NHL 15: St. Louis Blues - Quest for the Cup!

[MizzouRah]

To start, I'm going to copy my posts from OS to a dynasty already in progress and continue from there.. most are just a game by game post, but I'd like to enhance it here and there. I play every game, there is no preseason in the next gen version.

NHL 15 - XB1 - 11/7 rosters

AS default/hardcore with penalties all the way up, authentic post whistle rules, AI strategy adjustment to match the CPU setting, +1 to goalie cover up, auto lines and aim, 10 minute periods and authentic puck size with small shadow. Everything else is on defaults.

[MizzouRah]

Lost our opener 3-2 to the Rangers, Paajarvi had both goals for us. We had many chances though but Lundqvist was stellar in goal for the Rangers. Next up is Calgary at home.

(0-1-0)

[MizzouRah]

We beat Calgary 4-1 for our first win of the season! Backes had two goals and Elliott stopped 27 out of 28 shots. Next up we hit the road and head to LA to take on the Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings.

(1-1-0)

[MizzouRah]

LA tops us 4-2 (one was an EN) but it was a hard fought game. Next up is Arizona, Jake Allen will get his first start in goal for the Blues.

(1-2-0)

[MizzouRah]

We fall to 1-3-0 after Arizona kills us, 5-0. Paul Stastny gets injured and will be out for at least 10 days. We call up Ty Rattie, maybe he'll ignite a spark on this team. We head to Anaheim to take on the Ducks who are also 1-3-0 and without Ryan Getzlaf.

Would be nice to finish this road trip with a win!

(1-3-0)

[MizzouRah]

Anaheim beats us 4-3 and we go win less on the road trip.

Even this early in the season, I feel like we need a shake up. We have a ton of centers and I would like another left winger, preferably a veteran with playoff experience. After looking at the team trade blocks, I give the New Jersey GM a call and we spend hours working on a deal for LW Patrik Elias. After several hours and a night to sleep on it, I give him another call and we finally ink this deal:

To Blues:

LW Patrik Elias
D Adam Larsson

To New Jersey:

C Steve Ott
D Carl Gunnarsson

Ott was a do it all player for us, killing penalties and bringing a toughness to the 4th line. I tried to deal Jackman, but they wanted Gunnarsson. I think Larsson will learn a lot from Shattenkirk and even though Elias is 38 and has a decent sized contract, he'll bring his two Stanley Cup Championships experience with him to St. Louis. He still has one more year on this contract too, which might make our cap compliance a bit more complicated next year.

(1-4-0)

[MizzouRah]

We insert Elias and Larsson into the starting lineup and introduce them to the sell out crowd at Scottrade.

Elias gets two assists as we play our best game of the season and crush goaltender Ryan Miller and the Vancouver Canucks 7-2!

We get a day off and then the Central Division leading Chicago Blackhawks come to town.

(2-4-0)

[MizzouRah]

We beat Chicago 5-2 and really controlled the whole game! We hope to keep it going as we travel to Dallas.

(3-4-0)

[MizzouRah]

We continue to play horrible on the road and lose to Dallas 2-0.

Back home we come and wallop the Anaheim Ducks, 6-1.

(4-5-0)

[MizzouRah]

Colorado beat us 6-3 (EN) but Elliott was horrible and was lifted in the 2nd period after giving up 4 goals on just 9 shots. Allen allowed one goal, but looked much better than Elliott.

We hit the road and head to NY to take on the Rangers.

(4-6-0)

[MizzouRah]

This team is either bad or very good! We win our first road game, shutting out the Rangers, 6-0 behind stellar goal tending from Jake Allen. We waive D Jordan Leopold and Winnipeg picks him and his $2.25 million contract up. That frees up a bit of room for next seasons resignings.

We offer 24 year old FA D Philip Larsen a 2 way contract for 1 year at $0.550 to hopefully add some depth at D since Jordan is gone. Jordan has been scratched, but was our #7 defense man on our depth chart. Chris Butler will now fill that role and Larsen would be a nice bit of insurance behind Butler.

