Blues Discussion Thread 2018-2019 - Part III

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Blueston

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Soshnikov and Sundqvist can go to The Rampage. Sanford, Blais and Kyrou look better now that either of those two ever have.
Blais has been good at drawing penalties but otherwise rather pedestrian. Kyrou has yet to make impact and would likely benefit from stint at AHL level. And neither has to clear waivers. Sosh seems like someone who could be useful (if healthy) and would rather not lose him.
 

A Real Barn Burner

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Regular season, maybe.

Postseason? Not even close.

I don’t know if that’s fair. I mean I agree that Oshie was misused here and it was a terrible trade. However, I think you yourself have in the past commonly refered to small sample size for playoff games when comparing two players or when evaluating a player for trade who has a reputation as a “playoff performer”.

Perhaps comparing Oshie to Oshie is not that, but I’d still think the fact that the more hockey you play the less hot and cold streaks and team matchups would affect your stats is something to consider.

Also If we compare the teams the Blues faced vs the Caps faced while Oshie was with them.

Blues: SJS, LA, LA, CHI, MIN.
Caps: PHI, PIT, TOR, PIT, CBJ, PIT, TBL, VGK.

Of all the teams the capitals have played in the playoffs, only the 2015-16 PHI and 2015-16/2016-2017 PIT series was defensive in nature that I can see and I’d be hard pressed to say either was better than Minnesota defensively. Some of these series where wide open pond hockey especially in the cup run compared to the grueling defensive battles vs LA and Chicago. Five and Six goal games were not uncommon.

Also of all those matchups the Caps have faced since Oshie joined they have been favorites or even odds to win outside of maybe Pittsburgh. That was hardly the case with the Blues who were only really favored in the Wild series.

I know the Oshie debate gets old so please don’t be hard on tearing me apart

It’s just real interesting that his regular season stats don’t show a larger increase even if Oshie might be preforming better in the playoffs.
 
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EastonBlues22

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I don’t know if that’s fair. I mean I agree that Oshie was misused here and it was a terrible trade. However, I think you yourself have in the past commonly refered to small sample size for playoff games when comparing two players or when evulating a player for trade who has a reputation as a “playoff performer”.

Perhaps comparing Oshie to Oshie is not that, but I’d still think the fact that the more hockey you play the less hot and cold streaks and team matchups would affect your stats is something to consider.

Also If we compare the teams the Blues faced vs the Caps faced while Oshie was with them.

Blues: SJS, LA, LA, CHI, MIN.
Caps: PHI, PIT, TOR, PIT, CBJ, PIT, TBL, VGK.

Of all the teams the capitals have played in the playoffs, only the 2015-16 PHI and 2015-16/2016-2017 PIT series was defensive in nature that I can see and I’d be hard pressed to say either was better than Minnesota defensively. Some of these series where wide open pond hockey especially in there cup run compared to the grueling defensive battles vs LA and Chicago. Five and Six goal games were not uncommon.

Also of all those matchups the Caps have faced since Oshie joined they have been favorites or even odds to win outside of maybe Pittsburgh. That was hardly the case with the Blues who were only really favored in the Wild series.

I know the Oshie debate gets old so please don’t be hard on tearing me apart

It’s just real interesting that his regular season stats don’t show a larger increase even if Oshie might be preforming better in the playoffs.
That is certainly true, but ultimately a large part of why the Blues traded him was because of the postseason struggles, no? Both his, and the team's in general. Discussing his postseason production needs to be a part of this conversation, because it's a big part of the reason why he was traded to begin with.

While I'd never point to Oshie's last couple of postseason stats and say "see, that's his real baseline," I think there's ample evidence to suggest that the narratives we were hearing at the time when he was traded were simply false. Oshie can produce in the playoffs. He can be a key cog on a Cup winning team. Etc.

So, why did he find success elsewhere that he didn't find here? It wasn't simply because he had better linemates. He was playing with Backes and Steen back when they were 25-30 goal, 60ish point players. Backstrom and Ovechkin are clearly better, but they're not so much better than they can turn a 25 point guy into a 72 point guy. I mean, that's just common sense, and it's borne out by the fact that Brouwer (and others used in that spot) were routinely throwing up blanks when playing on their wing in the playoffs.

Speaking of Brouwer, he had more success in his one playoff run here than he ever had in Washington. Would you say that's because Backes and Steen were that much more talented than Ovechkin and Backstrom, or because he was simply a better fit for the style of play here?

