The Schedule Looks Brutal From Here Out

[sbet1998]

From here on out they only have 3 games against teams that are out of it, so to speak. The rest are against bubble teams or good teams fighting for position in the standings.

How does everyone think they will fare in these last 25?

They already have 84 points, so even winning 13 of these 25 games would put them at 110 points even without a few likely loser points.

IMO, they end up with around 115 points. Its possible they could end up closer to 104, though if they have a rough stretch.

Simply put; are they good enough to win this division? Im not sure what CHI and COL's schedules look like.

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[BlueDream]

All you gotta do is get in the playoffs, which they will easily. I don't care nearly as much as other people about matchups.

 

[PocketNines]

It looks the opposite of brutal. It's pretty soft. Only Chicago twice, Anaheim and Pittsburgh are real contenders left to be played. All but five teams are still "in it" so that point doesn't mean anything. The toughest stretch is the first three games, road games against the Pacific. Of the remaining 22 games after that, 8 are against the East (18-4-2), 13 are against the Central (15-0-1) and the other game is Edmonton.

 

[JustOneB4IDie]

Besides 6 games out of 7 out on the road starting Wednesday the 26th, it's not so bad.

 

[Alklha]

From here on out they only have 3 games against teams that are out of it, so to speak. The rest are against bubble teams or good teams fighting for position in the standings.

How does everyone think they will fare in these last 25?

They already have 84 points, so even winning 13 of these 25 games would put them at 110 points even without a few likely loser points.

IMO, they end up with around 115 points. Its possible they could end up closer to 104, though if they have a rough stretch.

Simply put; are they good enough to win this division? Im not sure what CHI and COL's schedules look like.

The Blackhawks schedule will look very similar. How you are judging it is just a bad way to look at things; we play in a League where over half the teams make the playoffs and a Conference where 8 of 14 make it, so not many teams have been eliminated.

Only 2 teams in our Conference are out of it, and 3 in the East. We have 84 points having played the fewest games in the West, in our 25 games we play 7 games against teams who currently have over 70 points. It isn't arrogant to say that the Blues should be a clear level above the majority of their remaining schedule.

Anyway, I'd rather be facing teams with something to play for. The only thing that can come from a string of games against teams with nothing to play for is bad habits.

 

[Mike Liut]

I think I only saw a couple back to backs, which is good.

 

[Yoko Ono*]

The schedule is brutal every March they ask the NHL for a light schedule in Oct. and Nov. because they don't draw very well early to much Cardinal baseball and Rams football. Keenan used to complain to ownership about this. The good franchises get a balanced schedule they don't have to bust ass late in the season and go into the playoffs beat up. There is a reason the Blues have 4 games in hand on most of the west.

 

[sbet1998]

It looks the opposite of brutal. It's pretty soft. Only Chicago twice, Anaheim and Pittsburgh are real contenders left to be played. All but five teams are still "in it" so that point doesn't mean anything. The toughest stretch is the first three games, road games against the Pacific. Of the remaining 22 games after that, 8 are against the East (18-4-2), 13 are against the Central (15-0-1) and the other game is Edmonton.

Well, I hope that continues. Seems at the least a bit unsustainable. There are factors here, Sochi being the main.

I think its pretty ridiculous to call their remaining schedule 'soft' but to each their own.

Maybe Im just safeguarding. This franchise has a way of putting you in that position.

 

[The Note in MI]

Well, I hope that continues. Seems at the least a bit unsustainable. There are factors here, Sochi being the main.

I think its pretty ridiculous to call their remaining schedule 'soft' but to each their own.

Maybe Im just safeguarding. This franchise has a way of putting you in that position.

It's not that the schedule is 'soft,' rather that it is easier than the competitions schedule, which puts us at an advantage vs. the field. We play a lot of contenders, but we don't see LA, SJ or Boston. We get PIT once, we get CHI twice (whom we stack up well with), and we see ANA and VAN once (only teams we've struggle with this year).

