The NHL is an utter mess these days.
COVID-19 has depleted rosters across the league and forced postponements. Tighter Canadian pandemic protocols complicated matters, due to restrictions with border crossing and arena attendance.
Western Conference teams with postseason expectations — notably the Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers — have fallen into troublesome funks. And the Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks are in the midst of high-level management changes.
Against the chaotic backdrop the Blues appear locked in and ready to advance.
They have lost most of their key players to positive COVID tests at some point. They absorbed a slew of major injury hits as well.
Yet they went 9-2-3 in their last 14 games, banking valuable points while playing shorthanded.
That success will serve them well. So will the roster depth created during that span, when American Hockey League call-ups delivered sturdy performances.
Now they can move forward through the craziness with a stronger group that is better prepared to navigate the adversity.
And trust us, there will be plenty more adversity.
Tuesday brought more COVID-19 casualties in the NHL, headlined by Oilers superstar Connor McDavid missing practice after a positive test. Jake DeBrusk (Boston Bruins), Alex Tuch (Buffalo Sabres), Logan Couture (San Jose Sharks), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers), Ivan Provorov (Flyers) and David Savard (Montreal Canadiens) were among those landing in protocols.
Thursday’s game between the Ottawa Senators and Kraken in Seattle became the 91st game postponed. Only one NHL game has been made up so far and only one has been rescheduled.
The Blues had games at Ottawa and Toronto postponed last month, along with a home game against the New Jersey Devils when the NHL ordered its holiday pandemic pause.
This scramble has created a huge disparity in games played. The New York Islanders have only played 28 times while the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks played their 36th game Tuesday night.
The Blues will play their 34th game Wednesday in Pittsburgh, so they are in good shape. They have games later this month in Vancouver and Calgary and a Feb. 1 date at Montreal — and it sounds like the NHL wants those games played.
The league belatedly adjusted its roster and salary cap rules and reinstated taxi squads and make it easier for teams to promote replacements. It postponed some Canadian market games due to attendance restrictions, but that practice must end for the league to complete a full schedule on time.
“I think what we’ve done for the Canadian franchises, to this point, it contemplates postponements out through kind of the middle of January,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “That’s about as far as we can go. I don’t expect to see a lot of Canadian home dates further moved — I think we’re pretty much there.”
By bailing out of the Olympics, the NHL can use that schedule window to play makeup games. Daly is still confident teams will play 82 games without pushing back the league calendar further.
As it appears now, the Blues should avoid the scheduling crunch facing teams like the Islanders, Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins. Also, the fact they have make-up games to play should help keep them fresh through the looming schedule gap.
Too much down time can disrupt a team, as the Minnesota Wild showed with their sloppy loss to the Blues in the Winter Classic. On Thursday they will play just their fourth game since Dec. 12 — and they are 0-4-1 in their last five games.
“Hockey players need to play hockey not practice hockey,” Wild coach Dean Evason said after the Classic. “We’ve loved our practice. We practiced well. We got all our touches and that kind of stuff. But you get that rhythm of a season. We got some rust on us.”
The Oilers had four games postponed last month, and they have more coming this month. They have won just two games since Dec. 1 and their roster and scheduling changes make it harder to get back on track.
“It’s easy to play when you’re confident and winning, and it gets tougher when you’re going through something like this,” Oilers defenseman Cody Ceci said. “We’ve got guys in and out of the lineup, we’re not sure who’s playing, and it’s just a frustrating time.”
The Blues possess the confidence the Oilers lack. And after playing the streaking Penguins in Pittsburgh, they will return home for four games at Enterprise Center — where they are 12-3-2 this season.
They have an opportunity to sustain their roll while rivals sputter. They have a good team vibe going, their best since their 2019 Stanley Cup run.
Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas are breaking out. Vladimir Tarasenko is rediscovering his game and his joy. Colton Parayko is taking charge on the blue line and Jordan Binnington looks like Jordan Winnington again.
As coach Craig Berube is quick to point out, there is still much work to do. The biggest games aren’t played until the spring.
But heading into 2022 right now the Blues are flourishing as a settled team during one of the most unsettled times in NHL history.