Along those same lines, I find it hard to attribute that difference to quality of competition differences. For one thing, the differences in quality between playoff quality teams are fairly minimal. Vegas has most series odds in the 55/45 to 60/40 range...virtually coin-flips.

For another, you're probably talking about a 0.5 goals against per game difference from the absolute best defensive team to the absolute worst team in the playoffs, at most (based on their regular season numbers). That's just not that much. Certainly nowhere near enough to explain a 50 point spike in production rate, and that's assuming the worst. More than half the playoff field is within 0.2 GA/G of each other.

This is speaking more to the point that I was addressing earlier with BlueDream, but an individual's relative success simply isn't defined by the quality of his linemates. It's a factor, sure, but not the only one. The fit within the system matters. The stylistic fit with the linemates matters. The usage matters. Etc. If it was only about the linemates, then Stastny would have been a rock star here with Tarasenko. He wasn't, and he had more playoff success in both Colorado and Winnipeg than he ever had here.

Nobody knows how much each one matters. It's probably different in every given case, and I'm certainly not claiming that any of the things mentioned so far (quality of linemates, competition, etc.) don't matter at all. I just don't think "usage" should be dismissed as a non-contributing factor, especially when the proposed alternatives don't seem particularly compelling as full explanations for the change.

Why are these differences emphasized in the playoffs and not the regular season? It's a good question. Here's my best guess.

The regular season doesn't see anywhere near the level of opponent-specific game-planning and preparation that you see in the playoffs. With three games a week, plus travel, there simply isn't time...especially when you often have your own issues to work out and very little practice time to devote to that. The focus is mostly internal (improving what you're trying to do) vs external (focused on what your opponent is likely to do), which in turn means that teams generally are not focused on identifying and exploiting the chinks in your armor.

In addition, a lot of experimenting happens during the regular season. Players are routinely tried out on different lines and used in different roles. That effectively muddies the waters, moderating both the positives and negatives, and having the overall effect of somewhat balancing everything out and bringing it back towards the "baseline."

In the playoffs, things change. A team will be fully prepared for what you're likely to throw at them, and have come up with (and practiced) specific strategies to counter what you're likely to do. That puts your own game under a microscope. Any flaws, weak points, and deficiencies will be targeted, and anything that's performing sub-optimally will find it much harder to get the job done than during the regular season when those targeted pressures to your own game largely aren't there. Any doubts, discomforts, or uncertainties that you have about your own role are likewise magnified as the pressure to perform is ratcheted up significantly...especially if you or the team is struggling.

Put another way, I think it's fairly intuitive to believe that players who are comfortable in their role, and who are being put in the best positions to succeed, are more likely to replicate their level of regular season success in the playoffs (over the long haul) than players who aren't.

In addition, a team doesn't experiment with usage and roles the same way they do in the regular season. They've typically decided what "works" by the playoffs, or what they think will work for each individual series, and they tend to stick with that. The usage waters aren't necessarily muddied to the same extent that they can be during the regular season.

Just some thoughts.

I'd never read more into 5-15 playoff games than I'd take from a full season's worth of regular season games in terms of how talented a player is, or what I'd project him to do next season. That's not what we're doing here, though. I think 30-45 playoff games is enough to evaluate how well a player is being utilized by a team in the playoffs.
 

Reality Czech

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I’m sorry but I don’t see why Sanford earned top 6 minutes after 1 game against Montreal and Kyrou was demoted. Yes, Kyrou missed a scoring chance but he’s also the reason Steen has two goals instead of 1 and Schmaltz whiffed on a great pass from Kyrou. The kid has legit talent and just needs to develop chemistry with a tandem. I also don’t see how Thomas never got a look in the top 6 if Sanford earned it after only one decent game. Yes, Thomas has been hesitant and lacked confidence but Sanford didn’t exactly light the world on fire. This is a double standard to me.

I was going to comment on this post yesterday, and seems even more appropriate now. Maybe sometimes fan's just won't be able to "see" why a coach makes a particular lineup decision. We see them play games and that's it, but coaches see how they train, how they practice, how well they are adapting to coaching, etc. Maybe giving Sanford a shot had nothing to do with Thomas or Kyrou, but rather that he deserved a shot after working to get back to the NHL. Maybe he's been really committed behind the scenes and deserved a shot. Fans on this forum sometimes get caught up in microanalyzing every little thing, and much of it is needless.