TB likely won't have Stamkos back for our game vs. them. The rest is the East and the Central, which we are darn good against. I think it's very likely we continue at a 0.700+ point % pace through the season, barring injury or collapse.

 

[PocketNines]

Soft is a relative term. Relative to the first 2/3 of the season's schedule, yes it is comparatively soft. Basically it is the exact opposite of the assertion in the OP. In the first 2/3 of the season we played 14/18 (or 78%) of the contender matchups. And we literally have only four games left with the division that has given us trouble, the Pacific. Only one of those is against a contender. Vancouver is up next and they went into the break having lost seven in a row. We can beat Phoenix (though they match up well), and Edmonton should be a gimme. The rest of the games are against the East (easy) and against the Central (11/13 are against Colorado or worse) and we've dominated both.

Will other teams be playing harder trying to make the playoffs? Yes, but the Blues should be playing just as hard for playoff positioning. That balances out. The residue is comparing the final third of the season's schedule quality to the first 2/3 of the season's schedule quality and comparatively, yes, it's soft.

 

[Alklha]

The schedule is brutal every March they ask the NHL for a light schedule in Oct. and Nov. because they don't draw very well early to much Cardinal baseball and Rams football. Keenan used to complain to ownership about this. The good franchises get a balanced schedule they don't have to bust ass late in the season and go into the playoffs beat up. There is a reason the Blues have 4 games in hand on most of the west.

The reason the Blues are 4 games back is because the NHL is useless at organising a schedule. It has nothing to do with requests that they Blues may or may not have made, because even if they did they were very obviously ignored by the League.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

The Blues haven't been rolling over the East lately like they did earlier in the year. Also, more teams in the East are still realistically in the playoffs race, so I think we may be seeing increased intensity in those matchups.

Every year, the games get tougher after the trade deadline. Teams are clawing for playoff position. This year will be no different. Frankly, if the Blues don't show more passion than they showed in that series of shootouts prior to the break, I think they'll probably pick up losses at a bit higher frequency than they did in the first half of the year.

All that said, I do think the Blues' schedule was tougher in the first 2/3 than it was for most of the other contenders, and should be relatively more manageable now.

 

[bluesman11]

Soft is a relative term. Relative to the first 2/3 of the season's schedule, yes it is comparatively soft. Basically it is the exact opposite of the assertion in the OP. In the first 2/3 of the season we played 14/18 (or 78%) of the contender matchups. And we literally have only four games left with the division that has given us trouble, the Pacific. Only one of those is against a contender. Vancouver is up next and they went into the break having lost seven in a row. We can beat Phoenix (though they match up well), and Edmonton should be a gimme. The rest of the games are against the East (easy) and against the Central (11/13 are against Colorado or worse) and we've dominated both.

Will other teams be playing harder trying to make the playoffs? Yes, but the Blues should be playing just as hard for playoff positioning. That balances out. The residue is comparing the final third of the season's schedule quality to the first 2/3 of the season's schedule quality and comparatively, yes, it's soft.

I'm not disagreeing, but I do think desperate teams are more dangerous, and the amount of games in a short span makes it a little tougher. I don't expect them to get off to a very good start coming back from Sochi and I know the other teams will be dealing with similar issues, also I hope I'm dead wrong.

 

[sbet1998]

I'm not disagreeing, but I do think desperate teams are more dangerous, and the amount of games in a short span makes it a little tougher. I don't expect them to get off to a very good start coming back from Sochi and I know the other teams will be dealing with similar issues, also I hope I'm dead wrong.

I am. This is far from a soft schedule. I dont care if they play very few games against the elite, they play almost everyone of the rest of their games against teams that are already in playoff mode to either get there or work their way up. The Blues will get everyone's A game (like tonight) every game from here on.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I am. This is far from a soft schedule. I dont care if they play very few games against the elite, they play almost everyone of the rest of their games against teams that are already in playoff mode to either get there or work their way up. The Blues will get everyone's A game (like tonight) every game from here on.

