Blues #1 goaltender race Allen vs. Johnson vs. Husso?

[Thallis]

I don’t want Husso to be the starter, that would mean the Rampage are stuck with either Jake/Binnington or Johnson/Binnington. Why would you wish that on the Rampage??? First year AHL affiliates, please don’t screw them over the first year, lol!! <sarc>

Binnington has an amazing year in the AHL last year. They'd be fine.

 

[Borderbluesfan]

Binnington has an amazing year in the AHL last year. They'd be fine.

That’s the reason for the <sarc> at the end of the post, lol! I was being sarcastic!

 

[Stealth JD]

With the Blues luck, Binnington:Blues as Hasek:Blackhawks
We’ll lose Binny only to see him go onto be one the greatest goalies of his era with only Tyler Seguin having seen it coming.

 

[GoldenSeal]

History with the Blues has shown that the new reclamation project goalie tends to shoot high and history has also shown time and time again that Jake Allen loses his starter spot to them, which has happened what, three times now? So, Chad. All day only because Husso is still working his way in.

 

[Ranksu]

I voted Chad Johnson

 

[Stealth JD]

Eventually Jake is going to get back in the nets. It may be a weeek, it may be six...but he will again get the nod. What happens if in his first game back he gets torched? You’ve got to send him away like Hannu Toivonen, right? Their games are eerily similar.

 

[Blueston]

Eventually Jake is going to get back in the nets. It may be a weeek, it may be six...but he will again get the nod. What happens if in his first game back he gets torched? You’ve got to send him away like Hannu Toivonen, right? Their games are eerily similar.

I would send Allen to SA and hope he gets his game back together. If someone claims him on waivers, which is unlikely, even better.

 

[GoldenSeal]

The REAL answer is Chad Johnson until Husso takes the job from him.

Jake is done and the sooner we accept that, the better. What should happen is simple: We run a tandem with Husso getting opportunities and we begin getting Husso experience so he can take the reins. Something every Blues fan since 2010 should get is that when the Blues get a reclamation backup netminder, they shoot for the moon, especially behind Allen. Elliott, Hutton and now Johnson.

I don't give a damn what the hell any one of these netminders have done on any other team, it's inconsequential and has been used by some in comments meant to undermine a netminder's work in St. Louis, Brian Elliott comes to mind. Chad will be what we need him to be: a stop-gap for Husso. This is the year we need to begin the transition, and once Husso takes the reins, and if Chad is still on the team and posting good numbers, Chad can ride backup with Husso, or we can find a backup netminder for Husso.

For now, Chad will do, and the team is rallying around him. When Allen's in goal, the team plays as if they've already lost.

 

[Blueston]

The REAL answer is Chad Johnson until Husso takes the job from him.

Jake is done and the sooner we accept that, the better. What should happen is simple: We run a tandem with Husso getting opportunities and we begin getting Husso experience so he can take the reins. Something every Blues fan since 2010 should get is that when the Blues get a reclamation backup netminder, they shoot for the moon, especially behind Allen. Elliott, Hutton and now Johnson.

I don't give a damn what the hell any one of these netminders have done on any other team, it's inconsequential and has been used by some in comments meant to undermine a netminder's work in St. Louis, Brian Elliott comes to mind. Chad will be what we need him to be: a stop-gap for Husso. This is the year we need to begin the transition, and once Husso takes the reins, and if Chad is still on the team and posting good numbers, Chad can ride backup with Husso, or we can find a backup netminder for Husso.

For now, Chad will do, and the team is rallying around him. When Allen's in goal, the team plays as if they've already lost.

Agree about Johnson and Allen, but Husso needs to step up his game. We've anointed him as our coming saviour, but he's having rough year in SA and Binnington has significantly outplayed him.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Agree about Johnson and Allen, but Husso needs to step up his game. We've anointed him as our coming saviour, but he's having rough year in SA and Binnington has significantly outplayed him.

That's actually a nice problem to have

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Can it really be considered a race if one guy never leaves the starting blocks?

