Doug Armstrong Wonders What Might Have Been For 2019-20 Blues

[TBone]

After Florida's Cup repeat, Doug Armstrong wonders what might have been for 2019 Blues

Matthew DeFranks
Jul 19, 2025

When Blues general manager Doug Armstrong watched the Panthers repeat as Stanley Cup champions last month, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Not in the Panthers, but rather that his Blues didn’t get the chance to properly defend their title.

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In the Edmonton bubble in 2020, the Blues lost all three round robin games and then fell in six games to Vancouver. In 2021, they were swept by the Avalanche in the first round.

The pandemic marked a transition for the Blues as a franchise. Alex Pietrangelo signed with Vegas after the bubble playoffs. Alexander Steen’s career ended due to a back injury, and Jay Bouwmeester’s due to a heart condition.

“It never really bothered me until, quite honestly, I saw them repeat,” Armstrong said. “I wish we had that opportunity. I don’t know if we could have, but it starts to feel disappointing that we didn’t have that chance. It’s probably like the teams that won the year before lockouts. You’re coming back and you’re ready to go, and you’re playing half a season against half the teams. Doesn’t have the same (feeling).

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/profess ... 13a5b.html

[DawgDad]

Recovered their bite in 21-22 scoring 300 + goals before bowing out to the Cup winner. That one hurt, Binner in particular. Good team, fun to watch.

[TheJackBurton]

I think they have a solid shot of repeating. When Covid hit they were firing on all cylinders and quite frankly looked unstoppable.

[hockey jedi]

In my opinion, the Blues were the same team in 20-21 except for Pat Maroon. Not only that, but the Blues were playing the same style of hockey that the Cup team did. I believe we would have won the Cup without Covid.

[TBone]

In my opinion, the Blues were the same team in 20-21 except for Pat Maroon. Not only that, but the Blues were playing the same style of hockey that the Cup team did. I believe we would have won the Cup without Covid.

I'll always wonder if Maroon's hammered spectacle at the parade factored into Army not re-signing him. Thinking he could be a loose cannon moving forward. His non-signing was a low-level Army blunder that chipped away at the team toughness and chemistry. If it had been a move to upgrade team skill or something logical it would have been understandable, but replacing him with Kyle Clifford??

I've seen few players as good as holding the puck below the goal line to wear out defensive aszes as Maroon. Glad he won 2 more.

[Old_Goat]

In my opinion, the Blues were the same team in 20-21 except for Pat Maroon. Not only that, but the Blues were playing the same style of hockey that the Cup team did. I believe we would have won the Cup without Covid.

I'll always wonder if Maroon's hammered spectacle at the parade factored into Army not re-signing him. Thinking he could be a loose cannon moving forward. His non-signing was a low-level Army blunder that chipped away at the team toughness and chemistry. If it had been a move to upgrade team skill or something logical it would have been understandable, but replacing him with Kyle Clifford??

I've seen few players as good as holding the puck below the goal line to wear out defensive aszes as Maroon. Glad he won 2 more.

Interesting thought...it seemed to possibly affect his thoughts about Fabbri and Edmundson? And yes Maroon was a master at guarding the puck...Perron is too.

[sneptsmoustache]

In my opinion, the Blues were the same team in 20-21 except for Pat Maroon. Not only that, but the Blues were playing the same style of hockey that the Cup team did. I believe we would have won the Cup without Covid.

I'll always wonder if Maroon's hammered spectacle at the parade factored into Army not re-signing him. Thinking he could be a loose cannon moving forward. His non-signing was a low-level Army blunder that chipped away at the team toughness and chemistry. If it had been a move to upgrade team skill or something logical it would have been understandable, but replacing him with Kyle Clifford??

I've seen few players as good as holding the puck below the goal line to wear out defensive aszes as Maroon. Glad he won 2 more.

Interesting thought...it seemed to possibly affect his thoughts about Fabbri and Edmundson? And yes Maroon was a master at guarding the puck...Perron is too.

I'm not sure if that was the reason or not (Maroon being hammered at the parade), but I wouldn't think so. I mean, a lot of guys were hammered haha. However, that move has always been a complete head-scratcher for me. I think he signed with Tampa for like $900k, maybe less than we signed Clifford for? I can't remember.

There were definitely some moves that I did NOT agree with, but at least you could see some rationale (not re-signing Perron because we needed the money to sign Leddy is an example. Bouw retired unexpectedly, we needed to shore up our D, I didn't like it, but I get it).

However I've just never had any inkling why we wouldn't re-sign Maroon for basically the league minimum...there simply HAD to be more to it. Perhaps he demanded more money, and the relationship with Army went sour? Perhaps it was actually a Maroon decision? He didn't want to play in St. Louis because it was too distracting? Probably not. I've always hoped Army will talk about it in an interview someday, perhaps after he retires.

[Sudsy 11]

The Blues definitely had a chance to repeat. However, it would have been difficult without JayBo. Army acquired Mikkola as a replacement. He looked good for a few games before the pandemic. Would that have continued? Binner was struggling some after the all-star break.Colorado was really good. They were nipping at the heels of the Blues,arguably playing better hockey when the pandemic hit. Possible, yes. Probable, maybe not. We'll never know.