Back to back games as we head to New Jersey to take on former Blues C Steve Ott and D Carl Gunnarsson who were traded for C Patrik Elias and D Adam Larsson. Elias scored his first goal in a Blues jersey last game vs the Rangers.

(5-6-0)

[MizzouRah]

The Devils hit the crap out of us and beat us 4-2, we totally out played them too. They injure former Devil, Patrik Elias and Patrik Berglund. We get to play them at home next and even with Ryan Reeves out, we are going to be out for blood!

(5-7-0)

[MizzouRah]

We beat the Devils 3-2 at home, but we lose another player to injury, newly acquired D Adam Larsson - so we call up Chris Butler from the AHL.

(6-7-0)

[MizzouRah]

We beat Nashville 5-2 (EN) and are now at .500 (7-7-0). We get C Patrik Berglund back for our next game at home vs Buffalo. We were out shot 36-24 but kept everything to the outside, Elliott was stellar and had a shutout through the first two periods. We are 7th in the league on the PP and #2 on the PK.

(7-7-0)

[MizzouRah]

3 game winning streak as we beat Buffalo, 6-3! We are 1 game above .500 too and get some players back for our next game vs Nashville.

(8-7-0)

[MizzouRah]

What a game! We win our 4th in a row as we beat Nashville, 3-2 in a shootout. It was a fantastic game though. Nashville scores short handed on a goal where Jake Allen was pushed out of the net by his own defense man (my fault). They go up 1-0 after one period. We have a great 2nd period, but can't manage to crack Rinne, still 1-0 after two periods. Third period we score to tie the game at 1, but Nashville quickly scores to go back ahead 2-1. With less than 5 minutes remaining, Patrik Elias scores on a rebound and the crowd goes nuts, game tied 2-2. No goals after that and we go into the shoot out and Steen and Stastny score to seal the win! Allen stopped all shoot out shots.

They must have talked about Pekka Rinne (going to the cut scene where they talk about a player) 6 or 7 times. I've never seen them talk about a player like that before, but he was amazing.

Next up is Washington, last game of the home stand! Alexander Ovechkin is tied for the overall goal lead with 15 so far this season.

Jackman is out though.. so Chris Butler will take his spot.

In other news, Pittsburgh has won 8 straight and are 12-1-1.

(9-7-0)

[MizzouRah]

FIVE in a row! Washington was up 2-1 with less than a minute left and guess who does it again? Patrik Elias ties the game at 2 and we head into OT again. Steen scores with 1:20 left in OT and we win 3-2!!! The Elias trade has been HUGE for us so far!

We get Oshie and Jackman back as we kick off a 4 game road trip that beings against 9-10 Boston. We are now 10-7 and look to continue our winning streak!

(10-7-0)

[MizzouRah]

We score two quick goals to go up 2-0 and then Boston scores the next 3 goals to take the lead 3-2. We manage to tie the game and then go up 4-3 late in the 3rd period, scoring on two PP's. Boston scores with 12.1 seconds left on a faceoff shot deep in our end to send the game into OT. We lose in the shoot out and drop our first road game, 5-4. We are so bad on the road.. next up is Ottawa. Alexander Steen is out for the next 7 days.

(10-7-1)

[MizzouRah]

We lose 6-1 to Montreal and 3-1 to Ottawa and are 1-7-1 on the road. Last road game is vs Winnipeg and we desperately need a road win.

(10-9-1)

[MizzouRah]

Make it 1-8-1 on the road as we lose 2-1 against the Jets. We come home now where we are 9-2 and face Ottawa, Steen is in the lineup!

(10-10-1)

[MizzouRah]

We call LW Chris Porter back up and send down RW Dmitrij Jaskin.

BLUES WIN! BLUES WIN!!

We beat Ottawa at home, 4-2 (EN) and are 10-2 at home. Nothing like home cooking! Edmonton comes to the Scottrade Center next.

(11-10-1)

[MizzouRah]

Blues win a tough one, 3-2! Edmonton had two goals disallowed for a high stick. We hit the road to play Minnesota next.

(12-10-1)

[MizzouRah]

We beat Minnesota, 4-1 and finally get our 2nd road win of the season!!! Hopefully we can keep this up as we head to Chicago next to take on the Central Division leaders.

