They’ve done it! The St. Louis Blues have finally made the Stanley Cup Finals after a 49-year drought. This has been a roller coaster ride for all involved from the players, to the coaching staff and the whole city. St. Louis has been waiting a long time for the opportunity to play in the Stanley Cup Finals and now they have it.
St. Louis Blues Make the Stanley Cup Finals
Blues First Three Years in the League
The St. Louis Blues were established in the 1967-68 season. The Blues came in and didn’t disappoint. In their first three seasons, they won the division twice. Once in 1968-69 and another in 1969-70. They competed in the Stanley Cup Finals all three years. This team was lead by guys like Bob Plager, Red Berenson, and Al Arbour. They got swept in all three finals. The Montreal Canadiens swept the Blues in the first two seasons, and then got swept by the Boston Bruins in the third. The Blues had their chances to win a Stanley Cup but couldn’t get it done.
Blues vs Bruins
The St. Louis Blues last finals appearance was in 1970 against the Boston Bruins. The Bruins won the series in the form of a sweep. Bobby Orr scored the famous winning goal in the cup finals. 49 years later the Blues make another Stanley Cup Finals appearance and it’s against the same team that swept them in 1970, the Boston Bruins. This is the Bruins third finals appearance in nine years and they won it all in 2011. If the Bruins want to win their sixth Stanley Cup, Tuukka Rask needs to continue his dominance and if the power play continues to be what it has been. If the Blues want to win, Jordan Binnington needs to plat at the level of what he did from game three and one of the Sharks series. They also desperately need the power play to do some damage and get right. They also need to continue to shut down the power play for the other team and maybe be even better on the penalty kill.
Playoff Stats
These two teams have had two great regular season battles. They split the season series at one so if you look at that it will be close. The Blues have a playoff record of 12-7 and the Bruins have a playoff record of 12-5. Both teams have scored the same amount of goals in the playoffs with 57. The Bruins score a little more goals per game at 3.35 while the Blues average 3.0 goals per game. The Blues have allowed 48 goals, a 2.53 GAA, and the Bruins have allowed 33 goals, a 1.94 GAA. The Blues haven’t been good at all on the power play although they got a little better toward the end of the Sharks series. They have a 19.4 power play percentage while the Bruins are 34 percent on the power play. Both teams have been really good on the penalty kill but the Bruins are almost ten percentage points ahead of the Blues. The Bruins are 86.3 percent on the penalty kill while the Blues are at 78 percent. These two teams are identical by their style of play. The Bruins can bring the physicality and can roll all four lines just like the Blues. The depth for the four teams has been what propelled this team this far. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning have earned more points since January first then these two teams.
Last Word
This is a rematch years in the making. 1970 has been a long time for the St. Louis Blues and they finally made it. Boston and St. Louis sports have had their battles over the years. The Blues are the only sport in St. Louis history that hasn’t won a championship and they want to change that this year. It’s not over yet. Yes the Blues had a great comeback and they made the finals, but there are still four more wins to capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
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