BlueAero

Or the Cleveland Barons

Terrific article on Deadspin that tells the tale of the crucial game seven sequence where the Blues put the dagger in the Boston Bruins: https://deadspin.com/one-sequence-choked-the-life-out-of-the-bruins-1835480920/amp

I've been a Blues fan since their inception in 1967. I saw the Cardinals win the World Series (against Boston no less) that same year).....just one of eleven total championships in team history. I've seen the joy and the sorrow over the years of the Blues struggling to bring the Stanley Cup to St. Louis. So much hope and disappointment. Year after year after year. Now, to finally see this team break through and bring the Cup home to St. Louis is the greatest thing that has ever happened in St. Louis sports history and that's no overrstatement. The city is on FIRE over this! Congratulations St. Louis, and congratulations to the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues

Didn't really need that visual reference but I totally concur with this sentiment. Aside from perhaps the NBA, the NHL officiating is the absolute worst. At some point tonight there will almost certainly be a critical call that will either be made or not made that will influence the outcome of the game. I get the challenge the refs have but, in a game like this one, I really hope they let these players decide the game unless there is something extreme that takes place. Problem is, defining what "extreme" means becomes the issue. Here's to a great game and, hopefully, the first Stanley Cup championship in the history of the St. Louis Blues. It's right there. Go get it, boys.

The Blues spit the bit last night and Boston was razor sharp. Rask was awesome, Binnington not so much. Blues pathetic PP is killing them. Time is running out. Still, anything can happen in a game seven so let's throw the dice and see what happens. At this point, I won't be surprised either way how it turns out. BLues have been great on the road so maybe they can do it again. One thing for sure: It's been a classic series, helluva battle between two great teams. I just hope it doesn't end in a controversial manner no matter what happens.

If anyone thinks the missed call cost the Bruins the game last night they weren't watching the same game I was. The Bruins emptied the tank, threw everything they had at us and all they could muster was a single goal? Where is their vaunted "Pefection Line" at 5-on-5? What happened to their unstoppable power play? Why did Rask go to sleep on Perron's goal? I mean, you don't get a call to go your way so you just stop playing? Was it a foul? Sure it was. However, it's not the only call that was missed last night by a longshot and the non-calls went both ways. Unfortunately, that's part of playoff hockey. Cassidy didn't do his team any favors by playing the conspiracy card either. If you are using bad calls as a justification for the fact that you are losing the series, you're probably going to lose the series. C'mon, Bruce. The NHL has the fix in for the Blues to win the Cup? Sure they do. It just took them 52 years to reveal it.

He was trying to say that nothing has changed regarding the way the team has played (but you know that). I don't see that there has been any discrimination one way or the other when it comes to the refs dishing out bad calls or not making calls that should have been made and it has been that way in every series of the playoffs so far.

That's quite a statement considering the Flyers had perhaps the most physical team in NHL history in the 1970s.

The fact that Zdeno Chara suffered a broken jaw on a fluke play (in much the same fashion that Vince Dunn did in the San Jose series) only serves to underscore the hard-core physicality of the game that the Blues bring to the ice. Their jarring forecheck game (when it's on) absolutely wears the opposition out. There were times in game #4 where the Bruins looked totally gassed. In the second period, St. Louis had the puck on a string in the Boston zone and peppered Tuuka Rask with shot after shot for over three solid minutes. Even though they didn't score, it was nonetheless impressive. It portends very well for St. Louis that this series is going at least six games. In their three prior playoff series' this post-season, the Blues are a perfect 6-0 in the final two games and have outscored their opponents by a combined 22-7 tally. It's no coincidence. By the time these late-series games arrive, they have knocked most of the fight out of their opponents. Now I'm not necessarily saying that the same thing will happen against Boston but it sure is tracking that direction. If Chara can't go (and I don't see how he can), the Bruins will be down to four regular D-men. Without Z, they are woefully undersized against the big bruising Blues forwards. The Blues fourth line is totally frustrating the Bruins top line of Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak. Their down-low forecheck draws the play below the goal line and enables their defensemen to jump up into the attack. At five-on-five, the Blues have been the dominant team without question. To quote Alex Steen, "We're not a fun team to play against". Two more wins.

