can we say this is the most important week of the season?

[Renard]

considering we are playing minnesota,chicago,anaheim,and dallas,this really is a time to "make a statement"if I've ever seen one this season.

Well, we beat all four of them. Did we make a statement?

 

[actionhank1786]

all 8 points gained and more importantly we saw a few things

1) blues overcame horrendous officiating
2) we saw how big of frauds anaheim and dallas are. seriously those 2 teams look so mediocre right now. the only way they seem to score is off power plays or bad bounces from our own sticks or skates going into our own nets.
3) blues starting to score. lowest goal total in any of these games against playoff teams was 3 against chicago.

great week and they find themselves in first place cause of it. keep it up blues

I would hardly say either of those teams are frauds. A goal is a goal. No one's going to be saying "Well, they weren't clean shots...so I really don't think we got eliminated from the playoffs".

The Blues have looked good in this string of wins, but to discredit other teams based on the types of goals scored is foolish.

On the plus-side, it looks like Brouwer is starting to take off. I was hoping he'd be the playoff spark the Blues needed, and if he keeps this pace going into the playoffs, he could be a great piece on the team.

 

[Ranksu]

We need to fully healthy and most important Allen or Elliott have to play their best game in this season and we can beat 1st round curse.

If our goaltenders fall in the last year mode, let down softies that will eventually cripple our 5 man unite down offensively and mostly at d-zone. They will play more safe 'cus they don't trust goaltender anymore and kind of they will lost their all confidence and identity. Good example was last year against Wilds.

I still think Hitch (and Muller) is too easy to out coach. They have to find away execute better transition game to o-zone and have to find more set-up plays to use it properly at PP. PP play have to be sharp on post-season, 'cus that will be series factor. We haven't seen it this year so I doubt we'd see any difference at post-season. sigh

In short term now its currently 1 guy will carry the puck own blueline and then pass to standing guy at o-zone blueline and try to dangle in with standing legs.
2nd PP unite is same, but at the end somebody (Parayko) will shoot the puck on the boards and standing forwards try to fight for already lost puck.

Go look afterwards Dallas games and our puck movement when we're on PP. No imagination, poor transition and no support to puck carrier. And I really hate our set-up play on PP unite, but that is old song.


Its going to be tough one at post-season 1s round when opposite team will seek thru our system and play much tighter 5 man unite at d-zone and mostly watch over our PP system and our only couple options for PP, we're in trouble, we're deep deeep trouble.

 

[SteenMachine]

So now what's the message?

 

[Linkens Mastery]

So now what's the message?

As long as the Blues don't face bottom-dwellers in the playoffs they can win?

 

[KingBran]

We need to fully healthy and most important Allen or Elliott have to play their best game in this season and we can beat 1st round curse.

If our goaltenders fall in the last year mode, let down softies that will eventually cripple our 5 man unite down offensively and mostly at d-zone. They will play more safe 'cus they don't trust goaltender anymore and kind of they will lost their all confidence and identity. Good example was last year against Wilds.

I still think Hitch (and Muller) is too easy to out coach. They have to find away execute better transition game to o-zone and have to find more set-up plays to use it properly at PP. PP play have to be sharp on post-season, 'cus that will be series factor. We haven't seen it this year so I doubt we'd see any difference at post-season. sigh

In short term now its currently 1 guy will carry the puck own blueline and then pass to standing guy at o-zone blueline and try to dangle in with standing legs.
2nd PP unite is same, but at the end somebody (Parayko) will shoot the puck on the boards and standing forwards try to fight for already lost puck.

Go look afterwards Dallas games and our puck movement when we're on PP. No imagination, poor transition and no support to puck carrier. And I really hate our set-up play on PP unite, but that is old song.


Its going to be tough one at post-season 1s round when opposite team will seek thru our system and play much tighter 5 man unite at d-zone and mostly watch over our PP system and our only couple options for PP, we're in trouble, we're deep deeep trouble.

This is another one I don't get. Here is the Blues scoring last playoffs:
2, 4, 0, 6, 1, 1

So in 4 of 6 games they scored 2 or less goals. In three of those they scored 1 or less. So the Blues HAD to have minimum of 2 shutouts in a 7 game series to win it if were going to excuse our players and blame the goalies. The one other game would have at least gone to OT. And that's if our goalie was posting ANOTHER third shutout through 60 minutes.

So basically our goalie would have had to have posted at least 3 shutouts through 60 minutes to even have a chance at winning that series... And you want to blame the goalie.

Good lord people give it up. GOALTENDING HAS NOT BEEN A PROBLEM ON THIS TEAM THE ENTIRE TIME HITCH HAS BEEN HERE! Goal scoring and system have been the two biggest issues.

So sick of hearing about the past and blaming goalies.

 

[Ranksu]

Good lord people give it up. GOALTENDING HAS NOT BEEN A PROBLEM ON THIS TEAM THE ENTIRE TIME HITCH HAS BEEN HERE! Goal scoring and system have been the two biggest issues.

