The Blues Goalies

So good things are expected from the St. Louis Blues this year. The Hockey News have even picked them to win their first ever Stanley Cup. They have a quality group of forwards led by captain David Backes and a defense highlighted by potential Norris-winner Alex Pietrangelo. Both groups have quality depth. But perhaps where the Blues are best stacked is in goal. Ken Hitchcock coached teams tend to be pretty good at the defense aspects of game, which always helps the goalies look a little better. But the Blues have two quality goalies in Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott. In 2011-12, they dominated with 1.89 goals-against average and a .932 save-percentage. Last year did not go as well, with a 2.34 GAA and a .902 SP. In reality, they’re probably somewhere between those numbers. I still believe that Halak is a quality money goalie, and if one of the two is gonna lead them to post-season success it’ll be Halak. His run with the Montreal Canadiens in the 2010 playoffs was phenomenal, allowing them to get to the Conference Finals and getting past high powered Capitals and Penguins teams. His success with Slovakia in the Olympics that year just helped prove his capability under pressure. Halak’s battled injuries recently, which is partly responsible for his mediocre numbers, but if they Blues are gonna be successful, Halak will have likely play a big part of it.

Of course, the Blues are stacked in goal, so they’ve got options. Rookie Jake Allen came in last year and showed he could play, winning 9 games, posting a 2.46 GAA and .905 SP and getting the Blues back on track after a rough start to the season. But with Halak and Elliott healthy and ahead of him on the depth chart, expect Allen to start the year in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. And expect the Wolves to have a pretty solid goaltending tandem. Allen has proved himself in the NHL and Jordan Binnington is set to turn pro. Binnington had a phenomenal year in the OHL last season for the Owen Sound Attack. He was named the top goaltender in the OHL, going 32-12-6 with a 2.17 GAA and a .932 SP, both of which were top 3 in the OHL. He’s been on an astronomical rise after being a 3^rd round pick in 2011. It’ll be interesting to see how long he can keep it up. He also has an awesome mask going into the year. I mean, he's got Fresh Prince era Will Smith on it, which is a pretty cool and creative thing to have on a goalie mask. As this article points out, Binnington wasn't even 3 years old yet, when 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' was done with its original run. Which adds a humorous twist to Binnington's mask.