The biggest turnaround in an NHL season that has been highlighted by several surprises has to be the play of the St. Louis Blues, which have transitioned from a team that appeared destined to miss the playoffs once again to a team seemingly destined to be among the top contenders in the Western conference. St. Louis struggled out of the gate with just two wins through its first six games, but has since turned things around, and become even stronger with the addition of head coach Ken Hitchcock behind the bench. The Blue have a ton of talent throughout their lineup but their biggest strength was also their biggest weakness as they were young and inexperienced. Hitchcock coming in helped stabilize that aspect of the team, and since then they have flourished among the most complete teams in the NHL.

It has to be noted that while Hitchcock’s presence has been among the biggest keys to the turnaround, it is not the only reason. St. Louis has allowed a league-low 1.9 average goals against per game, and the goaltending tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott has everything to do with that as well. Hitchcock’s system has his defenders collapse down low and clear out the rebounds in front of his goalies, but it is on them to make the first save. While both the forwards and defenseman have been responsible in their own end, Halak and Elliott have a combined save percentage of .928, and nine shutouts between them. Blues’ fans have been waiting on Halak to deliver for quite some time, and perhaps all it took was a little healthy competition with the addition of Elliott in the offseason. Both netminders have exceeded expectations, and having two capable goalies has been among the keys to St. Louis’ success, something the pay head bookies have taken notice of.

General manager Doug Armstrong has told the media that he will not break up that tandem before the trade deadline in order to acquire players at other positions, and it is a good thing that he isn’t. St. Louis has some solid depth on the blue line and some capable forwards up front, and the more experience they get the better they will be able to handle pressure situations. David Backes leads all scorers with 37 points on the year, however the Blues could be in the market to add another scorer before the deadline if the price is right, since after Backes there is only one other player on the roster with more than 30 points. There is no shortage of options available with several teams looking to make a move to sell, and it might not be long until St. Louis makes a move to increase their odds of emerging from the conference on Betonline.

The Blues have a solid blend of youth and experience now thanks to Hitchcock, and as long as they continue to buy in to his system and execute they should be fine. St. Louis has been one of the biggest surprises this season as they currently sit fourth in the Western conference, and look for them to continue to execute down the stretch as legitimate sports betting contenders.