Blues Make Strong Move and Re-Sign Brian Elliott

The St. Louis Blues have made a strong move to regain their equilibrium when they re-signed goaltender Brian Elliott and announced that they would not be seeking a contract with goaltender Ryan Miller. In a tweet on May 19^th, Elliott thanked the fans for making his decision easy to stay in St. Louis.

Photo courtesy of blues.nhl.com

Elliott has been a member of the Blues organization since signing as a free agent in July 2011. In the three years short years he has been in St. Louis, Elliot has become a household name and a fan favorite. His wife, Amanda, has also made her presence felt through the charity work she spearheads throughout the community.

It is true that the Blues have not had a successful playoff run since Elliott joined the team. To be honest, the Blues have never had a successful playoff run since the inception of the team. Many people feel the Blues should be shopping for two new goalies since their ungraceful exit from the first round of the playoffs this past season. But Elliott has had limited playoff time between the pipes.

The Blues made a tremendous error when they traded for Ryan Miller and gave up Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart and a strong prospect. This will be a move that people will reminisce about with a grimace. Doug Armstrong, general manager for the Blues, looked like a class A moron for making one of the worst deals in Blues history.

Miller imploded and head coach Ken Hitchcock kept him in goal even though Elliott was waiting in the wings. So, I guess fans should really being placing the blame for a horrible playoff run at the feet of Armstrong, Hitchcock and Miller.

As the Blues look toward next season, it is a given that Brian Elliott will be a part of the team. His three year deal will make him a mainstay and help this team pick themselves up. The Blues will need to regroup and rebuild a strong bond on and off the ice to give them any hope of making a playoff run in the 2014-2015 season.

I am happy to see Elliott returning. The big question mark will be which other goaltender will join the Blues. Will they bring up their hot prospect, Jake Allen or will they go fishing for a seasoned goaltender? Allen has proven to be good, but he is not ready to take over the number one slot. He still needs experience at the NHL level.

Either way, I am excited for the start of the 2014-2015 season and watching the Blues built themselves back up into the powerhouse they have the potential to become.

St. Louis Blues Ken Hitchcock gets Contract Extension

COMMENTARY | After the St. Louis Blues made a rather ungraceful exit from the first round of the playoffs, many fans wanted head coach Ken Hitchcock ousted from his position of power. The upper management of the Blues sees things much more differently than the fans. They have given Hitchcock a contract extension for the 2014-2015 season. In my opinion, this was a strong move on the part of the Blues organization.

The Blues have also made a move to insure that associate coach Brad Shaw and assistant coach Ray Bennett will also be a part of the upcoming season. Assistant coach Gary Agnew as well as goaltending coach Corey Hirsch will not be returning next season. With the vacancies, the Blues can search for additions to the coaching staff that will enhance the staff and work well toward the good of the team.

Courtesy of blues.nhl.com

Hitchcock came into the Blues organization as head coach mid-season on November 7, 2011. Since then the team has made three consecutive playoff appearances. This past season, the club had their best season with 52 wins. He is the all-time leader in point percentage. He won the NHL’s Jack Adams Award, honoring him as the league’s best coach.

Throughout his illustrious career, Hitchcock has won a Stanley Cup in 1999 with the Dallas Stars and Olympic Gold Medals for Team Canada at the 2002, 2010 and 2014 games. He is the seventh all-time winning coach and is second in all-time wins among active coaches. As for the Blue’s organization, Hitchcock is ranked third for most wins.

Enough about Hitch’s stats though, everyone knows that he is a good coach who can condition players to win hockey games. The big question though is why did the fans turn on him like rabid dogs? I think it was a variety of factors including the fact that the Blues once again were shut down after being called the heavy favorite to win the Stanley Cup. Fans truly believed that a miracle would occur and that the Blues would go all the way. They believed this even though the Blues had traded for a goaltender that was extremely fragile emotionally and would not be able to shut down the opposing team. The team after the Olympic break slowed down and several injuries to key players right at the close of the season was a sneak preview of things to come in the first round of the playoffs.

