Do the St. Louis Blues have a shot at winning the 2016 Stanley Cup?

[Ranksu]

I wanna hear you guys opinion. Does this current roster have a realistic change to win SC?

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[PerryTurnbullfan]

Not to be picky, but the question you are asking in the poll and as your question you typed are two different questions. The current roster....yes. Do the Blues have a chance? No, not with Hitchcock as their coach. They would be lucky to get out of the first round.

 

[Dbrownss]

Yes, it's a mental hurdle, not a roster issue. Once they get that 1st round out of the way, should start to roll

 

[Old Blueser]

I think I am in the minority who didn't think they could the last two years, and I don't see much that has changed. Our best players are a step below the best players on the teams that have won in recent years, and I think our coaching scheme is pretty limited and gets exposed in the PO's.

Only one team wins, and I am not disappointed if we don't win. I am disappointed if we go out without a fight. I think this team has underachieved in terms of heart in the PO's.

Now if by 'shot' you mean the merest statistical chance....I guess?

 

[Stealth JD]

The Oilers have a chance...of course the Blues have a chance. Now, is it a very good, or realistic chance? Not at all, but...

 

[medkit]

I can't see this team winning 4 straight series including several elimination games. I can't see them beating LA or Chicago. We couldn't even handle the Wild.. Anaheim would have destroyed us. Based on how things went I suspect Nashville would have beaten us, too.

I'm not even sure if we could beat Dallas in a series next season if they got in. We certainly couldn't stop that much firepower and we have real issues putting up postseason goals.

 

[Hrkac Circus]

No, I don't believe they have a realistic chance. Current goaltending isn't good enough. There's no playoff scoring past Tarasenko.

 

[ManyIdeas]

Not with Hitch and his lack of timely adjustments.

 

[carter333167]

I still think we are a second sniper (Tarasenko plus one more great shooter) and perhaps a better coach away from being a favorite. Still, with players improving, anything is possible.

Elite goaltending would help as well....I think Allen played well enough in the first 4 games last year but caved in the last two. I am excited that we suddenly are accumulating goalie prospects...I think it's wise.

 

[sbkbghockey]

Do they have a mathematical chance, yes... but it's small and realistically, almost none. Between the psychological road blocks of the player, lack of scoring depth, Hitch's coaching, Army's planning (lack of a true plan) - there's no chance they maket. In addition, the Central Division teams all got better on paper but the Blues stayed the same or took a slight step back.

 

[ort]

Until this team proves it can actually win a single playoff round, there is no way you can call them a contender.

I don't think they've even earned the right to call themselves a good team. Good teams win playoff rounds every once in a while. (1 round in a decade+ isn't cutting it)

Not only that, but as of right now, the 2015 roster is a downgrade from the 2014 roster, so I don't see how you could pick them to do anything.

Is it possible? Sure, I guess. But I've been fooled too many times to ever believe that any team with that logo on their chest will ever do anything significant in the postseason. The franchise is just doomed to perpetual mediocrity. Nothing will ever change.

 

[SirPaste]

Honestly if we can get past the first round I think it will do wonders for us mentally and we can play with anybody in the league, it all depends though. We will see how Allen rebounds from the playoffs, see if Fabbri/Rattie can step up and contribute, or if we make any roster moves before then which I'm sure we will

 

[HockeyGuy73]

Elite goaltending would help as well....I think Allen played well enough in the first 4 games last year but caved in the last two. I am excited that we suddenly are accumulating goalie prospects...I think it's wise.

First time through the playoff ringer, I thought he did okay. I can only imagine the grip on his stick getting tighter every game knowing besides Taransenko, he had no offense in front of him. I'm excited to see whae he does in his true sophomore season.

 

[tfriede2]

Honestly if we can get past the first round I think it will do wonders for us mentally and we can play with anybody in the league, it all depends though. We will see how Allen rebounds from the playoffs, see if Fabbri/Rattie can step up and contribute, or if we make any roster moves before then which I'm sure we will

Barbashev and a conditional 3rd for Colaiacovo at the TDL...because, you know, we need a d-man that we don't actually need.

 

[Klank Loves You]

No way. As it stands, the team had an average to below average off season as far as new acquisitions.

 

[Dbrownss]

No way. As it stands, the team had an average to below average off season as far as new acquisitions.

Last year we had the best offseason and it amounted to nothing..... I don't believe there is a connection between the two

 

[Thallis]

First time through the playoff ringer, I thought he did okay. I can only imagine the grip on his stick getting tighter every game knowing besides Taransenko, he had no offense in front of him. I'm excited to see whae he does in his true sophomore season.

The team had scored 6 goals the game before and had the first goal before he imploded.

