Half-Assed GDT: GDT: hour before the game edition

[Ted Hoffman]

Colorado came back from being down 2-1 with 4:57 to play [after leading 1-0 to start the 3rd and still leading with 9 minutes to go] to beat Dallas in regulation, so there's a glimmer of good news on the night. We're still only 7 8 points out of a playoff spot at the moment.

 

[i aint Dunn yet]

what a * * * * show

 

[Nederlander]

New to the board here, but am long time Blues fan. Was at the game tonight, and my thoughts were that with the exception of Dunn, the defensemen were pretty awful -- Parayko looks lost, Pietrangelo is making some really bad decisions, and Bouwmeester is just flat out slow and past his prime.

Also, I would take Sanford off that top line. To me, he doesn't have the skills to keep up with Tarasenko and O'Reilly. ROR and Tarasenko should stay together. Also, Fabbri and Thomas look like they have some chemistry together, and were one of the few that actually looked like they were putting in an effort.

Honestly, I think Berube should send a message by scratching Parayko or Petro -- saying I'm only playing the guys who are playing all out, and putting their best hockey on the ice.

It's brutal watching the defense right now.

 

[mk80]

I figured we'd win 1 out of these last 3 games. Although tonight I think we lost to Laine more than we did to the rest of the Jets.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

You'll never meet a Jets fan who says "I absolutely hate the Blues"

It's always "man I love playing the Blues, they are exciting games"

There's also a history between Winnipeg hockey fans and the Blues...a lot of Jets 2.0 fans who cheered on the Blues during the 15 year gap of no NHL, and on top of that there's many connections between Winnipeg and the Blues club, from the city to people who have strong ties to both Winnipeg and St Louis (one example: Steen) as well Jets 1.0 and Blues connections as well

Plenty of Jets fans hate the Preds though...for the pretty much the exact same reasons BlueDream mentioned

I love watching playoff hockey in the city of Winnipeg.

 

[carter333167]

New to the board here, but am long time Blues fan. Was at the game tonight, and my thoughts were that with the exception of Dunn, the defensemen were pretty awful -- Parayko looks lost, Pietrangelo is making some really bad decisions, and Bouwmeester is just flat out slow and past his prime.

Also, I would take Sanford off that top line. To me, he doesn't have the skills to keep up with Tarasenko and O'Reilly. ROR and Tarasenko should stay together. Also, Fabbri and Thomas look like they have some chemistry together, and were one of the few that actually looked like they were putting in an effort.

Honestly, I think Berube should send a message by scratching Parayko or Petro -- saying I'm only playing the guys who are playing all out, and putting their best hockey on the ice.

It's brutal watching the defense right now.

Sanford has been pretty poor in the D-Zone lately.

 

[Klank Loves You]

Now at least no one will say "But Burebe!" When Q is hired tomorrow.

 

[Dbrownss]

Now at least no one will say "But Burebe!" When Q is hired tomorrow.

I'd be hard pressed to believe he'd want anything to do with this team

 

[TerminatorBlue]

Now at least no one will say "But Burebe!" When Q is hired tomorrow.

I think they would be just wasting their money with Q now. Are we under performing? yes... but we are an average team at best.

Just stay the course now.

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

I'm still lost on the officiating. How the world was nothing called on Sanford play??? Clear as day penalty and nothing.

Officiating has been getting worse over the last 5 years. I don't think the games are rigged, but there are definitely moments where someone tries to tip the scales. I think the league needs a Ken Hitchcock type to be in charge of reviewing the officials, so they can start getting benched for making technical errors and missing calls.

 

[DoubleK81]

I was talking to a buddy on the phone before we were going out to meet some friends for dinner. He mentioned that he was kind of pissed that he was going to miss watching the game after Friday nights game. I told him that I thought there was a lot of potential for a big let-down in this one. Boy was I f***ing right.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Weathering another crappy Blues season

 

[Blueston]

"Laine is well on his way to a possible Art Ross Trophy this season, ..."

He was 14-3-17 coming into tonight, or 19 points behind the league leader. It's the Rocket Richard Trophy he might be in contention for.

Or Cy Young.

 

[Blueston]

maybe it’s time to go back to scratching Bouwmeester on a regular basis and see what happens, no?

Other than the one he played poorly and deflected in, not sure why we are signaling him out. Lots of blame to go around tonight. He certainly wasn't our worst defenseman. Dunn had real rough night handling puck and generally skating, but his defensive coverage wasn't bad. Parayko seemed like he was on ice for most goals against. Just a mess. And the forwards didn't help much.

 

[Blueston]

What's more embarrassing, getting shutout by the Blackhawks to end their 8 game losing streak, getting shutout by the worst team in the league LA kings or watching Laine score 5 goals against?

Kings shutout.

 

[Thallis]

I think we're missing Berglund more than we care to admit. Forwards have been cheating in the D zone for a while now.

 

[i aint Dunn yet]

the blues came out soft off the hop and gave up the slot all night long .... congrats to laine ...

 

[BlueDream]

Good grief, Johnson...

