St. Louis Blues: Could This Be the Year They Bring Home the Cup?

This season the St. Louis Blues have a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup, and could arguably be the favorite in the Western Conference.

This season did not start as well as the front office thought it should have, and after an average 6-7 start to the season the team made the move to fire coach Davis Payne and brought in Ken Hitchcock to take over the team.

Hitchcock taking the bench seemed to set off what would become a great season for the Blues. Hitchcock is a great coach to have for success, while he would like to forget his years in Columbus he had major playoff success in Dallas and Philadelphia, where he only missed the playoffs once in his first season with the Stars.

With a really good coach behind the bench the Blues have really turned into a team that is greater than the sum of its parts, which is a really good sign to the people of St. Louis because a really great team is better than the sum of its parts. Great teams are not just great players all on the ice looking to have a great night, great teams are built from a group who all do their job for the betterment of the team.

When Hitchcock took over the team he really needed some help to get the team to buy into his system and his plan for the team, and captain David Backes stepped up and bought in. When Backes fully committed to what Hitchcock wanted from day one the team followed their captain.

The Blues are a very balanced team they are not a great goal scoring team—averaging 2.50 goals a game. Their goals per game average is not one of the highest in the league, but the Blues are a team that plays a very strong defensive game. The Blues lead the NHL allowing 1.89 goals a game.

While the Blues have a number of really good players, they do not have players who are league wide stars. Having no NHL superstars on the team could be something that really helps the team in the long run, because nobody will have the mentality of being bigger than the team.

The players on the Blues that could be the closest to being league wide stars are the players who make up the two headed monster between the pipes. Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott have both seemed to find their grove and are both playing at an elite level.

Most NHL teams would be happy to have a top level goaltender and then have a backup who gives the team a chance to win, so they can keep their starter well rested. The Blues have a great situation where they can almost split the time in net because both of their goalies are playing at an elite level.

The fans in St. Louis are very hungry for a Stanley Cup, their team has been to the finals several times over the course of their existence but has fallen short every time so far. This season the Blues seem to have all of the pieces falling into place and are getting ready for a trip to the playoffs.

They are currently battling for the top spot in the Western Conference and are only a few points from the top spot in the NHL. This could be the season that the Blues put an end to that drought and get their long overdue Stanley Cup.