One look at the NHL standings may leave you scratching your heads. The perennial playoff-missing Edmonton Oilers are 33-22-8 and have a solid hold on the third place slot in the Pacific Division. Are they Cup favorites? No. Do Oilers fans give a damn? No. Their team is about 100% sure to make the playoffs barring a catastrophic meltdown.
The Blues, on the other hand, are currently in the second wild card slot after a three game losing streak/bye week allowed the Nashville Predators to pass them in the Central Division standings. Only two points keep the Los Angeles Kings out of that spot.
To add salt to the wound, the Blues just sold power play quarterback Kevin Shattenkirk to the Washington Capitals at a rental’s price.
So what are the Blues doing? Do they know they’re supposed to be a playoff team? Are they content backing in this year after going to the Western Conference Finals last season? Do they know that they were never a true Cup favorite and are just focused kind of on the future, but not as much as they would truly like to be in order to halfway placate a fanbase?
Hell if we know.
The Oilers are wrapping up a six game, eleven day roadtrip tonight. They should be pooped. The Blues shouldn’t be. The Oilers are 2-3 so far, so tonight could be a good way for the Blues to snap out of this funk and end the final quarter of the season on a positive, playoff clinching note.