Thank you to long time reader Stephen C. for his submission!
Thank you so much to Stephen C. for his submission – as always, if you have something to share, please feel free to email it to hildymacgt at gmail dot com. We’ll be taking guest post submissions through October 31st. – Hildy
Back to School Time
I’m a procrastinator. I’ve improved over my life, but I’ll never forget those long nights in college writing whole term papers in a night. Sometimes it came out fine but 9 times out of 10 as the sun started to dawn I found myself angry at myself for not having gotten a jump on things. Every once in a while it would turn out great but that was definitely the exception.
The 2019 St. Louis Blues were a historic exception. We all remember their historic comeback season. In what some have argued was the greatest comeback in professional sports, our beloved team went from dead last at the beginning of January to go on and win the Cup that season. Wow, sometimes it does work out. But usually it does not. Usually if you waited that long on a paper you are hoping for a B or a C. Only one team wins the Cup. They are not the B/C students of hockey. The Cup winner doesn’t just have to be good. They have to be persistent, good and lucky. Usually they have to be good at the right time too because NHL seasons have multiple deadlines. One of the biggest deadlines for the Blues is going to be March 3rd. That is the day Doug and the rest of his management team have to make tough choices. Are they close enough that they go out and get a piece or two? Are they far enough away that they have to trade Tarasenko? Barbashev? Or maybe even O’Reilly?
2019 was an amazing rush but did it teach the core of the team a bad lesson – that they can wait and as long as they get hot at the right time they can still win it all?
Last season we all watched a lot of first periods that were less than inspiring. Yes, the second periods were fantastic but most games are won or lost in the first. Teams that win the most lean in from the first puck drop. There is a sense of urgency in every puck battle regardless of opponent, period or calendar month.
I think Blues fans are worried about this year’s defense. I think they are worried that they have lost two of their best urgent puck battlers in two off-seasons with the Schwartz and Perron departures. What I am worried about is urgency. I am just worried that everyone treats every game, period and shift like it’s important. I think if they do that this is a team that’s got a lot of surprises in store.
Let’s Go Blues!