GDT: Game #17 Blues at Stars 7pm CT

[Robb_K]

This is Armstrong we are talking about. Hitch would at least come in as an Intern HC imho.

Not that I think it’s Chief that needs to go. Team is lacking consistency right now. Firing the HC isn’t going to help that get better.

Exactly this! And some posters are calling for Armstrong to be fired, too. I think that would be a bad mistake. Armstrong has done a very good job as GM for The Blues. And there are very few very good GMS in The NHL. And no candidates I can think of are waiting to be hired. I think we should wait to see how the young players improve based on their getting more NHL experience, and getting comfortable with their linemates, shiftmates and teammates, and the group gels as a team. Berube is a rare breed of coach, that is BOTH disciplined and expects a lot from his players, is a good teacher, and he is also a players' coach. He won The Stanley Cup with a team that was floundering under a much less disciplined coach. I don't believe his message is lost on the players. 82 games is a long season. Heavily changed rosters need time to gel as a team.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

If it makes anyone feel better…Minnesota and Nashville lost, and Chicago/Vegas/SJ are all currently losing. Oh, and Detroit lost to Arizona.

 

[Robb_K]

He is responsible building this team.

I give ton of respect that he build Cup winning team, but not understand why breakdown Cup winning formula?

I don't think it's fair to blame Armstrong for Pietrangelo's leaving. I don't believe for a minute, that Pietrangelo had ANY intention of considering staying with The Blues. I don't think Armstrong could have done anything, within reason, to get him to stay. What other moves do you think were wrong for this team going forward? Not replacing Pietrangelo with a solid defensive D-man? Who do you suggest he should have gotten, at what price? Do you think Doug Armstrong was the reason you aren't happy with the recent drafts? Do you know of a better replacement for Bill Armstrong, and are you unhappy with Bill's last 2-3 drafts while still with The Blues? What would you have done that would have made The Blues better now? Traded Tarasenko off and gotten a fantastic return for him after his 2 surgeries? Hired better team doctors? traded off Schwartz a year or 2 before he walked in free agency? I don't know who is better, who is sitting home waiting for The Blues to call.

 

[Blueston]

Could well be. If the serious side effects can linger sometimes for a few years, maybe periodic tiredness and weakness can last for several months in lighter cases. All I know is that Both Perron and O'Reilly haven't looked nearly the same as they did before going out, since they've returned. Perron hasn't skated at full speed even one time up ice, from what I've seen. He also gets pushed off the puck a lot, which I don't remember seeing much at all, before he went out. I haven't seen any of his normal feistiness. O'Reilly doesn't look as tired or as weak. But, clearly he hasn't been over 90% since returning, based on what I've seen (every game).

It’s possible I suppose. Even in folks with mild cases some suffer symptoms long after.

 

[Blueston]

It’s not that we lost, it’s that we had no fight tonight. We were sloppy and disinterested looking.

 

[simon IC]

I don't think it's fair to blame Armstrong for Pietrangelo's leaving. I don't believe for a minute, that Pietrangelo had ANY intention of considering staying with The Blues. I don't think Armstrong could have done anything, within reason, to get him to stay. What other moves do you think were wrong for this team going forward? Not replacing Pietrangelo with a solid defensive D-man? Who do you suggest he should have gotten, at what price? Do you think Doug Armstrong was the reason you aren't happy with the recent drafts? Do you know of a better replacement for Bill Armstrong, and are you unhappy with Bill's last 2-3 drafts while still with The Blues? What would you have done that would have made The Blues better now? Traded Tarasenko off and gotten a fantastic return for him after his 2 surgeries? Hired better team doctors? traded off Schwartz a year or 2 before he walked in free agency? I don't know who is better, who is sitting home waiting for The Blues to call.

Respectfully Robb, I think the Krug signing was a rare knee-jerk reaction from Armstrong. The AAV and ESPECIALLY the term and NTC's on that contract were, in my mind, a mistake.

 

[Nederlander]

Here’s the thing. They can’t fire the whole team so when the team goes bad and can’t right the ship, it’s the HC who goes.

I’m not saying we are there yet, but I do think if they keep playing this badly over the next month, Berube’s in serious danger of losing his job.

