LETS GOOOOOO WE'RE BACK BABY! Can't win them all if you don't win the first.
https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/preview- ... =282288828
The St. Louis Blues will open the 2020-21 regular season against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 9:30 p.m. CT (NBCSN, NBC Sports App, 101 ESPN).
The matchup kicks off a two-game series against the Avalanche before the Blues return home to play four straight at Enterprise Center beginning with the Home Opener on Jan. 18 vs. San Jose.
"Once we see Colorado, we'll be all business and ready to go," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said after Sunday's Training Camp scrimmage at Enterprise Center.
The players - and the fans, for that matter - have waited more than four months to wash away the bitter taste of an early playoff exit last August. A first-round defeat by the Vancouver Canucks ended the Blues' bid to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
O'Reilly said the Blues will be more prepared this time, citing evidence that the team was skating together in St. Louis long before Training Camp opened on Jan. 3.
"I think we saw what happened in the bubble, kind of being under-prepared and we kind of didn't know what to expect," he said midway through camp. "I think we've done a really good job of everyone coming in and knowing that it's going to be a shortened camp. We're going right into it, there's going to be a ton of hockey. I just feel guys are mentally more prepared and obviously physically, too. I think the coaching staff trusts us. We have to be ready to go and I think we are. Now it's just finding the details in camp and fine-tuning everything. It's looked good so far. We have to keep going."
The Blues will play 56 games in a re-organized West Division in 2020-21. All regular-season games will be played against division opponents, and the top four teams in each of the League's divisions will qualify for the playoffs.
"We feel as a group we've had guys here training, skating, ready for the start of the season," added Brayden Schenn, who will serve as an assistant captain this season. "It can't take us 5-10 games to get into it because it's going to be a sprint right to the finish and it's going to be tough playing division games every single night."
WHAT'S CHANGED
BLUES: Torey Krug, Kyle Clifford and Mike Hoffman are new additions for the Blues. Krug and Clifford each signed in the offseason as free agents, while Hoffman was a late addition, signing a one-year contract Monday after participating in Training Camp as a pro tryout. With Jake Allen now in Montreal, Ville Husso will begin the season as Jordan Binnington's backup.
AVALANCHE: The Avalanche went 42-20-8 last season and might have presented a major obstacle to the Blues' chances to repeat in the playoffs if the teams had met. Key additions in the offseason for Colorado include forward Brandon Saad and defenseman Devon Toews. Forward Vladislav Namestnikov and defenseman Nikita Zadorov are notable departures.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES: Ryan O'Reilly leads a very deep group of forwards for St. Louis that includes Brayden Schenn, David Perron, Robert Thomas, Jaden Schwartz and Mike Hoffman in the Top-6.
AVALANCHE: When healthy, the Avalanche boast one of the best top lines in hockey with Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. The Blues will need to keep this line in check if they hope to collect a win or two on this season-opening road trip.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"We're ready. We want to play the games." - Craig Berube
"We're going to play Colorado eight times this year so we might as well start off with a challenge and get right into it." - Brayden Schenn
BLUE NOTES
The Blues and Avalanche split the season series in 2019-20 with the home team winning each game. Dating back to 2018-19, the Blues are 6-2-0 against Colorado… Nobody scored more goals against the Avalanche last season than David Perron (5)… Since joining the Blues in 2017-18, Schenn is one of just four NHL players with at least 180 points and 300 hits (Alex Ovechkin, Matthew Tkachuk, Gabriel Landeskog)… The Blues finished the regular season first in the Western Conference in 2019-20 with 94 points in 71 games.
GDT: St Louis Blues @ Colorado - 9:00 1/13 - TV:NBCSN Radio:101.1
1Just a Russian propaganda account
