St. Louis Blues end of season Q & A with Colton Parayko

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Colton Parayko only had something to prove to himself, no one else.

The St. Louis Blues defenseman, who along with the rest of his teammates, didn't have the greatest of seasons a year ago when the Blues finished a game below .500; it came on the heels of Parayko playing through a herniated disk a season ago that luckily for him and the Blues, didn't require surgery.

The 30-year-old, who has a Stanley Cup in tow after winning one in 2019, wanted -- and needed -- to get back to a high level of hockey by his standards.

Blues fans questioned his ability to be the top guy leading the blue liners when he was on a team that featured Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Carl Gunnarsson, Joel Edmundson, Robert Bortuzzo and Vince Dunn on it that won it all.

Not only did Parayko arguably have one of his best seasons in 2023-24, but for the second time in his career (also 2017-18), he played all 82 games and felt better than ever doing it.

Parayko and Nick Leddy were a staple pair this season and took positive strides in helping the Blues (44-33-6) improve by 11 points, only to fall short when they were eliminated in the third-to-last game of the season.

Parayko let with the media at the end-of-season session to discuss the reasons why the Blues failed to make the playoffs for the second straight season, how he felt, his season and the prognosis moving forward:

Thoughts on the season:

Obviously a lot of emotions. It's a long season. I think first off, we obviously didn't reach the goal of making the playoffs and giving ourselves a chance, but at the end of the day, I think there were a lot of positives that came out of this year and a lot of good things. We came together in the tough games, definitely against some really good opponents. A lot of good things moving forward. We've got a lot of momentum and a lot of good things to look forward to and build off of.

How difficult is it for yourself who won a Cup to now go two straight years without making the playoffs?

It's ever ideal for anybody. I think if you've won or not, I think playoffs is obviously the best time of the year for any sport in general, hockey, baseball, football. Obviously you want to give yourselves a chance to get into the playoffs and then obviously win. We obviously didn't reach the goal that we kind of wanted to but positives for sure going forward.

How good did you feel and how good did you feel about your game?

I felt good. I think this year, just continue to try to build and do whatever I can to help the team keep pushing forward and just get better. That's the biggest thing is just trying to improve my game, which I think if I do that, it will help improve the team and just move forward. I felt good, body felt good. Just happy to play in all 82 (games) this year and good to have a healthy season.

Does it take a toll on your body when you lead the league in blocked shots (218):

There's always bumps and bruises and things like that throughout a season. Just no matter what, with blocked shots, hits, just hockey in general is tough on the body. That's everybody. This team was putting their body on the line. A lot of big blocks throughout the year and big hits, etc. etc. That's just part of the fun I think of the season, the long season, ups and downs. Just fortunate to stay fairly healthy throughout the year.

How good was Nick Leddy and to have continuity with one guy lead to your success?

Obviously fortunate to play with him this year. He's an incredible player, he's been around for a long time, played his 1,000th game this year. I think being able to play with him, I learned a lot. I think as we kind of continue to play more and more together too, sort of read off each other and learn from each other a bit more. I thought we played really well together, but like I said, he's just a super, smart player, a player that can skate and get himself in great opportunities and great spots with his skating ability and the way that he thinks the game. Just lucky to play with him and he's just a great player.

What have you done to bridge some of the bad feelings guys had after last year's disappointment when players said things needed to change from within? Was it a bit of a culture shock?

I think so. First off, I think the guys in this room are committed and we have a good belief in here. I think we've shown throughout the year that we've beat some really good teams and obviously when we stay connected, when we play the way we can, we're a really good hockey team. That's exciting moving forward obviously. We know it's obviously frustrating, but this is where we're at today, so we've got to look forward to our summer and build as a group and kind of continue to regroup, if we can improve like we did this year from last year, we're going to be in a good spot. Definitely excited. 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.

Being on the outside looking in, what needs to be done to get over the top and in?

I think the season's so long, we've got to make sure we stay consistent. I think consistency would maybe be a word that comes to mind right off the top of my head I guess. Just throughout the season, we've got to make sure that we come in and we play all the games the same and as many as we can, play to the best of our ability to give ourselves the best chance to win. Like I said, we have a lot of belief in this room and we're looking forward to building us getting better.

On Drew Bannister and the job he did:

Obviously I think he did a really good job. It's never an easy situation or an easy spot to be, but just on behalf of the players, we've got to appreciate his efforts and say thanks for everything. We're just fortunate that he came in and I think we learned a lot, he learned a lot and I think he was great. Can't say enough good things. Just happy that we had the opportunity to do that and go forward.