Sunday, May 26, 2019

NHL Stanley Cup (Not a really long boring NHL post).

St. Louis v Boston
Game One, Monday May 27, 2019

The Puck hits the ICE in about 24 hours from now for Game One of the NHL Stanley Cup.

This year, it's the St. Louis Blues vs the Boston Bruins. Games one and two are on Boston home ice.

In past years, I wrote more often during the playoff series. This year, I kind of lost interest after some of my favorite teams were eliminated early on. The Penguins, NY Islanders, Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Preds, the Washington Caps (last year's Champ) and the Columbus Blue Jackets...I thought they'd make it further than they did.

Click image to enlarge.

The interesting development with St. Louis is that for most of the season, they ranked last, or second to last. St. Louis started 2018 Pre-Season games (see September 30 image #4) in the Number Two slot! Soon into regular season, they sank. They couldn't get anything right and wins were scattered. The Blues got a few things going in January 2019, one being a win against the Caps. No one saw that coming. Their play in March started to simmer, their playing improved, they found a cohesive plan and strategy.

Still, the Blues struggled in the Second Round of playoffs against the Stars. They fought their way through and won. And I didn't expect the Blues to win their series against the Sharks.

Boston maintained solid play all season. They're going to be hard to beat, but considering how the Blues spun 180 degrees from looking like they had no chance of going anywhere against any team, they may pose more of a challenge than the Bruins see coming.

The Blues haven't been in a Cup game since 1970 - and coincidentally it was against the Bruins - and they've never won the Stanley Cup. Boston won The Cup in the 2010-2011 season and they have six Cups to their name.

The Blues have momentum and desire. The Bruins have history and a solid, well-played season. This should be a good series.

No comments: