UPDATE: It looks like the Blues will look for outside help.
As expected, Hitch says Allen will carry the load. Seems as if the #stlblues will look outside the organization for experienced backup help.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) November 26, 2014
*********
Brian Elliott has been diagnosed with a lower-body injury, as reported by the team’s website. The injury occurred when Elliott was collided with during the second period against the Ottawa Senators. Elliott fell backwards and appeared to awkwardly twist his knee. There haven’t been any details or a timeline released regarding his injury. The Blues have called up Jordan Binnington on an emergency basis.
The situation some fans feared, including yours truly, has surfaced. Though we don’t know how serious Elliott’s injury is quite yet, it didn’t look good. Should the diagnosis come back as a serious injury, the Blues will be left in a very precarious predicament. Jake Allen will slide in as the team’s first option, but can the team trust Binnington as the secondary option? Elliott’s diagnosis may end up being an insignificant one and all of this talk may be for naught, but it poses a serious questions for the Blues.
Allen has been solid this season, but he hasn’t been forced to go out there each and every night. We also haven’t seen how he responds without a strong option behind him. We’ve seen previous situations (Jaroslav Halak – Brian Elliott) where a goaltender stumbles as soon as the other piece of the duo goes down with an injury. It’s a difficult situation to analyze, but certain goaltending duos fall apart as soon as one piece goes down with an injury.
Binnington is a risky backup. At 21, he has yet to play a single minute in the NHL. A goalie has to get his feet wet at some point, but the Blues probably don’t want to toss him out there considering how valuable points are in a very crowded Central.
As soon as Elliott went down, the chatter on Twitter turned to this issue. Will the Blues roll with Allen and Binnington if Elliott is out for an extended period? Will the team call on a free agent with NHL experience to serve behind Allen? Thinking back to this summer, the topic of Elliott-Allen and a long-term injury did come up and I mentioned that the Blues may have to look for an external answer as their third option isn’t the best. There are a few names out there (Ilya Bryzgalov and Martin Brodeur, to name a couple), but it’s unclear what the Blues are considering. A contract would have to be cheap as the role is purely one to protect Allen should he stumble.
Stay tuned. This could get interesting in a hurry depending on Elliott’s diagnosis. Will the Blues seek help?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