[DawgDad]

The Blues definitely had a chance to repeat. However, it would have been difficult without JayBo. Army acquired Mikkola as a replacement. He looked good for a few games before the pandemic. Would that have continued? Binner was struggling some after the all-star break.Colorado was really good. They were nipping at the heels of the Blues,arguably playing better hockey when the pandemic hit. Possible, yes. Probable, maybe not. We'll never know.

Believe you mean Scandella.

[callitwhatyouwant]

In my opinion, the Blues were the same team in 20-21 except for Pat Maroon. Not only that, but the Blues were playing the same style of hockey that the Cup team did. I believe we would have won the Cup without Covid.

I'll always wonder if Maroon's hammered spectacle at the parade factored into Army not re-signing him. Thinking he could be a loose cannon moving forward. His non-signing was a low-level Army blunder that chipped away at the team toughness and chemistry. If it had been a move to upgrade team skill or something logical it would have been understandable, but replacing him with Kyle Clifford??

I've seen few players as good as holding the puck below the goal line to wear out defensive aszes as Maroon. Glad he won 2 more.

Interesting thought...it seemed to possibly affect his thoughts about Fabbri and Edmundson? And yes Maroon was a master at guarding the puck...Perron is too.

I'm not sure if that was the reason or not (Maroon being hammered at the parade), but I wouldn't think so. I mean, a lot of guys were hammered haha. However, that move has always been a complete head-scratcher for me. I think he signed with Tampa for like $900k, maybe less than we signed Clifford for? I can't remember.

There were definitely some moves that I did NOT agree with, but at least you could see some rationale (not re-signing Perron because we needed the money to sign Leddy is an example. Bouw retired unexpectedly, we needed to shore up our D, I didn't like it, but I get it).

However I've just never had any inkling why we wouldn't re-sign Maroon for basically the league minimum...there simply HAD to be more to it. Perhaps he demanded more money, and the relationship with Army went sour? Perhaps it was actually a Maroon decision? He didn't want to play in St. Louis because it was too distracting? Probably not. I've always hoped Army will talk about it in an interview someday, perhaps after he retires.

I think the Maroon thing was as simple as he was looking for the best place to have his role and win a cup. The Blues were close to cutting him before the run. His job was always going to be in question with the Blues. Tampa probably saw him and his successes in the playoffs and said, "here is your role on one of the best teams in the league" and he jumped at the opportunity. Tampa was a no brainer cup contender. He got his name on the cup 3 years in a row. Seems like a good deal if you ask me.

I can say this with somewhat certainty that it clearly doesn't seem like there was an ill will with the Blues. He hangs around the team still, he was invited to hype the crowd up at the playoffs, and he asked to retire while playing in STL. Yes he is from STL, but that stuff doesn't happen if he is bitter with the way the org treated him.

[skilles]

This is all just silly, the Blues had just as much opportunity to repeat as anybody else.

[bluetunehead]

Maroon wasn’t brought back because he was being a problem and told Armstrong to trade him around midseason before the cup turnaround happened. Obviously cooler heads prevailed with Berube in charge, but I don’t think Armstrong ever really moved past that.

Edmundson and Fabbri were the team party guys. That’s why they were moved. Edmundson was still respectable on the ice but Fabbri obviously needed a reset.

It wasn’t parade shenanigans with these guys. It was existing issues.

[SRV1990]

Maroon wasn’t brought back because he was being a problem and told Armstrong to trade him around midseason before the cup turnaround happened. Obviously cooler heads prevailed with Berube in charge, but I don’t think Armstrong ever really moved past that.

Edmundson and Fabbri were the team party guys. That’s why they were moved. Edmundson was still respectable on the ice but Fabbri obviously needed a reset.

It wasn’t parade shenanigans with these guys. It was existing issues.

Can you elaborate on this some? I honestly don't remember what may have been going on then or him asking to be traded.

[bluetunehead]

Maroon wasn’t brought back because he was being a problem and told Armstrong to trade him around midseason before the cup turnaround happened. Obviously cooler heads prevailed with Berube in charge, but I don’t think Armstrong ever really moved past that.

Edmundson and Fabbri were the team party guys. That’s why they were moved. Edmundson was still respectable on the ice but Fabbri obviously needed a reset.

It wasn’t parade shenanigans with these guys. It was existing issues.

Can you elaborate on this some? I honestly don't remember what may have been going on then or him asking to be traded.

I'll see if I can dig it up. The scuttlebutt at the time was that Maroon came out totally flat that season and (among others) couldn't really make it work with Yeo. He was a healthy scratch at times and it got to a point where he told Armstrong to trade him if it was going to continue.

[hockey jedi]

Maroon was a thumper and they had prospects on the rise. They felt like they could replace him with a faster player. (Kyrou?) Maroon was a great contributor. He was getting under the skin with his chirping, excellent grinding and cycling, playing tough in front of the oppositions net and his series winning goal. The Blues had all kinds of problems that year early on including a fight. I can't believe Army traded Maroon for anything more than getting a faster player.

[larueskee]

It is too hard to win back to backs in the NHL or any other league. It would have been nice for sure but like last years elimination..I ain't going to dwell on it.