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Elliott #1 ??

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aceoutdoor

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Jun 7, 2012
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When Brian is ON, he is a top 5 goalie in my opinion. When he is OFF, especially after being abandoned by his defense he is horrible. We all know how fragile goal tenders can be, and how their mental game can overshadow their physical game. But I have always felt Elliott is a superior goalie to Halak when he's ON. I hope Hitch sticks to his shut out rule and plays him tomorrow. And for the record I love Allen. What do you guys think?
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mizzoublues29

mizzoublues29

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I would absolutely not put him in top 5 category. He's been good, yes. The overall team defense has been stellar over the last 6 games, as well.

That being said the discrepancies between NHL caliber goaltenders is very small, and at this level their play is typically more of a reflection of the help in front of them. The real difference is where a goalie can either steal a game, or lose it with errors. All goaltenders are a by-product of their team's play.

He has been sharp, and is playing very confident right now. But I would still hesitate to claim that Elliott > Halak, but only because that is an absolute statement with no room for other factors to be considered.

Right now, either Halak, Elliott, or Allen can win a stretch of games for the St. Louis Blues (assuming health, of course).

But again, saying Brian Elliott is a top 5 goalie in the NHL is a very long stretch. If he can keep this level of play up for a couple more seasons, then I'd start to consider it. But 3 straight shutouts is actually an anomaly at this level, and probably not a true indicator of how "good" a goaltender is.

Edit: You probably won't see too many "Top 5" goaltenders go from borderline waivers and conditioning stints to such an "elite" level of play. See: Lundy, Rinne, Quick etc...
 
Mike Liut

Mike Liut

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Elliott is a very good backup, but it's not a coincidence that he is performing better now that the Blues D is in lockdown mode. We are witnessing the 2012 Blues again.
 
BlueOil

BlueOil

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Apr 28, 2010
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1B is as far as I would say. Elite back up is a good term as well. Top 5? Not a chance.
 
Twisted Blue

Twisted Blue

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Feb 4, 2013
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Ok, stop it. I was one of the "Elliot's done" crowd and am happy to eat crow with his turnaround since being sent to Peoria. He has righted the ship and is doing what he does best...playing sound position goaltending. His reflexes are average, stickhandling average, quickness average, but what has made him great (and the Blues as well) is the addition of Bouwmeester and Leopold to put our defense in the tops for the league. Because he was off a little with positioning earlier this season, everything fell apart for him and he did not have the natural athleticism or quickness to recover. Since, he has been in the right place at the right time and the weak goals aren't getting through. Though the most important change is the defense to clear the rebounds and prevent the awful odd-man rushes that plagued us for more than half the season. He is not better than Halak (though more durable) and Allen has more athleticism (though sometimes gets out of position). Of the three, I still see Elliot as the odd man out and greatly appreciate what he has brought to the team...and still may as trade value.
 

aceoutdoor

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Jun 7, 2012
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I didn't mean Elliott was a top 5 goalie, I meant when he is ON he plays like a top 5 goalie. When he is ON he plays a totally different game.
 
SirPaste

SirPaste

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Jun 30, 2010
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Top goalie in the league? No chance. But when he is on he is on, ride him while he is hot an see what happens
 
mizzoublues29

mizzoublues29

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diehardbluesfan said:
Do you guys think Elliott could lead the Blues to a Stanley Cup? I'm torn on whether he can or not.
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My gut reaction is ":laugh: GOD NO".

After some thought, it could be possible.

A combination of his current level of play, and the way the St. Louis Blues are playing right now it could happen. That does not imply that I anticipate it to happen.

The real question is "can he continue this level of play" and "will the team defense continue their level of play"? After 6 straight, including 3 consecutive shutouts, I would prepare for a slight drop off soon. It's good, and it's real, but it's almost too good. The length of that drop-off is TBD. The game v Chicago might be a national TV loss. I hope I'm wrong. There's no denying that he was Ty Conklinesque brutal at times this season, with some obvious glaring mistakes. But with regards to as confident as he his right now, a legit playoff run with Elliott in the cage could happen.

That does not mean that this Blues team is incapable of making a playoff run as deep as the WCF's or deeper, but....a random injury here or there, a few forwards or d-men don't perform as well as anticipated....and the Blues can see a 1st round exit.

I will always find myself on the positive side of the Blues, offering legitimate constructive criticism, but I cannot envision Brian Elliott lifting the Stanley Cup before Jaro Halak.

