2021 Blues Regular Season multi-purpose thread

[Stupendous Yappi]

Ok, here is where we post musings all season long. We can stop abusing the off-season thread. Maybe it will even warrant a sticky.

Click to read more...

 

[WeWentBlues]

Sticky this thread please.

I can't ever remember a time from watching the 90s teams as a young child through today where we had this much talent in the forward group.

 

[mk80]

I agree on making the thread sticky please

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Its pretty amazing that Tarasenko being productive or not is almost an afterthought, and is a concern more for the possibility of being able to move him and his salary...potentially addressing LHD. He's hiding on the 3rd line, and if he struggles for a couple weeks, we probably won't sweat it much.

Its a lot of fun watching the young players take strides. But the usual pattern is for guys like Kostin and Neighbors to fade away after about half of a season. I think Kyrou may be experienced enough to be counted on all year (but not at THIS pace). And we aren't even talking about Perunovich, who looked good enough to be playing very soon.

 

[Brian39]

Its pretty amazing that Tarasenko being productive or not is almost an afterthought, and is a concern more for the possibility of being able to move him and his salary...potentially addressing LHD. He's hiding on the 3rd line, and if he struggles for a couple weeks, we probably won't sweat it much.

Its a lot of fun watching the young players take strides. But the usual pattern is for guys like Kostin and Neighbors to fade away after about half of a season. I think Kyrou may be experienced enough to be counted on all year (but not at THIS pace). And we aren't even talking about Perunovich, who looked good enough to be playing very soon.

Jeff Marek always used to talk about how Phil Kessel's value came from his ability to score your team an easy goal. He'd be invisible for long stretches, but 5-10 times a year your team would spend half the night struggling to generate quality chances and Kessel's shot would just beat a goalie on a nothing-looking play and get you back into a game. I feel like that could be what Tarasenko will contribute at 5 on 5 this year. He'll get his PP points and be a cog in (what should be) a top 10 PP unit. Most nights he won't make much impact at 5 on 5, but he'll have that occasional night where he gets his shot off perfectly and helps us by scoring a key goal when the rest of the offense just isn't working. It might not be worth his AAV in a bubble, but that can be a valuable thing that banks us some points and prevents teams from loading up to stop specific lines.

 

[mk80]

Its pretty amazing that Tarasenko being productive or not is almost an afterthought, and is a concern more for the possibility of being able to move him and his salary...potentially addressing LHD. He's hiding on the 3rd line, and if he struggles for a couple weeks, we probably won't sweat it much.

Its a lot of fun watching the young players take strides. But the usual pattern is for guys like Kostin and Neighbors to fade away after about half of a season. I think Kyrou may be experienced enough to be counted on all year (but not at THIS pace). And we aren't even talking about Perunovich, who looked good enough to be playing very soon.

FWIW Perunovich has 3 assists and is the Springfield leader in points through their first 2 games.

Springfield is also 2-0 in 2 games! So the Blues organization was strong in opening games from top to bottom.

 

[Memento]

I am not a fan of Buchnevich getting suspended. Crouse should've gotten at least that much for jumping into the ice just to cross-check Buch in the face. Of course he's going to f***ing react. I'm not justifying the headbutt, but damn sure Crouse deserves to sit as well.

I guess that means that the next man is up.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Dress Cliffy next time ya'll play Arizona. That team is full of rats.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I can't help but think that if a guy hadn't gotten off lightly for a headbutt just a few days ago, Buchnevich may have gotten a lighter penalty. I think the official NHL video downplays the provocation. It says he was crosschecked in the chest, ignoring the second crosscheck to his face immediately after. Not a big deal, and its good to keep headbutting out of the game. I just think its weird to crosscheck a guy's face and its only 2 minutes.

The Blues have the forwards to absorb this pretty easily, so maybe a blessing in disguise?

 

[Blueston]

Jeff Marek always used to talk about how Phil Kessel's value came from his ability to score your team an easy goal. He'd be invisible for long stretches, but 5-10 times a year your team would spend half the night struggling to generate quality chances and Kessel's shot would just beat a goalie on a nothing-looking play and get you back into a game. I feel like that could be what Tarasenko will contribute at 5 on 5 this year. He'll get his PP points and be a cog in (what should be) a top 10 PP unit. Most nights he won't make much impact at 5 on 5, but he'll have that occasional night where he gets his shot off perfectly and helps us by scoring a key goal when the rest of the offense just isn't working. It might not be worth his AAV in a bubble, but that can be a valuable thing that banks us some points and prevents teams from loading up to stop specific lines.

Sounds like Hoffman last year.

 

[Thallis]

Its pretty amazing that Tarasenko being productive or not is almost an afterthought, and is a concern more for the possibility of being able to move him and his salary...potentially addressing LHD. He's hiding on the 3rd line, and if he struggles for a couple weeks, we probably won't sweat it much.

Its a lot of fun watching the young players take strides. But the usual pattern is for guys like Kostin and Neighbors to fade away after about half of a season. I think Kyrou may be experienced enough to be counted on all year (but not at THIS pace). And we aren't even talking about Perunovich, who looked good enough to be playing very soon.