True. However, I'm willing to bet we're not scoring seven goals tonight no matter what. Gotta stay out of the box to have a chance to win.

Looks like these concerns are coming to fruition. "Lethal" is exactly what the Bruins PP has been so far. The Blues have to find a way to stay out of the box or this series is over. Binnington being off is less of a concern....he's been money all year so I expect him to bounce back in game #4. We've been in this spot in all three playoff series' so far (being handed a sound beating that is) and we've come back strong every time and on to win. This Boston team presents perhaps a greater challenge than the Jets, Stars or Sharks but we've already shown we know how to beat them. Now we need to just go out and do it but that won't happen unless we can stay out of the penalty box.

Grzelcyk Video doesn't work but, yeah, I get that it's the standard. I'm just questioning the validity of the argument for the standard. Watch the replay of the incident in real time and you tell me if Sundqvist had enough time to react to the situation. He was just finishing his check as any responsible player would do. To quote Elvis Costello, "Accidents will happen". Even if he would have somehow missed the hit it would have been pure happenstance. Either way, however, it wasn't a dirty play as Backes tried to indicate. It also doesn't matter cuz that's the rule as you state. Sanford is a decent replacement for #70. We'll be all right. I hope Grzelcyk is OK and can play again in the series. I never like to see a player get hurt, especially a head injury. Amen to that! If the refs simply call penalties on a consistent basis and not on a tally basis I am fine with letting almost anything shy of stick swinging go....as long as the standard is the same for both teams throughout the contest.

We all knew Sunny's suspension was a given. I understand the reasoning but no way was #70 trying to take him out so it's just a shame that he is being portrayed as a goon. He's not (and the hit wasn't elevated, Backes). At what point does the guy going into the boards become liable for his actions as well? I mean, if I run out in front of a moving car and get killed, is it the driver's fault or mine? Anyway, next man up. Looks like Boston U alum Zach Sanford will suit up in his stead. It hurts....Sanford is a downgrade for sure but it's not going to be a disastrous one. BTW, we need more chatter in this thread. The Stanley Cup finals are going on, people. Where are all the spin doctors, trolls and master baiters that usually make an appearance in these things? Or, is this site primarily driven by the chatroom? Wondering....

