The St. Louis Blues are considered by many to be the red-headed stepchild in St. Louis sports. In the past several years, the team was more likely to come up in a discussion of ‘why St. Louis doesn’t have an NBA team’ as opposed to an actual discussion about St. Louis sports. Without the storied history of the Cardinals or the championship or floundering failures of the Rams, the Blues of recent years might as well be named the St. Louis Shrugs.
But that’s all changing this season with the arrival of new coach Ken Hitchcock. Since Hitchcock was hired to replace David Payne on Nov. 6, the Blues have had an amazing 13-2-4 run. Suddenly a team that underachieved for years is playing up to its potential.
Backed by excellent defense and impressive goaltending, the Blues are a seemingly well-rounded team headed back to the land of the postseason. And with a roster full of 20-somethings such as T.J. Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Backus and Alexander Steen, the Blues are poised to shed its shroud of mediocrity and could become perennial postseason contenders.
While the Blues maintained solid attendance numbers during their seasonal struggles, they’ve sorely lacked buzz in the city. But as the wins keep coming, the buzz keeps growing and could reach levels unseen since the days Hully and Shanny roamed the ice in STL.
