Blues' hopes of repeating could be aided by pause, Pronger says

The St. Louis Blues could have a better chance to repeat as Stanley Cup champions because of the rest they got during the pause in the season, Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger said.

The Blues won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins on June 12, 2019, and opened the 2019-20 season 112 days later against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 2.

When they play their first game in the round-robin of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the Western Conference hub city, it will be 143 days since their previous game, March 11 against the Anaheim Ducks. The NHL paused its season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

"You look at a short summer but a long summer," said Pronger, who played nine of his 18 NHL seasons for the Blues. "They got off to a great start, they have played well. They had a great year. I think they learned an awful lot about themselves through the course of last year's playoffs and winning and realizing what it was going to take. They're still a fairly young team. If you look at their core players, they're still [in their] late 20s. They're in that sweet spot when you look at their roster and their top players. It's not like their top players are 35 and on the decline. They're in their prime. Getting the four, five months off will help them."

After facing the Avalanche, the Blues will play the Vegas Golden Knights (Aug. 6) and Dallas Stars (Aug. 9) to determine seeding in the West for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They will also play an exhibition game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHLN, NHL.TV, NBCSCH+, FS-MW+).

The Blues will be healthier than they were before the season pause with top-line forward Vladimir Tarasenko expected to play for the first time since he had surgery on his left shoulder Oct. 29.

Tarasenko scored 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 10 games before he was injured Oct. 24. He scored 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in 26 playoff games last season.

"They had a number of injuries [but] they're all healthy now," Pronger said. "They're going to have their whole roster, and they haven't [had it] virtually the whole season."

Pronger will be getting ready for the playoffs with a few nice glasses of wine. He's taking part in a Philadelphia Flyers alumni wine tasting event, along with Daniel Briere and Scott Hartnell, on Wednesday. Pronger will also host a playoff preview Happy Hour on his Video: Pietrangelo on mental aspect inside the NHL bubble Friday.

"For us it's going to be a lot of fun, getting out there and enjoying as much as you can in the current environment," Pronger said. "Drinking a little wine over Zoom and taste some good juice."

While sipping his wine, two players Pronger will be keeping his eye on are rookie defensemen Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks. Hughes led NHL rookies and was tied for fourth among all defensemen with 53 points (eight goals, 45 assists) in 68 games. Makar was second among rookies with 50 points (12 goals, 38 assists) in 57 games.

The Avalanche play the Blues, Stars (Aug. 5) and Golden Knights (Aug. 8) in the round-robin, after their exhibition game against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, NHL.TV, FS-N, FS-WI, ALT).

Vancouver, the seventh seed in the West, plays the Winnipeg Jets in an exhibition game Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, NHL.TV) and then faces the 10th-seeded Wild in Game 1 of its best-of-5 Cup Qualifier series Sunday. The winner advances to the playoffs. The loser has a chance for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, to be held Aug. 10.

"I think when you watch those two guys you see they're not scared to make a mistake," Pronger said. "The puck patience and their ability to make plays under duress, under pressure ... and then I think as you're watching you see from an offensive side the prowess and the ability to manufacture a play out of nothing. Both are great skaters. Both have the ability to use their feet to open up the ice. In having that ability ... that's their offense for defense. They're creating turnovers quickly, they're able to close quickly. They're not the biggest guys, especially Quinn (5-foot-10, 170 pounds), but when you have the puck all the time you don't have to play a lot of defense."