Re: NHL 2015-16: John Scott for MVP!
Hopefully the team plays with the same kind of jump they had on Saturday tomorrow night, but our last five Games 6 don't have me brimming with confidence.
The Blues had a fine season, and you're to be congratulated on that. Hope others can bear with me while I express a Division Centric point of view.
The Central was tremendous this year; particularly the Stars, Blues and Blackhawks. Three Cup worthy clubs. But in the end, the divisional foes cannibalized each other. An arduous regular season race kept right on going through the first two rounds of the playoffs. And both of those series took a full seven games to resolve. You won that battle, and that is something to proud of.
But more than a Game 6 issue, the Blues never really had the energy and focus they displayed in the first two rounds. Fatigue mistakes kept cropping up. In hindsight, the strong Game 4 performance wasn't a turning point; call it an honorable last stand.
I also believe that Hitchcock-coached teams are somewhat prone to this. Everyone says they're going to outwork the opposition. But Hitch and his guys really mean it. Still, when the margin of victory is largely based on sheer effort and will, at some point in the long struggle... well, you get the idea.
See you this Fall. For obvious reasons I can't say good luck. But this season the Blues certainly earned our respect.
Back to a league-wide focus. Looking forward to tonight's Game 7, and of course the Finals.