I get that fans are excited about Thomas and Kyrou, but why shouldn't Sanford get a shot before them? He has more pro experience, he's bigger and brings a physical element that the other two don't, and he's probably worked really hard to come back from his injury issues. I thought the Blues had hopes last year that he would stick in the bottom 6 if healthy. So it shouldn't really be surprising that Sanford is getting a shot this year now that he is. All of these guys will get a chance in the long run, but I hope Sanford can stick. We could use a bigger, more physical forward with finishing ability.
 
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Mike Liut

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Want to see Dunn and Schmaltz play every game. If Yeo wants to sub in JBo for Bortuzzo occasionally, then fine. Like to see Barbs and LaMont play every game too. Blais and Thomas can rotate. Not sure what to do when Fabbri is ready. I guess it depends on how he looks/plays.
 

wannabebluesplayer

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I was going to comment on this post yesterday, and seems even more appropriate now. Maybe sometimes fan's just won't be able to "see" why a coach makes a particular lineup decision. We see them play games and that's it, but coaches see how they train, how they practice, how well they are adapting to coaching, etc. Maybe giving Sanford a shot had nothing to do with Thomas or Kyrou, but rather that he deserved a shot after working to get back to the NHL. Maybe he's been really committed behind the scenes and deserved a shot. Fans on this forum sometimes get caught up in microanalyzing every little thing, and much of it is needless.

I get that fans are excited about Thomas and Kyrou, but why shouldn't Sanford get a shot before them? He has more pro experience, he's bigger and brings a physical element that the other two don't, and he's probably worked really hard to come back from his injury issues. I thought the Blues had hopes last year that he would stick in the bottom 6 if healthy. So it shouldn't really be surprising that Sanford is getting a shot this year now that he is. All of these guys will get a chance in the long run, but I hope Sanford can stick. We could use a bigger, more physical forward with finishing ability.

I will stand by what I said but I will say I am glad Sanford is proving me wrong because it may make some veterans more expendable, therefore clearing up money for future contracts. I hope he works out the way Yeo and many want. I just also think Kyrou and Thomas have played well enough to get those shots but only got a game or two and in Thomas’s case, not at all. Which, as I said, was a double standard by a Yeo. Like you said, he’a bigger and has experience, the others do not, again, giving a double standard to some but not the younger guys. I do believe Thomas and Kyrou are going to be important to this team before this year is out.
 

Stupendous Yappi

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How long is the plan to keep Jerabek as the 8th defender? I don’t get it, and I don’t see why they acquired him unless they were planning on moving a roster defenseman. It’s not a lot, but they could save about $350K by making Butler the healthy scratch instead. I was wondering whether they value Butler’s leadership in the AHL enough to make that move to send him down.

There are Soshnikov, Sundqvist, Fabbri and Gunnarsson who will come back at some point. Jerabek goes down, that’s one spot. They trade one of Bouwmeester (have they already asked him to waive?) or Gunnarsson.

I think Blais is going to have a hard time sticking. I also think there is a real chance Kyrou may spend a little time in the AHL this season. Sanford looking like an NHL player makes it that much trickier.
 

ScratchCatFever

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How long is the plan to keep Jerabek as the 8th defender? I don’t get it, and I don’t see why they acquired him unless they were planning on moving a roster defenseman. It’s not a lot, but they could save about $350K by making Butler the healthy scratch instead. I was wondering whether they value Butler’s leadership in the AHL enough to make that move to send him down.

There are Soshnikov, Sundqvist, Fabbri and Gunnarsson who will come back at some point. Jerabek goes down, that’s one spot. They trade one of Bouwmeester (have they already asked him to waive?) or Gunnarsson.

I think Blais is going to have a hard time sticking. I also think there is a real chance Kyrou may spend a little time in the AHL this season. Sanford looking like an NHL player makes it that much trickier.
I wouldn't be upset with Kyrou spending 20 games or so in San Antonio, especially once Fabbri is healthy and proves he is ready to play on a nightly basis with a game off here and there when we go through a stretch of 4 games in 7 days. Kyrou and his confidence would be benefited of playing top to 2nd line minutes and consistently putting up points.
 

EastonBlues22

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I wouldn't be upset with Kyrou spending 20 games or so in San Antonio, especially once Fabbri is healthy and proves he is ready to play on a nightly basis with a game off here and there when we go through a stretch of 4 games in 7 days. Kyrou and his confidence would be benefited of playing top to 2nd line minutes and consistently putting up points.
I'm of the opposite opinion.

