I don't care what you think, I'm just going to come out and going to say it, Blues miss Pietrangelo big time, even more so with Colt out. Krug and Faulk lazy and amateur level defending from both of them. There I said it.
Krug is playing exactly as he has been portrayed. Thankfully he has moments where he elevates his game.
Faulk... I'm sorry, but Faulk came in much better than advertised. He's made a believer out of me, and while he's no Pie, he's our boy and he's proving he belongs.
What has hurt the team has been the almost overnight loss of Team Culture. The franchise won the Cup two seasons ago and now the team acts and plays as if it never existed. The loss of Pie, JayBo, Steen, Allen and yes, Pat Maroon has hurt the team's culture. The signings Army made were quick and almost acts of desperation that has left us with a mercenary in Hoffman and players like Krug and Faulk who have no team culture to embrace and Faulk has been solid and very good for us.
If not for the injuries, we'd have a team right now who will give up a lot more SOG due to lack of skillsets but can overload with goals due to the stacked forward lines in front of a netminder who is probably the most mentally strongest netminder we've ever had. And I'm ok with all of that.
What this team REALLY needs isn't for players to get traded or fired, but these boys need to go back and find their own Gloria. That's a tradition that should never have been retired. It was a tradition of winning, of success and you don't ever retire that.