The St. Louis Blues are off to one of their best starts in franchise history and are hanging out at the top of the Western Conference. Despite their winning ways, the Central Division remains a pretty close race.
Prior to any action on Friday, the Blues sit at the top of the Central with 33 points.
Trailing the Blues are the:
Jets (29 points)
Predators (28 points)
Avalanche (23 points)
Blackhawks (23 points – Too funny)
Wild (23 points)
Stars (23 points)
Realistically, every team is still in the hunt. Even giving the Blackhawks a bit of grief, they too are still within striking distance even though the Blues have had a historic start.
As the Blues start to play more of their divisional foes, the standings could tighten up in a hurry. That’s a fact the Blues are well aware of, especially considering that the Central seems to win almost every night they play.
Stastny, via STLToday:
“I look at the standings and every team in the Central always wins. You know what I’m saying? It seems the team with the worst record in our division is still somehow .500.”
The idea of being .500, or just over .500, isn’t that significant in hockey due to the overall point structure of the NHL and the charity point in overtime. That being said, the Central is still a tight race.
If you think the Central is the best division in the NHL, Jake Allen agrees with your opinion.
“I think we probably have if not the toughest, one of the toughest divisions in hockey. And just to make the playoffs it’s hard for any of us. It’s going to be a real test.”
After their hot start, it’d be a failure of massive proportions if the Blues were to miss the playoffs. Let’s not even think of such a scenario.
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