Have the St. Louis Blues gone from a team with Stanley Cup aspirations to one that just wants to make the playoffs?
Probably not, but the opening messaging of Ken Hitchock’s news conference, announcing the coach had been re-upped for a year by the Blues had that weird kind of feel.
“I know there’s going to be questions about next year’s playoffs, but unless we come prepared to work in September, that won’t be an issue for us because we won’t make the playoffs,” general manager Doug Armstrong said. “We have to come ready to play.