Blues and Bruins prove that there is no blueprint for the championship



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And to say that in early January, the interest of the Rangers was stung by rumors of St. Louis that Vladimir Tarasenko would become available if the Bleus published their own version of The Letter and proceeded to a facelift.

Two weeks after 2019, the Rangers were ahead of St. Louis in the overall standings and, for the Duck, a little out of the game, so much so that the October, November and December games are crucial to the playoff race. Let's just leave it for ever, can we please?

But before Blues general manager Doug Armstrong could line up his veterans in the same way as Blueshirts general manager Jeff Gorton, St. Louis had won three straight and then 4-2-1 out of seven, then won 11 victories in a row. Tarasenko was definitely not available and the Blues were no longer in demolition mode.

The lesson of this intriguing Boston-St. The final match of the Louis Cup is that there is no simple approach to build a finalist. The lesson is: no, teams do not have to go the extra mile to climb the mountain: the Blues' last pick among the top five in 2008, the Bruins in 2010.

Since John Davidson was appointed General Manager in 2010, he has not felt that Armstrong's approach to the Blues has been managed. He traded T.J. Oshie at age 29 at the Capitals after seven seasons as a pivot at St. Louis. He allowed David Backes, captain of the team, to go to the Bruins free agency in 2016 at age 32, after 10 years spent in the blue ticket. He traded Kevin Shattenkirk at 28 for a futures contract after seven years on the blue line of the Blues.

Jordan Binnington
Jordan Binnington celebrates blue before the Stanley Cup final.Getty Images

This may be the lesson: no matter how good you are, you do not pay for past services. Maybe the Blues are a little what the Rangers would have become if they had not extended Dan Girardi in 2014 and instead of trading Ryan Callahan (plus a pair of premieres) in Tampa Bay vs. Martin St. Louis at the deadline, had exchanged their rights. 24 in San José for some rough drafts.

Of course, in doing so, the Rangers made their way to the final, where the Blues are. In doing so, the Blues won in mid-season – after a coaching change from Mike Yeo to Craig Berube, but before the promotion of 25-year-old rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington, who could become Ken Dryden or Steve Penney.

So, the lesson to remember: do not be sentimental and hope for an ultimate decision in mid-season to summon the goalkeeper who was fourth on the organizational depth chart?

The final selection of the Blues in the top five was Alex Pietrangelo, fourth overall in 2008. Tyler Seguin, second behind Taylor Hall in 2010, was the Bruins' last choice. In Boston, David Pastrnak took the 25th place pretty well with Jake DeBrusk 14th in 2015, despite the absence of Mat Barzal and Kyle Connor, and Charlie McAvoy's 14th-place win in 2016.

But the Bruins, a collaborative effort developed over time by General Managers Mike O'Connell, Peter Chiarelli and his current occupant Don Sweeney, as well as by Interim General Manager Jeff Gorton for a critical period in 2006, are largely a creation of Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask, Brad Marchand and David Krejci. It's a veteran operation.

The lessons to be learned from Boston are therefore to win the best signature as an independent agent of the cape era at Chara, to draw a Hall of Fame Center to the 45th rank of the total at Bergeron and to Have good goalkeepers.

There is a skill and a physical element on both sides. There is nothing new in the teams that need to win pucks to win playoff games. The Bruins and Blues are not necessarily new era teams. Their presence in the finals, however, is proof that there is more than one way to achieve this – more than to sink into the bottom, to miss the tournament for years, then to proclaim that ### There is a good way to do this after the playoffs or win a round for the first time in a decade.

The right way is the one that works.


St. Louis is the sentimental favorite in this series, having never won the Cup since entering the NHL in 1967-68. But unless the Blues find a way to undermine Rask's supreme confidence, the rest of the continent will have to undergo a new championship show in Boston.

Bruins on seven.

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