Season Review: St. Louis Blues

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the next team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The St. Louis Blues.

Season expectations: These guys were the Cinderella team of the Western Conference last season. No one expected them to do much (especially since blue-chip prospect Erik Johnson had a freak accident while golfing) but they ended up crashing the playoff party, where they were dispatched in the opening round. No they weren't spectacular, but they seemed to find a system that suited them. Still, they still didn't seem to have "it" so if they were to make the playoffs, they'd have to work harder than everyone else.

My prediction: I figured they would finish fourth in the Central Division and ninth overall in the Western Conference.

The truth: They were eliminated last night with the Colorado Avalanche victory over the Vancouver Canucks and will likely finish fourth and tenth, respectively.

What went wrong?: You mean besides having the worst home record in the NHL?

One thing is true, you can't blame the fans! 17 consecutive sellouts for a non-playoff team in a struggling midwestern market goes to show that despite the terrible home record, these people love their team. Hopefully the young guys realize that and use that as ammunition to terrorize one of the toughest divisions in hockey next season.

Really though, there wasn't much wrong with the team; just not enough to get them over the hump. There wasn't enough offense from their defense and not enough defense from their their offense. Yet for a team who scores by committee, they're definitely doing it right. The goaltending was very solid and given their depth at that position; they'll be good even if Chris Mason takes off during free agency. Coach Andy Murray seemed to be rubbing players the wrong way and was canned halfway through for Davis Payne, who's earned a 22-14-3 so far with the club.

So what's next?: It's not uncommon for such a young team to experience a setback like that. They weren't blown out of the water; they just didn't have enough stuff. A good off-season can change that quickly though, even though Keith Tkachuk is figuring to retire, so a good veteran signing could make a difference for the developing players.