Kyrou isn't going to have much talent to work with in SA, and the last thing I want is him developing/reinforcing habits of trying to do it all himself. If you're worried about his confidence, I think that's a lot more likely to take a hit from being demoted than any adversity he might have at the NHL level.

I think he's better served in the NHL playing with real talent, learning the Blues system, building trust with this coaching staff, and developing chemistry with these players...even if he's not playing ever game, and even if his playing time is limited.
 
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TruBlu

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I'm of the opposite opinion.

Kyrou isn't going to have much talent to work with in SA, and the last thing I want is him developing/reinforcing habits of trying to do it all himself. If you're worried about his confidence, I think that's a lot more likely to take a hit from being demoted than any adversity he might have at the NHL level.

I think he's better served in the NHL playing with real talent, learning the Blues system, building trust with this coaching staff, and developing chemistry with these players...even if he's not playing ever game, and even if his playing time is limited.
How do we get all of these players to fit the roster? I'm sure Blais is going down; Thomas as well.
 

EastonBlues22

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How do we get all of these players to fit the roster? I'm sure Blais is going down; Thomas as well.
I'm not particularly a fan of sending down Thomas, either. He'll learn far more where he is, and unlike everyone else on the list, there's no bringing him back once he goes down.

Jerabek should be waived to make room for Soshnikov. Sundqvist should be waived himself once he's off LTIR. That leaves Gunnarsson and Fabbri to account for with Soshnikov, Sanford, Blais, Kyrou, and Thomas being the most likely candidates to be moved.

I'd send Blais down to make room for Fabbri, personally.

I guess we'll see what the Blues decide to do for that last spot if Gunnarsson gets healthy. Trade a defenseman? Send down one of the other forwards? It might be a moot point if there's another injury by then.
 

Celtic Note

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Some random stats and thoughts:

Perron and ROR are tied for the lead in points with 7 in 7. That puts them tied at 52nd in the league for points with a bunch of other players. Man has the league changed these past two years. I know it’s a small sample, but being PPG & #52 is pretty crazy.

Our goals for is at 21 total which puts us at 21 in the league. Our goals for per game at 3 per is good for 19th. A few years ago we would have expected 3 per to both be enough to get us wins and also put us higher in the rankings.

Our goals allowed per game is 10th worst.

Also for a team that is top 10 in both special teams, our 5v5 play must be pretty horrific to have the 24th overall record.


Anyway, goodnight neverland!
 

ScratchCatFever

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I'm not particularly a fan of sending down Thomas, either. He'll learn far more where he is, and unlike everyone else on the list, there's no bringing him back once he goes down.

Jerabek should be waived to make room for Soshnikov. Sundqvist should be waived himself once he's off LTIR. That leaves Gunnarsson and Fabbri to account for with Soshnikov, Sanford, Blais, Kyrou, and Thomas being the most likely candidates to be moved.

I'd send Blais down to make room for Fabbri, personally.

I guess we'll see what the Blues decide to do for that last spot if Gunnarsson gets healthy. Trade a defenseman? Send down one of the other forwards? It might be a moot point if there's another injury by then.
I'm on the fence about what to do with Blais. And upon reading your opinion of Kyrou having a feeling of having to be 'the guy' with San Antonio to prove he belongs on our roster, it does make a lot of sense.
Blais is a bit of an enigma right now. On the one hand he has proven to be a statistically productive player in the AHL, although if he is indeed the odd man out once Fabbri and Sosh are healthy I don't believe being sent down will impede his development. On the other hand I think the organization needs to figure out exactly what they have with him, and the only way to truly gauge that is to let him play as many games as possible with the big club. It's a shame Thomas is AHL exempt, just having the option to send him down to make sure he's playing on a nightly basis would be beneficial for him and the Blues. Blais certainly isn't doing anything to cost the team points in the standings, but at some point he will have to do things to help earn points in the standings if he wants to stick. In the grand scheme of things I can see him being an effective 3rd line player capable of scoring 15-20 goals which I would be more than satisfied with for 6th round pick.
 

Stupendous Yappi

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I'm not particularly a fan of sending down Thomas, either. He'll learn far more where he is, and unlike everyone else on the list, there's no bringing him back once he goes down.

Jerabek should be waived to make room for Soshnikov. Sundqvist should be waived himself once he's off LTIR. That leaves Gunnarsson and Fabbri to account for with Soshnikov, Sanford, Blais, Kyrou, and Thomas being the most likely candidates to be moved.

I'd send Blais down to make room for Fabbri, personally.

