Early golf dates for all five Midwest-based NHL clubs

By Jim den Hollander

Midwesthockey.info Editor

Another not so great season for Midwest-based NHL teams officially wrapped up with the elimination of both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild in the opening round of the 2018 NHL playoffs.

In 2014, all five NHL teams qualified for the post season. It was just the second time ever for the Jackets in the post season and the team followed that up with a pair of disappointing seasons before making it back to the playoffs last spring.

This season was the roughest in the past decade or so for the Midwest as Chicago made an early swoon and never recovered while injuries might have played some part in a terrible finish to the season for St. Louis that ultimately saw the Blues miss the post season for the first time since 2011. Both the Blues and Hawks should face interesting off seasons as they will be forced to make some big decisions.

The Red Wings also missed the post season and the team was never a real threat to get there this time out. A mostly young squad missed the playoffs for a second straight season after ending a quarter-century of playoff berths in the spring of 2017.

The Wings are in a bit of a transitional period –not really in a full rebuild mode as they have already plugged in several young players that will likely be the future leaders of the team, but certainly in an uncomfortable period for a fanbase that has come to look at playoff berths as more a right than a privilege in recent seasons because of its success rate.

Ultimately, the Hawks and Wings could be a few years away from making it back to the dance, but the biggest surprise was the Blues who two seasons ago reached the Conference Championship round of the playoffs and seem to be getting further and further away from a Stanley Cup its has never won since then.

Meanwhile, the Wild once again made a first round exit from the post season, this time with an injured Ryan Suter unable to take part at all and Zach Parise wrapping up a rough injury plagued season back on the sidelines as well.

Ironically, the Blue Jackets – the same team that struggled to even make the show a few short seasons ago is now the class of the Midwest (at least in this writer’s opinion), but the balanced team blessed with consistently strong goaltending has not been able to take the next step in its development.

Things change from year to year, but the Jackets currently play in the strongest of the four NHL divisions. Granted, this season’s point total was a big of a step back from the previous year, but the Blue Jackets are certainly among that top half of the league. Playing in a division that includes the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, along with perennial President’s Cup threat Washington Capitals at the top end along with the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils, makes just reaching a post season a genuine accomplishment.

How these teams approach the summer months will be especially interesting this year. In the days ahead, I will be posting my thoughts on what each team needs to either stay in or get back to the post season in the upcoming season(s).