Honestly, the Blues have been so good on the road this post-season that none of us are obsessing over home-ice right now. Of course, I'd rather see us win our home games (if we do, the Cup is ours) but I'm not looking at it as a must-do. A couple of quick general observations and things I need to get off my chest before game #3.... First.... ....interesting to hear sanctimonious complaints from guys like David Backes about Sundqvist's unfortunate hit on Grzelcyk while, the day before, all of Boston was high-fiving themselves over Krug's helmetless cross-rink trek to take a run at Robert Thomas. I even saw some crazy references to Krug's hit being compared to Orr's iconic (sickeningly so to a Blues fan like me) airborne image after scoring the series-icing goal in 1970. Really? C'mon, chowds....get a grip. Let's take a closer look at both these incidents. I'm not passing judgment on Krug and I'm certainly not exonerating Sundqvist because the rules are pretty clear on both counts but I think intent should have a lot to do with how the casual fan should look at these hits. When you watch how Grzelcyk twisted his body backward and awkwardly lowered his head as Sundqvist hit him with his shoulder, it was pretty evident that it wasn't a headhunting effort by #70 and he was simply trying to finish his check....it appeared it was certainly incidental if not accidental. No intent. Krug, on the other hand, appeared to be on a mission from God (or David Perron, not sure which) to lower the boom on an unsuspecting Thomas who, shame on him, didn't have his head up and got dropped to the ice in a hurry....intentional. Mega-intentional. Big difference in my view. Oskar will likely get a suspension since that's what the standard is and Krug didn't get anything (Was it a charge? I dunno....close but the refs were letting a lot of things go so I don't really have a problem with it) so that's just the way it is. However, it doesn't cut both ways for you, David. If y'all are gonna celebrate dishing it out, best keep your mouth shut while taking it unless someone pulls a McSorley (which this definitely wasn't). I'd also note that you haven't heard word-one of ANY complaint about ANYTHING from the Blues players or coaches throughout these playoffs and that's the way it ought to be. Staying focused on the game at hand is a big reason the Blues are still standing. Next.... ....the Blues' defensive pairing of Jay Bouwmeester/Colton Parayko along with the top line of Jayden Schwartz/Brayden Schenn/Vladimir Tarasenko is putting a major damper and turning the tables on the rather narcissistically-named "Perfection" line of Brad Marchand/Patrice Bergeron/David Pasternak that was literally tearing up the playoffs throughout the evolution of the Eastern Conference bracket. The vaunted trio is a dismal -7 so far in the plus/minus category and has but a lone empty-net goal to show for its efforts in the finals thus far. On the flip side, the Blues top line has scored three goals in the first two games and had 19 shot attempts in game #2 alone. Schenn had eight hits last night and was all over the ice. To make matters worse, Marchand made a major defensive faux pas when he attempted to trail Tarasenko on a breakout with Schwartz on the other side when Zdeno Chara already had him covered, leaving Schwartz all alone on the wing. The play ended in a picture-play goal with Tarasenko roofing his own rebound after picking up Schwartz's initial shot to tie the game at 2-2. How things play out with this development could be the key to the series. It's hard to picture the Bruins winning the Cup without this line being a major contributor. There's still a lot of time for this to occur so time will tell. Last thing.... ....with the series coming to the gateway city, will NBC run features on hometown St. Louis boy Paddy Maroon the way they did for Weymouth's own Charlie Coyle when the series was in Boston? Geez, I though ol' Charlie was about to get his own reality show for awhile they were giving him so much run! Whattaya say we give equal billing where it's due, big peacock! Sorry to write so much but this is therapeutic for me, even if you didn't bother to read it (but "thanks" if you did!). Fun series so far....if I don't end up with a heart attack. Boston's really good but we've exposed them when we play our game. It's anybody's series to lose, can't wait for game #3!

That's the old saying so I guess we just qualified. What we saw last night is how the Blues win when they play their game. Our physicality takes its toll to the point where you saw how spent the Bruins were in OT last night. We're not a fun team to play against when it gets to that point. First Blues win in the Cup finals in their history....that's great but there are still three games to win. The Lou should be rockin' on Friday night!

Agree. No time to dwell on a bad performance. Pointless to blame the officiating....it wasn't their doing that caused us to lose, it was us. Turn the page. Nothing new here. Wednesday presents a new opportunity and that's where our focus must be.

It was a great effort by the Bruins but I don't think anyone over here is freaking out about what happened in game #1. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of game #1 against San Jose. We got embarrassed by making bad passes, taking stupid penalties, turning the puck over and allowing way too many easy entries into the zone. The amazing thing to me was the fact that we played as poorly as we did and still had an opportunity to win it had we somehow been able to score the tieing goal in the third period and that was only due to Jordan Binnington. Boston had a Corsi for of over 58% so the score was not really indicative of how dominant the Bruins really were. We ain't winning nothing playing at this level, folks. The good news is we rarely (if ever) play this poorly in consecutive games and, until the Bruins beat us when we are playing our best, how bad can a Blues fan feel about such a performance? I'm expecting a much better effort in game #2.

Thanks for the good wishes, ruxpin. I agree with you on why the Blues get little respect....they haven't earned it. Historically speaking that is. Metric models are just that....arithmetic projections based solely on goofy new stat categories like "Corsi for" and "Five-on-five venue adjusted" to make some nerdy prediction about how good a team can be expected to perform. This method, while informative and revealing, has one glaring, huge weakness....it doesn't take into account the human element. The Bruins are favored in this series and they should be. They have the experience, the depth, the goaltending, the talent....everything you would want in a Stanley Cup contender. All signs would point to a Bruins triumph. But I believe there's something else going on here that really can't be measured in stats. Blues in six.

