St Louis Blues

The Chicago Blackhawks are poised to dominate the Central Division for the foreseeable future thanks to an ultra-talented core of championship veterans and depth at every position.

But a fierce challenger is stepping up to the plate—a familiar rival that has a long history with the Original Six club.

That team is the St. Louis Blues, a franchise that has gone from being a bottom-feeder in the Central Division to a legitimate Western Conference contender in just two seasons.

The Blues took a big step forward in rekindling their rivalry with the Blackhawks on Friday by re-signing franchise defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. According to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the two sides finally agreed to a seven-year deal worth $45.5 million.

For a rivalry to really mean something, both teams involved need to be competitive and have similar goals. In this instance, that goal is winning the Stanley Cup.

If the Blues failed to re-sign Pietrangelo—their only elite two-way defenseman—winning a championship wouldn't be a realistic goal. Locking him up long-term affords the team a great chance to challenge Chicago for the Central Division title and conference crown over the next five-to-seven seasons.

His presence on the blue line as a shutdown defenseman and top playmaker gives the Blues a deep defensive corps that already included veteran Jay Bouwmeester and rising star Kevin Shattenkirk, who was also re-signed in the offseason.

With a deep blue line and a solid goaltending trio of Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott and Jake Allen, St. Louis is quickly becoming one of the league's best defensive teams.

These are the types of clubs that achieve postseason success in today's NHL. 

Just look at the last three Cup champions (Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks) and the strong depth and elite talent on their blue line.

Now that both franchises have a roster full of young and talented players signed long-term, in addition to the Detroit Red Wings moving East, expect the Blues and Blackhawks to write a lot of new chapters in what can already be described as one of the NHL's most historic rivalries.

Dan O'Neill of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looked back at the glory days of this rivalry before a February matchup between the two teams last season.

From 1988-93 the teams met in the playoffs five times. In 1993, the Blues swept the Blackhawks in four games of the division semifinals, winning the final game in overtime on a goal by Brett Hull. Chicago netminder Ed Belfour was furious, insisting he had been steamrolled on the play. When the protests went unheeded, Belfour went bonkers, doing thousands of dollars worth of damage to the visiting dressing room.

A few seasons earlier, the tables were different. Coached by Brian Sutter, the Blues then engaged Mike Keenan’s Blackhawks in a classic division finals. Four of the first five games were decided by a goal, and the Blues extended the series by winning Game 6 in St. Louis 4-2, behind two goals by Hull and 37 saves by Vincent Riendeau.

Two nights later, the Red, Black and Hawks devastated the Note 8-2 in one of the most demoralizing defeats in franchise history.

Chicago and St. Louis haven't met in the playoffs since a 2002 Western Conference quarterfinal series that the Blues won in five games.

In fact, these rivals have reached the postseason in the same year just three times (2008-09, 2011-12 and 2012-13) in the salary-cap era (2005-06 to present). 

But with the NHL switching to a divisional-playoff-style format as part of its new realignment plan starting this season, we should expect to see many more intense postseason battles between these teams in the near future. After all, rivalries are at their best in the playoffs.

If the Blackhawks are going to become the first team in 15 years to repeat as Stanley Cup champions and begin a rare NHL dynasty, they will probably have to go through the Blues—a young, highly motivated team ready to compete for the sport's greatest prize.

This is very exciting for hockey fans because who doesn't enjoy some classic Norris Division hockey?

Follow @NicholasGoss35

Nicholas Goss is an NHL columnist at Bleacher Report. He was a credentialed writer at the 2011 and 2013 Stanley Cup Final, the 2012 NHL playoffs and the 2013 NHL draft.

The St. Louis Blues had to give up a lot to acquire Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart from the Colorado Avalanche back in 2011. St. Louis sent the Avalanche former No. 1 overall pick Erik Johnson, forward Jay McClement and a first-round draft pick.

For the Blues, the move was intended to bring some new faces into a talented locker room of players that was struggling to find success. It also gave the Blues an opportunity to bring in a player they believed would become a premier goal scorer in Chris Stewart.

Kevin Shattenkirk was not exactly an afterthought when the trade occurred. After all, the Avalanche drafted Shattenkirk 14th overall in the 2007 NHL draft, and he was projected to be a very good player. The big piece in the deal, though, was Chris Stewart.

Two years later, though, things look a little different. While Stewart has been a fine player for the Blues at times, he has struggled mightily with inconsistency and has failed to reach his full potential so far with St. Louis. There is still time for Stewart to have great success with the Blues, and he showed great improvement this season, but frankly, his time may be running out if he fails to flourish this upcoming season.