So sick of hearing about the past and blaming goalies.

Our offense hasn't been 'good' or even sufficient past 4 years in 1st round and one time in 2nd round, but that goes as well with goaltending.
So blaming both tbh is reasonable 'cus it goes with hand by hand, if another one let you down it will drag you down too, this hole team will fall down like dominoes.

This year we have seen some light in the tunnel with Allen and Elliott, so there might be some change, BUT if they perform same way like last years on post-season it will cripple our offense like it has done it past too.

Fair question you wanna watch those post-season easy and soft goals by Allen, Elliott, (Halak) and Miller?

I don't wanna post these videos here. I feel sick now..

 

[KingBran]

Our offense hasn't been 'good' or even sufficient past 4 years in 1st round and one time in 2nd round, but that goes as well with goaltending.
So blaming both tbh is reasonable 'cus it goes with hand by hand, if another one let you down it will drag you down too, this hole team will fall down like dominoes.

This year we have seen some light in the tunnel with Allen and Elliott, so there might be some change, BUT if they perform same way like last years on post-season it will cripple our offense like it has done it past too.

Fair question you wanna watch those post-season easy and soft goals by Allen, Elliott, (Halak) and Miller?

Good teams pick up their mates. If a goalie lets in a softie, they go right down there and score. If the team isn't scoring the goalie makes great saves. We have seen the goalies hold up their end of this bargain so many times when the Blues are not scoring. But what about getting a couple goals for your goalie when they are a bit off and let in one or two that they shouldn't have?

It happens to every team. It's just the good ones don't crumble and fall apart because of it. Saw Crawford, Lundqvist, Bishop... etc. all let in soft goals last playoffs. Their teams won because they picked up their goalie. The

Allen, Elliott, (the few games we saw Halak), and Miller... Saw a couple soft goals in one or two games. But do not blame any of them for our playoff failures. It's the same story every year. No scoring, but everyone blames the goalie.

Lets say I even agree that Allen let in one or two soft goals in game 5 and 6... You are saying its their fault the team couldn't score one or two to make up for it? If that's the case they deserve to lose. And they did. But what about the other games where the goalies were playing great and they couldn't score and lost?

Keep blaming the goalies.

 

[Ranksu]

not in timeline order

[NHL]388165[/NHL]

[NHL]432963[/NHL]

[NHL]433483[/NHL]





[NHL]606374[/NHL]

[NHL]607627[/NHL]

[NHL]809228[/NHL]

[NHL]815181[/NHL]

[NHL]815306[/NHL]






Read this my last post again.

Our offense hasn't been 'good' or even sufficient past 4 years in 1st round and one time in 2nd round, but that goes as well with goaltending.
So blaming both tbh is reasonable 'cus it goes with hand by hand, if another one let you down it will drag you down too, this hole team will fall down like dominoes.

This year we have seen some light in the tunnel with Allen and Elliott, so there might be some change, BUT if they perform same way like last years on post-season it will cripple our offense like it has done it past too.

 

[KingBran]

Read this my last post again.

And you can read my last post again in response:

It happens to every team. It's just the good ones don't crumble and fall apart because of it. Saw Crawford, Lundqvist, Bishop... etc. all let in soft goals last playoffs. Their teams won because they picked up their goalie.

We are talking about one or two goals in a series. Happens to every goalie. The good teams can overcome those obstacles. The bad teams let it drag them down and don't move on to the next round.

Quit acting like bad goals only happen to the Blues in the playoffs. They happen every series to every goalie. The problem is goal scoring.

So basically our goalie would have had to have posted at least 3 shutouts through 60 minutes to even have a chance at winning that series... And you want to blame the goalie.

 

[Ranksu]

And you can read my last post again in response:


We are talking about one or two goals in a series. Happens to every goalie. The good teams can overcome those obstacles. The bad teams let it drag them down and don't move on to the next round.

Quit acting like bad goals only happen to the Blues in the playoffs. They happen every series to every goalie. The problem is goal scoring.

Ofc it happends to every goaltender in some point at post season, but another goaltenders gain back confidence while in here our goaltenders go unknown mode = that will cripple our offense even more, result will be underachievers.

Thou, there was good example last season Chicago in first round vs. Nashville. Crawford was shaky kitten and Q switched Darling in and 2nd round Crawford was back and ofc end is history.

Its bad we don't have that kind of coach who can react fast enough if there is need for it.

I know our problem isn't just goaltending, its mainly offense, but we don't have so mentally tough goaltender like undqvist, Rask,Holby or even Crawford at post-season who can step back and fight for it. If Allen and Elliott will let softies they are done, so only choice is to switch as quickly as possible to another goalie in.

