The St. Louis Blues are second in the Western Conference—two points behind Central Division rival Detroit—but the team had just one representative in Sunday’s NHL All-Star Game.
And that is perfectly all right.
Since Ken Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne as the team’s head coach in November, the Blues have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL. We’ve seen this before from the Blues: Last year, the team spent the early part of the season ranked No. 1 in several online power rankings before falling apart in the spotlight of success and failing to make the playoffs.
That's unlikely to happen under Hitchcock, but the coach isn’t the only reason why. The Blues are outstanding in the net and play as a true team, which is why nobody should have a beef with the team's lack of numbers at the All-Star Game. The Blues don’t have that one superstar, but what they do have is a squad that plays well together and is learning how to sustain success.
It helps when you have two starting-caliber goaltenders having career years. Jaroslav Halák was supposed to be the everyday goalie, and he’s played well. Halak has a 2.04-goals-against average—ranking sixth in the NHL—and set a new personal best for most consecutive shutout minutes, reaching 164 minutes and 38 seconds during the January 21 game against Buffalo.
Halak’s play has been overshadowed by Brian Elliott, a fifth-year player who is on his third team. Elliott is shedding that journeyman tag and has outplayed Halak so well that it was Elliott donning the Note on his shoulder at the All-Star Game in Ottawa. Elliott didn’t play that well, surrendering six goals in Team Chara’s 12-9 win over Team Alfredsson. That was out of character for Elliott, who leads the NHL in both save percentage (.938) and goals-against average (1.69). In 23 games, Elliott has already matched his career high with five shutouts. He set that mark in the 2009-10 season, when he appeared in 55 games.
Let’s just hope that Elliott’s All-Star outing doesn’t hurt his confidence. As well as Elliott and Halak are playing, the Blues are set up for the long haul—even without an All-Star skating around the ice.