But its like that for everyone at this time of year. The points get precious.

I'm not going to put too much stock in the Vancouver game. The team needs to get back in gear after Sochi. If they look out of sorts by the trade deadline, we may have something to get concerned about.

 

[HockeyGuy73]

That early April game against Buffalo just became real interesting.

 

[Mike Liut]

I don't understand how people think the Blues gets easier. I agree with the OP, it's a difficult remaining schedule. Lots of teams left who are fighting for a playoff berth. Starting off the 5-2 after the break, with 6 being on the road really helps though.

10 of the final 18 are at home.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

I'm not sure if it's "easier" (as easier needs a reference point i.e. easier than what?) but the last 18 games are not a murderer's row.

Breaking it down a little bit

2 games @ Chicago
1 game @ Pittsburgh

These are tough games. No doubt as they are 2 of the "Cup 8" teams in the NHL (in my opinion nobody outside of St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Colorado, San Jose, Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and Boston has a shot thus the "Cup 8")


1 @ Toronto, and 1 vs. Philadelphia and 1 @ Philadelphia.
1 game @ Minnesota, 1 game vs. Minnesota
2 games vs. Dallas, 1 game @ Dallas.

These are against teams that are in the playoffs, but they aren't as good as us. They just aren't. I'm not saying we'll win every one of these games, but on skill and talent we should.

1 vs. Buffalo, 1 vs. Edmonton, 1 vs. Detroit, 1 vs. Washington

Games against teams that aren't playoff teams in our division

Finally

1 vs. Winnipeg
1 @ Nashville

2 non playoff division games, the division we currently sit 18-0-1 (and had Elliott and co. not fallen asleep it would be 19-0-0). If you really fear the Wild or the Stars, there's a problem because that's the first round matchup. I get that every team is dangerous and all and nobody is an "easy matchup" but if your choices are 1 of California, Chicago, Colorado, or 1 of Minnesota or Dallas, is anyone really going to tell me they don't want to face the Wild or the Stars???

 

[2 Minute Minor]

We really need to look at other contenders' schedule broken down like this to have an informed discussion.

 

[bleedblue1223]

It's really not a brutal schedule at all. Basically anything without any of the top Pacific teams is a pretty easy schedule for us.

 

[TheOrganist]

Last night was the final segment of what you could label "brutal."

The remaining schedule is actually quite soft.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

We really need to look at other contenders' schedule broken down like this to have an informed discussion.

Your wish is my command (over a period of time today)



1 game @ Colorado, 1 game vs. Colorado
2 games @ Los Angeles
1 game vs. San Jose

Again these are games remaining against Cup 8 teams. 5 compared to 3 for STL.

1 game vs. Toronto

Games vs. playoff teams that aren't Cup 8.

1 game vs. Washington, 1 game vs. Florida, 1 game vs. Nashville, 1 game vs. Winnipeg

Non division/playoff games the Ducks should win

2 games @ Calgary
2 games @ Edmonton
2 games @ Vancouver

Division games against teams that aren't Cup 8.

Will do breakdowns for San Jose, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Colorado as I can today while at work.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

1 game @ Anaheim, 1 game vs. Anaheim
1 game @ Colorado, 1 game vs. Colorado
1 game vs. Los Angeles

Again 5 games vs. Cup 8 to 3 for STL

1 game vs. Toronto
1 game @ Columbus
1 game @ Rangers

1 game @ Islanders, 1 game vs. Florida, 1 game vs. Capitals, 1 game vs. Winnipeg, 1 game vs. Nashville

Non-division

1 game @ Phoenix, 1 game @ Calgary, 1 game @ Edmonton, 1 game vs. Edmonton

 

[jura]

The April 6 game against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center has been selected as NBC's Game of the Week and has been moved to 11:30 a.m. CT. The game was originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m

http://blues.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=708723

 

[2 Minute Minor]

You're awesome Falco.