Honestly, if this team plays as well as we have witnessed over this road trip, any of these goaltenders can be lifting the Cup. This is in reference to how the team defense has not been exposing the goaltenders' flaws over the last 6.

My question is, why not the St. Louis Blues in 2013? But I am prepared for the perennial playoff disappointment that seemingly follows this team.

At the end of the day, and despite Elliott's recent record setting play, I prefer Allen's game over Elliott's. There are a lot of things I feel that he does better. Given his experience, I prefer Halak over Allen in 2013. That being said, today, I'm comfortable with any of the above, IF this team continues what they are doing now.

end, my 2 cents on the Blues goaltending situation.
 
erderuft

erderuft

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Jun 28, 2011
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mizzoublues29 said:
I will always find myself on the positive side of the Blues, offering legitimate constructive criticism, but I cannot envision Brian Elliott lifting the Stanley Cup before Jaro Halak.
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Me neither. And if I'm completely honest, I have a hard time envisioning Jaro Halak lifting the Stanley Cup, too. Hope I'm wrong.

We need more consistent goaltending. Our goalies skillsets are fine. But this good-one-month, horrible-one-month just won't do. It's all about confidence w/ goalies. That's what makes them so hard to figure out.
 
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PerryTurnbullfan

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Goaltending is so mentally high and low. He is a good goalie. With a great defense, he can look like a great goalie. As we saw earlier this year, it doesn't matter who is in goal when you constantly have a wide open shots in front of the net. Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante, Mike Luit or Grant Fuhr aren't stopping those either....just sayin'. As stellar as our defense looks right now, we may be able to ride a good to very good goalie, whether it is Elliott, Allen or Halak.
 
Rizzo90

Rizzo90

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Nov 10, 2011
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Saw this teeted

elliottsaves.jpg
 
HockeyGuy73

HockeyGuy73

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Oct 29, 2010
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Tad south of STL.
I will withhold judgement until he gives up a goal, especially a bad one and see how he and the team respond to it. Easy to claim the second coming when he has three SO in a row.

He is lifetime 4-6 in the playoffs, with a 2.92 and .886.
 
CitizenSnips

CitizenSnips

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Nov 23, 2011
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Maybe I am confused to the wording here, but when Elliott is on, he IS a top 5 goalie as we saw last year and in the past few games. Anyone who says he isn't, is not looking at the complete sentence. The key here is "when he is ON".

I completely agree that he is one of the best backups and doesn't play his best when the weight is on his shoulders, but give the guy some credit. He posted outstanding numbers last year in a system that he plays very well in. When the entire team played that way this year, you can see how well he plays. None of this, however, describes him as a true #1.

He reminds me of Luongo with his inconsistent play and shows glimpses of greatness. I am willing to continue giving him his shot until his contract is up, then discuss what we will do with him. Trading him now does nothing.

One final note, everyone would love to blame someone for the bad play in the beginning of the year and he just so happens to get the blunt of it due to his terrible play, but lets not kid ourselves and just say it was the entire team that was just awful
 
JustOneB4IDie

JustOneB4IDie

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Elliott isn't a top 5 goalie, or for that matter, a starter. When he's good like right now and last season, ride the wave, when he isn't see most of this season, and past seasons in Ottowa & Colorado. Up and Down Down and Up. There is a word for it : Inconsistent. Management needs to address the Halak/Elliott Goalie situation in the summer, that's for sure.
 
TheRyanExpress

TheRyanExpress

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Apr 2, 2013
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What I've noticed from Elliott is that when he's being pushed or the other goalie on the team is playing well, Elliott seem to raise his game to that level. When that's not happening, a bad game here or there seems more likely. Like BleedinBlue says, there's not much of a middle ground to his game. It would be nice to have him find some consistency.
 
PocketNines

PocketNines

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Izzy Mandelbaum said:
ok brian elliott is a top 10 goalie in this league, sounds right
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You wrote "at his best." Nobody could deny last year he was at his best. I'd put "top regular season performance of all time" in the top 5. You don't think that kind of performance is top 5, which is hilarious agenda Asylum-style reasoning.
 
izzy

izzy

go
Apr 29, 2012
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PocketNines said:
You wrote "at his best." Nobody could deny last year he was at his best. I'd put "top regular season performance of all time" in the top 5. You don't think that kind of performance is top 5, which is hilarious agenda Asylum-style reasoning.
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Any goalie at their best is a top goalie. Almost any player at their best is a top player. What's the point of talking about it?
 
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