I guess we'll see what the Blues decide to do for that last spot if Gunnarsson gets healthy. Trade a defenseman? Send down one of the other forwards? It might be a moot point if there's another injury by then.
Thorburn is still on the active roster, right? Maybe they'd bump him to make room for Soshnikov.
 

EastonBlues22

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I sure would love someone with some knowledge to explain why both Hitchcock and Yeo would feel like its advantageous to try this experiment. Are they the only ones in the NHL who've tried it?
Going how far back? I'm sure other teams have used it in the semi-recent past. I remember Avalanche fans giving Roy a bunch of crap for how bad the team looked using it. Pretty sure Washington, Pittsburgh, Edmonton, and the Islanders all flirted with it at some point in the last decade, though not recently to the best of my knowledge. Others too, most likely.

I'm not sure if anyone else is using it right now. It's almost impossible to keep that current with what every other team is doing unless your job is literally watching hockey. :laugh:

The biggest upside of man-to-man is (in theory) is that you can apply more pressure by playing tighter to your man since you are only responsible for him and not a particular area of the ice. I can see how that would appeal to someone like Yeo. I have zero insight into the actual reasoning behind their trying it, though.
 

Reality Czech

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I will stand by what I said but I will say I am glad Sanford is proving me wrong because it may make some veterans more expendable, therefore clearing up money for future contracts. I hope he works out the way Yeo and many want. I just also think Kyrou and Thomas have played well enough to get those shots but only got a game or two and in Thomas’s case, not at all. Which, as I said, was a double standard by a Yeo. Like you said, he’a bigger and has experience, the others do not, again, giving a double standard to some but not the younger guys. I do believe Thomas and Kyrou are going to be important to this team before this year is out.

Maybe you could call it a double standard, but that assumes he should treat every player the exact same way. Maybe Sanford has done more in practice to earn the shot. Or it's a reward for his hard work, not necessarily punishing Thomas/Kyrou. Sanford has enough NHL/AHL experience that he should know what to do and I bet he is super motivated to show what he can do, because it's kind of make or break for him at this stage of his career. We can afford to ease Thomas and Kyrou in more because they have more to learn. One thing all of us can probably agree on is that competition is a good thing. Nothing wrong with shuffling guys around until something sticks.
 

Majorityof1

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From what I read we only tried man-to-man in certain situations, and only to counteract certain opposing players (although that is not what it looked like to me). The idea being that our faster skating D-men (Dunn, Schmaltz, Parayko) could shadow players like Kane, possibly Laine or Gaudreu but Kane was the only one mentioned. The faster D could keep him from finding seams in the zone, which he is often able to do. It didn't work out well as he still had big games against us. But that was the reasoning I read somewhere (JR maybe?).
 

Blueston

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Maybe you could call it a double standard, but that assumes he should treat every player the exact same way. Maybe Sanford has done more in practice to earn the shot. Or it's a reward for his hard work, not necessarily punishing Thomas/Kyrou. Sanford has enough NHL/AHL experience that he should know what to do and I bet he is super motivated to show what he can do, because it's kind of make or break for him at this stage of his career. We can afford to ease Thomas and Kyrou in more because they have more to learn. One thing all of us can probably agree on is that competition is a good thing. Nothing wrong with shuffling guys around until something sticks.
Sanford is only 23, has played 41 NHL games and 49 AHL games (regular season). I think it's premature to say we've seen enough of him to know what he is or to believe that he is fully formed at this point.
 

Stupendous Yappi

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Maybe you could call it a double standard, but that assumes he should treat every player the exact same way. Maybe Sanford has done more in practice to earn the shot. Or it's a reward for his hard work, not necessarily punishing Thomas/Kyrou. Sanford has enough NHL/AHL experience that he should know what to do and I bet he is super motivated to show what he can do, because it's kind of make or break for him at this stage of his career. We can afford to ease Thomas and Kyrou in more because they have more to learn. One thing all of us can probably agree on is that competition is a good thing. Nothing wrong with shuffling guys around until something sticks.
Ironically, I think some fans are subconsciously using a double standard with the rookies. They are not judged by what they are actually accomplishing relative to other players, but based on expectations (which are lower due to being rookies). In effect, some people are advocating for Yeo to judge them by a different yard stick to give them more playing time regardless of their on ice production thus far.

I'm not sure where its written that Sanford can't develop into a top 6 player. Plenty of guys have had trajectories like that, and not all of them were blue blood prospects. At some point you simply have to put the players out there that can most help you win the game.

