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It was a six game series.
Crestfallen Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said afterwards that it felt like a nine game series.
It wasn't supposed to end like this. The Blues were hand crafted to make a deep run to the Western Conference Finals and beyond. They were primed to play games in June.
ANOTHER first round exit for the St. Louis Blues, their third such implosion in the past three years.
The 2-0 series lead was erased. Again. The series was stolen from their hands.
De ja vu. All over again.
Same result as last Spring. Uncanny.
Blues fans and critics, like myself, cannot blame Jaro Halak and his injuries and inconsistent play for this implosion. At the NHL trade deadline in March, the Blues sought out reinforcements to help right their previous wrongs. Their biggest acquisition was Ryan Miller.
Before we go to the "Its Ryan Miller's fault that the Blues are going golfing" card, lets hit the "pause" button and take a deep breath.
Yes, there are a few goals that Miller would love to have re-do's on from the Game 6 series against the Hawks. Like the Patrick Sharp goal in the third period of Game 6.
The Hawks owned the Blues in the first period in Game 6. The Blues owned the Hawks in the second period. After 40, the score was tied 1-1.
All the makings of an epic third period in Chicago, right? Wrong.
Miller allowed four goals in that final frame, with Jonathan Toews adding yet another GWG to his already legendary body of work just 44 seconds into the third period. Patrick Sharp's dagger through the heart made it 3-1 and caused the Blues to bleed out, just a little more than two minutes into the third period.
The rest is history repeating itself.
Hitchcock: "The third goal was really the back-breaker for us... We played great in the first two periods, but we sagged in the third."
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 27, 2014
However, a huge dollop of blame deserves to be placed on the St. Louis D corps who were passive, soft and timid all series long against that ultra-aggressive and hungry Blackhawks forwards. Shattenkirk, Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester are skilled D. They lack the type of snarl and physicality to pancake the likes of Toews, Kane, Sharp, Bickell, Saad, Hossa, Shaw, et al. The Hawks set up shp in Miller's crease for the majority of their time pent in the St. Louis Blues with very little resistance. They were hungrier on rebounds, loose pucks and stick battles than the Blues' D were.
Also, the Blues' top six forwards fell asleep in this series and forget that they are being paid to light the lamp behind Crawford.
Vlad Tarasenko did his job by scoring four goals despite a wrist injury. TJ Oshie scored only two goals. Jaden Schwartz and Alex Steen had only two goals between them. You can't blame David Backes. He was knocked stiff by Brent Seabrook in Game 2. Its amazing to me that Backes was healthy enough to play in Games 5 and 6. Where were the other top six forwards?
The Blues got production from their bottom six while the top six flopped and failed to score.
By comparison, Jonathon Toews scored three game winners. Pat Kane and Andrew Shaw scored three times each. Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp found the back of the net in Games 5 and 6.
The money players for the Blackhawks came through in the clutch while the Blues' difference-makers didn't.
Its impossible to beat the defending Stanley Cup Champs when you can't keep the puck out of your net and fail to score on their goalie.
This is how The Captain celebrates. #BecauseItsTheCup pic.twitter.com/aykFMbuh5Y
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 27, 2014Special teams also killed the Blues in Game 6. Their Blues PP went an abysmal 0-for-6. Chicago went 1-for-2.
Series over.
More to come....
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May 26, 2013.
Memorial Cup Finals.
A cavalcade of future NHL superstars and some other pretty darn good prospects competed for major junior hockey’s Holy Grail.
Halifax Mooseheads wunderkind Nathan MacKinnon stared down Portland Winterhawks D phenom Seth Jones. MacKinnon refused to blink first. Jones, not only blinked first, but he bowed and genuflected to the kid who would go on to become the king of junior hockey. MacKinnon played brilliantly for the Mooseheads in their 2013 run to the Mem Cup. He complimented Jonathon Drouin, Zac Fucale and the rest of his Mooseheads mates perfectly. He won face-offs in all three zone, controlled the puck, back-checked, fore-checked, scored goals and created magical scoring chances for his teammates. Heading into the Mem Cup Finals, this observer though that he had seen the best that MacKinnon had to offer. Man, was I wrong. MacKinnon dominated Jones and the Winterhawks in the championship by filling their net three times and adding two helpers. MacKinnon’s five point performance in the biggest game of his career to that point served as an immediate infusion of added value in his NHL entry draft status.
You’ll recall that heading into the Memorial Cup tourney last May, pundits, squawking heads and internet mock draft mouth-breathers had Jones pegged to go #1 overall to the owners of the first pick of the2103 NHL Entry Draft, the Colorado Avalanche.
“The Avs have forwards, they need D help…… “Jones’ dad Popeye played NBA hoops for the Denver Nuggets…….…MacKinnon and Drouin will go to Florida and Tampa, respectively……. “Sasha Barkov may go #1 overall to Denver…….
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah….
Sound familiar?
