The St. Louis Blues have long had good or great teams in their franchise history. Unfortunately, the teams that have been better have regularly resided in the same division, making it even harder to progress in the spring.

The St. Louis Blues have always had two major problems throughout their history. The first problem was often themselves, always seeming to stumble over their own feet at the wrong time. The second has been their division.

Regardless of the name, whether it was the Norris, Smythe or Central, there was always someone from that division standing in the Blues way. Chicago, Minnesota (North Stars) and Detroit are the ones that spring to mind most readily.

The more things change, the more they stay the same it seems. While the Blues are now getting chastised for being more inactive than some of their counterparts, people forget they did not need sweeping changes.

However, we circle back to the same points. Regardless of how good you feel the Blues can be, they have some very tough opponents to take on within the division.

Nashville just went all the way to the finals. Minnesota will be tough again. Chicago is always Chicago and the rest have improved, for the most part.

So, why not take a quick peek at each team and the trouble they are going to pose to the Blues and the rest of the divisional teams?

Might as well hold your nose and take the plunge. We’re going straight into the deep waters.