It is true that how well the team plays is a reflection of the coaching staff, however, take a look at how well the team played and the cohesiveness of the organization prior to the Miller/Ott – Halak/Stewart trade. This season, even with the implosion at the end, was a franchise best with 52 wins. That should account for something in Hitch’s favor. But fans are fickle creatures and they tend to only focus on the immediate ups or downs or the final result of the season. In other words, since the Blues self-destructed against their nemesis, the Chicago Blackhawks, that is what the fans have focused on. They do not focus on the fact that the team made history with their winning record or that the cohesion of the first part of the season was magic.

Hitch had to make the most of the Halak/Stewart trade. The locker room felt the emptiness of their departure. Ryan Miller and Steve Ott were unable to fill the void that was left. That hole was felt all through the remainder of the season. Jaroslav Halak was the type of person that his teammates looked to for a calming and levelheaded presence. Chris Stewart was the player who lit a fire under his teammates and rallied around those who were struggling. The players had worked hard on cultivating closeness and a trust that could not be built overnight. With the addition of two players and the departure of two close friends, the Blues as a team had to focus on rebuilding. With only a short time left before the post-season started, this was a virtually impossible task for Hitch and his coaching staff.

Many people have asked me if I think Hitchcock deserved a contract extension. My answer to them is emphatically yes. Hitch is a rock in the locker room and he has the ability to shape a team into a unified group and win hockey games. The post-season is a nasty monster that takes great teams and destroys them but lifts up mediocre teams to greatness. We have all seen this happen and know that while a team may be a heavy favorite to win it all, the pressure and the desperation of other teams can easily shake that team off its foundation.

The Blues have an excellent leader at the helm and this off-season we will see who else will join him for next season’s journey. Blues fans need to look ahead to next season and the expectations of a Stanley Cup instead behind at past disappointments. The Blues organization has obviously moved ahead and is confident in their head coach. I wish Hitch the very best and hope that the Blues are able to have another winning season.

St Louis Blues Playoff Woes Continue

I recently finished an article for Ice Nation UK, St. Louis Blues Cursed with Playoff Fizzle. The 2013-2014 season started with expectations high. The fans were certain that this was the year that the Stanley Cup would grace St. Louis. The players felt the anticipation and they rose to meet the challenge. It did look like they would truly go all the way to the Stanley Cup finals.

Then the Olympic break happened. The Blues had ten players slated to make the long trek to Sochi, Russia. Nine of the ten were actually able to make the journey. Forward Vladimir Sobotka was unable to play due to a knee injury.

After the players returned from the break they looked slow and tired. Distractions started weighing the team down and a breakdown in leadership was evident. Then Blues management made a monumental mistake. They completed the dreaded trade for Ryan Miller. While I’m sure this trade looked great on paper, the reality of bringing in Miller, who has choked in high-pressure situations before, was a blunder they could not afford to make.  Miller started strong but then quickly fizzled. The Blues pre-Miller trade had the composition and the endurance to go all the way. The Blues post-Miller trade looked frazzled and uncertain. They still won games, but they were winning them in overtime or shootouts. The Blues went from being a well put together team, a cohesive unit into a team scrambling for the slightest edge over their opponents. 

Injuries at the end of the season played a large role in shaking the confidence of the organization. The Blues had to rely on untried players to create offense while the defense scrambled to keep pucks away from a drowning Miller. The combination was not conducive to winning hockey games! The Blues simply imploded and ended up losing their bid for the President’s Trophy. They then had to

face their dreaded division rival, the Chicago Blackhawks.

I’m not going to re-hash the disappointing series and the disgraceful exit of the Blues in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Everyone already knows that story and feels the pain of the Blues’ playoff curse. While fans are sounding off loudly that the Blues are a horrible team and that they suck, let me offer a bit of level-headedness here. The Blues were strong contenders until general manager went out and destroyed the cohesiveness that head coach Ken Hitchcock worked so diligently to build at the start of the season. Bringing in a goaltender that was extremely vocal about his unhappiness in any situation he has faced whether it is a disappointing showing at the Olympics, not enough ice time at the All-Star Game or simply a bad game with his team was not the smartest move that could be made. Jaroslav Halak and Chris Stewart were able to fire their team up without breaking down or playing the blame game. Both offered a steady presence in the locker room and their teammates respected them. 

Hitchcock’s goal for training camp and the next season will be to rebuild that bond that he worked so hard to cultivate this past season. Hopefully Miller will not be resigned and the Blues can wash the bad taste that was left behind when that trade took place.