I will say it again our goaltending suck that long they found away to win 1st round. To me regular season perform doesn't mean anything at post-season we'll see where Allen and Elliott are made of and looking back last 4 years it doesn't look promising.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I just think back to Jonathan Quick giving up that horrendous goal to Steen, shorthanded in OT of game 1 or 2, going back to LA down 0-2 and then falling behind by 2 goals in game three. There's a narrative if they'd lost that series that Quick let in back-breaking goals, etc, just like we've heard about Blues' goalies.

But that team pushed back and cracked the Blues over the next 3 games and 2 periods to win 4 straight.

What gives a team that mental toughness and belief? I think the coach is a big part of it. But the players themselves have to do it. Do the Blues have the right players to evolve into that kind of team? (When were the Kings the Kings? Until they won that first Cup, they were just an 8 seed kind of backing into the playoffs. They had just as many points the year they missed the playoffs as the first year they won the Cup.)

I know we've seen Tarasenko inspire his WJC team to victory. Is there enough passion and belief like that on the team to win in the post-season? I don't think we'll know until after they win that first series. But with the exact same goalies we have now, I think we could see a run. If either Elliott or Allen were playing like their best stretch of the season, we'd see good enough goaltending to win series.

 

[Alklha]

I just think back to Jonathan Quick giving up that horrendous goal to Steen, shorthanded in OT of game 1 or 2, going back to LA down 0-2 and then falling behind by 2 goals in game three. There's a narrative if they'd lost that series that Quick let in back-breaking goals, etc, just like we've heard about Blues' goalies.

But that team pushed back and cracked the Blues over the next 3 games and 2 periods to win 4 straight.

What gives a team that mental toughness and belief? I think the coach is a big part of it. But the players themselves have to do it. Do the Blues have the right players to evolve into that kind of team? (When were the Kings the Kings? Until they won that first Cup, they were just an 8 seed kind of backing into the playoffs. They had just as many points the year they missed the playoffs as the first year they won the Cup.)

I know we've seen Tarasenko inspire his WJC team to victory. Is there enough passion and belief like that on the team to win in the post-season? I don't think we'll know until after they win that first series. But with the exact same goalies we have now, I think we could see a run. If either Elliott or Allen were playing like their best stretch of the season, we'd see good enough goaltending to win series.

I think it is probably overstated, and I've fallen into that narrative recently. Look back at Game 5 last year, Allen let in a pathetic goal that tied the game in the first period. The next 20 minutes and Steen has the 2 best chances, before the Wild score and pull away. Steen buries either one of those and I think we end up progressing, and I don't think he misses them because Allen let in a bad goal.

The closer I look at our playoff failures and the more it comes down to coaching decisions, the match-ups we give our players and the expectations from them. We could show a lot of mental toughness in a first round win this year, and then flop in the second round and see it pinned on mental toughness because we couldn't grind out the close games. But we aren't grinding out the close games because we're playing a way that typically keeps games lose, while making things difficult for our better players.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I think it is probably overstated, and I've fallen into that narrative recently. Look back at Game 5 last year, Allen let in a pathetic goal that tied the game in the first period. The next 20 minutes and Steen has the 2 best chances, before the Wild score and pull away. Steen buries either one of those and I think we end up progressing, and I don't think he misses them because Allen let in a bad goal.

The closer I look at our playoff failures and the more it comes down to coaching decisions, the match-ups we give our players and the expectations from them. We could show a lot of mental toughness in a first round win this year, and then flop in the second round and see it pinned on mental toughness because we couldn't grind out the close games. But we aren't grinding out the close games because we're playing a way that typically keeps games lose, while making things difficult for our better players.

I felt like the team was too process oriented at times. Sometimes we see this in the regular season. They are focused on their game plan: puck possession, forcing the action outside, etc. They have the puck in the zone and doing whatever things they practiced...but somewhere along the way they are not focused on actually scoring and winning the game until the time starts to run down.

Its like they don't worry about goals until they need one because they're trailing. I'd like to see them be "more reckless" and trying to score even when they're NOT trailing. They wait for the other team to make a mistake first, most of the time. And it works A LOT, but its a flawed plan.

 

[MissouriMook]

I felt like the team was too process oriented at times. Sometimes we see this in the regular season. They are focused on their game plan: puck possession, forcing the action outside, etc. They have the puck in the zone and doing whatever things they practiced...but somewhere along the way they are not focused on actually scoring and winning the game until the time starts to run down.

Its like they don't worry about goals until they need one because they're trailing. I'd like to see them be "more reckless" and trying to score even when they're NOT trailing. They wait for the other team to make a mistake first, most of the time. And it works A LOT, but its a flawed plan.

If you look at teams like Chicago and LA, I believe one of the reasons they are successful is that they play the same way whether the score is tied or they are ahead or behind. It is ironic because their styles are very different - LA slowly wears you down and Chicago attacks relentlessly - and yet the common thread is that they stay true to THEIR game because they have confidence that it works. Meanwhile, it often feels like we are trying to fit square pegs into round holes, and that we are more focused on stopping what the other team is doing than forcing them to stop what we are doing.