Agree! And it's also a very trivial topic to discuss to this length when today is puck-drop for game #1 of the Stanley Cup finals. Today's odds stand at -150 for Boston and +130 for the Blues. The line has moved only 5 points toward St. Louis since opening on Wednesday so most of the money is taking a wait and see attitude. Dom Luszczyszyn’s metric model gives Boston a 73% chance of winning the Cup but his system is skewed by seasonal data that may or may not be reflective of where both teams currently find themselves. I tend not to pay a lot of attention to these advanced metric projections, especially at this time of year. That said, I kind of like it that the hockey world is sort of turning up their collective noses at the Blues going into this series. They've been coming from behind all year, especially since January 7. No reason to change that now.

I'd also hesitate to pull the trigger on this. Zucker's explosive speed is a rare commodity. Taking nothing away from Kessel of course but, considering the upside possibilities, I'd want to keep Zucker.

A true legend. Fortunately for us, his son John is almost a clone of his dad so we still can get that "Kelly" touch to accent any Blues broadcast on Fox Sports Midwest. They really sound a lot alike. Here's a sample of Daddy Dan. I'd also add Ken Wilson to the shout-out list. His radio broadcasts of the Blues back in the days of Hull & Oates are also the stuff of legends.

This could be a big story one way or the other. I have confidence in Gunnarson as a defensive fill-in for Dunn but, offensively, there's no comparison. It would be awesome if he can play tomorrow. Dunn MIght Play in Game #1

Yes...and I meant it, too. Don't just take my opinion into account, either. Consider some of these offerings from the media over the past decade: USA Today Says Central Division is NHL's Toughest in 2018 Debate Whether Metropolitan or Central is NHL's Best Division "The Central Division has been the best division in the NHL in recent history" To be clear, I'm not trying to "prove" anything. I'm simply providing exemplary data to back up my opinion. It doesn't appear to be an anomaly either....as indicated by similar observations made by members of the press corps in the links provided above. Of course, regional bias plays a big role in my opinion. This is a very common trait amongst NHL fans I believe. Wouldn't you agree? Lastly, I'm thinking this sidebar discussion, while interesting, is actually way off-topic. If y'all want to take issue with my opinion about the Central Division, I am fine with that and we can agree to disagree. You both seem like good, intelligent guys who can disagree with others without becoming uncivil so I am appreciative of your participation. After all, differing opinions is what this forum is supposed to be about.

Well, it appears that you are both in luck! If it were any other year I would probably concede that such a statement would likely be based more on my own regional bias than on factual evidence but this season such a claim can actually be quantified. At the end of the 2018/19 season, the top three teams in the Central Division were separated by but a single point (100-99-99), the closest race of any of the six divisions. Additionally, both conference wild card playoff slots were filled by teams from the Central Division. It is therefore inarguable that no other division in the NHL had a closer, more competitive race with more teams qualifying for the playoffs. So, by these criteria, an actual data-driven conclusion can subsequently be drawn that, this year at least, the Central Division was indeed the toughest in the league.

It may sound a bit corny but I believe the players on both teams feel an obligation to best represent the players in their own conference and, most of all, their own division. The Central Division is historically one of the toughest if not THE toughest in the league and I'm proud to know that the Blues are representing great teams like the Wild as they continue their pursuit of the Cup. Living in Houston, I got to watch a lot of really great future Wild players come through town with the Aeros of the AHL on their way up to the big show like Zucker, Granlund, Kuemper, Brodin, Scandella, Coyle, Harding, Haula....it was awesome seeing these guys develop. What a shame it is that there is absolutely NO pro hockey whatsoever in the nation's 4th largest city. When will we once again see hockey in Houston? More directly, when will we see an NHL franchise here?