(13-10-1)

[MizzouRah]

FOUR IN A ROW! We beat Chicago 5-1 and are playing GREAT hockey. Elliott has been superb in the net as well! A tough game though as we lose, D Jay Bouwmeester, D Ian Cole and F Magnus Paajarvi to injury. Jori Lehtra will take Paajarvi's spot and Chris Butler and FA signing Philip Larsen will take Cole and Bouwmeester's spot.

Next up is the Predators in Nashville.

(14-10-1)

[MizzouRah]

We battle back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game and send the game into OT, but lose with less than a minute left in the 5 minute OT.

We travel to take on the Islanders next on this road trip.

(14-10-2)

[MizzouRah]

Halak steps up for the Islanders and we lose 4-2. We need our injured players back!!!

We finally come back home to face the Florida Panthers.

(14-11-2)

[MizzouRah]

Brian Elliott gets his first shutout of the season as the Blues win another one at home, 3-0. The Islanders come to town next.

(15-11-2)

[MizzouRah]

We beat the Islanders 6-5 in OT and improve to 13-2 at home this season. Next up we head to Colorado to take on the Avalanche.

(16-11-2)

[MizzouRah]

We beat Colorado 2-1, but it was such a great game of hitting, puck control and excellent goaltenders. One goal we scored went off the D's body, up in the air, swiped at by the G and then swatted in by Oshie. It was one of the greatest goals I've ever seen in the EA NHL series and it was reviewed too.

We say goodbye to a great player and person, D Barret Jackman was traded to the Florida Panthers along with the 2015 7th round pick for their 2015 2nd round pick.

With the emergence of D Chris Butler and D Philip Larsen, we decided to send Jackman to Florida. This was a pure money move as he made $3.2 million.

We will miss you Jackman, but know you'll do great things in Florida.

(17-11-2)

[MizzouRah]

We beat Quick and the Kings, 5-4 in OT and improve to 14-2 at home. We lose another D, Kevin Shattenkirk and reach out to FA for another D. For now, 21 year old Joel Edmundson will get a taste of the NHL since he doesn't have to clear waivers to go back to the AHL.

We travel to LA to take on the Kings on their home ice.

(18-11-2)

[MizzouRah]

We lose 3-1 behind a stingy Kings defense and of course Quick at home is pretty much a brick wall. FA D Brian Lee accepts a one year deal and is immediately inserted as a 3rd line D.

We travel to San Jose to take on the Sharks who have been struggling. Tough place to win though. Backup goalie Jake Allen will get the start.

(18-12-2)

[MizzouRah]

We come back down 3-1 to tie the game at 3 and send it into OT, but lose in the shootout, 4-3.

We are now 18-12-3, good for 2nd place in the Central division and 5th overall in the Western Conference. F Patrik Elias is back for our next game in Colorado as we take on the Avalanche.

(18-12-3)

[MizzouRah]

We beat Colorado 2-1 as Elliott was fantastic in net. We get to play at home next vs Dallas. F Tarasenko is out for a week or so, as usual we get someone back and lose someone else. Injuries are brutal is this years game!

(19-12-3)

[MizzouRah]

We suffer a rare home loss, Dallas beats us 4-2 (EN). The good news is next game we get F Tarasenko, D Cole and D Shattenkirk back. The only starter injured now is F Paajarvi, who is due back in about a week.

Hopefully we can stay healthy for a little while.

(19-13-3)

[MizzouRah]

Back to back losses at home, losing 4-3 to Colorado. F Paajarvi is back next game! We need a huge win next game in Nashville and it won't be easy. F Ryan Reaves fractures his jaw in a fight last game, so he's out for awhile.

(19-14-3)

[MizzouRah]

We were up 3-0 going into the 3rd period and Nashville comes back with 3 goals to send the game into OT, where Patrik Berglund scores to seal the victory!

Nice start to the road trip, next stop is Anaheim.

