NHL Season 2020: Will The Blues Repeat History?

When any teams enter a new tournament, they don't enter with what happened in the previous tournament. All teams try to make a new start. No matter how good or bad the previous tournament was every team tries to focus on current matches. 

So, now we don't have to discuss how good Blues played in the previous tournament. We are going to find out if the blues have what is required to win this year's tournament.

Before jumping to conclusions let us first see what stats are all about because stats never lie. Blues currently stand at number six in the NHL Power ranking. The sixth rank is good, it defines that team is doing good currently.

Now let us see some practical reasons why or why not blues can repeat what they did last season.

Reasons why blue won't be able to defend the title:

It will be a tough test for the Blues this season if they want to repeat. Before this season only a few times, the title was defended in the NHL since 1990 that was done by Pittsburgh Penguins in the year 2016 and 2017. Before that, it was done by Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. But before 1990, winning the title became easier as they had fewer teams and less competition. Now the competition is nail-biting and very tough to defend the title.

The team has to play hockey extremely well throughout the season and prepare for the tournament beforehand. But now teams are a bit out of action, so it will be difficult to gain back the momentum and start from where they left. For the Blues, it will be challenging to make it to the playoffs first then to do well in the knockout stages.

The vital reason the Blues won't repeat the same is that they played some magical hockey last season. They were almost out, but they made few changes somehow they managed to make it to the playoffs. They played very well and won 10 matches in a row. It was one of the best winning streaks of the NFL which is hard to repeat. Now can you say they would be so good this time as well to pull off a great performance consistently?

Now let us take a look at the players and their forms. Jordan Binnington played a huge role in the blues in winning the tournament. Now he was at the peak of his form last season. It was almost like a dream run which is nearly impossible to repeat. Now after such a long and unexpected break it will take time for him to get back into the form. So maybe he won't be able to deliver as he did before still, he will be a vital performer for the blues.

The reasons why blues still have a great chance to win the title this year as well: 

So far in the history of NFL teams who have won a season has done well in the upcoming season as well. Since the 1990s, the teams who have won the season have done average well in the next season as well.

If we look at the blues we don't see the star players or blues aren't those teams who you think is the best team on the paper. This suggests that blues aren't heavily dependent on a few players, but they play like a team. For winning any tournament it is important to know your strength, weakness, and role to play in the team. So if you play any tournament as a team you will surely do well and even can go on to win the tournament. This was also mentioned by Ryan in the NFL Awards: "It took us a while to come together and find that identity. But once we did, we became a team that was very tough to play against." 

Hockey is a game that requires solid planning and execution. They are truly blessed to have a mastermind like Craig Berube. Now all you can ask after a brilliant coach is a good goalie. Currently, Jake Allen is their new goalie who is talented and can replace Steve Ott who has signed for Red Wings. The Blues also has Carter Hutton as a backup goalie. Good coach and goalie make 60% of the winning recipe.

Now to complete the recipe they have the best defense. For the last few years, their defense has always been in the top three best defense of the tournament. So, in short, they have all that is needed for them to win a tournament.