On February 20, the St. Louis Blues were an afterthought in the Western Conference playoff race. They sat in 15th place out of 15 teams in the conference, five points behind eighth-place Edmonton. It appeared to be just another non-playoff year for the Blues, who hadn't been to the postseason since before the lockout.What has happened to St. Louis since then is nothing short of incredible. They went on a 16-5-3 tear to end the regular season, and the Blues climbed nine spots in the Western Conference, finishing in sixth place.
Let that sink in for a moment. Over the span of 24 games, the Blues were able to pass nine teams in the conference standings, many of whom were playing pretty well.
Even if you discount St. Louis' efforts because of the seemingly endless number of overtime/shootout games down the stretch, you have to remember that other teams were benefiting from the extra points in those games, too.
While credit goes to John Davidson for his work in the draft, along with his decision not to trade Keith Tkachuk at the deadline, there need to be plenty of kudos saved for head coach Andy Murray.
It's one thing to handle a young team and nurture them to a decent season, but Murray managed to get his team to peak at the absolute perfect time, and then was able to coax a playoff berth out of what looked like a lost season. Not only should he be revered in St. Louis for his work, but Murray is, hands-down, the best candidate for the Jack Adams Award.
Last year, voters got it right when they selected Bruce Boudreau of the Capitals for the award. He didn't coach the whole season, but he took over a disaster of a Washington team and straightened them out.
What Murray did was a bit different. In some ways, it was more impressive. The floundering Blues open the playoffs Wednesday night at Vancouver, and they went on this run without the use of a superstar or an out-of-this-world goalie.
St. Louis might be a bit short on playoff experience, but this series is not going to be a cakewalk for the Canucks. Murray will use his veterans to help prepare the kids, and the Blues will make things very interesting.
I've said many times that coaches get too much of the blame when things go badly, and they also tend to get too much credit when they go well. This situation is no exception. Murray deserves to be honored, but his players need to get their share of the kudos, too. They played some magnificent hockey in these last two months, and they earned every point they got.
