Tracking the Blues’ Stanley Cup Quest—LOL

[Dbrownss]

He still hasn't participated in contact practices. And the D is only part of the problem. There are some stats to show the Scheifele - Wheeler line is the WORST first line in the league since January. The whole team has collapsed. It is sad to watch. So much for the dominating team for the next few seasons. They might have to blow things up in the summer to fix it. Firing Maurice. Trading a 30 goal scorer. Dealing with Trouba.


***yes, I am ticked off.

Welcome to Blues land. We've been waiting for you lol

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Lucky for us Laine used up all his goals vs St Louis already for the year.

Also, how can Winnipeg fans be so down. At least they have a team!

 

[Brian39]

I wish Arizona was still mathematically alive and had more to play for on Saturday. However, all 3 Central teams fighting for the division are playing non-playoff teams, so it should be an interesting day. I don' know that Winnipeg is our most likely opponent. Any type of loss for Nashville gives us and Winnipeg a shot at the division. Nashville escaped Vancouver last night and Chicago beat us 2 days ago. I don't think there is any reason to believe that Nashville is an auto-win over the Hawks on Saturday.

 

[The Zombonis]

Making sure I've got this right...
Blues could lose (in OT) and theoretically win the division
OR
Blues could win and still finish third and be on the road to start the postseason.

Fascinating final day of the season.
I'm just hoping for NO 8:30 (or later) local time starts in Round 1 but I'm not holding my breath. Suppose a late start is better than no start!

 

[Brian39]

Making sure I've got this right...
Blues could lose (in OT) and theoretically win the division
OR
Blues could win and still finish third and be on the road to start the postseason.

Fascinating final day of the season.
I'm just hoping for NO 8:30 (or later) local time starts in Round 1 but I'm not holding my breath. Suppose a late start is better than no start!

Yup. And we could play any of Winnipeg, Nashville, Colorado, or Dallas. Super simple and easy to predict.

 

[BlueDream]

I wish Arizona was still mathematically alive and had more to play for on Saturday. However, all 3 Central teams fighting for the division are playing non-playoff teams, so it should be an interesting day. I don' know that Winnipeg is our most likely opponent. Any type of loss for Nashville gives us and Winnipeg a shot at the division. Nashville escaped Vancouver last night and Chicago beat us 2 days ago. I don't think there is any reason to believe that Nashville is an auto-win over the Hawks on Saturday.

I really hope Chicago goes all out on Saturday. Somebody said they’d be tired on a back-to-back but it’s their last game of the season. They have 5+ months to rest after that game. I have to think they’ll try to pry the division from Nashville. The Preds may not be as big of a rival as the Blues, but they are still a rival of theirs.

Will be a very interesting day indeed. I really don’t care as much about the division as I do about playing Winnipeg. I think that’s an awful 1st round for us. I’d much rather play Nashville, and I’ve been expecting to play Nashville for the past month now, so I’ll be disappointed if that gets ruined.

 

[Brian39]

I really hope Chicago goes all out on Saturday. Somebody said they’d be tired on a back-to-back but it’s their last game of the season. They have 5+ months to rest after that game. I have to think they’ll try to pry the division from Nashville. The Preds may not be as big of a rival as the Blues, but they are still a rival of theirs.

Will be a very interesting day indeed. I really don’t care as much about the division as I do about playing Winnipeg. I think that’s an awful 1st round for us. I’d much rather play Nashville, and I’ve been expecting to play Nashville for the past month now, so I’ll be disappointed if that gets ruined.

I'm on the fence with Winnipeg. They're 4-5-1 in their last 10, 9-10-1 in their last 20 and their underlying numbers have been mediocre all season. The roster looks good, but they haven't really been playing well all season. All 3 of our losses to them came before December when we were a dumpster fire and we haven't played them at all since Chad Johnson was waived. I honestly don't think I can take any meaningful insight from our season matchup.

I think I'm done worrying about who we play. I'd like to start at home and none of the potential matchups scare me all that much. With that said, I'm not exceedingly confident about any of them either. Any of the teams can beat us in a 7 game series if they are "on" but none of them really seem any more likely than the others to be "on." Dallas and Colorado have been playing better recently, but the history of the NHL is littered with teams who had to get hot down the stretch but then run out of gas and get thumped in round 1.

 

[Majorityof1]

I think I'm done worrying about who we play. I'd like to start at home and none of the potential matchups scare me all that much. With that said, I'm not exceedingly confident about any of them either. Any of the teams can beat us in a 7 game series if they are "on" but none of them really seem any more likely than the others to be "on." Dallas and Colorado have been playing better recently, but the history of the NHL is littered with teams who had to get hot down the stretch but then run out of gas and get thumped in round 1.

So much this. Its not about who we play, but which version of the Blues and which version of whatever team we play shows up. The margin of error between all of the teams is so slim, it will depend on so many factors we can't predict. Injuries, bounces, hot streaks, refs, effort, etc.

 

[HighNote]

I agree that all I really care about is getting home ice. The matchups that do scare me are both Pacific teams that we literally cannot face until the WCF (Knights/Flames), and a lot can change between now and then.

