Blues, Sharks have shot at history
The St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks are meeting in the 2015-16 Western Conference Finals. More than a trip to the Stanley Cup Final for these two organizations, who have known nothing but pain throughout the course of history.
In 25 years of existence, San Jose has made the playoffs 18 times. None of the previous 17 trips have resulted in anything past Game 6 of the conference finals. The Sharks have been the favorites to raise Lord Stanley many times over, but they have been seen as chokers more than anything else.
St. Louis is laughing at the plight of the San Jose fan. The Blues came into the National Hockey League as part of the six-team expansion in 1967, and immediately found success. St. Louis went to the Final in its first three seasons, only to be swept out each occasion. The Blues mainly got to the Final because of the way the league was aligned, putting all the expansion teams into one bracket. Come the Final, St. Louis had no chance.
Since those three campaigns, the Blues have been the perpetual story of close but no cigar. St. Louis made the playoffs 25 consecutive seasons between 1979-2004 but never reached the Final. This is the first time since the 2000-01 season that St. Louis has even gotten to the conference final, the last time resulting in a five-game loss to Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche.
For both of these teams, this is a story of redemption. The Sharks would love nothing more than to finally bring a Final to the Shark Tank, for fans that many thought would never support the team when an expansion franchise in southern California was announced.
The Blues have been a source of civic pride and pain for almost 50 years running, and it is about time they pick the city up after the heartbreak and anger of losing a National Football League team … again.
In totality, both the Sharks and Blues are good enough to go all the way. The series could not be more even on paper with stars such as Joe Pavelski, Vladimir Tarasenko, Brent Burns, Jay Bouwmeester, Patrick Marleau, Alexander Steen, Joe Thornton and Kevin Shattenkirk dotting the lineups.
The series will kick off on Sunday night in St. Louis, with the Blues having the first crack at defending home ice. Considering the Sharks are without a home loss thus far in the postseason, St. Louis should be pressing hard to leave the Scottrade Center with a commanding 2-0 lead. Of course, it won’t be so simple.
For years, the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have ruled the West. Both were taken down by these two teams. Now, one will take down the other and finally realize the dream of getting into the Stanley Cup Final.
