St Louis Blues

Entering Game 6 of their second-round playoff matchup with the Dallas Stars on Monday, the St. Louis Blues find themselves in a situation similar to the one they were in during the first round against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

Only this time, a loss at the Scottrade Center would send the series back to Dallas for a deciding Game 7 on Wednesday.

The Blues are listed as -155 favorites (bet $155 to win $100) to knock out the Stars at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

St. Louis is coming off a 4-1 road victory in Game 5 on Saturday behind a goal and an assist from rookie forward Robby Fabbri, who has been one of the keys to the series so far. When the 20-year-old Fabbri has notched a point against the Stars, the Blues have won. When he has not, they have lost.

They have also gotten a lot of help from veteran winger Troy Brouwer, who has seen similar results with five points (three goals and two assists) in the three wins and none in the two losses. Brouwer scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 against the Blackhawks, his former team, to close out the first round.

Chicago trailed that series 3-1 before winning Games 5 and 6 to tie it up.

Dallas finds itself in a tough spot heading into Game 6 at St. Louis but has enjoyed some success away from home in the postseason. The Stars won twice on the road in their first-round series with the Minnesota Wild, and they earned a 3-2 victory in double overtime against the Blues in Game 4 after getting crushed 6-1 in Game 3.

They have really missed their second-leading scorer Tyler Seguin in this series, as he has not played since Game 2 against the Wild due to an Achilles injury that has yet to fully heal. Seguin missed the last 10 games of the regular season but still finished with 73 points.

The over is 3-1-2 in the past six meetings between these teams, according to the Odds Shark NHL Database after the under cashed in six of the previous seven. St. Louis is 9-3 in the last 12 games between the teams and still has a major edge in net, with goaltender Brian Elliott stopping 148 of the 158 shots he's seen in the series (.937).

The St. Louis Blues proved that good starts are important but how you finish is all that matters in a 4-3 overtime victory against the Dallas Stars in Game 2 on Sunday to even their second-round playoff series at 1-1.

St. Louis stole home-ice advantage away from Dallas and is listed as a consensus -140 favorite (bet $140 to win $100) to win Game 3 on Tuesday at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Reminiscent of their Game 7 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first round, the Blues jumped out to an early two-goal lead in the first period before seeing their opponent tie it up. The Stars were down 3-1 in the first and then scored twice in the third before giving up a power-play goal to center David Backes about halfway through the OT period.

Dallas winger Jamie Benn scored his fifth goal of the playoffs with less than three minutes left in regulation to force the extra session.

Backes also scored the game-winner in OT to beat the Blackhawks and pay off on the betting lines at the sportsbooks in Game 1 of that series, and he has three goals and three assists overall this postseason.

St. Louis leading scorer Vladimir Tarasenko has been shut out of this series so far with no points despite taking five shots. In fact, Tarasenko has just one point in the last five games of the playoffs combined on a goal in a 6-3 Game 6 loss at Chicago after totaling three points (two goals and one assist) in a 4-3 Game 4 victory.

The Blues have won the past three meetings with the Stars at home in low-scoring affairs that all went under the total, according to the Odds Shark NHL Database. St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliott was shakier in Game 2, stopping 31 of 34 shots but surrendering the lead after a better Game 1 in which he made 40 saves in a 2-1 loss.

Dallas has a bigger problem in net, though, after Antti Niemi relieved Kari Lehtonen in Game 2. Lehtonen earned the Game 1 victory, but he let in three goals on five shots in the first period of Game 2 before Niemi relieved him and stopped 19 straight shots prior to allowing the game-winner in OT.

Niemi also started Games 4 and 5 against the Minnesota Wild in the first round. Then, Lehtonen returned for the clinching Game 6.

St. Louis Blues right winger Ryan Reaves was suspended for three games by the NHL on Wednesday for a boarding penalty against Matt Tennyson of the San Jose Sharks, according to NHL Player Safety. 

He will also lose out on $18,145.17, per WFAN 660's Sean Hartnett.   

The incident occurred during the first period of Monday night's game between the Blues and Sharks when Reaves dumped the puck into the Sharks' zone in front of Tennyson. The San Jose defenseman got to the puck in the corner first and was hit hard from behind by an onrushing Reaves.

Tennyson's head first made contact with the glass before he went down. He stayed there for quite some time, as seen in the video below:

Reaves isn't in the NHL for his skill, as he's only scored 19 goals in his first six years in the league. The 6'1", 224-pound winger has built his reputation on the Blues' fourth line as being a physical instigator in order to get under the opponent's skin. 

He's had 116 or more penalty minutes in three of the past four seasons, but 2015-16 has been a down year in that department. Entering Monday night, he had just 25 penalty minutes before racking up 15 minutes against the Sharks after the hit.