 

[Shwabeal]

As many of the years of having jake on the team have gone, play the hot hand, and at this point, that's Johnson. Ride him until he has an absolute shit game, and then give Allen one game to show what he's got, and when he inevitably fails, thrown Johnson right back in there and see what happens. This team doesn't have time to mess around with Allen's struggles.

 

[PiggySmalls]

I didn’t watch the game tonight as I was driving home. But listened to it on the radio (when atmospheric conditions are right I get KMOX all the way down in South Alabama).

The post game interview Chad did resonates what many of us have been preaching over the past few years. When Amy asked about the few scrambles in front of the net, his reply was to the likes of, ‘I don’t like to scramble, I prefer to focus on getting into position to make the save’ Of course I’m paraphrasing but my point is once again we have another backup goalie that has the potential to steal starts from Jake because he plays a style that best fits the Blues defense.

If Yeo rides Chad until he goes cold and Allen comes in and plays sub-par again. I can only hope Army is ready to make a move.

Reading Yeo’s comments about Allen after this game is so frustrating. He is trying to praise Johnson, while at the same time trying to give more of the credit to the players in front of Chad. So Allen does feel like Johnson is beating him out of his spot. People can talk about defensive lapses and all the reasons about Allen’s sub-par play. But confidence is contagious and what we saw tonight was a team confident in their goalie and from the sound of it, they played confident.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Hopefully Johnson's last couple games are part of a longer hot streak. I'd love to see him get the majority of starts for a couple weeks and be able to maintain a good save percentage. The team needs some repetition of good habits and confidence.

But I expect Johnson to not be able to maintain starter's minutes at that level over the season. He'll probably falter. And Allen will probably have a better stretch where he comes back and starts to look like the better option. If they're being played as a tandem like that, Husso (or possibly Binnington) should have an opportunity to come up and get some games. But it feels more and more like there is groupthink that Husso is going to automatically be able to function as an NHL starter, with a growing body of red flags that he is probably not ready yet. I don't think Husso should be the Plan A for this season if you need to replace Allen as starter (and I think they DO need to).

Replacing Allen consists of two parts:
1) move him. That contract is a problem, but no more so than Lehtera's was. Its probably going to cost some painful assets price to get someone to take him, but I think it can be done. It will be easier when some teams that are starting hot fade out of the playoff race and embrace rebuilding.

2) get a new starter. For this season, I would be open to acquiring a rental goalie. If you can identify a longer term option, that's better, but the options right now leave a lot to be desired. A rental price for Bobrovsky that isn't as high as the current rumors could be manageable. If things click, you have an opportunity to sign him to something more. But acquiring long-term contract in trade (like the suggestions of Schneider or Howard) can create a barrier to Husso later, and risk taking on a guy with an even bigger commitment than we have with Allen. If that guy fizzles, we've wasted assets to move Allen, bring in someone, and made a BIGGER problem.

The ideal would be to identify a young guy that is ready to something more, but log-jammed on his current team. Or who had a bad stint and is really better than that. (Dubnyk again, is a great example of this.) I don't have any good names here, but if the pro scouting is worth anything, they hopefully have a couple good targets that we aren't discussing who could be options. It would be ironic of Pheonix Copley is one of those names.

 

[MissouriMook]

Howard is on the last year of his deal, which is one of the things that makes him more attractive. If he doesn’t work out you’re not stuck. If he does, you can try to lock him up for two more years until Husso is ready.

 

[carter333167]

I didn’t watch the game tonight as I was driving home. But listened to it on the radio (when atmospheric conditions are right I get KMOX all the way down in South Alabama).

The post game interview Chad did resonates what many of us have been preaching over the past few years. When Amy asked about the few scrambles in front of the net, his reply was to the likes of, ‘I don’t like to scramble, I prefer to focus on getting into position to make the save’ Of course I’m paraphrasing but my point is once again we have another backup goalie that has the potential to steal starts from Jake because he plays a style that best fits the Blues defense.

If Yeo rides Chad until he goes cold and Allen comes in and plays sub-par again. I can only hope Army is ready to make a move.

