Pre-Game Talk: Blues vs. Canucks — Is there a switch to flick?

[Brockon]

10:30 start times for us poor east coasters

Ouch... Just looked at the schedule - that's rough for anyone not on the West Coast.

 

[Brockon]

Pleasantly surprised (Impressed) to see the respectful interchange between our Team Boards already happening.

You folks have been very welcoming to me on your GDT’s throughout my short tenure on HFBoards.

Looking forward to the series with the hope of no injuries to either side.

That being said, f*** you guys

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The first questionable play from Roussel will bring out all the hatred from his tenure doing dirty shit in Dallas, he's hated by most fans in the Central division.

Myers isn't thought of as poorly but will also bring out emotions.

You'll get the anger flowing in relatively short order, don't worry!

 

[WeWentBlues]

We are 0-3 all time against the Canucks in playoff series, all of which were 1st round losses.

The 19-20 team shall not succumb to the same fate!

 

[Stlblue50]

The first questionable play from Roussel will bring out all the hatred from his tenure doing dirty shit in Dallas, he's hated by most fans in the Central division.

Myers isn't thought of as poorly but will also bring out emotions.

You'll get the anger flowing in relatively short order, don't worry!

Oh yeah I forgot Rousell was on Van. He was at the top of my list of hated players when he was on Dallas.

 

[Stealth JD]

So don’t think critically and be honest? Just have blind faith?

That is how this reads to me personally.

I personally am not a fan of blind faith. It’s feels like a “fall in line” mindset.

I can support my team by showing up no matter what I think will or should happen.

Saying all of that, I have no idea what to expect. This team has done it before, but looks pretty damn bad right now. Seems more like a coin toss which version of the Blues we will end up seeing.

I am just glad we get to watch hockey...well hopefully. The schedule times are terrible.

It's not so much the negativity that surprises me. I get folks being down...but it's the quantity of the negativity that surprises me. Any concerns about their play are absolutely legitimate. But it seems like a whole lot of faith is being placed in the exhibition schedule, and with no roster moves having taken place since these two clubs last played (other than activation of injured guys), not sure how Vancouver has closed the gap...because there was a very real and clear separation between these teams. The Blues were clearly in a separate tier than the Canucks when the season was paused. They held a quantifiable and visible advantage. Not sure what happened to that upon resumption.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

It's not so much the negativity that surprises me. I get folks being down...but it's the quantity of the negativity that surprises me. Any concerns about their play are absolutely legitimate. But it seems like a whole lot of faith is being placed in the exhibition schedule, and with no roster moves having taken place since these two clubs last played (other than activation of injured guys), not sure how Vancouver has closed the gap...because there was a very real and clear separation between these teams. The Blues were clearly in a separate tier than the Canucks when the season was paused. They held a quantifiable and visible advantage. Not sure what happened to that upon resumption.

I expected to see that the Blues were mentally prepared for the grind of the playoffs, and showed determination to defend the Cup. Even with that, you can still have the bounces go against you, suffer injuries, etc.

But instead the team looks easy to play against. It’s easy to enter the zone. It’s easy to get quality shots on goal, and in quantity. The forecheck looks slow. The defense is losing coverage in ways they never did last postseason. And this was I situations where other teams are resting stars too (like Seguin last game) and AFTER a players’ only meeting. If these were just exhibition games, why did they have that meeting to address issues?

 

[Mike Liut]

Any news on Blais?

 

[Celtic Note]

It's not so much the negativity that surprises me. I get folks being down...but it's the quantity of the negativity that surprises me. Any concerns about their play are absolutely legitimate. But it seems like a whole lot of faith is being placed in the exhibition schedule, and with no roster moves having taken place since these two clubs last played (other than activation of injured guys), not sure how Vancouver has closed the gap...because there was a very real and clear separation between these teams. The Blues were clearly in a separate tier than the Canucks when the season was paused. They held a quantifiable and visible advantage. Not sure what happened to that upon resumption.

I think that if we were seeing glimpses of play like we had in the past playoffs or this season, that more benefit of the doubt would be given. But right now, they don’t even look like the same team we have been watching. They look more like the team last year that was bottom of the barrel. We all know how long it took to climb out of that hole. The Blues don’t have time in their favor at the moment. It doesn’t mean they can’t flip the switch, but the current trend line makes the probability of that happening look lower.

I think if we had shown more progression through out these last 4 games that there would be more optimism. Some of us have been working hard to find the bright spots. Unfortunately, outside of goaltending, we are required to look through a microscope to see the positives and they are often paired with newly emergent negatives.

On a related but different note, I wonder how many people that have voted are conflicted with their vote. It seems some have voiced these feelings. They are leaning more towards the odds not being in the Blues favor.

