Why do the Blues suck?

[joe galiba]

Add me to this perspective.

I don't expect the team to bank 23 points every 20 games this season, but the performance through 20 games is a lot closer to 'mediocre' than 'suck.' We're on pace for 94 points and we would exceed last season's point total if we play at a .468 points percentage from here on out. We currently have a 3 point cushion on the playoff cut line, which is exactly how far back we are from the 3 spot in the Central. We are one of just 10 teams with 10 regulation wins, which means we hold the tiebreaker over every team that is chasing us in the standings.

The underlying metrics aren't pretty and this team could go into a big tailspin at some point over the next 62 games. We aren't a good team and non-good teams play a lot of games that look ugly. But we also have enough talent that we find ways to win some of the games even when it looks ugly.

Mediocre teams are usually inconsistent and frustrating to watch 82 times a year. But I wouldn't say that the 2023/24 Blues through 20 games have sucked.

this team is close to a normal Blues team, other than a few short stretches of top end regular season success that always was just an illusion come playoff time

 

[finnishflash13]

the Blues have 1 Cup in their entire existence, which came 5 years ago, and yet people get worked up that the 2023-2024 team sucks? get real.

 

[Mike Liut]

the Blues have 1 Cup in their entire existence, which came 5 years ago, and yet people get worked up that the 2023-2024 team sucks? get real.

The Blues have only missed the playoffs a handful of times in the past 25 year. We aren’t use to losing like the Ducks.

 

[ChicagoIsBedarded]

If they score first, they don't suck.

For some reason they can't figure out how to play while being behind.

I imagine the abysmal PP has something to do with it. That's a LOT of goals being left on the table.

 

[stlbluz]

Ha - a 2 goal lead is the kiss of death for the Blues.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

We're on pace for 94 points and we would exceed last season's point total if we play at a .468 points percentage from here on out.

This team could easily go .468 (now .475 after last night's loss) the rest of the way, and if it did I wouldn't call just exceeding last season's point total a positive thng. Meeting expectations? Sure, but it signals that it's going to be a long (4-5 year) process to revamp the roster to get it out of being a .500 team.

 

[sbet1998]

The Blues are pretty much in the middle of the pack in points percentage and the majority of teams are hovering pretty close to a .500 record. So while some fans seem to expect the Blues to win the division every year, I'd say we're pretty much where many people expected us to be (perhaps doing slightly better than many thought we would).

So not sure the Blues "suck" as you put it. Any realistic fan should have known that this year would be somewhat frustrating. And while people can point to the defense, goaltending or whatever I've always felt that the biggest issue is how will Thomas and Kyrou transition from being supplementary pieces to core pieces. ROR and Tarasenko left some pretty big shoes to fill, along with the other players we've lost in recent years.

We've seen the Blues look pretty good at times this season and downright awful at other times. The powerplay might be the worst I've ever seen in all my years of watching hockey and we are still giving up way too many high quality chances on defense. A lot of that is on the forwards not getting back or not picking up the late man, not necessarily the fault of the defensemen. A team's best players need to lead the way if they are going to have any success. Thomas, Parayko and Binnington are the only core players that I'm satisfied with and even they have strugged at times. But honestly, what did you expect to happen this season? It was always supposed to be a transition year.

Spot on post. Im not sure what people expected this season to look like. There literally were zero expectations going in.

Being in the hunt for a PO spot in a transition year and bitching about it just shows how spoiled we all are. I get wanting to win NOW, but patience is needed. This team has some good players and some that will need to be phased out if they want to contend for a Cup.

I also agree with the poster who said the Blues were f'd over by covid but I think they were closer to winning a 2nd Cup just 2 years ago in that COL series.

That said -- this team could win a Cup this season. I know Im contradicting myself a bit here but Im not joking. They still have enough talented players to do it but something is missing and maybe that is the signal that a coaching/FO change is needed. Lesser teams have won Cups. Dont agree? How many All-Stars are on this roster? Its a talented group but the lack of will is a problem. They dont seem to want to win,.. they seem uncompetitive at times.

 

[Thallis]

Spot on post. Im not sure what people expected this season to look like. There literally were zero expectations going in.

Being in the hunt for a PO spot in a transition year and bitching about it just shows how spoiled we all are. I get wanting to win NOW, but patience is needed. This team has some good players and some that will need to be phased out if they want to contend for a Cup.

I also agree with the poster who said the Blues were f'd over by covid but I think they were closer to winning a 2nd Cup just 2 years ago in that COL series.

That said -- this team could win a Cup this season. I know Im contradicting myself a bit here but Im not joking. They still have enough talented players to do it but something is missing and maybe that is the signal that a coaching/FO change is needed. Lesser teams have won Cups. Dont agree? How many All-Stars are on this roster? Its a talented group but the lack of will is a problem. They dont seem to want to win,.. they seem uncompetitive at times.