They are getting out competed by teams who have far less talent. That is a disturbing trend.

 

[i aint Dunn yet]

Respectfully Robb, I think the Krug signing was a rare knee-jerk reaction from Armstrong. The AAV and ESPECIALLY the term and NTC's on that contract were, in my mind, a mistake.

hell i would rather have dunn back than marco ... i know ya cant teach size but marco brings nothing .... krug WAS a knee jerk

 

[GoldenSeal]

The team is in a funk. It happens.

If we’re doing anything, strengthen the left side of D. A strong Dman who can shelter can make a lot of difference.

Those lines we ran were absolute trash but four lines of firepower should have yielded better results. Oh well.

Beyond that, let the team run. We’ll work through it and be ok.

 

[GoldenSeal]

hell i would rather have dunn back than marco ... i know ya cant teach size but marco brings nothing .... krug WAS a knee jerk

I don’t get the purpose of Marco that a call-up couldn’t fill.

 

[Ranksu]

I don't think it's fair to blame Armstrong for Pietrangelo's leaving. I don't believe for a minute, that Pietrangelo had ANY intention of considering staying with The Blues. I don't think Armstrong could have done anything, within reason, to get him to stay. What other moves do you think were wrong for this team going forward? Not replacing Pietrangelo with a solid defensive D-man? Who do you suggest he should have gotten, at what price? Do you think Doug Armstrong was the reason you aren't happy with the recent drafts? Do you know of a better replacement for Bill Armstrong, and are you unhappy with Bill's last 2-3 drafts while still with The Blues? What would you have done that would have made The Blues better now? Traded Tarasenko off and gotten a fantastic return for him after his 2 surgeries? Hired better team doctors? traded off Schwartz a year or 2 before he walked in free agency? I don't know who is better, who is sitting home waiting for The Blues to call.

Pietro wanted to stay in Blues. Only demand was full NMC. Army didn't want to give that so it was clear decision by Pietro leave and found new home. He is family man. He just wanted to raise his family in one place. He was well liked in community.

You can ask your superior (Army) what he values. Does he value family ppl, but he should have give Pietro 8-year contact. Army didn't want to give him that. He is business man. He has said he wants to hold leverage/flexibility to move players.

You can ask yourself where is the line. Was Cup winning Captain has special status for St. Louis? How you value him? Clearly front office didn't.

I view it was huge misstep by losing franchise face who brought Cup to St. Louis.

I'm happy Bill's drafts.

I view we should had trade last TDL one of our pending UFA's. I have said multiple times at that time Blues 3-4 games hot playing cost us potential good moves. Army did mistake on that part. Army has done great moves at TDL, for ex. Stastny trade while we were almost same position last season like that year too.

Keeping Tarasenko was right move. He is one of our best forwards and his value is getting better. Hopefully Army will trade Tarasenko at TDL or at least next off-season, but get at least something out of him if he wants out and could walk for nothing.

I liked Buch trade. Not fan of let Schwartz walk for nothing. Give Allen too big contract at time and have to let him go for cap reasons.

Biggest reason why this team crumbles is weak defense.

When take away your corner stone from building and fill it with small stones it doesn't be the same at all and eventually it will crash down.

 

[Beauterham]

I like Berube. I’m not saying fire him. I want us to play fir him. But if you don’t think his job is on the line now, I think you haven’t been paying close enough attention.

Yup, it's just a matter of time till we fire our head coach, trade our back-up goalie and call up Hofer and let him navigate us to our 2nd Stanley Cup.

 

[ezcreepin]

Pietro wanted to stay in Blues. Only demand was full NMC. Army didn't want to give that so it was clear decision by Pietro leave and found new home. He is family man. He just wanted to raise his family in one place. He was well liked in community.

You can ask your superior (Army) what he values. Does he value family ppl, but he should have give Pietro 8-year contact. Army didn't want to give him that. He is business man. He has said he wants to hold leverage/flexibility to move players.

You can ask yourself where is the line. Was Cup winning Captain has special status for St. Louis? How you value him? Clearly front office didn't.

I view it was huge misstep by losing franchise face who brought Cup to St. Louis.

I'm happy Bill's drafts.

