About St. Louis Blues
St. Lois Blues came to life in 1967 and it let the other franchises know about its existence straight away going all the way to the finals in the first season! Most amazingly they repeated this feat two more times! Sadly they lost all three series and the franchise hasn’t come back to the final series of the games anymore.
The fans can’t complain about the team’s spirits as the Blues missed the playoffs only eight times in nearly 40 years of existence. They won the Presidents’ Trophy once in 2000 and grabbed 9 divisional titles along the way.
The Blues are members of Central Division in Eastern Conference and they are second there in terms of titles won with 3 which includes one from the previous season.
Their colours are blue, gold, navy blue and white and the fans are entertained by Louie the Bear the ever friendly furry bear.
The team’s head coach is Ken Hitchcock who has spent most of his adult life coaching and getting the best out of the people. His first NHL coaching join came to him in 1996 whereas he joined the Blues in 2011. He led the Stars to Stanley Cup victory in 1999. Plenty of wisdom here.
The Blues decided to bring Jake Allen from AHL and offer him a bit more permanent job as he kept on switching between the NHL and AHL for few years. He won Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Trophy for an outstanding AHL goaltender in 2014. It probably was a good time to give him a chance in NHL for a longer period.
While the team might not have plenty of experience in goal they don’t lack it in captaincy.
David Backes plays the role of captain, the right handed center was selected by the franchise in 2003 draft and he played for the team since season 2006-07 where he earned himself a trip to an NHL All-Star Game and he was also a finalist for Frank J. Selke trophy in 2012 for his ability to demonstrate plenty of defensive skills.
He can share his experience with younger right wingman, Vladimir Tarasenko who was drafted by the Blues in 2010 and who played for them since 2012-13 season. He made instant impact scoring first two first NHL goals on his first two shots.
He is known for his great skating abilities, that combined with offensive skills and some international medals including a gold one in World Junior Championship for his country Russia in 2011 netted him an eight year contract extension in 2015.
St. Louis Blues might be missing big names but the team definitely has a great history and well developing chemistry amongst its players to continue the regular visits into playoffs, hopefully soon retiring to finals and perhaps winning it all.