Blues in 2006-2007
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bleedblue1223
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I don't think they really tried to be competitive, and that 07 draft wasn't that much of a game-changer, except for Kane. We traded out of the Couture spot, so it's not like we would've taken him. Voracek, JVR, and Turris would've been better picks than Eller, but they also took some time to develop and were traded early in their NHL career, so no guarantee they would've hit their prime here.
We were also hurting bad attendance wise and revenue, so from the business perspective, it was important to get back to competitive hockey, which happened under Murray. Not like we are Toronto or Montreal with a fanbase that will show up no matter what and bags of cash to get through the down years.
It is pretty remarkable how well we did when looking back on those draft years, just how mediocre we ended up doing. Any of 2-5 would've been better than Johnson. In 07, we had 3 1sts and all 3 are still playing, so that's good, but it could've been much better. Could've had Couture/McDonagh/Shattenkirk at 9, Pacioretty/Backlund/Perron at 18, and Perron/Subban at 26. The 2010 draft made up for the 09 draft.
We were also hurting bad attendance wise and revenue, so from the business perspective, it was important to get back to competitive hockey, which happened under Murray. Not like we are Toronto or Montreal with a fanbase that will show up no matter what and bags of cash to get through the down years.
It is pretty remarkable how well we did when looking back on those draft years, just how mediocre we ended up doing. Any of 2-5 would've been better than Johnson. In 07, we had 3 1sts and all 3 are still playing, so that's good, but it could've been much better. Could've had Couture/McDonagh/Shattenkirk at 9, Pacioretty/Backlund/Perron at 18, and Perron/Subban at 26. The 2010 draft made up for the 09 draft.
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First year of Dave Checketts owning the club after buying from Laurie after finishing last in '05-'06...needed to make an impact to recapture the interest of an otherwise loyal fanbase who had just suffered a willful destruction of the franchise at the hands of the departing scumbag owner. Another year or two of poor performance, poor attendance and general disinterest could have seen this team follow Buffalo's path, as losing becomes tolerated and seeps into the culture. I thought they needed to stay down for another year or two (at the time), but no arguing with the results.
Getting Petro at pick 4 in 2008 changed everything, thankfully, because it allowed the Blues to move on from EJ. The Blues probably realized they were gonna end up looking bad for taking him 1st overall, so he needed to be moved or else the fan base would have turned on him(it actually already started to as I recall my friends were really frustrated with him). So Petro showing he could be a #1 at such a young age alleviated a burden. Getting Schwartz and Tarasenko in 2010 made up for the EJ pick in 2006 and got us some much needed star power.
Nobody will ever know the answer to that. It’s impossible to say.
But even if you think they did, oh well. Aside from that small window of about 4 years when we were terrible, this franchise has been at least contending for a playoff spot for the past few decades. And we got a Cup now too. Yeah it took us a while to get that first one but things could be way worse than being a consistently competitive organization. I’m certainly fine with how our front office doesn’t accept being dogshit.
But even if you think they did, oh well. Aside from that small window of about 4 years when we were terrible, this franchise has been at least contending for a playoff spot for the past few decades. And we got a Cup now too. Yeah it took us a while to get that first one but things could be way worse than being a consistently competitive organization. I’m certainly fine with how our front office doesn’t accept being dogshit.
A winning culture is difficult to instill, and it’s worth more than a couple early draft picks. Being disciplined with not giving bad contracts allows the management team to overcome some of the advantages the teams with superstars have. Armstrong was wise to aim for depth of quality since obtaining superstars is almost always more costly than the value you get back.
bleedblue1223
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It's sort of crazy how many assets played a role on the Cup team that we acquired from those years. Johnson led to Stewart and Shattenkirk. Eller led to Halak. In a way Stewart and Halak as cap dumps led to Ott becoming a coach on the Cup team since he probably wouldn't have coached here without playing here. Shattenkirk led to Sanford who had some big moments. Perron came and left, but kept coming back and played a major role. I know Sobotka and Berglund were cap dumps for O'Reilly, but Berglund was in 06 and Sobotka was acquired for Warsofky, an 08 pick. Cole was moved for Bortozzo. Lehtera as a cap dump was moved for Schenn.
So even with some of those draft being pretty mediocre, Army and his group turned some of duds into quality pieces and the trade trees eventually led to the Cup.
So even with some of those draft being pretty mediocre, Army and his group turned some of duds into quality pieces and the trade trees eventually led to the Cup.
I still really wonder how much the golf cart incident affected Johnson's development. I think once the Blues picked Pietrangelo, and you could see the potential in those couple of years where he got his 9 game trial, it made EJ expendable for sure.
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Well I think several things happen from 05-06 to 06-07 season.
#1 Signing Legace ( Anyone remember the legendary Lalime stint with the Blues in 05-06? I try not to remember that.)
#2 You had couple players in 06-07 have some really good season. Stempniak in particuar comes to mind with his 27 goals compared to 14 in previous year.