And we didn’t put near enough pucks on Brossoit who was shaky.

 

[i aint Dunn yet]

1 player took over that game .... 1 .... and its embarrassing

 

[AjaxManifesto]

1 player took over that game .... 1 .... and its embarrassing

You would think that after his 2nd or 3rd goal the Blues would always have somebody on him...hip on hip, stick on stick for the remainder of the game.

I expected us to lose this game, but how they managed it was flat out embarrassing.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I think the league needs a Ken Hitchcock type to be in charge of reviewing the officials, so they can start getting benched for making technical errors and missing calls.

They have Stephen Walkom, who when he was a referee was ...

I happen to have a copy of the CBA between the NHL and the officials, circa 2009. It's only 28 pages, or "light reading." It goes into when referees can be replaced [most difficult for guys with 6-16 years of experience, unless they don't get named to a playoff crew in back-to-back years they can't be removed], officials evaluations [they get one on January 15], maximum # of officials that can be released [4, unless there's a voluntary retirement in which case it's 3], and ... yes, discipline.

Paragraph 28(g) [parsed for easier reading, bold points highlighting important stuff]:

Apart from its right to release officials pursuant to section 14 hereof, the NHL shall have the right to discipline, suspend without compensation, and/or fine an official for cause which, without limiting the foregoing, shall include breach of this Agreement, failure to comply with Policies and Procedures Manual provisions, a copy of which shall be furnished promptly to the officials and the Executive Director of the NHLOA upon execution of this Agreement, or failure to fulfil orders, directions or instructions of the Commissioner of the NHL, the Senior Executive Vice-President and Director of Hockey Operations or their designee.

An official shall not, however, be fined by the League for on-ice calls which resulted from an official’s exercise of judgment, as opposed to his knowledge of the rules. In the case of a fine for rule interpretation and application, for a first “offence” in any season, the fine shall not exceed $350. In the case of all other fines, the fine shall not exceed $1,000.

When an official is disciplined, suspended and/or fined, he shall forthwith be notified in writing of the reasons therefor, and a copy of the notice shall be forthwith furnished to the Executive Director of the NHLOA. An official disciplined under this provision may appeal the disciplinary determination to the Commissioner or his designee, whose determination on the appeal shall be final. Upon timely application by the affected official, the Commissioner or his designee may stay any discipline pending an appeal.

...

Proper notification of disciplinary action relating to an NHL official’s interaction or altercation with playing or non-playing personnel or under Rule 76 shall be forwarded to the Executive Director of the NHLOA. The NHL shall also provide written notice of League decisions concerning these matters to the official and to the Executive Director of the NHLOA. The parties agree to keep these matters confidential.

So, per that CBA officials cannot be suspended for just making shitty calls if they are "exercise of judgment" calls. However, that could be factored into evaluations and playoff assignments and have a subsequent impact on employment. I'm going to go way out on a limb and say the current CBA between the league and the officials says the same thing.

 

[DaPropellerGuy]

To me it's obvious, the players don't care because they still get paid. An amount in one month that could get a scrub like me more than comfortable for a life time. Pure speculation on my part, but I believe they know this is a losing culture and hope they can half ass it just to get paid and screw the fans.

I say we should lessen their pockets to reflect their mediocre play and lack of fortitude. Let's boycott this "team" and show management we mean business. Without us filling the seats they are in financial hell #boycottBlues

 

[EastonBlues22]

You accurately note the players still get paid regardless, but then say we should boycott to "lessen their pockets to reflect their mediocre play and lack of fortitude?" That doesn't make any sense. All it does is hurt ownership, not the players.

The results haven't been there this year, but I think it's pretty clear the organization and ownership are committed to trying to win. Having rooted for teams without that commitment from ownership, I don't know why you wouldn't support that...in spirit at the very least, if you can't justify doing it financially.

Burning good owners is a great way to wind up with bad owners, and bad owners aren't particularly likely to give you anything better to root for. Heck, if you wind up with the wrong bad owners, you might not have anything to root for at all.

 

[Evocable Manager]

To me it's obvious, the players don't care because they still get paid. An amount in one month that could get a scrub like me more than comfortable for a life time. Pure speculation on my part, but I believe they know this is a losing culture and hope they can half ass it just to get paid and screw the fans.

I say we should lessen their pockets to reflect their mediocre play and lack of fortitude. Let's boycott this "team" and show management we mean business. Without us filling the seats they are in financial hell #boycottBlues

That wouldn't do anything except f*** the team over.

The players still get paid. No matter what. That's what revenue sharing is.

The only one who suffers is the ownership group. Which means a worse management team, worse scouting, worse coaches, worse trainers and a worse roster because they can't afford it. Do you want us to end up like Carolina, Arizona or Ottawa?

I highly doubt that's true. NHL players have pride.

 

[i aint Dunn yet]

there is always a section on the glass that is empty at home games .. its where we shoot first ... and its not a good look on the tube .... but its not the average joe section.... its corporate ...they cant give them away .. nobody wants them or has the time to be bothered .... i would rather have a few knuckle heads banging on the glass than a bunch of empty seats