Blues Now Top 10 Stanley Cup Contenders After Odds Were 69-1 a Month Ago
- St. Louis’ Stanley Cup odds have improved significantly since January
- The Blues compiled 18 wins through the first seven weeks of 2019
- Are the Blues now your best bet?
St. Louis began the year a miserable 2-6-2 and were immediately written off after just 10 games. They were also just 15-18-4 entering January. Their green fees had been paid, their soft spikes had been purchased, and the bettors had left the table. Hold on just a second though…
After ripping off 18 wins through the first seven weeks of 2019, the St. Louis Blues are not only sitting in a playoff position, they have also gone from +6900 burnouts to +1900 top 10 contenders on 2019 Stanley Cup odds sheets.
2019 Stanley Cup Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +300 |
| Calgary Flames | +800 |
| Winnipeg Jets | +800 |
| San Jose Sharks | +1000 |
| Boston Bruins | +1200 |
| Nashville Predators | +1200 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | +1200 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | +1200 |
| New York Islanders | +1600 |
| St. Louis Blues | +1600 |
*Odds taken on 02/27/19.
They always had the talent, but they just flat out hit the skids far too many times to count this season. This is why they lost the attention of fans everywhere at the end of 2018. However, since then, the team has been on a tear and it’s thanks in large part to their improved goaltending.
During their aforementioned 18-5-2 run to start January, the team also had a shutout streak of 213:50 between Jake Allen and Jordan Binnington – the latter of whom has been the savior of St. Louis.
Jordan Binnington is the 7th goalie in NHL history with 4+ shutouts in his first 14 NHL starts. The others:
Frank Brimsek: 6 in 1938-39
Lorne Chabot: 4 in 1926-27
Alec Connell: 4 in 1924-25
Mike Karakas: 4 in 1935-36
Flat Walsh: 4 in 1928-29
Antti Niemi: 4 in 2009-10#NHLStats pic.twitter.com/XEovLLNKNf— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 17, 2019
To add to his impressive stats that you see above, as of the writing of this article, he’s also gone 14-2-1 since making his first NHL start on January 7th. We can also toss an impressive 1.70 goals against average into the mix as well.
The St. Louis Blues have also found away to put a lot of rubber behind the opposition since their turnaround. The team entered January with a -21 goal differential and now currently sport a +10 goal cushion. They’ve almost doubled the output of their opposition since the ball dropped on 2019 (80 GF – 49 GA).
The St. Louis Blues are rolling, having now won a franchise-record 11 straight games. #NHL https://t.co/VFW80WCEZ9
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) February 20, 2019
The Blues now find themselves five points up on the injury-riddled Dallas Stars in the Central with 20 games remaining. The future looks pretty solid for STL, but does that mean that they deserve a bet? Are they the hottest team on ice as we speak?
Well, statistically speaking, their surge has been unlike many others. However, with that said, we feel there may be a better value play out of the East. We say this merely because the West is so weak and that generally comes back to hurt to you come playoff time.
The Blues now find themselves five points up on the injury-riddled Dallas Stars in the Central with 20 games remaining.
Given their surging value up the odds board and standings, we like the New York Islanders. It’s not rocket science. When you play better teams and put up a quality record, heads turn and people take notice.
Now, while the Blues are still a solid pick out of the West, another team to keep a close eye on (who are still giving up 12-1 odds) are the Golden Knights. With the addition of Mark Stone at the deadline they could be scary come April.
Ryan is what you call a seasoned vet. It's been nearly 13 years and he has hosted three sports radio talk shows, two football television shows, two sports podcasts, released his first book in 2012, had his own ESPN E:60 documentary shot, and was the first inductee to ESPN's Hall of Fans.