On the other hand, Kevin Shattenkirk has made the most of the opportunity he has been given in St. Louis. The young defenseman has stood out with the Blues so far in his career, and many NHL experts will tell you that he is one of the more underrated players in all of the NHL.

Over the past three seasons, Shattenkirk has been an assist machine for the Blues, tallying 15 in only 26 games in his first year with the team, 34 the following year and 18 in the lockout-shortened season last year. Not only has Shattenkirk shone offensively, but he has also become a staple in what many argue to be one of the best defensive units in the entire NHL. 

Last week, St. Louis showed how important they think Kevin Shattenkirk is to their team by signing the 24-year-old to a four-year, $17 million contract extension.

After signing the deal, Shattenkirk said, "Obviously, I'm on cloud nine right now, this is a great opportunity for me. To have the type of commitment that the Blues made and the faith that they have in me to perform and showing it in this way is pretty special. It really didn't take too long. We both wanted to get something done and I think there was a deal to be had the whole way through."

The Blues also need to sign top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo this offseason, but signing Shattenkirk was a great start in solidifying the Blues' long-term future on defense.

Shattenkirk has also shown that while he has had great success, he is not satisfied with himself yet and will continue to work very hard on improving his game throughout the years to come, not only to better himself, but to also make the Blues much better as a whole.

"I think I set pretty high goals for myself to be the best defenseman on the team," he said. "We have a lot of great defenseman on the team, but the only way you can get better is to strive to be the best defenseman."

The Blues have made a name for themselves over the past few seasons as being a tough-minded and defensive hockey team. By signing this contract extension with Shattenkirk, they have put themselves in a great position for long-term success by continuing to develop and retain their great nucleus of young talent.

The next key for the Blues will be signing Pietrangelo to what will be an even bigger contract then the one they gave Shattenkirk. Hopefully after doing this, the two young Blues defenseman can pair together over the next few years and form one of the greatest defensive duos in the NHL.

St. Louis Blues prospect Dmitrij Jaskin got a taste of NHL play in the 2013 season. But now Jaskin is vying for a permanent spot on a powerful Blues team.

As the 41st pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, Jaskin is looking to make an impact in the NHL. The Russian-born Czech possesses a 6'2" frame and a unique scoring ability—he's a player to watch for in the future.

I had the chance to chat with Dmitrij about his hockey career so far and his plans for next season.

Note: Some sentences have been rephrased for clarity.

What was it like to make your NHL debut last season?

It was just something amazing. I was sad and ready to go home after last game in Moncton, but my agent said I have to wait a bit and I could sign a contract soon. So everything was really fast, and I didn't have to much time look around—I just do what I have to do.

How would you say NHL play is different from international play? As an international player, have you had to make any adjustments to your play to fit in the NHL?

I don't think I need to change something on my game as player, just get better and work on everything everyday.

While playing with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL, you scored 46 goals and tallied 53 assists in 51 games. What would you attribute to your success?

It was a special year for me because I got chance play in this amazing organization. A lot of people were surprised before the season because I made decision to go to juniors in Canada from pro men's in Czech, but now I just can say huge thanks to everybody who helped me in that tough and important year.

Is there any current or former NHL player you look up to?

I think a lot of players are close to me or I'm close to them. I think of (Johan) Franzen, (Milan) Lucic and other players. It's not important. Every player is different and special.

How are you going to spend your summer?

I'm now at Crete for quick vacation. After, I have to go back in St. Louis for summer practice.

Nicole Blum is a contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations in this article were obtained via private Facebook conversation on May 27th, 2013. You can follow Nicole on Twitter @blumnika

If we have learned anything from watching a seven-game series in any sport, it is that a 2-0 lead means very little—especially when your next two games are on the road.

We have also learned that a 3-0 lead in sports is practically a death sentence.

The St. Louis Blues will enter Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday night with a 2-0 lead over the defending Stanley Cup champions, and if they can earn another victory, they could turn what was expected to be a very closely contested and long series into a massacre—much like Los Angeles did to the Blues last year.

The first two games of this series could have easily gone either way. The Blues dominated much of Game 1 behind a strong attack of shots on goal, but could not find their way past Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick very often in the game.

Eventually, Quick made a mistake and Alex Steen was able to put in a short-handed goal in overtime to give the Blues the victory.

In Game 2, Quick was unbelievable once again, but a third-period goal slipped past him off the skate of Patrik Berglund and he was beaten in the final minute of the game by an absolute snipe by defenseman Barret Jackman.

