Blues' Coach Mike Yeo Was Concerned About His Team's Lack Of Hate For The Nashville Predators

Yeo: Coming into this series, one of my concerns was we really didn't hate this team. I think we've gotten to the point we're over that now.

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) May 1, 2017

Ahhh, the absence of animosity. A real wildcard of an issue that has plagued the first 6.5 minutes of every playoff matchup between divisional opponents that have yet to develop a rivalry since Don Cherry allowed the first non-Canadian player to break the nationality barrier and join the National Hockey League. I got to say, people really underrate the importance of the initial 2-3 shift feeling out process between unfamiliar foes. Honestly, blink once and you might miss the fateful momentum swing that happens prior to the first net-mouth scrum that is essential to advancing. If the Blues go on to lose in six I can't help but wonder whether or not that quick flash of time between the opening face-off and the first finished forecheck of Game 1 will be looked back upon as the difference. I know the score was likely still 0-0 when the first person was told to go fuck themselves with an inanimate object, but the lack of hatred in St. Louis' locker room prior to a goal being scored or a face being washed really got them started off on the wrong, amicable foot.

Seriously though, if Mike Yeo was really worried about less than a period of faux-pleasantries effecting his team's chances of winning 4 games before his opponent then the people that say a series doesn't start until a game is lost on home ice must give him the heebie-jeebies. It takes about one commercial break for teams to turn a series into a blood feud, and the limited hockey that occurs before that is just about the closest you'll come to casual viewing for upwards of two weeks.