You're going to have to name names here because I really don't think so.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

Our coaching is fine. Coaching sure isn't telling Krug to cough up the puck in the middle of the defensive zone multiple times a game. It's not telling our leading goal scorer from last year to score four goals in his first 21 games. The list goes on. The Blues are a team with a number of players that we got for scraps. Vrana was free. Kapanen was free. Blais was a throw-in. Sunny got a league min contract for 1 year. That's a lot of guys that almost no one else wanted.

I think overall the Blues being in a playoff spot is pretty great all things considered.

 

[joe galiba]

Our coaching is fine. Coaching sure isn't telling Krug to cough up the puck in the middle of the defensive zone multiple times a game. It's not telling our leading goal scorer from last year to score four goals in his first 21 games. The list goes on. The Blues are a team with a number of players that we got for scraps. Vrana was free. Kapanen was free. Blais was a throw-in. Sunny got a league min contract for 1 year. That's a lot of guys that almost no one else wanted.

I think overall the Blues being in a playoff spot is pretty great all things considered.

Kyrou is just snake bit, if he had a normal shooting percentage he would be around 10 goals - not a coaching issue

where Vrana is hurting the Blues is he was expected to be a guy to provide some offense on the third line and he hasn’t- not really a coaching issue

the power play has been brutal, we seem to have a lot of possession and don’t do anything with it - that is where coaching is an issue and a decent power play would certainly change how the early season has gone

 

[Xerloris]

Our coaching is fine. Coaching sure isn't telling Krug to cough up the puck in the middle of the defensive zone multiple times a game. It's not telling our leading goal scorer from last year to score four goals in his first 21 games. The list goes on. The Blues are a team with a number of players that we got for scraps. Vrana was free. Kapanen was free. Blais was a throw-in. Sunny got a league min contract for 1 year. That's a lot of guys that almost no one else wanted.

I think overall the Blues being in a playoff spot is pretty great all things considered.

You're choosing to ignore the fact that our coaching does tell our PP to suck ass by putting out the worst combination of players instead of putting players in a position to succeed. God forbid you give Vrana a chance to take some one-timers to help our PP and maybe win a game or two.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

You're choosing to ignore the fact that our coaching does tell our PP to suck ass by putting out the worst combination of players instead of putting players in a position to succeed. God forbid you give Vrana a chance to take some one-timers to help our PP and maybe win a game or two.

Agreed. I've been vocal about my disgust at the PP set up. But overall this team is currently sitting in the WC1 spot with a roster that's pretty half baked. Coaching is getting a lot more out of this roster then I expected at this juncture.

 

[sbet1998]

You're going to have to name names here because I really don't think so.

Canes, TB, LAK (2012) I dont think had very deep rosters. Im talking about on paper here. There have been numerous teams that get hot at the right time and go on a run to the Cup final and not win as well like EDM, PHI, MON. This is not a new concept in the NHL or sports in general.

The best team rarely wins -- Blues fans should know that. Not sure why I needed to name names here.

 

[sbet1998]

Agreed. I've been vocal about my disgust at the PP set up. But overall this team is currently sitting in the WC1 spot with a roster that's pretty half baked. Coaching is getting a lot more out of this roster then I expected at this juncture.

You sure about that? Do you feel like this roster isnt talented but plays hard? From my perspective its a team full of players who have had success at the NHL level but collectively dont want to do the little things or sacrifice to win games most nights. They're instead riding their talent to some wins right now, IMO.

I rarely feel like they are outworking their opponent. We'll see what happens as the season moves along.

 

[sbet1998]

Our coaching is fine. Coaching sure isn't telling Krug to cough up the puck in the middle of the defensive zone multiple times a game. It's not telling our leading goal scorer from last year to score four goals in his first 21 games. The list goes on. The Blues are a team with a number of players that we got for scraps. Vrana was free. Kapanen was free. Blais was a throw-in. Sunny got a league min contract for 1 year. That's a lot of guys that almost no one else wanted.

I think overall the Blues being in a playoff spot is pretty great all things considered.

Vrana, Kapanen, Sunny and Blais are not an issue. The latter 3 have all been pluses for the team. You cant have superstars on your 3rd and 4th lines in a cap era.

COL won a Cup with a team full of rejects no one wanted.

 

[Celtic Note]

Canes, TB, LAK (2012) I dont think had very deep rosters. Im talking about on paper here. There have been numerous teams that get hot at the right time and go on a run to the Cup final and not win as well like EDM, PHI, MON. This is not a new concept in the NHL or sports in general.

The best team rarely wins -- Blues fans should know that. Not sure why I needed to name names here.

I think the Canes had better depth and better forward two-way roster construction. The Kings and TB had better top end players. I am not sure I agree that we are in the neighborhood of those three.

 

[Blueston]

I think the Canes had better depth and better forward two-way roster construction. The Kings and TB had better top end players. I am not sure I agree that we are in the neighborhood of those three.