Reading Yeo’s comments about Allen after this game is so frustrating. He is trying to praise Johnson, while at the same time trying to give more of the credit to the players in front of Chad. So Allen does feel like Johnson is beating him out of his spot. People can talk about defensive lapses and all the reasons about Allen’s sub-par play. But confidence is contagious and what we saw tonight was a team confident in their goalie and from the sound of it, they played confident.

I noticed his comments and they were disappointing to a degree. Yeo couldn't bring himself to simply praise a great effort by Johnson....he felt he had to add that the team was playing better in front of the goalie.

I think Yeo's comments are designed to defend his past decisions to start Allen on a ridiculous pace (just as he illogically defends the recent decisions to give Bo first pairing minutes). He is playing a lot of defense in his interviews lately.

In any case, Yeo must still split the duties to some degree. Chad can't start 60 games but Yeo might at long last be willing to ride the hot hand a bit. He should just spin it as a 1A, 1B type thing. The situation will take care of itself depending on how the goalies perform.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Howard is on the last year of his deal, which is one of the things that makes him more attractive. If he doesn’t work out you’re not stuck. If he does, you can try to lock him up for two more years until Husso is ready.

Thanks, I was under the impression he had more years left. I like Howard a lot better than the notions of a Schneider deal. A goalie coming back from surgery, who has not played well recently, that's not really the guy I would be paying assets to target. And Detroit may be in a rebuild such that they would not view Allen so negatively, if he came with some enticements. There has to be someone around the league that will look at Allen and see his athleticism, his dominant playoff performance, and think, "I bet I can get more out of him than they did in St Louis." Whether that guy is a chump, we'll see, but surely someone will think Allen is a good reclamation project.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I noticed his comments and they were disappointing to a degree. Yeo couldn't bring himself to simply praise a great effort by Johnson....he felt he had to add that the team was playing better in front of the goalie.

I think Yeo's comments are designed to defend his past decisions to start Allen on a ridiculous pace (just as he illogically defends the recent decisions to give Bo first pairing minutes). He is playing a lot of defense in his interviews lately.

In any case, Yeo must still split the duties to some degree. Chad can't start 60 games but Yeo might at long last be willing to ride the hot hand a bit.

It doesn't matter what Yeo says. It only matters what he does, who he gives the starts to. These post-game interviews are not worth dissecting, and don't show the conversations he is having with the actual players about their play. We're just not privy to the type of information from Yeo that we really want to know.

But of course Johnson starts Sunday, right? Or if there is some special reason to give Allen another chance vs Minnesota, then Johnson starts the next game.

 

[carter333167]

Hopefully Johnson's last couple games are part of a longer hot streak. I'd love to see him get the majority of starts for a couple weeks and be able to maintain a good save percentage. The team needs some repetition of good habits and confidence.

But I expect Johnson to not be able to maintain starter's minutes at that level over the season. He'll probably falter. And Allen will probably have a better stretch where he comes back and starts to look like the better option. If they're being played as a tandem like that, Husso (or possibly Binnington) should have an opportunity to come up and get some games. But it feels more and more like there is groupthink that Husso is going to automatically be able to function as an NHL starter, with a growing body of red flags that he is probably not ready yet. I don't think Husso should be the Plan A for this season if you need to replace Allen as starter (and I think they DO need to).

Replacing Allen consists of two parts:
1) move him. That contract is a problem, but no more so than Lehtera's was. Its probably going to cost some painful assets price to get someone to take him, but I think it can be done. It will be easier when some teams that are starting hot fade out of the playoff race and embrace rebuilding.

2) get a new starter. For this season, I would be open to acquiring a rental goalie. If you can identify a longer term option, that's better, but the options right now leave a lot to be desired. A rental price for Bobrovsky that isn't as high as the current rumors could be manageable. If things click, you have an opportunity to sign him to something more. But acquiring long-term contract in trade (like the suggestions of Schneider or Howard) can create a barrier to Husso later, and risk taking on a guy with an even bigger commitment than we have with Allen. If that guy fizzles, we've wasted assets to move Allen, bring in someone, and made a BIGGER problem.

The ideal would be to identify a young guy that is ready to something more, but log-jammed on his current team. Or who had a bad stint and is really better than that. (Dubnyk again, is a great example of this.) I don't have any good names here, but if the pro scouting is worth anything, they hopefully have a couple good targets that we aren't discussing who could be options. It would be ironic of Pheonix Copley is one of those names.

