By Andrew Allsman| Posted: April 22nd, 2012| Contact | Also posted on KMOV.com
The Blues gave the city of St. Louis a taste of playoff
victory on Saturday, knocking the Sharks out of the playoffs, and advancing to
the second round for the first time in ten years. It was a sweet taste for Blues fans, and the
town of St. Louis is hungry for more.
Head coach Ken Hitchcock was pleased with his team’s performance in
their four games to one series win over the Sharks of San Jose, but attributed
the team’s success to what he called a “buy-in”.
The buy-in occurred immediately after Davis Payne was
replaced by the man known as “Hitch”.
Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong elected to go with the experience of Hitchcock
to lead the team after a disappointing 6-7 start under Payne. The result was astounding as the Blues went
on to boast a 49-22-11 record, accumulating 109 points along the way, and
securing the second seed in the Western Conference. The results of the coaching change continue
to surprise as the Blues advance to the second round of the playoffs, but
Hitchcock says it is more than just a new face that is leading to the Blues’
success.
“We have a buy-in going right now, we’ve had a buy in going
since the day the coach arrived, I don’t know why, I have no idea why, but the
buy-in is right there”.
After the coaching change the Blues immediately jumped on
bard, and came together as a team, something they had been unable and unwilling
to do before Hitchcock took over.
Something about Hitchcock gave the Blues a boost, allowing them to gain
confidence in him as a coach, and in their own abilities.
“You can see it, you can see the way we play, you can see
the way we compete, you can see the way we grabbed it”.
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| Photo taken by Scott Neer of TSNPhotography |
The tenacity of the Blues, as Hitchcock pointed out, is very
noticeable. The Blues were down a goal
late in game five on Saturday, but a “common sense” discussion was all they
needed to come right back, and forge on to victory.
“It wasn’t a big speech, it was just a common sense
discussion (at) the end of the second period with the players, this is who we
are, this is how we play, the buy-in went right back in (effect) again and we
won.”
This is just one of the countless examples of the Blues
“buying in” to Hitch’s philosophy on how the game should be played. It has worked all season long for the Blues,
but it is much more rewarding when it leads to a playoff victory. The Blues must stay the path for the
remainder of the playoffs if they hope to remain successful.
“I think we will be a tough opponent, if they buy-in
continues at this pace, win or lose, we will be a tough opponent.”
Obviously the Blues and Ken Hitchcock are expecting wins,
but it is clear that if they continue to buy-in as a team, they will become a
top playoff team.
The most important buy-in was on the power play, because,
according to Ken Hitchcock, it was the difference-maker in the series.
“I think the difference in the series was our power
play. I thought our power play was
successful. We earned the penalties
based on our work. I thought the way we
went about our business on the power play was excellent”.
Excellent is an understatement as the Blues successfully
converted on six of their eighteen power play opportunities, boasting a success
rate of 33.3 percent.
The power play was just one example of the Blues buying in,
as it was often their implementing Hitch’s defense first mentality that led to
their power play opportunities. One
thing rings true: if the Blues continue to buy in to the system that Hitch has
proven is tried and true, they will be a force to be reckoned with for the
remainder of the playoffs.
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