The players - and the fans, for that matter - have waited more than four months to wash away the bitter taste of an early playoff exit last August. A first-round defeat by the Vancouver Canucks ended the Blues' bid to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
O'Reilly said the Blues will be more prepared this time, citing evidence that the team was skating together in St. Louis long before Training Camp opened on Jan. 3.
"I think we saw what happened in the bubble, kind of being under-prepared and we kind of didn't know what to expect," he said midway through camp. "I think we've done a really good job of everyone coming in and knowing that it's going to be a shortened camp. We're going right into it, there's going to be a ton of hockey. I just feel guys are mentally more prepared and obviously physically, too. I think the coaching staff trusts us. We have to be ready to go and I think we are. Now it's just finding the details in camp and fine-tuning everything. It's looked good so far. We have to keep going."
The Blues will play 56 games in a re-organized West Division in 2020-21. All regular-season games will be played against division opponents, and the top four teams in each of the League's divisions will qualify for the playoffs.
"We feel as a group we've had guys here training, skating, ready for the start of the season," added Brayden Schenn, who will serve as an assistant captain this season. "It can't take us 5-10 games to get into it because it's going to be a sprint right to the finish and it's going to be tough playing division games every single night."