2020-2021 St. Louis Blues: Generic Thread Titles Be Damned (Part III)
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Bobby Orrtuzzo
Ya know
Ted Hoffman
The other Rick Zombo
- Dec 15, 2002
- 29,132
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You can't tell me what to do, you're not my real dad!
It's hard to believe that there could have ever been a worse group of 8-teams than this year's Honda NHL ® West division; and yet even against this level of competition the Blues are poised to miss the playoffs in spectacular fashion. I don't have concerns (yet) that Army has successfully transformed the 2019 Blues into the 2020 & 2021 San Jose Sharks, but regardless of how the Blues manage to finish this season, the off-season is going to be way more interesting than anything this collection of 23-players can muster between now and the time their season is mercifully ended.
ChicagoBlues
Sentient
- Oct 24, 2006
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TheDizee
Trade Jordan Kyrou ASAP | ALWAYS RIGHT
- Apr 5, 2014
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Tarasenko, Schenn, Schwartz, Krug and Binnington decided not to.
Since Vladimir Tarasenko and other injured headliners began returning to the lineup March 6, the Blues have gone 5-10-4.
During this revealing 19-game phase they rank 25th in goals per 60 minutes at all strengths (2.26), 30th in goals per 60 at even strength (1.87) and 25th in save percentage (.894.)
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Ted Hoffman
The other Rick Zombo
- Dec 15, 2002
- 29,132
- 8,536
Ted Hoffman
The other Rick Zombo
- Dec 15, 2002
- 29,132
- 8,536
For reference - we had this for a remaining schedule:
4/20 - Colorado
4/22 - Colorado
4/24 - Colorado
4/26 - @ Minnesota
4/28 - @ Minnesota
4/30 - Minnesota
5/1 - Minnesota
5/3 - Anaheim
5/5 - Anaheim
5/7 - @ Vegas
5/8 - @ Vegas
5/10 - @ Los Angeles
5/12 - @ Minnesota
This now appears to be:
4/22 - Colorado [still officially on as of now]
4/24 - Colorado
4/26 - Colorado
4/28 - @ Minnesota
4/29 - @ Minnesota
5/1 - @ Minnesota
5/3 - Anaheim
5/5 - Anaheim
5/7 - @ Vegas
5/8 - @ Vegas
5/10 - @ Los Angeles
5/12 - Minnesota
5/13 - Minnesota
4/20 - Colorado
4/22 - Colorado
4/24 - Colorado
4/26 - @ Minnesota
4/28 - @ Minnesota
4/30 - Minnesota
5/1 - Minnesota
5/3 - Anaheim
5/5 - Anaheim
5/7 - @ Vegas
5/8 - @ Vegas
5/10 - @ Los Angeles
5/12 - @ Minnesota
This now appears to be:
4/22 - Colorado [still officially on as of now]
4/24 - Colorado
4/26 - Colorado
4/28 - @ Minnesota
4/29 - @ Minnesota
5/1 - @ Minnesota
5/3 - Anaheim
5/5 - Anaheim
5/7 - @ Vegas
5/8 - @ Vegas
5/10 - @ Los Angeles
5/12 - Minnesota
5/13 - Minnesota
WeWentBlues
Registered User
- May 3, 2017
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We got hosed with another back to back. Would have been more equitable to schedule 5/13 game for 5/14...
Sigh....
Ted Hoffman
The other Rick Zombo
- Dec 15, 2002
- 29,132
- 8,536
That's closing with 5 games in 7 days. Good thing the NHLPA went to bat years ago to get rid of that kind of ultra-compressed scheduling, especially near the start of the playoffs. Well, maybe Donald Fehr can get the Blues players some monogrammed tie clips for team dress requirements when haggling with owners in the next CBA instead of dealing with important stuff like, oh, maybe quit making the players play 5 times in 7 days, period.
Something that has interested me for most of this season has been shutouts or our lack of them. Binnington hasn’t recorded a shutout since Feb of 2020. Our last shutout was by Allen in March of 2020 right before the season was halted. While much hockey was cancelled in 2020, it is still surprising to me how long we’ve gone without one. And man could we have used our goalie stealing a game for us at many different points this season.
The Blues career shutout leaders are Elliott, Allen, and Halak. This is to say that last decade we saw a lot of shutouts. I don’t know if this current streak really means much. We’ve had a couple games that could have been shutouts if not for a random bounce that slipped past our goalie. I do think it probably says that the make-up of our team is no longer that of a defensive stalwart. Problem is we don’t have a replacement identity other than ‘average everywhere’.
