St. Louis Blues, Steve Ott Visiting First Niagara Center
By Tim Redinger
The St. Louis Blues are in town, bringing back former Buffalo Sabres captain Steve Ott for his first visit back to Buffalo since being traded.
While the Buffalo Sabres are excited they have snapped their historic fourteen game losing streak, putting two in a row is going to be a tall challenge. The St. Louis Blues come into tonight’s game winners of their last six contests, and 9-0-1 in their last ten games. They sit comfortably in third place in the Western Conference, and could find themselves tied for second with another win, as the two top teams in the West (Anaheim and Nashville) face each other tonight. A Blues win and a regulation end to that other game ties the Blues with the second place team.
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Bleedin' Blue
While certainly there will be plenty of media buzz surrounding the return of Steve Ott, the St. Louis Blues are much more than just that.
They are getting by without key players in their lineups due to injury, the most noteworthy Kevin Shattenkirk, their All-Star defenseman. The Blues aren’t too concerned with him being out of the lineup, and for right now, are happy filling his role by committee, and not adding another player to the roster.
Blues management however, might want to be taking notes when the team faces off tonight, as the Buffalo Sabres are selling, and they might have a defenseman or two that can shore up the blue line committee for a playoff push, depending on how the Shattenkirk surgery goes.
St. Louis needs to be careful, because too many injuries can derail the success of any team, and their hard nosed style of play has bodies starting to pile up on the walking wounded list.
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It hasn’t seemed to really affect the St. Louis Blues right now. Their recent success goes beyond just the 9-0-1 ten game stretch, they currently have points in their last 12 games, going 11-0-1 as arguably the hottest team in the National Hockey League.
Success in the regular season is great, but the ultimate goal of this franchise is success in the post season, as the franchise is looking for the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. You might want to compare the St. Louis Blues to the Buffalo Bills. They had three straight Stanley Cup Finals appearances from 1968-1970, interestingly enough their only appearances in the Finals and in the first three seasons of existence in the NHL, without a win. They were swept each time, twice by the Canadiens (1968 and 1969) and once by the Bruins (1970).
Their first victory in the final came in their fourth trip to the Stanley Cup, when they lost 4-1 to the Colorado Avalanche.
Will Vladimir Tarasenko and Zemgus Girgensons get in another foot race? Who wins outside of the All-Star Skills competition?