Yet this is the first time in his career that the league has suspended him. The NHL fined him over $3,000 earlier this season for a thrown elbow at Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar, but its discipline ended at that.

Boarding has been an issue in the NHL, and the league has tried to crack down on offenders with suspensions and fines. When a player is facing the boards with his back turned to the play, he is in a vulnerable position.

A hit from behind, especially one with the ferocity and speed that Reaves exhibited, usually results in injury, as the boards don't give much.

Tennyson did not return to Monday night's game, and a timetable for his return has not been released yet. The Blues, though, will be without Reaves' sparkplug qualities for three big games against the New York Rangers, Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes.

The Rangers and Predators are both playoff teams in their respective conferences, while the Hurricanes have won four of their last six games. Luckily for the Blues, their 79 points have them placed comfortably in a Western Conference playoff spot.

St. Louis could turn to Dmitrij Jaskin to play right wing on the fourth line. The 22-year-old has three goals and seven assists in 49 games with the Blues this season.

Stats courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com.

The St. Louis Blues have placed forward Alexander Steen on the injured reserve list after he suffered an upper-body injury in a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.

Continue for updates.

Blues Need Others to Step Up with Steen Out

Sunday, Feb. 21

Chris Pinkert of StLouisBlues.com reported the bad news for Steen, who will be re-evaluated in four weeks. The injury came after defenseman Kevin Connauton hit Steen, who then fell to the ice. He did get back up and eventually went to the locker room on his own, per Pinkert.

Blues captain David Backes was not happy to see his teammate suffer the injury.

"When our best all-around player goes down, there's a lot to shoulder," Backes said after the game, per Pinkert. "Different guys stepped up and played bigger minutes with bigger responsibility and did a heck of a job."

Steen was second on the team with 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists) when he went down, and the Blues will miss his offense. Jaden Schwartz, who returned to action in February after missing 49 games because of a fractured ankle, could see increased minutes in Steen's absence.

The St. Louis Blues have played well despite missing one of their best centers, and they'll hope they maintain that form after it was announced Paul Stastny will miss at least another month while dealing with a broken foot.  

Continue for updates.

Blues Place Stastny on Injured Reserve

Wednesday, Oct. 21

The team announced Wednesday doctors will re-evaluate Stastny in five weeks to determine when he might return to the ice. The 29-year-old hasn't played since St. Louis' 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 16.

He's one of a few key players out injured for the Blues, and NHL.com's Lou Korac believes the team will continue finding a way to collect points:

Stastny played in 74 games last year, scoring 16 goals and assisting on another 30. While not the most dynamic threat going forward for the Blues, he unquestionably brings a lot of value to the team.

The impact of his absence is compounded by the fact center Robby Fabbri remains out while he recovers from a concussion he suffered in the team's second game of the year.

Scott Gomez has stepped up to take a larger role with Fabbri and Stastny out, and he'll need to keep doing so in order for St. Louis to remain atop the Central Division.

The St. Louis Blues and star winger Vladimir Tarasenko reached an agreement Tuesday on an eight-year, $60 million contract extension, the team announced on its official website.  

Tarasenko, 23, is coming off of a monster third season in the NHL that saw him rack up 73 points, including 37 goals, in 77 games. Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest noted further information about the structure of the new deal:

There was some concern heading into the offseason that the dynamic Russian, a restricted free agent, could attract a sizable offer sheet from another organization. His goal-scoring ability would look good on the first line of just about any team in the league.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong made it clear that everything else was on the back burner until the situation got sorted out, as pointed out by Andrew Allsman of KMOV:

We are not going to be active signing other players until we get him taken care of. We are going to take care of our restricted free agents but he's the primary guy. He knows it; the hockey world knows it. The St. Louis Blues will not be in a spot on July 1 to not be able to match any offer sheet made to him. If it means allowing players to go to free agency, making players sweat it out on what their deals are going to be, he's the priority for us.

Tarasenko celebrated the deal getting done:

"I worked all my life to get this deal. I'm not stupid to stop working and stop improving myself," Tarasenko said on July 8, according to the Blues. "My father and grandfather told me it doesn't matter how many goals you score. You have to get better every year."

Tarasenko also talked about the expectations attached to the new deal, and his decision to stay in St. Louis, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

NHL Numbers projected the Blues to have around $9.8 million in cap space before the re-signing. The $7.5 million annual value of the deal obviously eats up a large portion of that available money, but it does leave a little wiggle room for other moves.

He's part of a successful core group in St. Louis that also includes Alexander Steen, David Backes, Jaden Schwartz, Paul Stastny and Kevin Shattenkirk. The team tied for the most points (109) in the Western Conference in 2014-15 with the Anaheim Ducks.

Locking up Tarasenko was far and away the most important part of the Blues' offseason. Losing him to an offer sheet would have been a massive blow to their lineup, and it's borderline impossible to replace a nearly 40-goal scorer.