(20-14-3)

[MizzouRah]

A wild night in Anaheim. We have leads of 2-0 and 3-1, but Anaheim storms back and takes a 4-3 lead late in the third period on 3 unanswered goals. With 3.9 seconds left in the game F Jaden Schwartz scores his 2nd goal of the game to send it into OT. No goals in OT and we go to a shootout. Both goaltenders are strong, but on the 5th round, Captain David Backes nets a goal to give the blues their 21st win of the season and into a tie for 1st place in the Central Division with the Chicago Blackhawks.

We hit the bus and travel to San Jose to take on the Sharks next. Backup goalie, Jake Allen will get the start in net.

(21-14-3)

[MizzouRah]

We lose 5-4 against San Jose. Jake Allen has not done well as our backup goalie, so we offer 42 year old Martin Brodeur a 1 year, $900,000 contract. Allen's GAA has creeped up over 3 goals per game and although it's not totally his fault, we need a decent backup who can give Elliott some rest. Jake just hasn't proved he's ready for the NHL yet.

We head to Arizona to take on the Coyotes and then come home for a 7 game home stand and the All Star break.

(21-15-3)

[MizzouRah]

Arizona beats us 5-4, but the good news is we finally get to come home. Brodeur turns down our offer so we up it to $950,000.

San Jose comes to St. Louis and F Patrik Elias is back in the lineup!

(21-16-3)

[MizzouRah]

San Jose hands us our 3rd loss in a row, 3-2. Not the way I wanted to start this home stand. Carolina visits next, they are 2nd in the Eastern Conference, behind the Penguins, with 26 wins on the season.

Brodeur's agent let's us know $950,000 isn't going to do it and decline our offer. We call back and offer $975,000.

(21-17-3)

[MizzouRah]

FOUR losses in a row as Carolina beats us 5-3. Carolina G Cam Ward is the top goalie in the league with a 1.89 GAA and a record of 22-9, which is now 23-9. I guess we were lucky to score three goals.

Elliott was pulled after allowing three goals in the first period.

Brodeur turns down our offer again and I up the offer to $1 million.

I get home after the game and my mind starts thinking of ways to shake this team up.. we are still tied for 6th in the Western Conference, but are allowing way too many goals.

I search the trade blocks and there isn't much in the way of defense men.. is the Jackman trade haunting me?

At least we are healthy.. except for Lehtera who was injured this game and we are awaiting a report from the team doctor.

(21-18-3)

[MizzouRah]

Tonight we put on our 2013-14 season jerseys and finally eek out a win, 4-3 over the Edmonton Oilers.

Brodeur turns down our offer and we raise to $1.050 million.

Next up Detroit comes to town.

(22-18-3)

[MizzouRah]

We finally play a complete game and beat the Red Wings, 5-1. Our defense was fantastic and we scored some good goals.

Brodeur turns down our offer, so we pull it for now and will ride Elliott for most of the work load and get Allen a game here and there.

Next up Toronto comes to town with a 24-17-4 record.

(23-18-3)

[MizzouRah]

Three wins in a row!!! We play another great game and beat Toronto, 4-1. G Brian Elliott was FANTASTIC in goal, stopping 31 out of 32 shots.

We play division rival, Colorado in our last game before the All Star break. They come to St. Louis with a 24-21-1 record and are looking to gain some ground.

(24-18-3)

[MizzouRah]

Semyon Varlamov nets his 2nd shutout of the season as we lose 3-0. Varlamov stopped all 37 shots he faced and was the #1 star of the game.

The Blues head into the All Star break in 3rd place behind Chicago and Colorado in the Central Division and 7th overall in the Western Conference.

(24-19-3)

[MizzouRah]

For the next gen game, there is no All Star game, but the news feed did state these players made the All Star game:

PIT - Sidney Crosby
DET - Pavel Datsyuk
ANA - Corey Perry
LA - Anze Kopitar
NYI - John Tavares
LA - Drew Doughty
MON - P.K. Subban
PHI - Claude Giroux
COL - Matt Duchene
STL - Alex Pietrangelo
CHI - Marian Hossa
ANA - Bobby Ryan
NYR - Ryan McDonagh
WAS - Nicklas Backstrom
BOS - David Krejci
COL - Semyon Varlamov
TB - Victor Hedman
TB - Ben Bishop
SJ - Logan Couture
NYR - Martin St. Louis
DAL - Jason Spezza
CHI - Corey Crawford
CAR - Jeff Skinner
ARI - Keith Yandle
CBJ - Ryan Johansen

