GDT: Chapter #2 | Chicago Blackhawks @ St. Louis Blues

[TruBlu]

Watching the game last night, there were several outstanding individual players. Vladi, O'Reilly, Parayko, and Maroon. The group doesn't seem to function as a team though. The pp seems to have only gotten better because the talent has. All night long passes went to no where, or even worse, to a Hawk right in front of the crease in scoring position. It seems like they've been let loose to just play pond hockey. I am starting to feel like the coaching staff is lacking.

 

[BlueDream]

When you get notifications in every 2 sec you know without looking its @Bendak who's going throught last GDT.

Hey, he keeps things a little positive even after losses.

I'd have to go back and watch but in his post game press conference Yeo said something about ice time and playing the guys that are making the right plays to win games. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I take that as he doesn't want the growing pains that Thomas or Blais are going to go through to cost the team. As you said though now is the best time for that. I think the reason you see Barbashev getting more minutes is because Yeo had to rely on him in the playoffs to fill in as our 1C his first season here against Minnesota.

This season is really going to spotlight Yeo as a coach, this team is too talented to have a bad season. If this stretch continues I believe DA is going to be quick on the trigger with a coaching change.

Absolutely. After the moves Armstrong made, there is no freakin way he lets this team miss the playoffs. Yeo will be canned if the team is in danger of that. Armstrong was not happy at all about missing last year and he knows the team is in no position to miss 2 years in a row. The re-tool is over, win mode is (or should be) activated.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Was out last night so I watched the game this afternoon. These things stood out:

• Petro had rough game. I am big fan of his, but he wasn't good this game.
• Jaybo didn't look good. Seemed like he was pinned in own end entire time he was on ice.
• I know we have had injuries and all, but is it necessary to switch defensive pairs virtually every shift? Didn't seem any rhyme nor reason to who was with whom.
• Thought Parayko, Bortz, Butler were our 3 best D (probably in that order).
• I haven't always been JE's most staunch fan, but our D always seems much better with him in lineup. That doesn't reflect well on other LD, but JE is apparently pretty dang good.
• As mentioned elsewhere, Marroon had great game.
• Tarasenko looks a bit quicker this year.
• Loving ROR.
• Probably best I've seen Blais play in NHL regular season.
• Perron, Steen, Bozak were mostly invisible. Get why he broke them up.
• Schenn seems to be fighting puck.
• Thomas never seemed to get into flow of game. Not sure why Yeo thinks playing him 2 shifts per period is good idea. Seems like would make sense to get him occasional shift with O'Reilly or Schenn lines so that he can have puck on his stick with skilled linemates to build some confidence.
• Speaking of confidence, Allen doesn't look comfortable/confident in net. When he is playing well he is smoother and puck hits him. When he struggles he looses angles, fights the puck, allows flukey goals, etc.. His D didn't always help him, but he wasn't good. You score 4 goals you should win. Everything else aside, he needs to be better if he is gonna be our goalie.
• Other that Allen, thing that concerned me most was Yeo's press conference. I didn't see lack of effort tonight. I saw some sloppy play at times and a couple bad breaks, but we were much better than 1st game. His tone/demeanor seemed unwarranted to me. Really starting to question whether he is right coach for this team.

This is what I saw as well. Honestly, I am not a Petro fan. This is the worst hockey he has played. Not sure what is going on, but cut his ice time. Parayko is earning more minutes with his play as is Borts. Petro was horrible. For the love of god, please knock Toews on his ass once....He walked right in front like it was nothing on Petro's side twice for goals. Lower a shoulder just once.

 

[Renard]

I watched a recording of the Chicago game last night.

There was a lot of puck fumbling by the Blues.

None of the Blues defensemen stood out, except maybe Parayko and his power play goal. We clearly miss Edmundson, and can't rely on Bouwmeester anymore.

I was surprised at the play of Brayden Schenn. He was quite the sensation early last season, but not noticeable at all in the Chicago game.

 

[hullderko]

This is what I saw as well. Honestly, I am not a Petro fan. This is the worst hockey he has played. Not sure what is going on, but cut his ice time. Parayko is earning more minutes with his play as is Borts. Petro was horrible. For the love of god, please knock Toews on his ass once....He walked right in front like it was nothing on Petro's side twice for goals. Lower a shoulder just once.

I agree w/r to Petro for more than a year now. He carries way too much ice time imho, that limits the intensity that he needs to play with. I pray that this team is not destroying Parayko's ceiling. I vaguely remember a game early last year when Parayko totally dominated the ice for 60 minutes. I think it was against the Wild? It was the best game that I have seen him play. Why don't we see that aggressiveness and intensity from him more often?