What looked at the time to be a start to the schedule that could have resembled a swift kick in the shin became something else entirely for the Blues.
They returned home from their lengthy trip in possession of six points in the standings, and an overflowing amount of optimism.
It’s the best souvenir patient fans could have asked for as they awaited a belated home opener that will represent the first real game without any pandemic-caused crowd size restrictions since the pandemic’s before times.
Yes, you will need your vaccination card or a negative COVID test to get into the building. And yes, you will have to wear a mask. But if those reasons are keeping you away, well, your allegiance to your team might be in question.
The Blues’ season-opening westward expansion went from sharing team-bonding beers in Vail, to beating the Colorado team that knocked the Blues out of last season’s playoffs. Down went those pesky Coyotes in the desert. Same for the powerful Golden Knights in Las Vegas in a thrilling, tense game. Coach Craig Berube’s Blues are rolling, and Enterprise Center should be rocking Saturday night when the blue carpet rolls out for the Kings.
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Finally. Thankfully.
Of all the sports I covered without fans or with limited fans during the COVID-19 pandemic, I don’t think any sport suffered in terms of an experience altered more than Blues hockey. Something about being inside a mostly empty building made it quieter than surreal outdoor college football and Major League Baseball. And something about the building being cold made it even more sterile than quiet college basketball.
Even when limited crowds grew, you couldn’t help but see all of those empty rows. The NHL is not out of the woods completely, as evidenced by new Blues forward Brandon Saad’s recent positive COVID test, but fortunately vaccines have allowed the sport’s beating heart to return to the arenas. Already fans are making a big difference.
“Players really appreciate it,” defenseman Justin Faulk said. “I don’t think we took it for granted, but not having fans in the building was probably a little bit of a wake-up call for some guys. How much they are appreciated. How much energy they bring. How much more fun they make the games.”
The 3-0 Blues have set the stage for some party Saturday night.
Jordan Binnington is sharp. Forget the small sample size stats. If you stayed up late enough to watch the win in Vegas, you saw it. He stopped 42 of 43 shots. Playoff mode.
“He’s been ‘Binner,’” forward David Perron said. “I know he’s allowed some goals in the first and second games, but they were kind of goals when the games were over, in my opinion. He made some unbelievable saves in both of those games, and in Vegas. Pretty good goaltending matchup last game, and he came out on top.”
Jordan Kyrou is thriving. The skilled speedster has seven points (two goals, five assists) through three games. Some context: Alex Ovechkin has eight points in four.
Vladimir Tarasenko is invested. He’s helping his team and helping his trade value. That’s a win-win. He said judge him by his actions not his agents’ offseason words, and his actions on the ice say he’s playing hard, showing effort on defense and hunting for shots. His willingness to stick his nose into old friend Alex Pietrangelo’s scrap with Brayden Schenn in Vegas was a great sign. For the Blues and whatever other teams might be keeping tabs on No. 91.
Colton Parayko’s healed back so far is a non-story, which is a positive as big as Parayko is tall.
The baby Blues are blooming. Kyrou is 23 years old. Klim Kostin, like Robert Thomas, is 22, and he’s playing with the physicality Berube wanted to see from him. Jake Neighbours won’t turn 20 until late March. Of the 31 NHL rookies who have notched a point this season, three (Kostin, Neighbours and Jake Walman) are Blues.
The Blues have shown encouraging flashes of having the blend of physicality and speed they spent a lot of time since the pandemic’s start chasing unsuccessfully. Their depth is decent and that is important with the Saad news and the brief suspension created by Pavel Buchnevich’s foolish headbutt.
Berube likes what he sees, cautiously of course.
“An identity doesn’t get formed in three games,” he warned. “It takes time. Work to do.”
Home work. The Blues went 12-11-5 at home last season compared to 15-9-4 on the road. Home-ice advantage should be restored as Enterprise regains its roar.
“Our guys are going to feel energy and emotion, for sure, with the fans and what’s going on there,” Berube said. “It’s just important to stay with it. Don’t let something that happens in the game that is a negative in the game affect you. It seemed like to me, last year, at home, when something negative happened, it really affected us.”
That’s where a sellout crowd can get back to helping this exciting Blues team. It can lift up. It can propel.
Welcome home, and welcome back.