The St. Louis Blues are a little off the pace of the best in the league, but they could make the playoffs in the 2022-23 NHL season. While they struggled to get going at the start of the campaign, their consecutive postseason appearances indicate that they can turn things around and make another push for the championship. After all, it wasn’t that long ago when they won their first Stanley Cup.
For fans of NHL betting, St. Louis aren’t a sure thing, but they aren’t a team that should ever be ruled out. They have some talented players on the ice, and in-game wagers on their performance is usually worth a look.
Robert Thomas is key to the Blues’ attack this year, and has been a leading supplier of assists. He also has a favorable faceoff winning percentage. Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, and Justin Faulk are also important players, each contributing assists for the team.
When it comes to goals, Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich are ones to watch. Team captain Ryan O’Reilly provides stability, and has also been hitting the net along with Noel Acciari. Nick Leddy and Colton Parayko are their steady defensemen in the starting rotation. Meanwhile, Torey Krug often comes in with the second line.
St. Louis will need to shore up defensively if they want to make waves this year, with keeper Thomas Greiss letting in 3.57 goals per game on average, and Jordan Binnington 3.42 goals per game.
The Blues won 49 games in 2021-22 but lost in the second round to defending Stanley Cup champions the Colorado Avalanche.
They have missed the playoffs just once over the last decade, which brings to mind their successful period from the late 1970s to the early 2000s.
While St. Louis have been fairly consistent at making the playoffs over recent seasons, they’ll need to step things up a gear this year as they face some tough competition in the division.
The Blues were one of the six teams that joined the league in 1967. They were named after a song by William Christopher Handy and have been one of the steadiest franchises in the National Hockey League. While they missed the playoffs nine times since their first season, winning their first Stanley Cup proved complicated. They finally got their first championship in 2018-19 after defeating the Boston Bruins in a seven-game Stanley Cup Finals.
Aside from the Stanley Cup and the conference championship, the Blues have one Presidents’ Trophy (1999-2000) and ten division titles. The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League are their minor league affiliate.
The Blues play their home games at Enterprise Center, formerly known as Kiel Center, Savvis Center, and Scottrade Center. It was opened in 1994 and can accommodate up to 18,096 hockey spectators. This venue has been the Blues’ turf since 1995, and they enjoy a massive advantage every time they play here because of their supportive crowd. That advantage was evident in their consecutive playoff appearances from 1979 to 2004.
The Blues have rivalries with their fellow teams from the Central Division, especially the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars. They’ve lost to the Avalanche in consecutive playoff series in 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, they also have a 2-2 record against the Stars in the postseason, but they’ve won the last two series, including the second round of their Stanley Cup run in 2018-19.
St. Louis has a 3-3 playoff series record against the San Jose Sharks. The Blues are also rivals with the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks, as proven by their 206 and 285 hockey fights, respectively.