I view we should had trade last TDL one of our pending UFA's. I have said multiple times at that time Blues 3-4 games hot playing cost us potential good moves. Army did mistake on that part. Army has done great moves at TDL, for ex. Stastny trade while we were almost same position last season like that year too.

Keeping Tarasenko was right move. He is one of our best forwards and his value is getting better. Hopefully Army will trade Tarasenko at TDL or at least next off-season, but get at least something out of him if he wants out and could walk for nothing.

I liked Buch trade. Not fan of let Schwartz walk for nothing. Give Allen too big contract at time and have to let him go for cap reasons.

Biggest reason why this team crumbles is weak defense.

When take away your corner stone from building and fill it with small stones it doesn't be the same at all and eventually it will crash down.

We can never know what happened during those negotiations with Petro. Even with what we suspect is all the information, we still have no idea. We would've traded Tarasenko if the deal was right. Keeping him was only a consequence of the uncertainty of his play heading into this season. Schwartz walking is unfortunate, but by all accounts it seemed like Schwartz wanted to be closer to his family, and the cap situation didn't really allow us to keep him once we traded for Buch. We lost a good player, but he was replaced by another good player. Allen since being traded to Montreal, hasn't proved to be a significantly great backup. He played on a decent team in Montreal last year and his numbers kind of suck. His numbers suck this year too, but the team has had major injury problems. It's likely we had better defensive structure that allowed him to be playing well here, but he's been exploited since he was traded. We got some minor picks out of it, but the salary we moved seems much more valuable in the long term. Say what you want about Armstrong, but he's kept this team competitive for a long time and you can't say that about most teams. Hell, look how over the place Dallas has been the past 11 seasons.

 

[Reality Czech]

They always play dump and chase, no matter if its 5v4, 5v5 or 6v5. Thats why I hate Berube. He doesnt have an idea on controlled entries.

You really hate Berube? Seems a little extreme.

The crappy power play cost us this game. Not only did they struggle to get any consistency in offense but the two breakdowns leading to SHGs by Dallas were ugly. I don't wanna be too critical of Perunovich, but his misplay led to the first one and he had a few other shaky moments as well. Saad didn't battle hard enough on the 2nd SHG, which led to the 2 on 1. Bottom line we didn't deserve to win this one.

 

[Reality Czech]

hell i would rather have dunn back than marco ... i know ya cant teach size but marco brings nothing .... krug WAS a knee jerk

What is it with you guys and the Scandella obsession? He's getting less minutes than before and people are still acting as if he's the problem. Meanwhile, Perunovich looked very shaky at times and cost us a goal or two.

It's a fact that Scandella is much better defensively than Dunn, who will likely never be more than a 2nd pair guy due to his weak defensive play. Krug has played great this season, but I guess some fans just need their whipping boys.

 

[Xerloris]

They always play dump and chase, no matter if its 5v4, 5v5 or 6v5. Thats why I hate Berube. He doesnt have an idea on controlled entries.

That's not remotely true.

I mean Parayko made the same exact play last game. But, no one wants to talk about that. Nit-picking one single guy when the whole team played garbage makes no sense.

I didn't get to watch the San Jose game so I assume you mean the Perunovich play and if that's the case, my only gripe is that he virtually did nothing on that play. You're suppose to make the other team beat you with a great pass.

I don’t get the purpose of Marco that a call-up couldn’t fill.

Our call ups are pretty terrible.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

That's not remotely true.



I didn't get to watch the San Jose game so I assume you mean the Perunovich play and if that's the case, my only gripe is that he virtually did nothing on that play. You're suppose to make the other team beat you with a great pass.



Our call ups are pretty terrible.

I'm referring to Krug's bad pinch on the PP that ended up being the 2nd SH goal. Parayko made a very similar play the previous game that ended up behind Husso. But was waived off for being offsides.

 

[Mike Liut]

He's clearly still weak from his bout with Covid. He's been playing at 2/3 speed ever since he returned. Let's see how he is in a week or two. All that is important is that he's back at 100% for the playoff stretch and playoffs. O'Reilly is still at 3/4 or 4/5 speed. He also hasn't completely recovered. Schenn is out. Sundqvist needs to get his timing back. The Blues will be a LOT better later in this season, as the previously ill players gain strength and timing, and as their young players, Kyrou, Thomas, Perunovich, and Kostin continue to improve. Dallas had a good game plan, and executed it well. They caught The Blues on an off night.