I don't think it's an afterthought at all. Kyrou and Buch may be big contributors, but without an effective 3rd line we're not going to do anything. Thomas isn't likely to have a decent year without Tarasenko contributing. We just haven't hit a point where it matters yet. If there's a stretch where we start to struggle for a few weeks, that's when the pressure dials up on Tarasenko like it was towards the end of the year.

 

[Celtic Note]

I can't help but think that if a guy hadn't gotten off lightly for a headbutt just a few days ago, Buchnevich may have gotten a lighter penalty. I think the official NHL video downplays the provocation. It says he was crosschecked in the chest, ignoring the second crosscheck to his face immediately after. Not a big deal, and its good to keep headbutting out of the game. I just think its weird to crosscheck a guy's face and its only 2 minutes.

The Blues have the forwards to absorb this pretty easily, so maybe a blessing in disguise?

I would rather take a headbutt to the face than a cross check to the face. I have had both happen. Neither is a walk in the park, but something about the fact that a cross check has no physical repercussion to the person doing it makes it more concerning to me. Also, it feels a bit more like the force is consolidated to specific points with a cross check then a headbutt. The headbutt is more blunt and widely distributed.

Or maybe they both are brutal, don’t have a place in the game and deserve to be on a similar level of punishment.

 

[Brian39]

I have no problem with a 2 game suspension for Buch, but I echo the sentiment that the lack of any supplemental discipline for Crouse is stupid. If I were in Buch's shoes, I'm pretty confident that I would have apologized and let them know that I've learned my lesson and will return the crosscheck to the face next time.

 

[Halak Ness Monster]

Man I’m so happy to have Blues hockey back again.

I’m not sure if we have a Cup contender with our defense the way it is. However, I love Binny and I’m pumped about our forward group. The Blues will be a good playoff team and fun to watch this year.

 

[bleedblue1223]

The Perron/Krug banter lol.

 

[elkranio]

Saad to miss Saturday's game vs. Los Angeles

 

[rumrokh]

The Perron/Krug banter lol.

Wouldn't have it any other way. Love having a team full of players the other team finds annoying as piss to play against.

 

[Reality Czech]

The Perron/Krug banter lol.

I just listened to the full Krug interview with Cam and Strick and it's worth a listen to hear more about how he ended up in St. Louis, how he bought Petro's house, how he went from undrafted to the NHL, his take on the '19 Finals and lots more. Apparently his arms are massive as well, they couldn't get over how jacked he was.

 

[Majorityof1]

Saad is in Covid protocol and will miss Saturday's game. Buchnevich will be on his last game of suspension. Who gets bumped up to the top 9? Do we consolidate into a powerful top 6 or still try to run 3 equal-ish lines? Does Clifford get in or do we call up someone from Springfield?

I'd guess we still try to roll with the same pairs as we have all year with Neil, Neighbours, and Barby playing the other wing. The lines are starting to look a little "meh" if we keep trying to roll these 3 pairs with a couple guys out.

 

[Stealth JD]

Saad is in Covid protocol and will miss Saturday's game. Buchnevich will be on his last game of suspension. Who gets bumped up to the top 9? Do we consolidate into a powerful top 6 or still try to run 3 equal-ish lines? Does Clifford get in or do we call up someone from Springfield?

I'd guess we still try to roll with the same pairs as we have all year with Neil, Neighbours, and Barby playing the other wing. The lines are starting to look a little "meh" if we keep trying to roll these 3 pairs with a couple guys out.

No roster moves required yet:

Neal-ROR-Perron
Neighbors-Schenn-Kyrou
Kostin-Thomas-Tarasenko
Clifford-Bozak-Barby

 

[Frenzy31]

No roster moves required yet:

Neal-ROR-Perron
Neighbors-Schenn-Kyrou
Kostin-Thomas-Tarasenko
Clifford-Bozak-Barby

I would put Barby up with Tarasenko. Kostin on the 4th line. The rest I am good with. Maybe Kostin with ROR and Perron and Neal back on the 4th line. Will be interesting to see how things go,

 

[Stealth JD]

I would put Barby up with Tarasenko. Kostin on the 4th line. The rest I am good with. Maybe Kostin with ROR and Perron and Neal back on the 4th line. Will be interesting to see how things go,

I originally had just that - Kostin & Barby flipped, but I think Kostin has earned a shot with Thomas & Tarasenko, even if only for a period...I'd expect Chief to move guys around. Army has created a roster with lots of flexibility and scoring options, I'll give him that.

 

[Frenzy31]

I originally had just that - Kostin & Barby flipped, but I think Kostin has earned a shot with Thomas & Tarasenko, even if only for a period...I'd expect Chief to move guys around. Army has created a roster with lots of flexibility and scoring options, I'll give him that.

To me it isn’t about earning playing time. Barby has been solid this year and I would like to have at least one intact line against the Kings. I like rewarding Kostin so I think it would be good to move him up, which is why I might put him with ROR.

 

[BlueMed]

To me it isn’t about earning playing time. Barby has been solid this year and I would like to have at least one intact line against the Kings. I like rewarding Kostin so I think it would be good to move him up, which is why I might put him with ROR.

Kostin needs a real opportunity. After scoring 2 goals the other game, he certainly deserves it.

 

[Renard]

I agree on making the thread sticky please

Is that Joe Farhatt?