Blues fans got their holiday wish. And, no, it wasn’t a game-worn, blood-stained Tony Twist sweater left under the tree by Santa.
Hockey is coming back. Training camp will kick off the New Year and games will begin on Jan. 13.
The NHL is plowing forth with plans for a 56-game regular season with divisional play only. There are still key details to address, such as deciding where the Canadian teams will play if provincial protocols force them from their home rinks.
Fans probably won’t attend games at Enterprise Center early on, but perhaps we’ll see Louie cheerfully administering vaccinations before the winter is done.
At some point some fans will be able to chant “Let’s go Blues!” in person.
Ignoring basic geography, the NHL decided to keep the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Stars in the reconfigured Central Division and move the Blues westward instead.
So the Blues will play most road games in later time zones — causing fans to stock up on energy drinks — but the one-time realignment will also give them a clear path to postseason play.
So the Note will take the good with the bad.
The Colorado Avalanche will be heavy favorites in the newly configured West Division. Nathan MacKinnon and Co. rolled last season despite absorbing significant injury hits.
By adding 20-goal scorer Brandon Saad to their second forward line and puck-mover Devon Toews to their already impressive defensive corps, the ‘Lanche look like a good bet to play for the Stanley Cup.
Does anybody want to see Stan Kroenke hoist the sacred chalice over his skull tarp? Of course not, but his icemen could be special this season. Steel yourself just in case.
Beyond that, the West Division looks less imposing than the East and North Divisions, which each have six playoff-caliber teams.
The Vegas Golden Knights will be good. They lured Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo to The Strip, but doing so forced No. 2 center Paul Stastny and top four defenseman Nate Schmidt out the door for salary cap reasons.
Now they are weak down the middle — and they still have cap concerns, which is why forward Max Pacioretty saw his name in trade rumors again.
The Blues are clearly on par with the Golden Knights and they look far better on paper than the rest of the division teams.
The San Jose Sharks fell hard last season, finishing 29-36-5 one year after they rolled to their postseason showdown with the Blues.
They needed to upgrade their goaltending, but they added fading veteran Devan Dubnyk instead of somebody good. They needed to get younger, but instead they swapped out one old guy (Joe Thornton) for another (Patrick Marleau).
The Sharks should be better this year because, well, it’s hard to imagine them playing any worse than they did last season.
The Minnesota Wild are rebuilding. The arrival of top prospect Karill Kaprizov gives the lineup a jolt, but trading Eric Staal for Marcus Johansson left the Wild soft at center.
Expect more trades to come, since general manager Bill Guerin wants to refresh his roster with prospects. Defenseman Matt Dumba could become an especially attractive piece to move before the trade deadline.
The Arizona Coyotes are rebuilding. Former Blues executive Bill Armstrong has his hands full retooling that cash-strapped franchise. He has an effective coach in Rick Tocchet, an acolyte of Blues coach Craig Berube, but the team has tens of millions sunk into post-prime players.
The ‘Yotes could move some veterans to contenders as rental players this season. That list includes center Derek Stepan, goaltender Antti Raanta and defensemen Alex Goligoski and Niklas Hjarmalsson.
The Anaheim Ducks are rebuilding. They played a bunch of young guys last season and felt agonizing growing pains during their 29-33-9 campaign. They should be better this season, but how much better?
Goaltender John Gibson gives them a chance to win any game, but none of their forward prospects rose to scoring-line caliber last season.
The Los Angeles Kings are rebuilding. Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick, Dustin Brown and Jeff Carter are the proud holdovers from their Stanley Cup runs, but the Kings are overdue to segue into their next era.
While the Blues must regroup after losing team leaders Jay Bouwmeester, Alexander Steen and Pietrangelo in a short span, they certainly do not have to rebuild.
Their only question mark is in goal, where prospect Ville Husso replaced Jake Allen as Jordan Binnington’s understudy. General manager Doug Armstrong should maintain some salary cap flexibility in case he must pursue a Plan B.
Fans are eager for the start of training camp to see how newcomer Torey Krug fits into the power play. They want to see if young forwards Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou can provide more scoring and whether newcomer Kyle Clifford can earn Berube Points in a checking role.
And they just want to see hockey again, even in a strange and truncated regular season. One way or another we’ll get to compelling playoff hockey in 2021 and a belated return to normalcy for anxious fans.
