St. Louis Blues beat Blackhawks, win Central Division

The St. Louis Blues are your Central Division champions. And they have hats to prove it. We know this thanks to the photo work of Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Blues beat the Blackhawks 2-1 in their game Thursday. Jake Allen stopped 21 of 22 Chicago shots on goal. Dmitrij Jaskin and Paul Stastny each scored for the Blues. St. Louis has won four of its last five games.

From defenseman Alex Pietrangelo via the Post-Dispatch:

“It’s good, it’s a good feeling, we accomplished a lot this year. But we’ve still got to try and clinch home-ice advantage Saturday for the rest of the playoffs. So we’ve still got lots to play for.” 

Who will the Blues face in the first round?  It’s still not clear at this moment. If the playoffs ended at this exact moment (said in big dramatic voice) it would be the Minnesota Wild who vanquished the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

Coach Ken Hitchcock via the Post-Dispatch again ...

“We came from a long ways back to catch Nashville,” Hitchcock said. “It looks like it’s going to be the toughest division in hockey for a lot of years now. Getting in the playoffs, winning the division, getting home ice ... any advantage you can get is going to be really important.”

The Olli Jokinen trade to the Blues definitely swung the balance of power in the Central Division from Nashville to St. Louis. Oh wait, it didn't.

Anyway, this would be the first banner for the Blues since they last won the old Central in 2012.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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