Yeah, the idea that we are on level with Tampa Cup team coming off Presidents trophy that had at least 4 hall of famers and kings team that had probably at least 3 and played stifling d..

 

[BadgersandBlues]

Yea I dunno what that talking point it.....I clearly remember going down the list and comparing our team to the 2012 Kings team and thinking....man they have us beat in almost every major category:

Kings top 3C in order - Kopitar, Richards, Carter
Blues top 3C in order - Backes, Berglund, Arnott - This is massively in favor of LA.

Kings had Justin Williams (Mr. G7) and Brown (20 points in the playoffs that year) as their top wingers. Blues had Oshie and Perron who didn't show up in the playoffs until they left town. Oshie had 9 points (5 goals) in 30 games here, Perron had 2 goals in 19.

Doughty was the Kings stud 1D, AP was ours. I love AP, but Doughty has the hardware to show he's a better player.

LA had Quick and we had Elliot. I loved Elliot but Quick is clearly the better goalie, especially for the time. I've never had anxiety in the playoffs like watching Quick make like 1-2 saves early in the game that might have gone in and been like, whelp, we're not scoring tonight are we. I don't think I've ever felt that way about a different goalie in my entire life watching hockey. The dude was money.

Overall the Kings roster was miles ahead of ours, most notably in Center top end AND depth. We played hard, Hitch coaches pretty well overall, but our talent disparity was too much to overcome.

 

[Thallis]

Canes, TB, LAK (2012) I dont think had very deep rosters. Im talking about on paper here. There have been numerous teams that get hot at the right time and go on a run to the Cup final and not win as well like EDM, PHI, MON. This is not a new concept in the NHL or sports in general.

The best team rarely wins -- Blues fans should know that. Not sure why I needed to name names here.

You're out to lunch if you think any of those teams were worse than the Blues are. Carolina had 21 year old, 100 point Eric Staal and Rod Brindamour down the middle. They had young Andrew Ladd and Doug Weight as depth pieces. That team was very very good. That Kings core won 2 cups. That Tampa team was prelockout, and had a star studded roster with Martin St. Louis, Lecavalier, Stillman, Richards, Khabibulin.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

At the time, the Kings were overlooked because they were the Kings. Prior to that year the Kings were probably even more notorious than the Blues at lack of playoff success. They missed the playoffs much more often, when they did make it more often than not did not get out of their first round. The one exception was '92-'93 with Gretzky, something they could not follow up on.

That year changed that for them.

 

[Thallis]

Vrana, Kapanen, Sunny and Blais are not an issue. The latter 3 have all been pluses for the team. You cant have superstars on your 3rd and 4th lines in a cap era.

COL won a Cup with a team full of rejects no one wanted.

Where in the world did you get this???? That Colorado team was the odds on favorite to win from day 1.

At the time, the Kings were overlooked because they were the Kings. Prior to that year the Kings were probably even more notorious than the Blues at lack of playoff success. They missed the playoffs much more often, when they did make it more often than not did not get out of their first round. The one exception was '92-'93 with Gretzky, something they could not follow up on.

That year changed that for them.

The kings were overlooked come playoff time because they underachieved during the season and came in as an 8 seed. Before the season they were considered favorites to win.

 

[stl76]

Yeah…I don’t mean to pile on sbet, but if by some miracle this current Blues roster won the cup it would probably be the worst roster in history to do so.

That being said, this thread has taken a much more interesting turn IMO talking about Stanley cup rosters haha

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Yeah…I don’t mean to pile on sbet, but if by some miracle this current Blues roster won the cup it would probably be the worst roster in history to do so.

That being said, this thread has taken a much more interesting turn IMO talking about Stanley cup rosters haha

 

[Brian39]

That said -- this team could win a Cup this season. I know Im contradicting myself a bit here but Im not joking. They still have enough talented players to do it but something is missing and maybe that is the signal that a coaching/FO change is needed. Lesser teams have won Cups. Dont agree? How many All-Stars are on this roster? Its a talented group but the lack of will is a problem. They dont seem to want to win,.. they seem uncompetitive at times.

Zero. No one on this roster has ever been an end of season all star. Binnington is the only player on the roster who has ever finished top 10 in all star voting at his position.

If you are asking about guys selected for the all star game, basically every team in the league has multiple all stars since every team gets at least 1 every year.

 

[sbet1998]

Zero. No one on this roster has ever been an end of season all star. Binnington is the only player on the roster who has ever finished top 10 in all star voting at his position.

If you are asking about guys selected for the all star game, basically every team in the league has multiple all stars since every team gets at least 1 every year.

Are you serious? No All-Stars other than Binnington? That false. Do you really want me to name them all?

Yeah…I don’t mean to pile on sbet, but if by some miracle this current Blues roster won the cup it would probably be the worst roster in history to do so.

That being said, this thread has taken a much more interesting turn IMO talking about Stanley cup rosters haha

Its all good dude. This place would be boring if we all had the exact same opinions. I like to play devil's advocate at times to rile up the natives.