Now, he's locked up for the foreseeable future, and the team's outlook becomes a lot brighter as a result. The front office can begin to shift its focus to other needs, and while there aren't many, they could still use some depth additions both up front and on the blue line.

Despite three consecutive first-round exits in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Ken Hitchcock will return to coach the St. Louis Blues in 2015-16.  

According to the team's official Twitter account, the organization agreed to a one-year deal with the 63-year-old native of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada:

General manager Doug Armstrong and Hitchcock addressed the media on Tuesday. The St. Louis Blues passed along comments from the press conference:

Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provided more comments from Armstrong:

Hitchcock sports a .671 winning percentage in four seasons with the Blues, but they have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs despite their regular-season success.

The veteran coach is no stranger to going the distance, though, as he led the Dallas Stars to a Stanley Cup championship in 1999 and a repeat appearance in 2000. He has done well in stints with the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Blues since then, but postseason runs have largely eluded him.

Since there is a great deal of pressure on St. Louis to go deeper next season, Matt Larkin of The Hockey News questions just how secure Hitchcock's job is:

There was a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the relationship between Hitchcock and the Blues following their loss to the Minnesota Wild in the first round, but Armstrong made it clear that figuring out a deal was a process, per Jeff Simmons of Sportsnet:

Ken and I are going to keep working towards having good communication and making sure we're both in the same vein, taking the same path as we move forward. It's something that we're working on every day, we’re trying to do it behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny. I'm aware that people want answers, but fortunately for us, we have a strong ownership group that understands that this is a process and we're going to make use of our time.

Tom Timmermann and Jeremy P. Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provided comments from Blues captain David Backes, who spoke about Hitchcock: 

I've got no issues with him. Does he ride guys hard and has he been on my case at times, where it's made me angry? Yes. But he does it in the light of trying to make our team better, trying to make each individual player better. I think if you get caught up in those individual moments at the time you're under the gun, having an interview, those comments come out. But when you take a step back and you realize, 'Oh that's why he was all over me because I was not being as productive as I could be,' he's very effective.

After a great deal of deliberation, Armstrong and Hitchcock were able to come to terms on something they both felt comfortable with.

There is no question Hitchcock is on the hot seat, though, since the Blues haven't performed up to their talent level in the playoffs during his tenure.

If the team doesn't win at least a round or two in 2016, it is difficult to envision him lasting longer than the life of his new contract.

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Legendary goalie Martin Brodeur was named the St. Louis Blues’ assistant general manager Wednesday under general manager Doug Armstrong, per the team’s official website.    

Brodeur, who was the senior adviser to the general manager in St. Louis before Wednesday’s official promotion, and the team agreed to a three-year contract.

Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the St. Louis Blues provided comments from Brodeur on May 21:

Brodeur actually played for the Blues for a stretch earlier this season when Brian Elliott was hurt and went 3-3 with one shutout in seven appearances. He retired in January as the NHL’s all-time leader in regular-season wins, shutouts, games played and minutes played. He also led the NHL in postseason starts and shutouts and won three Stanley Cups during his illustrious career.

By any statistical measure, Brodeur is one of the best goalies in the history of the sport, and he can serve as something of a mentor for goaltenders Elliott and Jake Allen moving forward from his new position.

While the front office is typically tasked with finding talent and building for the future, having an asset like Brodeur presents a golden opportunity for the current goalies to learn under a future Hall of Famer.

Brodeur discussed his desire to take on a larger role with the organization before the promotion, per Jeremy P. Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “I really enjoyed it, but we had a conversation that I'd like to do more. I want to learn as much as possible. I think it was a great opportunity for me to be around the team advising. But now after doing that for six months, I'd like to do a little more.”

Now he will have the opportunity to do just that.   

For Zbynek Michalek, it wasn't really a matter of if he would be traded so much as when the deal would go down. That came Monday, as the St. Louis Blues acquired the defenseman from the Arizona Coyotes.  

According to the Blues' official website, "The St. Louis Blues have acquired defenseman Zbynek Michalek and a conditional third round pick from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for prospect Maxim Letunov."

Pierre LeBrun of ESPN adds some details on the deal:

John Buccigross has more on Maxim Letunov:

Michalek has appeared in 53 games for the Coyotes this season, scoring two goals, adding six assists and having a plus-minus of minus-six. Per ESPN, he's 12th in the NHL with 130 blocked shots this season. 

He gives the Blues a veteran defenseman for their playoff push and added depth on the blue line as the team looks to bring home a Stanley Cup this season. While he is potentially a rental, since he'll be an unrestricted free agent after the season, he should be a key contributor for the Blues this season once he returns to action (he's been out for over two weeks with an upper-body injury).

The Blues clearly thought he was worth the price, however, and if they hoist the Stanley Cup this season, they'll be correct in that assessment.