ST. LOUIS — A little over a year ago, Alexander Steen was part of one of the most consistent, hard-working fourth lines in the NHL that helped produce the first Stanley Cup in the history of the Blues.
History didn't repeat itself in 2020 for the 36-year-old Steen and the Blues, who were unceremoniously bounced in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Vancouver Canucks.
As a matter of fact, Steen started but wasn't able to finish the playoffs dealing with what was a nagging injury.
After completing his 15th season in the NHL, Steen reflected on why the Blues couldn't pick up where they left off during the regular season, when they finished first in the Western Conference but were anything but a top-tiered team once the NHL's Return to Play Plan began.
Steen also talked about what he plans on doing the rest of the summer as far as his injury is concerned, if the Blues' window is still open to be on top again and how much he has left in the tank as far as his career's concerned, among other things:
Why was it so hard for team to find its game, particularly on defense?
I think our struggles were getting to the details of what makes our game so strong. Some of it was defensive, but I think the lack of the offensive side of it too also led a little bit to the defensive aspects of it. It's an accelerated timeline and I think we needed to be quicker to the punch there, quicker to get to those details that make us such a strong team.
Was it tough to watch knowing you couldn't help being injured?
That's difficult. It's always difficult when you're on the outside. I think more so in that bubble format, that's the reason, why we're there. It was hard. I thought the guys battled and worked and we were trying to get there and we just couldn't, for whatever reason, couldn't get those things in place to make us stronger than Vancouver in a seven-game series.
On what you're dealing with:
It started before camp and then kind of led into camp, had some issues going on during. It was kind of an accelerated timeline, so I think we were chasing it from the get-go, tried taking a couple periods off, like a couple of sections of camp and even when we got to the bubble, just seeing if things would calm down but yeah, we just couldn't get it under control. Now will be looking at over the next few weeks and treating and rehabbing and getting everything back up and running.
How surprising is it you couldn't translate solid camp to Edmonton?
I don't know, you're also playing against opposition. It's not just your side of things. You're also meeting a team that's doing the same things as far as skating and execution and things like that. I think it was more the execution of our game. There was times where we were with the puck not executing at our standard or our usual level, but I think there was a lot of details away from the puck that creates our team game and the stability of our structure and things like that. It was there at times but just not consistently enough.
Did you hurt something over pause, or aggravated after long layoff?
It got aggravated. There's not like an instance during the quarantine or anything like that.
Nothing that needs surgery, just time and rehab?
Obviously we're going to look at... we just got back a few days ago so we're trying to get organized here since we got back. Obviously we'll go see the doctors. Obviously when you're in the bubble, it's a little more difficult to get all the tests. We were trying to get back into the games and things like that. Now there's not that same urgency to get me back on the ice. We'll look at getting the proper testing and see the right people and go from there and see what happens. I don't think it's anything like that (but) I don't know.
Was there happiness like when you arrived back home from Edmonton?
Yeah, it was. The wives and kids and families were sacrificing themselves for this period for allowing us to go and pursue the Cup again. The day when we first left for the bubble was a difficult one. It was a little odd or unusual for how we leave. We leave for a week, 10 days or two weeks, but this one was a little bit different. So that part when you got home was definitely... you get to see the kid again, things like that was obviously uplifting in a time where we were upset.
Where do you feel like this group needs to go, can go with uncertainty of player personnel/is the window still open?
Absolutely. I think so. There is a lot of uncertainty and no one really knows what to expect over the next few weeks or months, but that's unknown for everyone, for all the teams and I'm sure everyone will be kind of reacting or doing similar things. But I do (believe) the team we have here and the group is very strong. Our goaltending, even during this tournament where I think their stats weren't as good, they were solid. There's a couple games in the round-robin where 'Binner' was the best he's played. I think it was just a collective problem that I stated earlier of us not being able to find our rhythm. But in saying that, the regular season and how we looked throughout and obviously these unusual circumstances, I'm very confident that the group will get back together and be hungry and strong and be looking to have more success.
How do you personally approach this off-season?
First and foremost, I've got to get healthy here. That's going to be my number one priority so I could get to my off-season training as quickly as I can. I think it's obviously going to be a little bit easier. We'll have more access to more things of training-nature as far as treatment, rehab and things like that, so it shouldn't be as big a break as before this tournament was.
How wild of a season was this with everything that happened?
A lot's happened within the last year for sure for our group. I'm very proud of who we are as a team as far as how we play and how we take care of each other both on and off the ice. There were some things that definitely normally don't happen in a regular season or playoffs. We've always been tight. We've grown even more (and) compact as a group. Those are big reasons why I think that we'll come back next season hungry and strong again.
On Jay Bouwmeester:
Everyone knows what he was like as a player, what he is like as a player, the professionalism that he brings every day. When he speaks, everyone listens because he doesn't talk a ton, but when he does, it's something important that he needs to bring up and it's always the right time to do it as well. He has a great feel and sense for the game, what he feels the team needs to do going forward, so there's a lot of leadership qualities in Jay that we're going to miss as a group. As a friend, it's been a lot of emotions throughout this year. When he came to St. Louis, I think that was a big, huge lift for our club at the time. I think we knew we were going to be competitive for a long time when he came and decided to stay, that this is where he wanted to be (and) believed in this. He is going to be very missed if he decides to hang em up and we'll cross that bridge when we get there. He definitely has brought a lot to our team, our community and to me as a friend and my family.
On Vladimir Tarasenko, when he went back to St. Louis:
He's a prominent goal scorer and a big, important piece to our club. When you lose goals like that, it's always not optimal, but guys have done a terrific job of being able to rally through all these different kinds of elements and situations that have been thrown our way and they did it again through these playoffs. We'll see what issues or what results of Vladi's injury and hopefully have him ready to go when we start up again.
On life in the bubble atmosphere and was that a distraction for your team?
No, I don't think so, especially when we started getting games every other day. When our series started against Vancouver, I think you could tell that it was almost like being back on the road again and the rhythm of things just started growing a little bit more. I think as that happened, we, we started coming on a little bit better as well.
How much do you want to go with your career, how much is left in the tank?
For right now, my main objective is to get healthy again and get back to training and up and running for next season. That's where my focus lies right now. Speculation or projections about future is in the future, so right now that's going to be my number one objective is to get healthy and get my body ready and prepared for the next start, the next training camp.
