from Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

Here's what bothered me most about the Blues' first-round ejection by the Minnesota Wild: there was little pushback from a very good St. Louis team that had every reason to bring an intense level of hunger and desperation to the competition.

After being shoved out of the postseason for three consecutive years, including first-round eliminations in 2013 and 2014, Blues' players knew what was at stake this time around.

Their impressive body of work in the regular season was on the line. Since Ken Hitchcock became coach in November 2011, the Blues had the most wins in the NHL. But what did they have to show for it, really? Nothing other than a first-round triumph over San Jose in 2012. The hockey world was watching: would the Blues finally man up and get something done when it really mattered?

Blues' players had their reputations on the line. The longtime core of David Backes, Alex Steen, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund, Barret Jackman and — to a lesser extent — Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk were a big part of the nucleus that has a history of underachievement in the Stanley Cup tournament. Some of their individual postseason resumes were terrible.

So what would they do with another opportunity to silence the critics and skeptics and prove that the had the necessary fiber to seriously contend for a championship? Would they post up with an abundance of personal and collective pride?

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