Blues Fans’ Existential Victory at the White House
This story first appeared in the Oct. 17, 2019 edition of the St. Louis Game Time paper. For more information or to subscribe, email gtbradlee@gmail.com
I couldn’t stop smiling on Tuesday. Yes, the whole thing was all too chummy with the rich, old, white guys. The jokes were bad, the Laila hug was painfully awkward, Jaden was called Jason, and Chief’s last name was mispronounced. And, to be clear, I despise not just the man who was running the show, but all those who came before him, all those who will come after, and the very institution of power they represent. They make me sick.
But having names mispronounced and getting used for publicity by kleptocrats are things that only happen to champions. Come what may, any fleeting moment I can remind myself — or can be reminded — that the St. Louis Blues won the damn Stanley Cup is a moment in which I’m going to smile. And my smile will be a victory, whatever the cold, evil circumstances.
Five thoughts while trying to smile as long as I can.
1. Stats-wise, it’s been a rough start to the season.
It doesn’t matter because nothing matters anymore; the Blues won the Cup. But through six games, the Blues’ expected goals percentage (at 5-on-5) is an atrocious 39.33 percent. That’s 30th in a league of 31 teams.
The prevailing narrative is that the defense is lagging. That’s true: It’s giving up the 4th-most scoring chances in the league. Craig Berube will have things cleaned up soon. Eliminating scoring chances against is, after all, what got this same group into the playoffs last year and if memory serves, they made a fairly deep run. However, the offense has been just as bad, producing the third-worst rate of scoring chances per 60 minutes. (All stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com.)
Shit happens in the first six games of the season, but we should get a solid indication of what this team is over the next five, which include games against two great teams, two middling ones, and one bad team.
2. It’s getting late early for Robby Fabbri.
I watch him and I can see the guy who lit up opposing teams as a rookie, but the numbers just aren’t there. Ten minutes per game isn’t much, of course, but he’s got zero points, is an RFA at the end of the season, and the Blues are in a cap crunch. Sammy Blais’ hot start makes Fabbri even more expendable, Mackenzie MacEachern is not waiver-eligible, and the one team that always seemed interested in Fabbri (Ottawa) is probably looking for guys who are 20 and 21 years old, not 23.
3. That’s the age rebuilding teams should be looking for. The harsh truth is, 23 isn’t all that young.
The Q-and-A feature with Doug Armstrong that appeared in The Athletic last week had all kinds of interesting nuggets that reveal how the GM thinks, especially when it comes to aging. “Where we’re at in our organization right now, we have a lot of players from 25–30 that are in the real guts of their career,” Armstrong said. “These players in their mid-20s, 26, 27, 28, 29 … they have a number of years left.”
It makes sense for him to believe that, and technically, he’s right: Players in their mid-20s do have a number of years left in the league. But as hockey gets faster, players’ prime ages are dropping quickly. Nowadays, 22–26 is the sweet spot. After that, production seems to decline. The best days for Alex Pietrangelo, Brayden Schenn, Justin Faulk, and even Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly are likely behind them. Not to mention Alexander Steen.
This was funny, too: “It’s our responsibility as an organization — to Schenn and Tarasenko and O’Reilly and Pietrangelo and Parayko — to support that group. They’ve done everything we’ve asked over the last five or six years to be a very competitive team,” Armstrong said. Sure is a far cry from November 20, 2018, when he said, “The core group’s equity that built up is gone.”
4. Jay Bouwmeester’s goal in Ottawa matched his goal total from the entire second half of last year, including the playoffs.
Good for him. I can’t believe I’m saying this, and it’s sure not to last, but he actually looks a step quicker than usual.
5. Farewell to the Redbirds; it’s officially hockey season in St. Louis.
One team flamed out miraculously in the playoffs. The other gutted its way to a championship. Pretty cool to have the Blues on the good end of that one. Even so, it seemed like the Cardinals’ short but sweet postseason run dwarfed the attention the Blues’ run to the Cup got. Once a baseball town, always a baseball town, I suppose.
If you enjoyed this story — and even if you didn’t — you should check out my book, Ticketless: How Sneaking Into The Super Bowl And Everything Else (Almost) Held My Life Together.
