High Notes On The St Louis Blues In 2024
As the St. Louis Blues prepare to drop the puck on their 57th season this organization has some interesting notes. We will begin with some perspective on who the Blues were in the 2023 season. Following this, we will analyze data on why 2023 isn’t historically how the Blues play. Finally, we will deep dive into six storylines to watch as we begin hockey season for the St. Louis Blues.
Who Were The Blues In 2023?
The Blues would face a coaching change as they would remove the interim tag from now coach Drew Bannister{more on him shortly}. Bannister, the 27th head coach in franchise history, would prove to be a winning decision. The Blues would finish 2023 with a 42-33-6 record which slotted them at 9th in the final Western Conference standings. In addition, this would finish the Blues 5th in the Central Division and just on the outside looking in on the Playoffs.
Historic Perspective
Those who may not follow hockey may not be shocked a team would miss the playoffs but this is unlikely for St. Louis. In their 56-year history, the Blues have only missed the postseason 11 times. With 2023 being the second consecutive season it also marked the 4th time in team history to miss in consecutive seasons. For those wondering, the Blues have only missed out on the playoffs three straight years once between the 2005-08 seasons.
Among the teams who have played as many seasons as the Blues, since 1967-68, only the Boston Bruins have missed the playoffs fewer times with seven. Next would be the Montreal Canadians with 14 times. While these berths for the Stanley Cup do not come easy the Blues will look to make their 46th appearance in 2024. Since the 2008-09 season, sixteen seasons, the Blues have 15 ending in a winning record. Moreover, the Blues are one of six teams in the NHL to do so.
Six Stories To Watch
Continue Hot Play From 2023
If you looked around the league for the hottest teams to close the 2023 season the Blues were at or near the top. In fact, since March 11th, in their last 18 games, the Blues were 11-4-3. This would notch St. Louis as the 7th best as the New York Rangers would ease that category with 14. To further the point of the hot play the Blues went 22-13-4, since January 20th, in their final 39 games. This winning clip would notch then a share of 9th in the league.
The Blues would also score goals in these games as they would average 2.79 goals per game from January 20 to the end of the season. This would net them 9th in the league in this stat. Power play was a strong suit during this stretch and the Blues again ranked high. The 23% power play mark in this timeframe was ranked 12th in the NHL. For St. Louis to be back in postseason play they would benefit from a fast and cohesive start to the season.
New Pieces To The Puzzle
With every new season comes new pieces to the puzzle. As we mentioned above, the change started with the head Blue, in Bannister. He would prove to be a positive addition as the Blues were 10-19-5 from December 14th to the end of the season. This win total was tied for 18th best in the NHL. The Blues, and Bannister, will look to continue this trend in 2024.
In addition to Bannister, a litany of talent was added that bolsters a youthful roster. Wiley veteran Ryan Suter joins the Blues from the Dallas Stars. Suter, a defenseman, who played in all 82 games in 2023-24, posted 17 points as he scored 2 goals and 15 assists. In addition, Suter has played 1,444 games which is the league’s longest active streak. His longevity and experience will be a needed addition to the Blues.
Also making the move from the Stars was Radek Faksa, a center, who added 19 points as he had 7 goals and 12 assists in his 74 games. The continuity between Faksa and Suter will be another story to watch unfold as the seasons skates on.
We will see some history made when the regular season begins in St. Louis. Brothers, Mathieu and Pierre-Oliver Joseph were both added in the offseason and will become just the 7th pair of Blues to play for the Blues at one time. Last season, Mathieu, a right wing, for the Ottawa Senators, appeared in 72 games scoring 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points. Meanwhile, the defenseman, Pierre-Oliver, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, skated in 52 games with 2 goals and 19 assists for 11 points.
To close out the offseason acquisitions the Blues would tally two additional Phillip Borberg and Dylan Holloway, both from the Edmonton Oilers, on August 20th. The Oilers waived their rights to match the offer sheets. Broberg skated in 12 games with 3 assists while Holloway appeared in 28 games with 6 goals and 3 assists for 9 points. In the Stanley Cup Final, both would see action in all games as Broberg would have a goal and assist each for 2 points and Holloway would build on with 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points.
We would see a return of right-wing Kasperi Kapanen rejoined the Blues. Kapanen, a resource last season, would score 6 goals along with 16 assists for 22 points. Moreover, he would skate in 73 games while providing vital minutes for the above-mentioned strong finish the the season.
Home Sweet Home
When you see the Blues on your schedule on the road teams will, or should cringe, as this is a daunting task. To further this point, the Blues were 25-14-2 inside the Enterprise Center in 2024. The 25 wins were a share of the 10th best in the NHL. In these games, the Blues scored 52 points which notched them a share of 12th best in the NHL.
In the 41 home games, St. Louis had an average of 2.85 goals per game which is quite impressive. The stellar defense and goalie play would finish the Blues at 13th best in the league to close 2023-24. With this St. Louis would also perform well in penalty kill situations at their friendly confines as they finished 12th best with an 81.1% rate.
Leading the Blues at home was Robert Thomas. The star center had 14 goals and 32 assists, for 46 points, which was 19th best in the NHL As good as this team was at home they were equally bad on the road. With an 18-19-4 record, this will need to improve for a more successful season in St Louis.
Longevity Builds Success
As we mentioned, this is the 57th season of Blues hockey, and with this comes great leadership. Moreover, with this leadership, there needs to be longevity which in most cases will build sustained success. The General Manager of the Blues, Doug Armstrong, embodies this as he is now just 46 games shy of 1500 career games. Armstrong, the longest-tenured GM in the NHL, took over as GM starting in the 2010-11 season and has led the Blues on a successful run as he has a 601-364-112 record which is also the 5th most wins in that span.
In addition to the front office, this longevity is widespread across the roster. We start in the pipes with veteran goalie, Jordan Binnington. The star goalie enters 2024 on the brink of history in the pipes. With his 1st game of the season, Binnington will move into 3rd on the all-time franchise list in games played. With his 289 games, he would pass Curtis Joseph and tie Jake Allen.
He{Binnington} will find himself at the top with his 7th win of the 2024 season as he will be the winningest goalie in history with 152 wins. In addition, Binningotn will also match Joseph, for 2nd all-time in games started with 275, with his 2nd start of the season. In what was the 2nd best season, in wins, of his career, with 28, Bennington looks to continue to climb. His career best, in 2019-20, of 30 is very achievable in 2024.
For the first time in franchise history, in 2023-24, the Blues had 7 players, or more, dress all 82 games. This would also mark the 21st time in NHL history this has occurred as the Blues would see
Light The Lamp
A story we are watching is more listening. We want to hear the horn of a GOAL! When this happens first for the Blues they are extremely effective. With this, the Blues were 33-4-2 which was 7th best in the NHL in 2023-24. In addition to this, the Blues were the last team to not have a loss of any kind when scoring first as they were 12-0 before this occurred.
Speaking of scoring the Blues were also effective in shorthanded situations To further this point, we would see 215 shorthanded times on the ice in 2023-24. This would finish 2nd behind Vegas with 213 on the season. With this, the Blues would see 11 shorthanded goals which shared 4th best in the league. This is the most for the team since they would see 11 in the 2002-03 season. The Blues would finish with a record of 35-5-1 when scoring at least 3 goals a game in 2023-24. This stat does not include any short-handed goals either.
Scoring is always important but putting added pressure on the opponent early in the game will be a stat we will watch closely this season.
Let’s Drop The Puck
As of the writing of this article, the Blues are in their preseason slate of games, They would begin the season, on September 21st, against the Stars at American Airlines Center. The final would be a Stars 2-1 win. In the second game, the following night, on the 22nd, the Blues would fall, 5-3, at the Hockey Club of Utah. The Blues will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, September 25th, with a 6 pm puck drop.
Following the Columbus game the Blues will finish the preseason slate with these opponents, times{Central}, and locations. All games can be stemmed on the Blues website and mobile app.
September 28 – Chicago Black Hawks – 6 pm Enterprise Center
October 1 – Columbus – 7 pm – Enterprise Center
October 3 – Dallas – 7 pm Enterprise Center
October 5 – at Chicago – 7 pm – Fiserv Forum {Milwuakee, WI}
We will have much more on the Blues, their players, coaches, and organization as they continue their season.