My perception is that people are not entrenched in their feelings about how this team will do. Most of us could probably be swayed with one good game or maybe even half a game. We just haven’t seen it yet, despite wanting to be more hopeful.

 

[MissouriMook]

I think that if we were seeing glimpses of play like we had in the past playoffs or this season, that more benefit of the doubt would be given. But right now, they don’t even look like the same team we have been watching. They look more like the team last year that was bottom of the barrel. We all know how long it took to climb out of that hole. The Blues don’t have time in their favor at the moment. It doesn’t mean they can’t flip the switch, but the current trend line makes the probability of that happening look lower.

I think if we had shown more progression through out these last 4 games that there would be more optimism. Some of us have been working hard to find the bright spots. Unfortunately, outside of goaltending, we are required to look through a microscope to see the positives and they are often paired with newly emergent negatives.

On a related but different note, I wonder how many people that have voted are conflicted with their vote. It seems some have voiced these feelings. They are leaning more towards the odds not being in the Blues favor.

My perception is that people are not entrenched in their feelings about how this team will do. Most of us could probably be swayed with one good game or maybe even half a game. We just haven’t seen it yet, despite wanting to be more hopeful.

<raises hands>

I mentioned in the series thread on the SCP Board that even if the Blues only split the first two games, I'm confident that they will be able to find enough of their game to win 3 of the next 4 and take the series in 6. If they lose the first two games playing like they have for the last four, I don't think they're going to be able to recover in time to win 4 of the last 5.

 

[Stealth JD]

Having seen them display a level of sustained excellence over 100+ games, I'm confident that they can tighten up and rise to the occasion and dispatch a foe of the quality of 'borderline-playoff'-caliber. It's not blind faith to expect the Blues to win; it would be a colossal upset if they lost. You can't expect guys to treat exhibition games as do-or-die playoff games; and I wouldn't expect them to lack intensity and focus once their Cup-defense actually begins.

Vancouver simply doesn't have the horses. If the Blues drop four games, somebody was badly unprepared. I think the team is too professional and proud to let that happen. I honestly think Vancouver is about to get hit by a train, but we'll all soon find out.

 

[ort]

Any news on Blais?

Berube said he would be out for a bit. No idea what that means exactly, but it sounds like he's missing multiple games at minimum.

 

[TheDizee]

hope the blues show up and put them in their place because canuck fans are the west version of leaf fans and become unbearable when their team does semi decent.

need to see alot more from schwartz, schenn, tarasenko, oreilly.

 

[Brockon]

Having seen them display a level of sustained excellence over 100+ games, I'm confident that they can tighten up and rise to the occasion and dispatch a foe of the quality of 'borderline-playoff'-caliber. It's not blind faith to expect the Blues to win; it would be a colossal upset if they lost. You can't expect guys to treat exhibition games as do-or-die playoff games; and I wouldn't expect them to lack intensity and focus once their Cup-defense actually begins.

Vancouver simply doesn't have the horses. If the Blues drop four games, somebody was badly unprepared. I think the team is too professional and proud to let that happen. I honestly think Vancouver is about to get hit by a train, but we'll all soon find out.

Vancouver does have the horses...

Unless our forecheck is playing to near 2019 playoff form, Pettersson, Hughes and Boeser are going to feast on our lapses.

The Canucks leadership in Edler, Horvat, Tanev, Sutter, Toffoli and Pearson may not be famous, but there's a couple decent runs in there. Pearson has a ring, so does Toffoli. Edler lost in game 7 of the final. Sutter wasn't there when Pittsburgh got over the hump, but had plenty of playoff games before that - him, much like Horvat are heart and soul guys, what sets Horvat above Sutter is talent.

I mean, the pre-shutdown Blues absolutely eat the Canucks alive. But the post-shutdown Blues are going to have their hands full.

I still think the Blues advance, but this series goes 6-7 games. I think Vancouver is more likely to knock us out before we can return to form than Colorado or Vegas are when we would meet later in the playoffs should we move on (I say this, convinced Colorado wins the cup this year if we don't).

 

[Nederlander]

Ouch... Just looked at the schedule - that's rough for anyone not on the West Coast.

Living in Colorado and being a night owl, this schedule will be no problem for me. But it's going to be rough for the east coast fans, especially if any of the games go to OT.

 

[Bankerguy]

Vancouver simply doesn't have the horses.

