63-16 record in the six year span between 1997-2003. Larry was involved in acquiring players such as Keith Tkachuk, Brad Boyes, Doug Weight, Scott Mellanby, Dallas Drake and Andy McDonald. If you’re keeping track, that’s two Hall of Famers, one assistant coach, one obnoxious backstabber, one net-missing Sabre, and one future Cup winner (fingers crossed). However Mr. Armstrong sees that list and raises it one Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk. There is no doubt he has the leadership, commitment, and straight up guts to lead this team. There’s no one that fits better with this team or I’d rather have runnin the ship. Doug’s cooler than the other side of the pillow and will make sure the Blues have the parts and pieces to make a Cup within reach.
2.) John Davidson – President of Hockey Operations
If you have actually followed the Blues since at least 2005-2006 then you know that they went from miserably bad to promising/contending within very little time. You can thank John Davidson for that. He helped St. Louis out of the dumps rather than let them rot for a few years. Personally, I’m thankful that he just signed a multi-year extension. Now the perfect combo of Armstrong-Davidson is set for years to come. You can also thank these guys for the fan friendliness of the Blues organization. They’re truly classy and know what they’re doing in every aspect of the business, and if the Blues are gonna win a Cup, they’re going to lead them there.
3.) New Ownership
Other people may have marked this down as a negative not a positive, but this is where my 250% optimistic Blues fanhood comes in. At the moment the Blues ownership is in limbo. There have been rumors about minority owner Tom Stillman making offers, but for the casual fan this is all you need to know: Dave Checketts bought the Blues in 2006 and was also essential to reviving the organization, now he’s selling the team due to the fact that he only owns 20% and majority owner TowerBrook isn’t cool with him calling the shots with that little share of the team. So what does this mean for now? It’s going to be difficult to make any significant free agent signings and such with all the uncertainty, however a new owner will most likely be found within at least 6-10 months. Depending on who it is and how things play out, this could become a strength of the organization and allow them to spend much more. At the moment the Blues have $19.5 mil of cap space, yeah that’s a lot.
4.) Fan/Alum Support
I don’t need to look at the numbers to know attendance sucked after the lockout in 04-05. Interest was low, and the Blues winning percentage was even lower. However the Blues rebounded extremely well in following years, again due to Checketts, and Davidson. Now they’re as popular as ever thanks to young talent, the 08 run to the playoffs, lots of brilliant marketing, Oshie’s hair, and a general growing interest in hockey (at least in St. Louis). The Blues sold out every game in the 2011 season as many of you may know. What you probably don’t know is that ownership bought-out unsold tickets in a few games to cheat, but that’s our secret, don’t tell anybody. More importantly, what you probably didn’t know is that the St. Louis market actually watches more hockey than most other U.S. cities. Stat time: The 2011 season was watched by the most St. Louis homes since 1995. St. Louis had the 5th best tv rating of any U.S. team. And St. Louis was 5th in most viewers of game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, losing only to Boston, Providence (Boston fans), Buffalo, and Hartford (more Boston fans), beating out cities like Detroit and Minneapolis. That’s some serious Blues support/NHL fans.
As for the alum, they speak for themselves. It say’s a lot when Hall of Famers like Al MacInnis and Keith Tkachuk stay to live in St. Louis or join the front office. As we said earlier, Scott Mellanby was a Blue for only 3 years but is now an assistant coach.
5.) Forwards
The Blues have an unreal amount of young talent on the verge of blossoming into all-stars. David Backes is one of the most underrated players in hockey and is a fantastic fit as captain. Berglund showed what he’s capable of late in the season/in the world championships. Perron is a possible 40 goal scorer assuming he isn’t concussed for forever. And the list goes on and on. Not much is missing here, although one could argue a pure scorer for the powerplay/in general is needed. But the Blues can put the biscuit in the basket. Within 5 years, they should be a well-oiled machine.
6.) Defense
The defense is even younger than the offense if that’s even possible. Alex Pietrangelo is the shut down D-man the Blues have needed since Pronger left, oh and he’s 21. Shattenkirk contributes on offense, something also been missing for a while on the defensive end, oh and he’s 22. And again the list goes on. The D could certainly be solidified, but isn’t a glaring issue. I say give Pietrangelo 50 minutes of ice time every game and we’ll be good to go.
7.) Goalies
We all know what Jaroslav Halak did to the Capitals and the rest of the NHL in 2010. Rarely do you see someone absolutely shut down stellar offenses for entire series back to back. However there is uncertainty about the performance here. Potential is high but will it be reached? No matter the answer, Halak doesn’t have to perform like he did in the 2010 playoffs. He just needs to be a solid starter that gives the Blues a chance to win every game. I don’t think many people would argue that he’s more than capable of doing that night in night out.
8.) Drafting
Thanks to Larry Pleau and Jarmo Kekalainen the Blues scouts are some of the best in the league. Unfortunately Jarmo has moved on to a head-coaching job in Europe, but as director of scouting for many years he’s developed a fantastic mindset and staff for the NHL amateur draft. I expect this draft and future ones to come to produce great results and fantastic potential players. Drafting has been a strength of the Blues the past few years and should continue into the future.
9.) Prospects
Due to the great drafting in years past, the Blues “farm system” is pretty plentiful with good talent. Tarasenko and Schwartz, both from last year’s 2010 draft lead the way as potential offensive stars, but other solid players are waiting to grab the spotlight such as defenseman Ian Cole and Goalie Jake Allen.
10.) The Blues Are Due
The Blues have never won a Stanley Cup since coming into the league in 1967, and have the second longest drought (only Toronto is longer) of 39 seasons. The longest drought ever was of 53 seasons by the New York Rangers. We’re not approaching Cub level patheticness by any means, however somethin’s gotta give.
Looks like the perfect Stanley Cup storm is brewin, but when will it hit?
it appears john has come out of writing hibernation
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