 

[PiggySmalls]

I went no as well, until this team can somehow break through the mental wall, they aren't a contender. Unfortunately I just don't see it happening. Someone other then Tarasenko needs to turn into a finisher and I don't see that happening.

 

[Majorityof1]

Ask yourself, what odds would there have to be in Vegas for you to bet a reasonable amount based on your income (not enough to break you, but enough you'd feel it for your months budget)? If the Blues were 10 to 1? 100 to 1? 1000 to 1? For me it would need to be more than 100 to 1. That is very little faith, less than a 1% chance. Therefore I voted no in the poll.

Edit: Looks like we are 8th best odds (Armstrong lied saying 4th) at 14/1 in actuality. I definitely wouldn't take that bet.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I don't understand why they didn't show more effort and intensity against Minnesota, when we saw the team capable of it many times in the regular season. So I can't say how likely it is that they overcome whatever it was and go on a historic run.

I think they have the horses for it, but I have no clue as to whether its realistic to think they'll do it. I wouldn't be any amount under any odds, just because I don't like to part with hard-earned money for chance that is outside of my control. But maybe you could equate it to whether I'd be willing to pay to travel to St Louis to watch a playoff hockey series (and all the cost entailed). Yeah, I'd do that this year again (as of today). But I wouldn't make reservations for the 2nd round.

 

[BlueDream]

Nope. Any team that makes the playoffs has a "shot" but probably less than half of them are realistic cup contenders.

The Blues are not anymore and I'm surprised this poll is so close. They have not even won a game in the second round, so how are they going to win the cup? They are far away, and it's a lot more than just mental issues. Hitchcock isn't the right fit anymore, they really don't even have a consensus #1 goalie that they can stick with, and they lack elite offensive firepower aside from one player. Not good enough to beat the Blackhawks, Ducks, or Kings.

 

[medkit]

Ask yourself, what odds would there have to be in Vegas for you to bet a reasonable amount based on your income (not enough to break you, but enough you'd feel it for your months budget)? If the Blues were 10 to 1? 100 to 1? 1000 to 1? For me it would need to be more than 100 to 1. That is very little faith, less than a 1% chance. Therefore I voted no in the poll.

Edit: Looks like we are 8th best odds (Armstrong lied saying 4th) at 14/1 in actuality. I definitely wouldn't take that bet.

I'm not really into sports betting regardless, but if you told me to choose a side at 25/1 I'd probably take the Blues. If we're in the playoffs the coinflip odds at that point are 1/16, and I'd probably put the odds of us missing the playoffs only at 25% or so. I would definitely take 100:1 though, I'll even bet you on those odds.

 

[thedustman]

I guess I don't understand why the people who voted "No" are Blues fans.


They're either:

A) Great fans, because even though they know the Blues have no chance, they still follow the Blues (and root for them?)
B) Not fans, only acquaintances and critics

The Blues have a shot. A great shot. It saddens me that I will argue about the Blues with fans who think the Blues have no chance. And it saddens me even further that I will argue with them.

 

[Mike Liut]

Hot goaltending and timely goal scoring and they can beat anybody. Plenty of talent on this roster

 

[2 Minute Minor]

The pessimism among this forum is probably at an all time high. The playoff loss was demoralizing. We went from feeling that if we could just get past Chicago (or LA) they could beat anybody, to feeling like there isn't a matchup out there that the Blues would win a series against.

It's getting hard to read the forum. It's off season and there isn't much new data to discuss, so there is a lot of speculation and bickering over semantics going on. It's just normal for the season. We are the fans who comment daily on a team forum when there won't be a game played for several months still. I try to keep that in mind when I read annoying comments. We all have a lot more in common with our passion for the Blues, than we have differences.

The simple fact is that the Blues have a core that is made up of young players in or approaching their primes. Losing Oshie and Jackman should not take the team backwards that much, and of a guy like Fabbri comes in and duplicates the intensity and skill he showed last year it won't be felt much at all. So you have a team that was one broken stick goal away from winning the conference. Armstrong and Hitchcock are taking a lot of criticism, much deserved. But there are 13 other teams that would see winning the conference as a good thing, and trying hard to get there. The Blues are close, in that respect. They've assembled a team that can win a lot of games. That shouldn't change too dramatically.

For me, I am curious about the team personality that develops. Every year, every team asserts it's own personality. For good or bad, Hitchcock has stepped back and allowed the players to have more ownership about that. Are they going to be confident and more hungry after last year? Or will they show more doubts and tentativeness mentally? When I read quotes from Tarasenko, his hunger and focus on winning the Cup shines out. If we see that start to infect the team, I would say the Blues have as good a chance as anyone. But if they show the same tendency to do just barely enough to win and then take their foot off the pedal, shy away from dirty work, or show up and think that they can out-class their opponents to victory then I expect a disappointing year and more personnel changes.