The St. Louis Blues seem to thrive on the struggle. Whether that is a good thing or bad thing remains to be seen, though it is leaning toward the latter. Many will question how perseverance and will are bad things and under normal circumstances they would be correct. However, the Blues seem unable to handle being successful and healthy.
With the exception of the first few games of the season, the Blues have thrived when their backs are to the wall and when their roster has more holes than Swiss cheese. When the Blues were at one of their healthiest periods of the season in late December and early January, they hit one of their worst skids of the year.
Despite a shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks, the Blues’ style of play really picked up once they started gaining injuries. Paul Stastny, Jay Bouwmeester and Jake Allen all went out with various injuries in that game, but the Blues seemed to get stronger with each man down. The same could be said of the contest the very next night against the Los Angeles Kings.
Already down three men, the Blues played one of their grittiest games of the season. Then, they lost Carl Gunnarsson to a mystery injury and Magnus Paajarvi to a potential head injury. Nevertheless, the Blues never gave up. They were badly outshot and relied heavily on Brian Elliott to bail them out several times, but the Blues still got the full two points after Troy Brouwer sent Jonathan Quick into a tantrum in the shootout.
While their baseball counterparts, the St. Louis Cardinals, did something similar with much success in 2015, this isn’t a sustainable model. The Blues’ best players need to be fit, healthy and actually be their leaders and best players. Regardless of what the diehards may say on the message boards, the Blues won’t have playoff success without the likes of Jaden Schwartz, Stastny or Bouwmeester.
It is both encouraging and discouraging that the Blues seem to play better when they are shorthanded. However, as long as the ‘W’ goes up on the standings, the Blues will take it. Still, they must figure out how to play as hard with their full complement of players as they do when the injury report is full.