I like the idea of scouting a few younger guys who are ready to make the jump. IMO, we need to be doing that asap.

I think we need to ride out Jake's contract...just keep him as part of a rotation of three-four goalies. I don't want to pay a first to get rid of his contract.

Right now, we have Johnson, Allen, Husso and Binnington. If we could add a goalie like Dell for cheap, that would be great.

Regarding the above, if the Blues would just commit to running a 2-3 goalie rotation, I think they would help themselves on the ice and with the fans and press. The message that "Jake is our #1," has needlessly put them in a box (b/c Jake has often not been playing as well as his counterpart when they deliver this message).

 

[Ranksu]

We might have solution at AHL, but he hasn't get his change to prove it NHL. Its guessing game now. Husso fits stylistically behind our system, but hasn't been that good at AHL. Last season Husso was AHL top goaltender and still didn't get change to play up, 'cus coaches trust blindly what they have.

I just hope before TDL we would had given change him to play up, confirm is he ready or not? He could be the answer for deep playoff run.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I like the idea of scouting a few younger guys who are ready to make the jump. IMO, we need to be doing that asap.

I think we need to ride out Jake's contract...just keep him as part of a rotation of three-four goalies. I don't want to pay a first to get rid of his contract.

Right now, we have Johnson, Allen, Husso and Binnington. If we could add a goalie like Dell for cheap, that would be great.

Regarding the above, if the Blues would just commit to running a 2-3 goalie rotation, I think they would help themselves on the ice and with the fans and press. The message that "Jake is our #1," has needlessly put them in a box (b/c Jake has often not been playing as well as his counterpart when they deliver this message).

As GM either you still view Allen as an option, or you don't. If you don't, then you need to get him off this team. He's eating salary and a roster spot. But he's also injecting a loss of confidence into the team around him when he plays poorly. We never want to waste 1sts, but you have a deep roster that is ready to contend now. A player taken with a 1st over the next couple years isn't going to contribute to that in a meaningful way. Embrace the window of contention and sacrifice the future beyond that if necessary to optimize the chances of winning during the window.

I'm also starting to doubt Kostin really develops into the guy we want him to be, nor where he really fits in this line-up any time soon. I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over the team spending him as an asset in a trade.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

We might have solution at AHL, but he hasn't get his change to prove it NHL. Its guessing game now. Husso fits stylistically behind our system, but hasn't been that good at AHL. Last season Husso was AHL top goaltender and still didn't get change to play up, 'cus coaches trust blindly what they have.

I just hope before TDL we would had given change him to play up, confirm is he ready or not? He could be the answer for deep playoff run.

Last season would have been an awful quick time frame to get him into the NHL, when he was just coming to North America for acclimation. But he did very well with his chances, especially since the team didn't control its AHL affiliate.

There is something to be said for bringing Husso up before pulling the trigger on any big goalie trade. But I don't think they can do it when the team is in such disarray. If Johnson can help stabilize things for a couple weeks, and the team starts playing consistently as a good team, then bringing Husso up to have a look becomes a lot more attractive option. This is assuming Johnson regresses a bit after a hot streak and doesn't really grab the reins as a starter.

If they can string together a few more good games, I think we might see Husso sooner. But it would help a lot of Husso looked like he was playing well in San Antonio.

 

[David Dennison]

As many of the years of having jake on the team have gone, play the hot hand, and at this point, that's Johnson. Ride him until he has an absolute **** game, and then give Allen one game to show what he's got, and when he inevitably fails, thrown Johnson right back in there and see what happens. This team doesn't have time to mess around with Allen's struggles.

I agree, got to play the hot hand early in the season, both players will get their starts and Allen has always balanced out his shaky streaks with hot streaks. Its a long season.

 

[simon IC]

Husso seems to be struggling in SA right now.

 

[mw2noobbuster]

Voted Johnson. But, to be honest, it really gets tiring having to play the 1A/1B game every single season where we just ride a hot goalie until the wheels fall off then switch to the other and repeat.