How the Blues got it done
THE WATERCOOLER
QUESTION: The Blues were still sitting in 15th place in the Western Conference as recently as early February. How remarkable was this team’s ascent to the No. 6 seed in the playoffs and what were the keys to getting it done?
JEREMY RUTHERFORD
To go from No. 15 in the Western Conference to No. 6 in exactly two months (Feb. 12-April 12) is absolutely astonishing. Here’s how they did it:
• Still on the outside looking in heading into their game March 20 against Calgary, the Blues won 3-2 over the Flames with a strong third period, igniting a 9-1-1 finish in their final 11 games.
• In those 11 games, the Blues’ offense was led by its veterans: Brad Boyes (4 goals, 8 assists), David Backes (seven goals, three assists), Keith Tkachuk (four goals, six assists) and Andy McDonald (4 goals, 5 assists).
• The penalty-kill unit allowed just three goals on 43 power plays against in the last 11 games. The Blues’ PK erased 14 of 14 power plays against opponents at home and killed off 26 of 29 on the road.
• The Blues went 5-1-1 in their final seven road games to finish the regular season with a record of 18-18-5 on the road this season.
• Chris Mason started in goal the final 33 games of the regular season. His numbers in that stretch, dating back to Feb. 3: 21-7-5 overall with a 2.20 goals-against average and a .919 save-percentage.
DAN O’NEILL
It was especially remarkable with the number of young players in the lineup. Contrast the team’s finish this year with last year — night and day. The keys to the Blues’ second-half success was the emergence of Chris Mason in net, and the contributions of the “Kid Line.” Other than Mason, perhaps no one was more responsible for energizing the club than T.J. Oshie, who just seemed to change the landscape once he got healthy and got comfortable.
JEFF GORDON
In this forum and elsewhere, I predicted the Blues would not make the playoffs. How could they? There were too many teams to pass. Most of those Western Conference teams were playing pretty good hockey. The competitive balance on this side of the league was strong. For this team to climb from 15th to sixth and finish 10 games over .500 is one of the greater St. Louis sports stories ever. Even if it doesn’t carry through, this will stand as one of the greater team runs we will ever see.
ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
The obvious answer as to how the Blues got it done is that they got the saves that weren’t there in the first three months of the season, but it’s more than that. For example:
• The fact the Blues have had a power play that has ranked in the top ten in the league for pretty much the entire year has allowed this team to be an effective offensive club.
• The team has size … Bringing in players like Brad Winchester, B.J. Crombeen, and Alex Steen, combined with the impact David Backes has had since moving to center, has made this club a physical team that wears down the opposition.
• The Blues PK unit has been incredible over the last several weeks and that can be chalked up to Chris Mason’s ability to stop the puck.
• The Blues are about as good as it gets when it comes to D-zone execution. I have said this numerous times, but how often do you see the Blues give up odd-man rushes or breakaways against?
• Carlo Colaiacovo has given this club a defenseman who can push the offense, something this club didn’t have before he got here.
• The team has tremendous skill up front and can throw out four lines that have the ability to play in the offensive end.
• The players genuinely play for one another and that chemistry took awhile to develop.
ahh I see all you have to do is believe in yourself!!! That is the start !!!!