Blues vs Oilers. Which turn around is more impressive?

[Jumptheshark]

Both the Blues and Oilers were nearly the worst teams in the league when they sacked their coaches before turning it around and making the run for the cup. Blues obviously won. Oilers we do not know yet.

Which turn around is more impressive

Click to read more...

 

[Davo Ikinzom]

blues

 

[McSpecial DraiBlend]

blues

I would have to agree.

 

[Senor Catface]

It's not 2025.

 

[Thallis]

Blues were done in January before Binnington's first start in the Flyers game. They had seen good underlyings since the coaching change, but it wasn't translating to wins and half the season was over. A rookie goaltender coming in and providing the stability to hit the 3 seed from their spot halfway through is crazy.

Everyone kind of knew Edmonton was sleeping giant even during the dreadful start this year, especially with McDavid's injury.

 

[Macheteops]

Oilers were pegged Cup contenders. Couple injuries and a new defending style along with some terrible goaltending had them in a rut

I don't recall what the projections for St.Louis that year but I doubt they were as favoured as Edmonton

 

[syz]

Blues were done in January before Binnington's first start in the Flyers game. They had seen good underlyings since the coaching change, but it wasn't translating to wins and half the season was over. A rookie goaltender coming in and providing the stability to hit the 3 seed from their spot halfway through is crazy.

Everyone kind of knew Edmonton was sleeping giant even during the dreadful start this year, especially with McDavid's injury.

Yea I was kinda curious about what St Louis's numbers looked like that year. Edmonton's advanced stats were among the top of the league basically the entire season this year, but obviously they started with both McDavid and Ekholm with hip issues to start the year while also still trying to make the Jack Campbell experiment work.

 

[T REX]

laila's blues

 

[Matty Sundin]

Oilers were pegged Cup contenders. Couple injuries and a new defending style along with some terrible goaltending had them in a rut

I don't recall what the projections for St.Louis that year but I doubt they were as favoured as Edmonton

The Blues missed the playoffs the season prior but were seen as underachievers. They traded for Ryan O’Rielly offseason and I think expectations were a bounce back season but I don’t think anyone had them had them cup contenders and Mike Yeo was their coach who is one of the worst head coaches ever, at least in the salary cap era.

The cup favorites heading into that season was a mix of Tampa,Winnipeg,Nashville, San Jose, and Toronto due to the Tavares signing effect and the core not having that can’t compete in playoffs reputation yet.

I do get the similarities though. They were a decent cup favorite heading into the playoffs but not a safe lock. Tampa was expected to kill the field out east and Calgary, San Jose, Vegas was a common pick to be the western rep. They were slight favorites their first two series rounds but Sharks were supposed to end it for them. They still won but were underdogs to Boston.

I think the Blues turnaround was more impressive. They’re turn around started much later in the season, they didn’t really have any superstars like Oilers as Ryan O’Rielly, Petro, Taresnko were borderline star players at best. Binnington was a rookie goalie with no experience. I also think the league was more competitive that season, as the teams that year were better than the teams this year.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

The blues missed the playoffs the season prior but were seen as underachievers. They traded for Ryan O’Rielly offseason and I think expectations were a bounce back season but I don’t think anyone had them had them cup contenders and Mike Yeo was their coach who is one of the worst head coaches ever, at least in the salary cap era.

The cup favorites heading into that season was a mix of Tampa,Winnipeg,Nashville, San Jose, and Toronto due to the Tavares signing effect and the core not having that can’t compete in playoffs reputation yet.

I do get the similarities though. They were a decent cup favorite heading into the playoffs but not a safe lock. Tampa was expected to kill the field out east and Calgary, San Jose, Vegas was a common pick to be the western rep. They were slight favorites their first series rounds but Sharks were supposed to end it for them. They still won and but were underdogs to Boston.

I think the Blues turnaround was more impressive. They’re turn around started much later in the season, they didn’t really have any superstars like Oilers as Ryan O’Rielly, Petro, Taresnko were borderline star players at best. Binnington was a rookie goalie with no experience. I also think the league was more competitive that season, as the teams that year were better than the teams this year.

They had a fantastic system and team depth and especially defense. This might be a out take, but 2018-2019 Schwartz was the best 2-way winger in the game, yes even better than Stone that season. O'Reilly was obviously an excellent 2-way forward elite on defense and strong offensively.

 

[DS7]

Gotta wait for the season to be over first, so at the moment still blues.

 

[centipede2233]

A lot of similarities between the two though…

 

[ozzie]

The Blues finished their story, Oilers haven't yet. Oilers start was disappointing, Blues weren't expected to be a playoff team were they?

 

[zar]

Blues.

We know the Blues actually won the Cup... Oilers are still only a Cup Finalist.

Even if the Oilers win it... the Oilers were picked by many to be successful in the playoffs this year. The Blues came out of nowhere. I mean they were expected to make the playoffs that year, prior to the season started, but it's not like many experts were picking them to win the Cup.

Blues turnaround will be the more impressive, regardless.

 

[BB79]

As much as I hate them because they beat my team, the 2019 Blues.

The Oilers were underachieving and everyone knew it. The Blues kind of came out of nowhere and took the league by storm

 

[SUX2BU]

Blues

 

[Ratatoskr]

Blues, by an order of magnitude. For all the aforementioned reasons. And I say this as an Oilers fan.

 

[TheOrganist]

The Blues finished their story, Oilers haven't yet. Oilers start was disappointing, Blues weren't expected to be a playoff team were they?

If I recall the Blues were the 10th most favored team to win the club 2018-19 pre-season.

 

[VaporTrail]

Blues

 

[NVious]

You'd be crazy to think a team of McDrai could ever be as bad as they were to start the year. For them to be that bad it basically takes ECHL tier goaltending and McDavid being crippled, so it's easily the Blues. Maybe they weren't as bad as their first half of the year, but even if you asked 1000 Blues fans if at their best this team could win the cup, I doubt you'd get more than a few yeses.

 

[albator71]

I would say the Blues because they didn't have two of the best players in the world.

 

[Reality Czech]

A lot of similarities between the two though…

Some similarities and some big differences. The Oilers biggest weaknesses in recent years have been team defense, goaltending and depth scoring. Now that they're getting all 3 to an extent then it's no surprise they're going to the final. I think most people had them among their Western conference favorites before the season and it's not a huge surprise they made it despite the slow start.

The Blues had been poking around contender status in the years prior to winning but never had the talent to push them over the top. They had few top stars but their overall depth was as good as any team, and their strength was outworking teams and playing as a 5-man unit. The potential was there in 2019 but you'd have to say their turnaround was more unexpected. However both teams show how a midseason coaching change can help a team reach their full potential.

 

[Lshap]

St Louis was a great story and more of a total surprise. The team was going nowhere into the new year and Binnington was another nobody replacement. His goaltending from January through June was one of the great six-month runs I've seen. In retrospect, it was a perfect playoff roster built from the back out. However, at the time there was nothing about the Blues that looked like a Cup winner.

 

[AvalancheRy]

I think the Oilers were sandbagging to get rid of their coach personally. They were always expected to get here.

 

[Zerotonine]

As an oilers fan I'll tip my hat to the blues on this one