I do expect the blues to win this series but to think the Canucks don't have any horses in this race is a little off.
In less games played, Pettersson and Jt. Miller had more points than any of the players on the Blues.
Five legit top six players like: Jt Miller, Pettersson, Boeser, Toffoli, Horvat can do some damage.
Behind that they still have Pearson (21 goals) and Virtanen (18 goals, on pace for 21) as solid secondary guys.
Hughes is probably the most Dynamic player in the whole series too
Granted, there isn't a lot of playoff experience in the top players there .... this should be at the very minimum a good learning experience for them

 

[AzNightmare]

I honestly think Vancouver is about to get hit by a train, but we'll all soon find out.

Vancouver fan here... and I agree.
Why'd you guys blow that lead with 30 seconds left..

 

[Novacain]

Vancouver fan here... and I agree.
Why'd you guys blow that lead with 30 seconds left..

You could also ask why we didn't just hold out for one tenth of a second longer against Colorado, as that would have given us 2 points and we'd have won the tiebreaker.

For whatever it's worth, I like the team you are building even if I think your GM's desire to stay hard nosed has really limited your financial flexibility. You have the pieces to beat us though unless we really really step up our game, though.

 

[Blueston]

We were uninspired and disinterested and still had chance to win each game. We will turn up intensity for next round and should be fine. We are the best team in West when we play our game. Vancouver has some great young players and seem on right track, but I am confident that we will prevail.

 

[Stealth JD]

I do expect the blues to win this series but to think the Canucks don't have any horses in this race is a little off.
In less games played, Pettersson and Jt. Miller had more points than any of the players on the Blues.
Five legit top six players like: Jt Miller, Pettersson, Boeser, Toffoli, Horvat can do some damage.
Behind that they still have Pearson (21 goals) and Virtanen (18 goals, on pace for 21) as solid secondary guys.
Hughes is probably the most Dynamic player in the whole series too
Granted, there isn't a lot of playoff experience in the top players there .... this should be at the very minimum a good learning experience for them

The Blues top-two lines should be capable of matching the Canucks top-6...the depth is what makes the Blues special.
Vancouver certainly has top-end talent, like STL. They probably even have a bit more star-power.
But ROR will be tasked with stopping Pettersson; and Sunqvist and Thomas should be able to feast on the bottom-6 while the Blues bottom-4 defensemen will make it difficult for the Canucks to capitalize on Binnington in the few instances Parayko or Pietrangelo aren't on the ice patrolling for pucks.

If this becomes a special teams battle or a 4-on-4 matchup, Vancouver has the edge. At 5-on-5, the depth for Vancouver just isn't there, yet.

 

[Oberyn]

The Canucks have always played the Blues pretty hard and I expect they will be a handful in this series. I think it's no secret that the Blues have looked mediocre at best during the round robin, and as much as it's easy to say that the team can turn it up a notch when it matters, the reality is that we haven't seen this team do that since the restarting of the season. Passing is off, players aren't in position, lines are getting hemmed in for long stretches, just a ton of mistakes that continue to plague the Blues over the past 4 games.

If the Blues can get back to their game I take them in 6, if not then I could honestly see the Canucks steamrolling us in 5.

 

[Stealth JD]

I wonder how much the team misses the crowd noise, or needs the energy from the stadium to pump adrenaline into their old-man legs. And after winning it all 14 months ago, it's going to be impossible to get that same hunger and desperation that they had entering Rd. 1, Gm. 1 last year. Berube and Ott are going to have to push the right buttons with these guys if they come out sleep-walking again. I suspect we'll know after ~ 30 minutes whether the Blues are in trouble or are prepared to make a valiant defense of their title. The 2nd period of Gm. 1 should show whether this will be a short defense or not.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Meaningful hockey again for the note makes for a great day friends!

I don’t know what exactly the Blues we’re trying to do in the exhibition and round robin round. But let’s hope they never do that again.

As many others have said, if the Blues don’t return to form this could be an ugly one for us. If not I think we could handle them in 5-6.

Regardless cheers to playoff hockey being completely back for the Blues.

LGB

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

The Canucks young guys have no concept of the physical toll a 7 game series takes, let alone 3 or 4 series in a row. No offense toward Minnesota, but this will be different.

I won’t be surprised if the Blues have an ugly blow-out loss in one game, maybe even the first game, and then grind the Canucks to powder over the course of the next several. I’m starting to get more optimistic. I like St Louis’ chances of winning the series. Also, either way, this isn’t going to be a physically punishing series like it would have been against some other opponents.

 

[Mike Liut]

Not sure why, but I’m just not very excited anymore about the playoffs.

 

[542365]

Went Blues in 7 without the slightest bit of confidence. The Blues played some dreadful hockey in that round robin. Hopefully they were taking it lightly like a preseason game and didn't really care about the outcome, because that's exactly what they looked like out there. A strong game 1 performance where we transition the puck well and outshoot the Canucks in a convincing victory would do a lot to catapult this team in the right direction.