I have nothing against Thomas (or Kyrou). I'm thrilled to watch them on this team. But I also don't think Yeo has anything against them either.
 

BlueDream

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Sanford is only 23, has played 41 NHL games and 49 AHL games (regular season). I think it's premature to say we've seen enough of him to know what he is or to believe that he is fully formed at this point.
Agreed. I think you can make a case that this season is the first one where Sanford is actually NHL ready. He looks to be up more around 210 lbs now, which is good for his frame. He looks stronger on his skates so far.

He turns 24 next month, so I'd really like to keep him in the lineup for now and let him play several games in a row to get comfortable and see what he's got. He's a year younger than Schmaltz so he's not quite at Schmaltz level, but he's getting closer to a point where he needs to see some NHL ice. Ideally, we'll then know what we have in him by the time 2019 training camp rolls around, whether he'll be a player for us or not.

A guy like Thomas is 19, we have plenty of time to bring him along.
 
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Stupendous Yappi

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From what I read we only tried man-to-man in certain situations, and only to counteract certain opposing players (although that is not what it looked like to me). The idea being that our faster skating D-men (Dunn, Schmaltz, Parayko) could shadow players like Kane, possibly Laine or Gaudreu but Kane was the only one mentioned. The faster D could keep him from finding seams in the zone, which he is often able to do. It didn't work out well as he still had big games against us. But that was the reasoning I read somewhere (JR maybe?).
Yeah, JR seems to have back-tracked on what he put in his article about man to man. I think someone (from the team) pointed out that the Blues use that system more sparingly than he implied. I think it was a game plan for Kane and Laine most likely. It may have been a coincidence that we saw it so much early in the year. Did they ever do that last year?

I like seeing articles like that to break down strategy, but JR is poorly equipped to produce pieces like that. In this case, I think his 'analysis' from a former NHL defender was pretty one-sided and would have been better with a counter-opinion of why a team would employ such a strategy. Obviously, the Blues failed to execute it.
 

Reality Czech

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Sanford is only 23, has played 41 NHL games and 49 AHL games (regular season). I think it's premature to say we've seen enough of him to know what he is or to believe that he is fully formed at this point.

I'm with you. What I meant to say is that he's a lot more ready to throw into the fire compared to Thomas an Kyrou. He's been around the pro game longer and is more physically developed, so it makes sense to me why he'd get more of a shot than the other two...for now. This is Sanford's time to show what he can do.
 
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Blueston

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I'm with you. What I meant to say is that he's a lot more ready to throw into the fire compared to Thomas an Kyrou. He's been around the pro game longer and is more physically developed, so it makes sense to me why he'd get more of a shot than the other two...for now. This is Sanford's time to show what he can do.
Didn't mean my post as repudiation of yours. Thought your point was interesting and wanted to add my $.02 to it.
 
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Itsnotatrap

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Yeah, JR seems to have back-tracked on what he put in his article about man to man. I think someone (from the team) pointed out that the Blues use that system more sparingly than he implied. I think it was a game plan for Kane and Laine most likely. It may have been a coincidence that we saw it so much early in the year. Did they ever do that last year?

I like seeing articles like that to break down strategy, but JR is poorly equipped to produce pieces like that. In this case, I think his 'analysis' from a former NHL defender was pretty one-sided and would have been better with a counter-opinion of why a team would employ such a strategy. Obviously, the Blues failed to execute it.


I wondered if some of these were factors that had them heading this direction.

1. Allen’s history is that he is above average on high danger chances and below average on low danger chances. Playing a pretty passive block out the middle strategy isn’t a great match for the goalie we use most.

2. It taxes the defensemen, but presumably if done well it would tax their forwards, and we could roll 4 lines. We haven’t really done that, but I could see where a system like this might work better with a deep roster than a thin one.

3. Connected to #2, we’re trying to figure out what to do with all the dmen, and could move players in and out for rest. We even used 7 the one game. So maybe there is a realization that it would put strain on the blue line, but we thought we’d had enough strength at the top and depth to make it work.


I didn’t catch JR’s backtrack, but I kinda think they may be operating in a gray middle area of spin control with that, and they are now trying to slowly back away from it given the spectacular way it blew up early. Most teams have a star player or 2, so the idea that they were just breaking it out selectively is dubious to me. That factor was there with Taveras/Marner and Matthews Saturday, then Laine tonight, then there is Panarin Thurs....and on it goes.

Maybe it was/is a bit of a trial, but I am sure they had an eye to implement it regularly when they are launching it to start the season.
 
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