[MizzouRah]

Playoff Race

NHL Standings - Updated: Jan 29, 2015
EAST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	OTL	PTS
Pittsburgh Penguins	30	13	5	65
Philadelphia Flyers	31	17	1	63
Florida Panthers	26	11	8	60
Carolina Hurricanes	29	16	2	60
New York Rangers	27	14	5	59
New Jersey Devils	27	17	4	58
Tampa Bay Lightning	26	18	5	57
Toronto Maple Leafs	25	19	5	55
WEST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	OTL	PTS
Calgary Flames	26	14	8	60
Vancouver Canucks	25	15	6	56
Chicago Blackhawks	26	18	4	56
Arizona Coyotes	24	17	6	54
Coloado Avalanche	26	22	1	53
Los Angeles Kings	24	20	4	52
St. Louis Blues	24	19	3	51
Dallas Stars	24	21	2	50

[MizzouRah]

Stat Leaders

NHL League Leaders - Updated: Jan 29, 2015
Goals		G	Assists		A
	1. A. Ovechkin	29		1. M. St. Louis	42
	2. J. Voracek	27		2. C. Giroux	40
	3. R. Nash	27		3. R. Umberger	39
	4. D. Perron	26		4. S. Crosby	36
	5. M. Havlat	26		5. R. Nugent-Hopkins	36
Points		P	Plus/Minus		+/-
	1. S. Crosby	61		1. D. Doughty	35
	2. C. Giroux	60		2. E. Staal	24
	3. M. St. Louis	58		3. T. Gleason	24
	4. J. Skinner	58		4. N. Grossmann	23
	5. A. Semin	57		5. S. Voynov	23
Hits		H	Penalty Minutes		PIM
	1. N. Hjalmarsson	151		1. A. McQuaid	140
	2. C. Glencross	145		2. E. Boulton	115
	3. K. Alzner	144		3. K. Bieksa	110
	4. E. Johnson	132		4. M. Fraser	99
	5. A. Emelin	132		5. C. McCormick	96
Goals Against Average		GAA	Save %		SV%
	1. C. Ward	2.14		1. C. Ward	.932
	2. R. Luongo	2.25		2. C. Price	.926
	3. S. Bobrovsky	2.28		3. R. Luongo	.924
	4. C. Price	2.29		4. S. Bobrovsky	.922
	5. K. Lehtonen	2.35		5. K. Lehtonen	.922

[MizzouRah]

Team Stats

St. Louis Blues Stats - 2015
Skaters	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	GW	PIM	SOG	SPCT
V. Tarasenko	45	17	11	28	10
T. Oshie	44	16	19	35	8
A. Steen	43	15	6	21	1
D. Backes	46	14	13	27	-2
P. Elias	40	12	12	24	8
J. Lehtera	38	8	4	12	-1
M. Paajarvi	35	8	3	11	3
R. Reaves	38	8	4	12	-6
J. Schwartz	41	8	9	17	4
P. Berglund	44	7	16	23	2
M. Lapierre	44	6	4	10	-6
J. Bouwmeester	41	5	15	20	12
A. Pietrangelo	46	5	28	33	12
C. Porter	26	5	4	9	3
K. Shattenkirk	41	5	15	20	15
P. Stastny	44	4	27	31	11
A. Larsson	45	2	13	15	-2
C. Butler	21	1	5	6	-5
I. Cole	36	1	11	12	-5
P. Larsen	12	0	4	4	-3
Goalies	GP	W	L	T	GAA	TOI	SV	SV%	SHO
B. Elliott	37	19	13		2.69			.903	1
J. Allen	13	4	6		3.04			.886	1

[MizzouRah]

We head into the 2nd half of the season healthy and ready to put the mediocre first half behind us. There has been talk of trading for a top 4 D, although GM MizzouRah is confident they already have a playoff roster. "We need to perform like I know we can." MizzouRah said in a statement to the Post Dispatch.

Next up the Blues host the Nashville Predators who are 20-20-6 and 4 points out of a playoff spot.