The Blackhawks hopes of defending their Stanley Cup championship were ended by the Blues last night, as the game was close for the whole entire game, coming down to one late, dirty, ugly goal from the dirtiest player in the series Troy Brouwer. But a goal’s a goal, and the Blues advance to face Dallas in round 2.

Throughout the series, the Blackhawks were able to rely only upon three people – Duncan Keith, Corey Crawford, and Andrew Shaw. Crawford and Shaw showed up big for the Blackhawks in Game 7, with Crawford keeping the Blackhawks in the game after the first period, and Shaw scoring the tying goal. Keith played his usual absurd number of minutes, but was otherwise unproductive. Crawford and Shaw were the MVPs of the series for the Hawks, and there remains reason for Bowman to resign Shaw (more on this later).

The Blues won this series because of their depth, and because of dirty plays that went uncalled. I believe that any Blues fan that refuses to fess up to the dirtiness of the Blues in this series is lying or without proper knowledge. The depth of the Blues allowed them to shut down the Hawks offense, and their physicality turned the Blackhawks off of their speed and skill game except for rare instances like the second period of game 7 and most of games 5 and 6.

The Blues were better able to play their own game, with the motto a goal is a goal. They won this way, and Brian Elliott did enough to hold the Blackhawks off in the second and third. Their shutdown prevent defense in the first didn’t hurt either, and while they weren’t able to sustain it, it set a good precedent for the rest of the game.

The Blues have reason to hope. They showed that they can slow down and prevent a good offense in this series, and that’s what they’re going to need to do against Dallas. Their physical style of offense will allow them to overpower a still inexperienced and ill-equipped Dallas defense, and goaltenders who haven’t proven themselves this season. Vladmir Tarasenko also isn’t a bad forward in this situation either. Allowing Tarasenko to play the same way he did versus the Blackhawks will help lead the Blues to success. They finally beat their first round demons, and while there is a long way to go to the Cup, they should hope to find some success down the road.

The Blackhawks are heartbroken. It showed in the postgame interviews. Toews, Kane, they weren’t as productive as I think they themselves would have liked. The Blackhawks will be losing people again – notably Andrew Ladd, Tomas Fleischmann, and Dale Weiss, their deadline acquisitions. They may find ways to re-sign Shaw and Richard Panik, who earned a contract in this series, being what fans hoped Bryan Bickell would have been when he signed his contract. The thing is, their turnover this time shouldn’t be as noticeable, as Fleischmann was held out of the series, and Dale Weiss contributed only to the GWG in game 6. Ladd played on the third line, two below where Stan Bowman probably had him pegged.

In the end, the Blackhawks also have reason to hope. The players won’t allow this to keep them at bay, and with the core intact, and hopefully cap space to maneuver, adding Shaw and a fourth veteran defenseman to actually replace Oduya will help the Blackhawks center themselves and find their way back to the cup. The Hawks will come back stronger, and if at all possible, with veteran defense and the pairing of TVR and Gustaffson, while being young, would also be one of the best third pairs in hockey.

So congratulations to the St. Louis Blues. It was a hard fought series, and one that had an exciting third game. Do I wish the series sealer came from a far less dirty player than Brouwer? Yes. But the Blues figured out a way to win and took advantage of it.