While both games could have easily gone the Kings' way, the fact of the matter is that the Blues have a 2-0 lead in the series and the Kings' backs are up against the wall.

After two demoralizing losses, could the Blues break the will of the Kings early in Game 3 of the series?

The answer: Absolutely they could.

Look back at last year's series between these two teams. The Kings were able to win Game 1 of the series in St. Louis. The Blues knew they needed to get a big win at home in Game 2 before heading to Los Angeles for the next two games of the series, but the Kings came out and scored four goals in the first period of that game.

That was certainly a crushing blow for the Blues. 

After that moment, the Blues never again led in the series, as they could not get past the outstanding goaltending of Jonathan Quick.

Could St. Louis do the same thing to Los Angeles on Saturday night?

The Kings defense has been outstanding so far this series, but the Blues defense has been even better.

If St. Louis is able to come out in the first five or 10 minutes of the game and show the same energy as in in the first two games of the series, Los Angeles will already be slightly demoralized knowing how hard it will be to get the victory. If the Blues are able to come out and strike quickly and take the lead, they could possibly completely demoralize the Kings.

By no means should the Blues expect the Kings to give up. Los Angeles is a great team that plays incredibly hard, but as we saw last year with St. Louis, if you can just demoralize a team a little bit early in a game it could be impossible for it to recover.

The opening minutes on Saturday night will be huge.

If the Blues go out and show once again that they are the superior team, this series could be over much quicker then any of us expected.

If the Kings come out and show they are the superior team, then the Blues will find themselves involved in a long war with their opponents to see who can survive and advance into the second round.

Finally, Jay Bouwmeester can breathe easy. For the first time in his NHL career, Bouwmeester will be heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Tuesday night, the Blues defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 at Scottrade Center. The win was the team's third straight at home, and the Blues got retribution for an awful 5-3 loss to the Avs. 

A major success of the Blues was their power play. For the first time since Feb. 21, the Blues scored multiple times on the power play. This season, the power play has been really passive, but tonight showed good things can happen when you shoot the puck. Chris Stewart scored the 100th goal of his career on a tip from Jordan Leopold, and Patrik Berglund put another deflection past Semyon Varlamov. 

Brian Elliott had a bounce-back game after letting in four goals on 19 shots by stopping 17 of Colorado's 18 shots. Elliott showed that he can still play well, even after a bad outing. Keeping his confidence is going to be huge for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. 

But the man of the night was Bouwmeester.

Bouwmeester came into the NHL drafted third overall in 2002 by the Florida Panthers. He was an average player from 2002-2005, until he broke out in the 2005-2006 season. Bouwmeester had just five goals but had 41 assists, putting him at 46 points in 82 games, career highs at the time. 

He would continue to set career marks in goals scored each season, as well as eat up more and more minutes on the blue line for the Panthers. He would be traded to the Calgary Flames in 2009 for Jordan Leopold (now a fellow Blue Note) and a third-round draft pick in the 2009 draft. 

As a Flame, he would not experience the same offensive prowess as he did in Florida, but he would continue to be a consistent ice-time player, averaging nearly 28 minutes per game. On March 15, 2011, Bouwmeester set the record for most consecutive games played by a defenseman at 486 games. He would also eclipse the 750 mark of games played without making the playoffs.

His luck would change, however, on April 1, 2013, when he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. The Blues have continued to be in playoff contention throughout the season, and it was the best chance to break the streak and give him a shot at Lord Stanley's Cup. 

And thanks to 3-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche, Bouwmeester finally gets that chance. 

The St. Louis Blues have been on an absolute tear these last couple of weeks. Just 11 days ago, the Blues were sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference and were on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. Now they're sitting in sixth place, two points out of fourth, and are arguably the hottest team in the NHL.

It's great for Blues fans to see the team finally rally and make a push to legitimize its season. But what may be even better for the club and its fans is the eerie similarities between this year's team and the 2012 Los Angeles Kings. 

For starters, both goaltenders got hot around the same time. 

Jonathan Quick was having an average year in 2012 before the trade deadline. He hadn't had a great winning streak or a great losing streak. But that all changed after the deadline, when he went 10-4-2 to help the Kings skate into the playoffs with no wiggle room at all. 

Elliott was awful in the first part of the season, having the league's worst save percentage and one of the worst GAA. He was third on the depth chart behind Jaroslav Halak and rookie Jake Allen. Then he was sent down to Peoria for conditioning.

