Team improved from 81 points last season to 92 this year, felt poor performances against lesser teams, lack of intensity early were downfalls that can be improved
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Yes, facts are facts, and the St. Louis Blues failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season.
But when you ask Brayden Schenn if there was more doom and gloom, his answer might surprise you.
"I just think we're closer than what people think," the Blues' captain said.
Really?
Yes.
Why?
"I think there's a lot of good pieces in this locker room that can get us to where we want to be a lot faster than what people think," Schenn said. "You've got skill up front, you've got good goalies, a couple studs on the back end, a guy like Colton Parayko who plays against [Connor] McDavid and [Nathan] MacKinnon and is able to shut those guys down. I just think there's a lot of pieces here where we can fix this quick and on top of it, you've got guys like Jake [Neighbours] who had a great year, 'Boldy' [Zack Bolduc] played well at the end of the year. That shows that he can score some goals. There's some excitement and pieces where we feel like we can get to where we want to be next year."
This wasn't the mood in the locker room after the Blues finished 37-38-7 last season and out of the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. No, this was improving from that 81-point season to 92 this season with a 43-33-6 record.
They started to plant some seeds for moving forward, and that has players, management and coaches -- whoever they maybe -- excited.
"This season was one of change, one of looking towards the future," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "We saw some positive things in that direction. We learned a lot about ourselves personally and professionally, positive and negative on things we can improve on. All in all, it's unfortunate that we're not continuing to play and we have to find a way to push forward this summer to get back to work in September."
So what kept the Blues out? Well, it wasn't their inability to beat good teams. It was their inability to beat those teams below them in the standings, particularly those that lived in the basement.
"Just not getting points against teams that you expect to get points against," Neighbours said. "It's the National Hockey League. Anybody can beat anybody and you can't take any game for granted against any team. For us, it's about coming in next year and taking it game by game and trying to get ahead of the curve and putting ourselves in good positions so when we're coming down the stretch, we're not chasing and fighting to try and slip in, but more in a position to hold our spot and be a little more comfortable this time of year. I think for us, like I said, we have a lot of belief in this group. We've got a lot of good pieces. It's just about regrouping and continuing to move forward. We had a great season compared to last year and just need to keep moving in that direction."
Precisely what Jordan Binnington said. Not so much the inability to beat the Sharks or the Columbus Blue Jackets, even losing a game to the Chicago Blackhawks, but there was too much inconsistency and lack of intensity to games early in the season that got a coach fired [Craig Berube] and lost ground too soon.
"I think the urgency level from an earlier point in the season. I think even though it's early on, those points are important, those games are important," Binnington said. "It all adds up. Just finding another level right from the get-go, an intense training camp all the way through the end of the season I would say."
It is a bitter pill to swallow, missing out on the playoffs by six points knowing the Blues left 11 on the table against the Sharks, Blue Jackets and Blackhawks, but it beats the alternative when veterans at this time last year were calling out commitments of the team and saying guys were not committed to a team concept and only worrying about themselves.
None of that is even remotely evident this time around.
"I wouldn't say culture change. I would say kind of like a rejuvenation, if that's the right word," said Blues center Robert Thomas, who led the team with 86 points (26 goals, 60 assists) this season. "I don't know, just going to throw that out there, but I think you can build off a culture for so long and all it takes is for one bad season to kind of rip it back down to the studs. After the coaching change, you look at the teams we beat, our record is definitely building something and I think that's what excites everyone in this room. We kind of just ran out of time at the end of the season there. You can feel that culture coming back and that's what's exciting to be here for a long time is you see that future and you see where the team's headed and the direction. It's exciting."
The roster won't look the same. We all know that. There are unrestricted free agents that likely won't be back. Armstrong will attempt, through trade or free agency or from his words, improve from within, to try and improve the roster.
It leaves a hunger that makes players look forward to getting back in September, not wonder if they're the ones that need to look in the mirror after last year's exit comments.
"That's the game and I think that's what guys need to realize that you've got to make the most of all these moments, opportunities and seasons," Binnington said. "You have great friends you play with and then you don't play with them, maybe never again so you've got to enjoy that. The most fun you'll have and the most times you'll be remembered is by being successful. I think that's the key thing to take away."
As Parayko, who led the NHL with 218 blocks this season, would say, "It's weird to kind of say it, but looking forward to training camp already and it's the first day of offseason. It'll be a good time to come in and make a push."