I agree on all accounts, but I’m sticking to my statement that I’m not giving Perron a multi year deal. I love Perron, but can we really afford signing another aging player for multiple years? I’m not so sure. The max I’d go is 2 yrs 8 mill.

 

[Majorityof1]

After giving up 2 short handed goals in a game, maybe we want to think about putting at least 1 D man on the ice during a PP. Unit 1: RoR, Tarasenko,Perron, Saad, Krug. Unit 2: Thomas, Kyrou, Buchnevich, Neal, Perunovich. I don't see a single D on there. We have our two forwards who line up as D 5v5, but no D who can actually play D. Krug botched the pass on the 2nd goal. He was the farthest man back and was the 4th guy back on the play. He got beat back by ROR, not exactly the fastest skater and had further to skate. So not only did he turn it over, he could have put some pressure on the shooter if he hustled back. Perunovich completely misplayed the 2-on-1 which is the second time he has done that in his few pro games, as he did it in the pre-season as well. He's young, and still learning, but that is basic fundamental hockey. We didn't even get a PP goal out of those dynamos.

Perunovich was awful overall. He was ridiculously sheltered. Got all O-zone or on the fly starts, and he was the worst D in xGF%. One of the worst on the team, only beating Kostin and the identity line who got all D-zone starts. He didn't create a single scoring chance himself. I do have hope for him. He did make a real nice defensive play. He over-committed on a play going to the boards, but he rushed back and broke it up by taking out the guy in front of the net. That was an example of his ability to change direction quickly being a real asset on D, something Krug doesn't have. But overall, he was bad this game.

Krug continues to be Jekyll and Hyde. Dr. Jekyll was best xGF of the game. Mr. Hyde was the 4th worst xGA despite getting heavy o-zone starts. With Krug, his value to the team is directly proportional to our PDO. It's going to be high event hockey, and we just have to convert more than they do. He was a wunderkind early when we had a high PDO. Now that we aren't converting and Binner is putting up .910 save percentage, it's hurting our team.

 

[Majorityof1]

I agree on all accounts, but I’m sticking to my statement that I’m not giving Perron a multi year deal. I love Perron, but can we really afford signing another aging player for multiple years? I’m not so sure. The max I’d go is 2 yrs 8 mill.

That is an insult of an offer. Perron has scored at a 73 point pace over the 4 year $4M AAV contract he just signed. You aren't offering him any raise at all? Don't even bother offering that contract. That's the kind of shit that hurts the reputation of the franchise. Just tell Perron he doesn't fit into our plans and wish him good luck if that is the max you are willing to go.

 

[PocketNines]

I’d swap defenses with Dallas if we could

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Perron has signed nothing but sweetheart deals his entire career. If he's wanting a payday I really can't blame him a single bit. Tho, I truly doubt he's going to be asking for anything outrageous, especially since he said he wants to retire a Blue.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I’d swap defenses with Dallas if we could

I'd be happy just to swap Scandella with Suter.

 

[Ranksu]

We can never know what happened during those negotiations with Petro. Even with what we suspect is all the information, we still have no idea. We would've traded Tarasenko if the deal was right. Keeping him was only a consequence of the uncertainty of his play heading into this season. Schwartz walking is unfortunate, but by all accounts it seemed like Schwartz wanted to be closer to his family, and the cap situation didn't really allow us to keep him once we traded for Buch. We lost a good player, but he was replaced by another good player. Allen since being traded to Montreal, hasn't proved to be a significantly great backup. He played on a decent team in Montreal last year and his numbers kind of suck. His numbers suck this year too, but the team has had major injury problems. It's likely we had better defensive structure that allowed him to be playing well here, but he's been exploited since he was traded. We got some minor picks out of it, but the salary we moved seems much more valuable in the long term. Say what you want about Armstrong, but he's kept this team competitive for a long time and you can't say that about most teams. Hell, look how over the place Dallas has been the past 11 seasons.

 

[Ranksu]