from Dan O'Neill of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

Something is missing, something that has allowed a wounded opponent to recover and turn the playoff tables on the Blues two years in succession.

Amid the disappointed souls and unfulfilled hearts at Scottrade Center, coach Ken Hitchcock will spend the next many weeks trying to find the missing ingredient and install it.

“To me, it’s … when you’ve got your foot on the throat — step,” Hitchcock said, trying to explain an intangible killer instinct the Blues have been unable to apply the past two Aprils. “That’s what we’ve got to do. I don’t know any other way to describe it.

“The end result is you’ve got to go further, further in every aspect of your game, further on checking, further on special teams, further on scoring. … And it’s hard to do, but you’ve got to do it.

“You can add 10 pieces to a hockey club, but you have to have commitment to go further. Those are the hard conversations that you have to have, the hard things you have to do.”

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