#3 I also think the coaching change helped too. Murray wasn't the best coach out there in NHL, but I think he works well with younger players. Last I knew he was coaching at Western Michigan and I believe he is still there.
Then if you move on to 07-08 (Similar trend)
Legace was solid in net
Blues signed Kariya (Boyes was acquired in trade at end of the season)
Traded Weight for McDonald
Brought up several young guys (EJ & Perron)(Backes already been on the team for a year)
Similar in 08-09
Chris Mason solid goaltending after Legace falling out
Young player who had very good seasons (Oshie & Bergie)
Traded Stempniak away for Colaiacovo & Steen
As someone said earlier, Blues have always been one of the more competitive teams in the NHL in making the playoffs and never having a really bad team but a few years.
#1 Signing Legace ( Anyone remember the legendary Lalime stint with the Blues in 05-06? I try not to remember that.)
#2 You had couple players in 06-07 have some really good season. Stempniak in particuar comes to mind with his 27 goals compared to 14 in previous year.
#3 I also think the coaching change helped too. Murray wasn't the best coach out there in NHL, but I think he works well with younger players. Last I knew he was coaching at Western Michigan and I believe he is still there.
Then if you move on to 07-08 (Similar trend)
Legace was solid in net
Blues signed Kariya (Boyes was acquired in trade at end of the season)
Traded Weight for McDonald
Brought up several young guys (EJ & Perron)(Backes already been on the team for a year)
Similar in 08-09
Chris Mason solid goaltending after Legace falling out
Young player who had very good seasons (Oshie & Bergie)
Traded Stempniak away for Colaiacovo & Steen
As someone said earlier, Blues have always been one of the more competitive teams in the NHL in making the playoffs and never having a really bad team but a few years.
Plus Perron being traded netted us Barbashev. Being able to protect Reaves in the expansion draft got us Sundqvist.
Didn’t the draft pick acquired from the Brewer trade end up being Binnington too?
Yeah, lots of things came together and eventually panned out.
I still remember Paul Kariya's press conference. "Let's go win a Cup!" Pffft! 
f***ing EJ.
Schwartz - Toews - Tarasenko
Perron - O'Reilly - Thomas
Sanford - Schenn - Kyrou
Barbashev - Sundqvist - Blais
Perunovich - Pietrangelo
Scandella - Parayko
Dunn - Bortuzzo
Binnington/Hutton
Schwartz - Toews - Tarasenko
Perron - O'Reilly - Thomas
Sanford - Schenn - Kyrou
Barbashev - Sundqvist - Blais
Perunovich - Pietrangelo
Scandella - Parayko
Dunn - Bortuzzo
Binnington/Hutton
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brokeu91
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Do we get Schenn without the first round pick we got for trading Shattenkirk, which we got for trading EJ? I seriously don’t remember.
It’s easy to just plug Toews into the current team (Perunovich on the top pair?) and call it a day, but who knows the domino effect that follows picking Toews over EJ. I’d wager the team looks very different today.
Sure but it's just an example adding Toews on todays lineup.
I dont remember either, but Schenn could have been replaced anyway.
If we're playing what ifs, we can just ask what if Johnson doesn't get his foot stuck in that golf cart? I think that injury really cut into what he could become as his skating wasn't quite what it was before that injury.
I think his strengths were becoming obsolete regardless of the injury. Maybe the best we could have expected was Parayko, but did EJ ever have a shot like that (ignoring accuracy for a moment)?
brokeu91
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brokeu91
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ChicagoBlues
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So hard to know what EJ would have been like as an NHLer.
He experienced only one NHL season before his golf cart incident, so I can see his trajectory going somewhat off course.
We really have no baseline for his NHL potential as a fully 100% healthy and unaffected player.
The Grouch
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If we're really playing what-ifs...What if Sidney Crosby was born 5-1/2 weeks later? Crosby would be a Blue and Johnson would've been a Penguin. 2006-07 would have been Crosby's first season with the Blues. Who knows, maybe Jordan Staal would've been Chicago's pick at #3. There would be a mountain of domino effect at play.
Sure, but I think it's a much smaller stretch to wonder what would Johnson be without the injury. Everyone loves to crap on that pick because of how the players taken after him have performed, but he very well could have been a better player who wouldn't be looked at as such a disappointment if not for that injury.
EJ lacked the hockey sense that guys like Petro have. He never would've been what some were projecting him to be.
kimzey59
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Prior to the injury, EJ probably had the mobility and physical skills to be in Brent Burns territory even without Petro's hockey sense. IMO at minimum I think he would have been Byfuglien caliber just on his size/speed/shot combination. Neither of those 2 are as good a defenseman as Petro(especially in terms of actually defending), but I think most of the League would have no problem with that type of player being their main weapon/building block on the Blueline.
The injury unquestionably hurt his mobility and that severely stunted his offensive ability.
I think it's very fair to question just how much the injury affected him and what his upside would have been without it.
Celtic Note
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The problem is that his shot was never that accurate, and his passing while technically sound was not dynamic.