Elliott won both of his games in Peoria, the second coming by way of a shutout. He was then called back up, and then Halak went down with a groin injury. Since Elliott came into relief, he has gone 5-0-0, four of those wins coming against playoff teams. Elliot has pitched three consecutive shutouts and is looking to break the consecutive shutout minutes played, a record he set just last season.

Already, ESPN analysts Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside are calling Elliott's move down to Peoria the saving grace of the season.

In 2012, the Kings also made some big deals at the deadline. They sent defensive prospect Jack Johnson to Columbus for Jeff Carter in an effort to boost the offense, and boy did it work. The Kings were on fire going into the playoffs and stayed hot throughout. Teams had no answer to stop the puck from ending up in the back of the net, and it was because the front office addressed the team's weakest points and made it stronger.

This season, the Blues' weakest point was defense. There was nobody blocking shots in front of Halak or Elliott and the team was having trouble moving bodies out of the dirty areas. The defensive zone was just a mess. 

The front office made some big moves, trading picks and prospects the Blues could dispose of to get defensemen Jordan Leopold and Jay Bouwmeester. Both players have already made an impact.

Both players provide a left-side partner for the Blues' biggest defensmen; Bouwmeester for Alex Pietrangelo and Leopold for Kevin Shattenkirk. These additions have not only increased play in the defensive zone, but both provide an added offensive aspect to the game. The Blues have always been criticized for their lack of scoring, so adding d-men who can score was a great move by the front office.

Finally, both teams got hot at the perfect time.

The Kings were nowhere near the best team throughout the season, but they were playing incredibly during the playoffs, which led them to Lord Stanley's Cup.

Right now the Blues are playing the best hockey in the league, and there's still room for improvement. Halak is out with an injury, and is easily a capable backup for Elliott in case he ever slows down. Valdimir Tarasenko is healthy again, and the Blues are waiting for T.J. Oshie to come back from injury. St. Louis is getting healthy at the right time and will be a complete team going into the playoffs.

They have the goaltending, they have the defense and they have the offense. Special teams are also taking care of business. This Blues team may not be the best in franchise history, but they could be the hottest. And the hottest team is the one that brings home the Cup. 

Wednesday marked arguably the most exciting day of the NHL season. The NHL trade deadline saw big name players such as Cory Conacher head to Ottawa (via Ottawa Sun) and Marion Gaborik to Columbus (via New York Daily News). Some teams made trades to become legitimate contenders, while others went into full rebuilding mode.

The Blues made some noise before the trade deadline. On Saturday, the team traded for Jordan Leopold (via Associated Press). Leopold is a top-four defenseman who can play the left side well, a weakness of the Blues. Leopold helps build the defensive core while adding some offensive power.

But Doug Armstrong wasn't done.

During the first intermission of Monday night's game between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues, Armstrong told Blues analyst Darren Pang the Blues had acquired Jay Bouwmeester (via St. Louis Post-Dispatch). 

Bouwmeester was arguably the most coveted defensman on the market. The Flames were fielding offers from not only the Blues but also from Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston, to name a few. When the trade was announced, many thought the Blues would have had to pay a hefty price for such a player. Instead, the Blues gave Calgary a conditional first-round pick, former first-rounder Mark Cundari and goaltender Reta Berra. 

Overall, the Blues made out pretty well. But what does Bouwmeester bring to the Blues?

For starters, Bouwmeester has averaged just over 25 minutes of ice time this season. He eats up a lot of minutes, which is great for figuring out who to pair him with. His left-handed shot is the ideal partner for No. 1 defensman Alex Pietrangelo. He has 15 points on the season, the majority of them assists, which also allows Pietrangelo to unleash his shot from the point. 

While Bouwmeester does add another offensive touch to the Blues, he fixes the Blues' biggest problem this season. The defense for the Blues has not been anywhere near what it was last season. His 6'4" frame is ideal for blocking shots from the point or moving bodies from out in front of whoever is in net for the Blues. 

Adding Bouwmeester by himself does not automatically make the Blues a playoff team. But with the acquisitions of both Leopold and Bouwmeester, the defense significantly improved. It got much more experienced but didn't get too relatively old either. The offensive power of the first two lines should help bolster the sputtering offense while also providing better defense in front of the struggling goaltenders.

The hottest team is always the team that will win the Cup. If Brian Elliott can find his magic from last season or Jake Allen continues to play like he isn't a rookie, then the Blues could be a very deadly team come playoff time. The Blues should make the playoffs and if they get on a roll, could be a dark horse for the Stanley Cup.