Ah, the age-old debate in St. Louis.
To refresh your memory, the Blues’ goaltending soap opera was alive and well in 2014-15. Veteran Brian Elliott went into the season as the No. 1. Yada, yada, yada, by late March, less than a month to go until the postseason, he still was.
And then Blues coach Ken Hitchcock changed his mind and gave the starting job to young Jake Allen.
It did not go well for Allen in the playoffs. The youngster finished the six-game loss to the Wild with a .904 save percentage, leaving Hitchcock to defend his decision during yet another lengthy offseason for the club.
“I get the fact there were three goals that went in that were ugly,” the coach said. “That’s the growth of a young player.”
Hitchcock continued, “We got two guys who are more than capable of carrying the load here. I think goaltending is going to be our strength moving forward. We’ve got a young guy emerging and a veteran guy who’s on top of his game right now and playing the best of his career.”
Both Elliott, 30, and Allen, 25, are signed for two more seasons.
Which begs our poll question:
[polldaddy poll="9033425"]
P.S. -- We considered giving the option of “Just ride the hot hand -- whoever’s playing the best at the time,” but that’s too easy.
Related: After Miller (and many others) failed, Blues turn to Elliott and Allen