Jason Millen: Concern and optimism for Blues fans as they take on the Stars Concern and optimism for Blues fans as they take on the Stars

Blues in 5! We'll win all the home games and split them in Dallas. LGB!

I think this will be a close series. I felt better against the Preds as they had some obvious warts.

The Stars were able to compete with the best teams all year, obviously the Blues were the hottest of the 2nd half but we had success there as well.

Good points about rest before the games vs. back to backs.

Sure would be nice to get some revenge after that awful game 7 a few years back.

Go Blues!!!
I'll be pulling for my second favorite team.

I think this will be a close series. I felt better against the Preds as they had some obvious warts.

The Stars were able to compete with the best teams all year, obviously the Blues were the hottest of the 2nd half but we had success there as well.

Good points about rest before the games vs. back to backs.

Sure would be nice to get some revenge after that awful game 7 a few years back.
- tootooisapunk

You don't have any stats on the "compete vs the best"? The Blues record against playoff teams was way better than their record against non-playoff teams. If Dallas was the same way, that would be a very interesting nuance.

A big part of this series will hinge on whether STL can handle the Benn/Radulov/Sequin line. NSH was in fits against them, however, I like STL’s D better in handling the down-low heavy work.

A big part of this series will hinge on whether STL can handle the Benn/Radulov/Sequin line. NSH was in fits against them, however, I like STL’s D better in handling the down-low heavy work.
- Chief4Feathers

They averaged a little over a goal a game vs Nashville. I think they need to do better than that in this series in order for Dallas to win unless Bishop steals it.

I think the Blues sweep Dallas. Don't be fooled by the Preds. Paper lions. They only won the division because St. Louis ran out of games.

Now the wild card is Bishop, he was good in the first round, but the Preds tend to make average goalies look like Patrick Roy. If Bishop gets hot, maybe they win 1. 2 at most.

They averaged a little over a goal a game vs Nashville. I think they need to do better than that in this series in order for Dallas to win unless Bishop steals it.
- Jason Millen

DAL has some secondary scoring with Zucarello, et al., but again, I view STLs defense as superior to what NSH brought against DAL. STL should prevail in this one - and move on to the WCF. Who would of thought that in early January? Good for you guys.

You don't have any stats on the "compete vs the best"? The Blues record against playoff teams was way better than their record against non-playoff teams. If Dallas was the same way, that would be a very interesting nuance.
- Jason Millen

According to my quick math after a download from hockey reference I have them 19-23 against all playoff teams, 14-12 against Western PO teams, and 9-8 against Central PO teams.

So the record isn't as good as I remembered but still around .500, not dominating but I think compete is fair. They finished 23-17 against non playoff teams. And that's the more frustrating games I remember. Split with Ott, NJ, and NY, and went 1-3 against Chi. Had the Stars not played down to some of those teams they would have been challenging for the Division.

Out of the eight franchises remaining, five have a cup.

I'd really like to see the Blues win it all. Your franchise deserves it.

Good luck Blues!

Understatement but the kids could make a big difference in this series as well.

Will be interesting to see how Binnington/Heiskanen, Hintz, Richardinson(not a rookie/but young) continue in the playoffs.

I don't think I'll be too disappointed if the Stars don't advance, feel like they've stepped up this year. Have to think Blues fans are pretty happy as well, getting to the 2nd round after a terrible start to the season.

Understatement but the kids could make a big difference in this series as well.

Will be interesting to see how Binnington/Heiskanen, Hintz, Richardinson(not a rookie/but young) continue in the playoffs.

I don't think I'll be too disappointed if the Stars don't advance, feel like they've stepped up this year. Have to think Blues fans are pretty happy as well, getting to the 2nd round after a terrible start to the season.
- tootooisapunk

As I don’t get to watch Dallas all the time, the recent playoff round was the first chance I had to watch Heiskanen play on a multiple-game basis. Aside from his physical skills, more impressive was his patience with the puck and decision making under pressure.

Understatement but the kids could make a big difference in this series as well.