On another note...are we the favorites out of the Central side of the bracket to make it to the WCF? Winnipeg has been pretty bad lately, Nashville has been meh the entire second half of the year, and whichever of Dallas/Colorado ends up in the Central is undoubtedly an underdog.

 

[HighNote]

Let it be known that we touched the peak of the mountain on this day, even if only for a moment.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

If Nashville	If Winnipeg	1st	2nd	3rd
W​	W​	NSH​	WPG​	STL​
W​	O​	NSH​	STL​	WPG​
W​	L​	NSH​	STL​	WPG​
O​	W​	WPG​	STL​	NSH​
O​	O​	STL​	NSH​	WPG​
O​	L​	STL​	NSH​	WPG​
L​	W​	WPG​	STL​	NSH​
L​	O​	STL​	WPG​	NSH​
L​	L​	STL​	NSH​	WPG​

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Robb_K]

Hawks leading Preds 2-0 almost half way through The 2nd! But remember that The Preds were down 0-2 to The Canucks Thursday. It would be really nice IF the Hawks could hold onto this lead!

 

[Amberelise]

I have never been as big of a Hawks fan as I am right now... but, with that... it's 2-1.

 

[LETSGOBLUES88]

Hawks leading Preds 2-0 almost half way through The 2nd! But remember that The Preds were down 0-2 to The Canucks Thursday. It would be really nice IF the Hawks could hold onto this lead!

You don’t talk anymore, you say it then the Kitties score

 

[Vladdy the Impaler]

Just stop and think how unbelievable it is that we came from last place in the league to 1st in the central. I'm just so f***ing proud of this hockey team.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Well, see you all in Winnipeg when we kick off this series.

 

[Robb_K]

You don’t talk anymore, you say it then the Kitties score

Superstitious, eh? Don't blame ME for The Blackhawks for beating The Blues, and then when they were tired, for not beating The Preds. It's The Blues' own fault for not putting the effort into playing the 200 ft. game for the first 40% of the season, and not getting up for games against Ottawa, Buffalo, Arizona, and other bottom feeders. Now they forced themselves to win at least one of the first two games in Winnipeg, or likely lose the series. Maybe that pressure will motivate them to give it all in the first 2 games - and that will spur them on to winning the series.

 

[DeuceNine]

Superstitious, eh? Don't blame ME for The Blackhawks for beating The Blues, and then when they were tired, for not beating The Preds. It's The Blues' own fault for not putting the effort into playing the 200 ft. game for the first 40% of the season, and not getting up for games against Ottawa, Buffalo, Arizona, and other bottom feeders. Now they forced themselves to win at least one of the first two games in Winnipeg, or likely lose the series. Maybe that pressure will motivate them to give it all in the first 2 games - and that will spur them on to winning the series.

This WPG is not some juggernaut. Solid, sure, but they haven't seen the new Blues, and are likely to be shocked. I think we get our thump on in game one and set the tone.

 

[Bluesguru]

This WPG is not some juggernaut. Solid, sure, but they haven't seen the new Blues, and are likely to be shocked. I think we get our thump on in game one and set the tone.

Nice call Duece!!!

Worried about tonight’s game. We really need to close it out tonight. Go Blues!!!!!

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I’m not starting another True Believers thread, but I look around and I don’t see any reason this team can’t make the SCF. I want to see if they have the killer instinct tonight. If they do, it will be one more little piece of evidence that maybe this team is different.

 

[Sushiko]

I love to read the beginning pages of this thread knowing how we ended up
I thought I’d making a poll but wasn’t sure I’d rhatbwould be annoying. I’m wondering who everyone prefers for next round, Dallas or Nashville.

 

[TheDizee]

I’m not starting another True Believers thread, but I look around and I don’t see any reason this team can’t make the SCF. I want to see if they have the killer instinct tonight. If they do, it will be one more little piece of evidence that maybe this team is different.

if they play like they did tonight no team can stop them but i dont think that is sustainable.

the best matchups for the blues would be NSH/COL(or Vegas)/CLB

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Sorry, I meant to keep everyone updated on things through the first round. As Mrs. Mud will tell you, I suck. So, here's your update: We're 12 wins away from the Cup.

But we're a ways away from really getting concerned with that, so let's focus on the more immediate matter at hand: we are either 4 wins away from the next round, or 4 losses away from the offseason.

 

[HighNote]

Sorry, I meant to keep everyone updated on things through the first round. As Mrs. Mud will tell you, I suck. So, here's your update: We're 12 wins away from the Cup.

But we're a ways away from really getting concerned with that, so let's focus on the more immediate matter at hand: we are either 4 wins away from the next round, or 4 losses away from the offseason.

It's about time. I've been waiting to see our magic numbers for a while.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Sorry, I meant to keep everyone updated on things through the first round. As Mrs. Mud will tell you, I suck. So, here's your update: We're 12 wins away from the Cup.

But we're a ways away from really getting concerned with that, so let's focus on the more immediate matter at hand: we are either 4 wins away from the next round, or 4 losses away from the offseason.

I’ve missed your solid analysis. Thanks for taking the time.