May 28, 2013. After the abrupt firing of Joe Sacco as their head coach, the Colorado Avalanche named Hockey Hall Of Famer Patrick Roy their head coach and President of Hockey Operations. Sacco had to go. His team collected only 39 points in 48 games in 2012-13. His young stars grew to resent him. They said as much when they visited Buffalo in October 2013. He was hard on his youngsters and the team needed a new leader who could respect and appreciate todays 19-22 year old stars. Roy and Avs legend Joe Sakic assumed all hockey ops power from GM Greg Sherman and the die was cast . At his introductory presser, Roy was asked about Seth Jones and the Avs’ plans to select him first overall a month later at the NHL Entry Draft. In typical Roy shock-factor fashion, he looked the reporter in the eye and said confidently that he wasn’t sure that Jones was the guy that the Avs were targeting with the #1 overall pick. In fact, Roy wasted little time pumping the tires and crowing about MacKinnon. Raved about him. Thus, the legend of Nathan MacKinnon grew. Roy fancied himself a MacKinnon draft guru. Hell, he had a front-row, ice-level seat for every moment of MacKinnon’s legendary QMJHL career with the Halifax Mooseheads. Though he’d never admit it publicly, Roy likely woke up with night sweats when his Quebec Remparts were set to face-off against MacKinnon and the Mooseheads. Quebec and Halifax are heated rivals in The Q. Roy was the ring leader of the Remparts and he lost his fair share of battles to MacKinnon, Drouin, Fucale and the Halifax freak show. In the end, Roy applied his due diligence and heart breaks to convince Sakic and Sherman that MacKinnon would be their #1 man. Roy wasn’t gambling. He knew the heart of the champion. He knew the intangibles. He had seen the power, passion, and poetry of MacKinnon all too often.
Drouin dropped to the Tampa Lighting after MacKinnon and Barkov were selected before him in the 2013 entry draft. Jones fell to the fourth overall selection. Proving that the best laid plans can be changed on draft day.
April 26, 2014.
The Avalanche and Roy rubbed the genie’s bottle for the second time in their nip-tuck first round series against the Minnesota Wild, and the magic wishes emerged from the bottle. First, PA Parenteau tied the game with 1:14 to play in regulation after Roy strategically pulled Semyon Varlamov for the sixth skater. Then, the Cole Harbor Killer completed his three-point night by scoring at 3:27 of OT.
The return of the Mac!
The 18 year old phenom did it again! He's a kid in a candy store with a voracious appetite for sweets.
Thanks, NBCSN
He recorded a goal and two assists in 21:56 of TOI. MacKinnon now has 10 points in the first five games of the series vs. the Wild. Most impressive of MacKinnon’s feats is that he has scored all 10 of his points in front of the home fans in Denver. He now has 10 points in 3 games, all wins by the Avs, in their barn.
WOW! DOUBLE WOW! HOLY “F…, WOW!
Listen to Roy’s post game presser from early Sunday morning. He reiterated: He and Sakic KNEW what they were getting when they drafted MacKinnoin first overall last June.
Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray and his scouts should listen to what Roy and Sakic have to say about selecting stars at the top of the NHL draft. The Sabres will be picking 2nd overall at June’s NHL Entry Draft in Philly, My hope is that Murray, Kevin Devine and the Sabres scouts go with what they know. Let Florida select Aaron Ekblad first overall. They need to build upon their D depth and talent in front of Roberto Luongo. They’ve selected premium forwards with lottery picks the past few years in Barkov, Huberdeau, and Bjugstad. Now, they need to augment Gudbranson and their D corps. Should Dale Tallon do the right thing and select Ekblad, the best D by a country mile in the draft first overall, then Buffalo will get their “Nathan MacKinnon… with the second overall pick. To whom am I referring? Sam Bennett of the Kingston Frontenacs.
Sorry, folks. You cannot convince me that Same Reinhart is the better option over Sam Bennett. NHL Central Scouting ratings rarely lie Bennett was their mid-term and final rankings leader for top prospect. Do it, Murray. Stick your fork in Sam Bennett and savor the flavor for years to come. What makes MacKinnon the star that he is is that he plays the full 200 foot game. He’s a veteran player in an 18 year old’s body. He’s mature beyond his years. He’s responsible in all three zones, he plays both sides of the puck extremely well, he wins wall battles, is heavy on the puck and he can fly like a Lamborghini on the QEW at 3am. Oh yeah, he hands the hands of a brain surgeon, too.
In my humble opinion, I think that Bennett is the more complete, dynamic player at this point in his development than Reinhart is. I seriously do. Bennett is the perfect blend of power and passion. He’s as relentless without the puck as he is with the puck.When he has the puck, he holds on to it and creates plays for the other four guys on the ice. When he loses the puck, he hacks, smashes, slashes, pokes, prods, punches, and wears down opponents to regain possession of it. Bennett may look like a choir boy with his Patrick Kane curls and his baby blues, but look deeper into his eyes and into his hockey soul and you’ll see an MMA fighter. A Puck Predator, if you will. He’s blessed with some of the most grotesquely impressive hockey skills in North America. He’s equal parts Doug Gilmour, Jonathon Toews, Claude Giroux, Patrice Bergeron, and Ryan O’Reilly. He’s mentally and physically tough. Not the biggest dog in the pile fighting for the table scraps, but opponents know, and hate it that he’s there when he smashes them into the glass, takes their dinner, and eats it in their faces. When they lose control of the rock, Bennett instinctively reaches down for the switch and hits his nitro-bottle to create separation between he and the pack of mutts chasing him down from behind.
Do I like Reinhart as a second overall pick option. Like? Yes. Love? No. There's no denying Reinhart's immense talent and his off-the-charts intelligence to think the game. Some scouts say that he is like a coach on the ice because he sees plays develop and he knows where his teammates are going to be. Is he the most physical player on the ice? No, he is not. That's where the rubber hits the ice with me. Today's NHL is a man's game, not a young man's game. I see Bennett assimilating to the NHL more easily than I can see Reinhart doing so. It may take Reinahart a year or two longer than Bennett, who appears to be plug-and-play ready to compete in the man's league. When I project Reinhart's path to the NHL, I'm reminded of Mikhail Grigorenko and his early struggles to make the transition from major junior to the NHL. Talent only gets an 18 year old so far these days. Grigo is figuring it out now that he's in the AHL. Reinhart's career trajectory may be on par with Grigo's. It doesn't mean that he won't be a great NHLer in the future. It just means that he may need some more time in junior and the AHL to hone his craft and to be ready for prime time hockey in the best league in the world.
Do it, Tim.