Will be interesting to see how Binnington/Heiskanen, Hintz, Richardinson(not a rookie/but young) continue in the playoffs.

I don't think I'll be too disappointed if the Stars don't advance, feel like they've stepped up this year. Have to think Blues fans are pretty happy as well, getting to the 2nd round after a terrible start to the season.
- tootooisapunk

I'd include Dunn and Thomas in that kid group as well. Fabbri to a lesser extent but perhaps a growing extent.

The Blues fan feeling is hard to digest. Remember, the Fans expected the team to compete for the Division title all year which is where they ended up but they went on the Screaming Eagle ride to get there. I keep trying to get people to focus on the 2019 experience, the literal experience of it all.

Side analogy - imagine you were going to visit family in another state for Christmas. On the way your car breaks down, you almost get run off the road, you get in an accident, etc. but luckily you are great with repairs, find cheap and available parts where it all happens, and you do some amazing driving to make up time and keep it on the road, from the accident being worse. In the end, you show up Christmas eve and get to have dinner with the family.

Are you pretty happy that you got to have dinner with the family, something that was a foregone conclusion before you left town? Are you ecstatic that you were able to pull it off and still have it or are you fatigued and frustrated by the painful process that should have been so much easier? I'm trying to get people to focus on the former and not the latter.

Hitchcock had an awesome quote in late March or early april i think it was - "trying to beat their team in a series is not going to be easy because of what they've gone through. With what they've gone through as a team, if you come out the other side, you build that resilience, and you build a steeliness to your personality that is hard to defeat.........they drew upon their character and their competitiveness and they pushed it in the right direction"

Consider that statement in relation to Game 5 in the 1st round.

I may not have always agreed with Hitch's methods and decisions but the man is crazy smart and dedicated.

As I don’t get to watch Dallas all the time, the recent playoff round was the first chance I had to watch Heiskanen play on a multiple-game basis. Aside from his physical skills, more impressive was his patience with the puck and decision making under pressure.
- Chief4Feathers

IMHO, without him they would be in big trouble. I know Lindell is good but i think Heiskanen is the stabilizing force on their D corps. Those two allow Klingberg to freewheel without turning the defensive aspect into a complete dumpster fire imho.

4 players to watch, Seguin, Benn, Radulov, and Klingberg. If the Blues limit their chances and keep them off the board then Blues should win. Blues have better depth, Dallas has better explosiveness with those players. Comes down to containing the top lines and whose depth adds more.


I picked Blues in 7. I don't see a sweep coming. Blues have had trouble with Dallas. Hopefully Bishop isn't the vezina goalie we have seen and Binnington continues his stellar play.


LETS GO BLUES!!!!

I think the Bozak line is critical in this series. Along with Parayko/Bouwmeester. They should see the majority of the Benn line

Nice that NBC can’t figure out how to get all the games on their plethora of cable channels. Watching it on the NBC app sucks...

Cute how Benn drew a penalty by stepping on Gunnarsson’s stick...

THIS VLADI! ALL DAY!

NBC and subscriptions really botched it in St. Louis. Seems to happen annually.

AT&T u-verse does not have contract with NHL network. Even though I am local, NBCSN did not switch over. Happened to family in Fenton, Webster Groves, everywhere. Some streaming services failed or had blackout issues. Just a mess.

Very frustrating that NBC pushes our game to 8:45 local time start for tv viewing reasons, and then doesn't make it available locally to viewers on an available channel.

Cute how Benn drew a penalty by stepping on Gunnarsson’s stick...
- eggsegan

The refs will never believe he's going down of his own accord.

I'd include Dunn and Thomas in that kid group as well. Fabbri to a lesser extent but perhaps a growing extent.
- Jason Millen

- Jason Millen

You must be double jointed. Otherwise you would dislocate your shoulder as often as you like to pat yourself on the back.

That's going to lead to arthritis as you get older.

Can't share what I think for a prediction.

I like the tenacity the Blues have shown.