It's still a big if.
An if as big as the Mississippi is wide, and somehow even muddier.
But maybe, just maybe, the Blues will get their chance.
Bet on them making the most of it if they do.
And if they don't?
Well, they will be their league's unfortunate winner of what-if.
Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke recently made a compelling argument that the Lakers were the NBA team with the most to lose if the pandemic cancels what was left of this coronavirus-stalled season. LeBron James and his teammates were poised for a run that would have honored the late Kobe Bryant. Key players, including Anthony Davis, could be gone if the league shifts its focus to next season and stops searching for a way to resume this one.
The Lakers' championship window was wide open. This pandemic could have pulled it shut. Sounding familiar, St. Louis?
When there are no games to drive discussions, the sports world turns to ranking stuff. We fight about Jordan vs. James. We build countless Mount Rushmores of _ insert sport or team here. We are almost out of options, but there's one left. It's grim. We can find the teams most heavily punished by this pandemic.
The Lakers lead the NBA.
The NCAA basketball debate ended as soon as March Madness was canceled. Dayton, prepared for a rare run thanks to superstar Obi Toppin, will go down as the lost tournament's most painful what-if.
Good luck finding an NHL team that would feel the sting of a missed Stanley Cup playoffs more than the defending champion Blues.
The champs no one saw coming were in the midst of a title defense the so-called hockey experts once again failed to foresee. The Blues weren't supposed to win it all last season, and they were supposed to be one-and-done after they did. But Craig Berube's team was 42-19-10 with a lead of at least two points over every other team in the Western Conference when hockey stopped suddenly on March 12. The Blues had won 10 of their last 12 before the shutdown, averaging three-plus goals per game during that span while holding opponents to 1.75 goals per game. Since the Blues hit their championship stride in January 2019, they have the most regular and postseason wins (88) of any NHL team. Their second-best winning percentage (.673) during that time trails only the Boston Bruins (.697), the team the Blues beat in the seventh game of last season's Stanley Cup Finals, the team the Blues seemed destined to collide with once again.
Now consider what the Blues had coming. No other team made a trade-deadline addition that would have had the impact of Vladimir Tarasenko's return. The two-time All-Star had averaged just less than a goal every other game for the past five seasons before a shoulder injury limited him to three games. Think he would have made up for lost time?
Now consider what the Blues could lose. They will not fall apart if the season does not resume. It's Blues general manager Doug Armstrong's job to keep the momentum rolling, but replicating this team would be impossible, just as cloning last year's championship team was impossible. That team saw key contributors Patrick Maroon and Joel Edmundson depart. This one could see the captain sail away. Big difference.
If the Blues do find common ground with pending unrestricted free agent Alex Pietrangelo on an extension, it means someone else will have to go. Perhaps more. And then there's the looming expansion draft that will ship someone to Seattle.
It's the combination of it all _ the newness of the Blues' rise as true championship contenders, the precariousness of any championship window in a salary-cap league, Tarasenko's chance to be an X-factor, Pietrangelo's hazy future _ that makes the idea of seeing everything wiped away so, well, unfair.
Leave it to Armstrong to check me for whining.
"I don't think the hockey gods have pinpointed St. Louis in some fashion," the general manager said. "I don't feel any different than, I imagine, all of the teams that want to play. Every year, you try to put yourself in a good spot. We did it again this year. But we are no different than Tampa Bay, Boston, Toronto or teams that think they have a chance to win."
Encouraging signs seem to be appearing more often. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking during a recent NHL Network appearance, said the league would be willing to delay the start of next season by two months if it meant this season could be completed. Optimists hope players could be returning to small group workouts this month. Team workouts and a training camp would follow before games (without fans) could start. Whether that would mean the remainder of the regular season, or a jump straight into the playoffs has not yet been determined. Teams and players will have to reach an agreement. So will health experts and politicians.
Until then, it's hard to imagine another team having more to lose than the Blues, which would be the same reason to bet on them to win big again if they get the chance to come back.
