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Video: Will David Backes be the breakout player of the 2012 postseason?

Detroit Red Wings v St. Louis Blues

ST. LOUIS, MO - DECEMBER 6: David Backes #42 of the St. Louis Blues celebrates his goal against the Detroit Red Wings at the Scottrade Center on December 6, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Blues beat the Red Wings 3-2. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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Here’s a breakdown of the San Jose Sharks/St. Louis Blues series going into Game 1 on Thursday (CNBC, 7:30pm ET):

This is certainly a playoff series to watch. It seems easy to dismiss what the Blues did during the regular season and write them off as a team that simply over performed. However, St. Louis has been on the cusp of a big breakout for a couple of seasons and while I doubt that there are many analysis that expected it to be this dramatic, St. Louis did have reason to be optimistic entering the 2011-12 campaign.

The question now is if their younger and less experienced players can step up like they did in the regular season. On the flipside, you have to wonder if the Sharks, who have a reputation of falling short in the postseason, gain anything by having some of the pressure taken off of them as a seventh seed. We’ll start to find out the answer to those questions tonight.