from Craig Custance of ESPN,
By Game No. 20, the Blues were done. That they took this run just about as far as they possibly could have wasn't much consolation because they saw the finish line.
Two more wins and they would have been playing for a Stanley Cup.
The Blues, unlike in postseasons past, didn't choke or disappoint this spring. They simply got beat by a Sharks team that was relentless in its tracking, completely eliminating the Blues' rush game. San Jose had more speed and more energy -- and the Blues could never get their punishing forechecking game going for long enough stretches to catch the Sharks.
"We thought we had a team ..." said Blues forward Troy Brouwer before correcting himself. "We do have a team that's a championship-caliber team."
He's right. They do. The Blues proved it by beating a championship-caliber team in round one. They just happened to run into another championship-caliber team in the Western Conference finals. That's why it's so hard to win a Stanley Cup.
Good teams go home earlier than they want in the Stanley Cup playoffs all the time. It doesn't make it any easier.
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