The Blues career shutout leaders are Elliott, Allen, and Halak. This is to say that last decade we saw a lot of shutouts. I don’t know if this current streak really means much. We’ve had a couple games that could have been shutouts if not for a random bounce that slipped past our goalie. I do think it probably says that the make-up of our team is no longer that of a defensive stalwart. Problem is we don’t have a replacement identity other than ‘average everywhere’.
Reality Czech
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- Apr 17, 2017
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Yeah, it's been a long time. Just looking at the stats now, there are 49 different goalies to record a shutout this year including Malcom Subban (2 in 14 games), Petr Mrazek (3 in 9 games), Elliott and Halak (2 each), Swayman and Stolarz each have 1 SO in 6 games). The only goalies with 30+ games without a shutout are Greiss, Korpisalo, Jarry and Binnington, who leads the way with 34 games.
AVictoryDive
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Reality Czech
Registered User
- Apr 17, 2017
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The ol' reverse jinx strikes again! Let me try again.
Binnington will not - I repeat, will not - get a shutout in tonight's game.
AVictoryDive
Registered User
Yeah there’s also no way a goalie like him can spark this team to a Stanley Cup eitherThe ol' reverse jinx strikes again! Let me try again.
Binnington will not - I repeat, will not - get a shutout in tonight's game.
When the Cup team was playing well, they could deny an opponent a shot on goal for long stretches, sometimes nearly a whole period. I recall times during deciding games in the series vs Winnipeg, Dallas and San Jose when those teams were facing elimination and couldn’t even get looks.
When the Blues win this season, it’s because they’ve outscored an opponent and got high level goalie play. I have a hard time seeing how that will transfer to a successful postseason recipe, although I do see teams win that way in the postseason. Can today’s Blues win a 2-1 game?
That amazing shot suppression didn’t just come from the D corps. It also had to do with how the forwards were defending. If the Blues gain some confidence and stay healthy, do they still have the pieces to accomplish imposing shot suppression? Assuming a reasonably healthy Parayko returns soon, can they manage?
When the Blues win this season, it’s because they’ve outscored an opponent and got high level goalie play. I have a hard time seeing how that will transfer to a successful postseason recipe, although I do see teams win that way in the postseason. Can today’s Blues win a 2-1 game?
That amazing shot suppression didn’t just come from the D corps. It also had to do with how the forwards were defending. If the Blues gain some confidence and stay healthy, do they still have the pieces to accomplish imposing shot suppression? Assuming a reasonably healthy Parayko returns soon, can they manage?
Brian39
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- Apr 24, 2014
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I would be pretty surprised if there was any meaningful correlation between "getting a shutout" and "stealing the game."
The majority of shutouts in the NHL are recorded in games where the goalie earning the shutout played behind the team that was noticeably better. The Blues had 5 shutouts last year and we scored a combined 15 goals in those games. In all but one of them, we would have won in regulation if our goalie allowed a goal. The single 1-0 victory of those 5 came in a game where we outshot the Yotes 46-14.
Shutouts are great, but they aren't really a meaningful statistic. I think Binner's 50 save performance vs the Knights this season was a better performance than at least 7 of his 8 career regular season shutouts.
Celtic Note
Living the dream
- Dec 22, 2006
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On any given night could this team suppress shots like that? Possibly. Have we seen it this season? I am not sure. Can we do it consistently with the team as assembled? I don’t have high hopes. Our defense is notably not a defense first one and we have lost defensive capability from the forward group.
I agree with some of what you're saying here, but I think looking for 1-0 games is misleading. If a team is trailing the whole game, they're going to start taking more and more defensive risks to get the tying goal. I don't think a 3-0 shut-out means that the offense carried the load and the goalie didn't steal it. I think a 1-0 game is more reflective of a goalie duel where both guys were on.
Brian39
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- Apr 24, 2014
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I wasn't trying to say that a 1-0 shutout is the only way a goalie can steal a game. My point is that there is so much randomness in hockey and plays where a goalie had absolutely no chance that you can't say with any confidence that a goalie played any better in a game where he got a shutout than one where he allowed one. Absent watching all of a goalies shutouts and 1 goal games to analyze it, I don't know how you can quantify/judge when a goalie stole a game.
Most our shutouts last year were games that we scored 3+ goals and absolutely would have won if our goalie had allowed 1 or 2 goals. The single 1-0 game was a night where we absolutely throttled the other team but couldn't solve Kuemper. I remember that game and it is absolutely not one where I would say that the goalie stole it.
My point wasn't that you have to look for 1-0 games to find steals, but that relying on the shutout stat to define steals isn't useful.
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