Is it cup or bust for them? If they dont win the cup, or at least make the SCF, will Hitch have seen this season as not meeting their expectations?
Is there not a single team in this post season with higher expectations than the blues?
Many critics have chosen the blues to win the cup this year.
On paper, this team is stacked with literally no holes. They have what 9 top 6 forwards and a healthy Paul Stastny now?
4 line offense - check
Balanced defense core - check
One of the best systems - check
Solid goaltending - check
Experience - check
The only thing that I feel this team lacks is a real superstar forward. But history has proven that you dont need a superstar to win cups. Does it help? Forsure, but you can still win without superstars. The blues are loaded with stars, but no superstars...but still very capable going all the way as long as someone on this team takes the bull by its horns and shows them how to win.
IMO, that person has to be Hitch. 2 cups, and has a proven playoff and international tourney track record. Hitch is still one of the best technical coaches today and he still knows how to win. Every team he has coached, he has made a drastic difference in not only the teams success but players growth and success - Modano, Nash, Johanson, Giroux, Voracek, Carter, Richards, Oshie, Tarasenko, etc.