Series Talk: Round 1 - St. Louis Blues [now w/ Poll]

[Foppa2118]

I agree that Makar is very casual at times with coverage down low and playing the puck in his own end. There's way too many passes without even looking that turn into glaring giveaways.

But from between the bluelines Makar Toews and G are all top tier at making the right read to close the gap and pressure the puck carrier or when they can win the race to the puck. Byram was still getting used to the system and the speed of the big leagues and was playing more conservative.

Cale has struggled at times this year picking up his man defensively too. He's been caught out of position, or puck watching, or thinking a little too much about getting the puck to score so they can come back in games they're trailing, and it's resulted in a few goals, and even more scoring chances.

It's just sophomore'itus IMO. He'll get more consistent as he gains experience. As will Byram.

But that's why I don't really understand the idea that Makar has been so much better than Byram it's not even close. That would mean Byram was dog shit defensively, and that certainly wasn't the case.

 

[PAZ]

Can you make an argument for how Makar is so much better than Byram defensively that it's not even close? I honestly don't see one.

And again I'm a huge Makar fan. If I were asked before the season, I would have thought Makar would have been a tad bit better defensively this season than he has been, and Byram would have been a tad bit worse than he was.

But watching them play, it was clear to me that Byram was just better right off the bat.

It is not close right now.

Makar is no defensive stalwart and there are aspects of Byram's defensive game that are better than Makar's defense. But Byram plays significantly less minutes against easier competition. Not to mention the times he got his minutes increased were usually in blowout games where Bednar either wanted to get Byram more experience or decided to roll the lines.

If Byram was playing 22 minutes a night, we'd be seeing a lot more mistakes. Byram can close the gap very quickly, but first he has to prove he can play 20+ minutes a night of mistake-free hockey in meaningful games.

 

[Foppa2118]

It is not close right now.

Makar is no defensive stalwart and there are aspects of Byram's defensive game that are better than Makar's defense. But Byram plays significantly less minutes against easier competition. Not to mention the times he got his minutes increased were usually in blowout games where Bednar either wanted to get Byram more experience or decided to roll the lines.

If Byram was playing 22 minutes a night, we'd be seeing a lot more mistakes. Byram can close the gap very quickly, but first he has to prove he can play 20+ minutes a night of mistake-free hockey in meaningful games.

I honestly don't think we'd be seeing a lot more mistakes if Byram was playing more. If he was playing more, I think people would realize how good he actually is defensively.

He was just caught in a numbers game as a rookie, with more veteran D men playing well this year, so Bednar leaned on them instead of Bo. Especially early in the year, where they probably wanted to take things slow with him.

And speculating that he'd make more mistakes if he played more isn't proof that he's not close to Makar defensively. You have to go by their actual play on ice for that.

 

[The Moops]

If they are actually celebrating the Presidents Trophy like that it's embarrassing and they should act like they been there before.

But they haven't been there before? Think about all the dark years some of them have gone through. No reason to not take a night to celebrate. They know the journey isn't done, don't take the fun out of the game

 

[The Kingslayer]

Some of ya'll need to keep it classy outside this forum. No reason to get into a shit throwing match with 3-4 dumbass Blues fans.

 

[Foppa2118]

But they haven't been there before? Think about all the dark years some of them have gone through. No reason to not take a night to celebrate. They know the journey isn't done, don't take the fun out of the game

Bednar won't let them think the journey is done anyway. I don't think he smiled once in that post game presser after the last game.

It's ok to celebrate the small things in life. Like you say, it's been a long dark road to get here for some of them, and there's no guarantee they'll be able to celebrate anything like this again.

 

[UncleRisto]

I honestly don't think we'd be seeing a lot more mistakes if Byram was playing more. If he was playing more, I think people would realize how good he actually is defensively.

He was just caught in a numbers game as a rookie, with more veteran D men playing well this year, so Bednar leaned on them instead of Bo. Especially early in the year, where they probably wanted to take things slow with him.

And speculating that he'd make more mistakes if he played more isn't proof that he's not close to Makar defensively. You have to go by their actual play on ice for that.

If only Byram played enough and in the same situations to make those comparisons. Not saying he can't do it soon, but for now.

 

[Belgican]

Byram will not start the series, and Saad and Timmins could play game 1.


Bednar said forward Brandon Saad and defenseman Conor Timmins could return. Saad missed the final 11 games with a lower-body injury; Timmins sustained an undisclosed injury in a 5-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

"We'll look at St. Louis, what we project of their lines, see what we like for our matchups, at least to start, and keep evaluating on a day-to-day basis," Bednar said. "Guys might find themselves out of the lineup in Game 1 and possibly be in soon after that. Hopefully the lineup decisions we make, the matchup decisions we make, are the right ones, and even then we'll have to adjust our lineup on a daily basis. There's going to be some tough decisions as we get healthy."

Defenseman Bowen Byram is improving in his recovery from an upper-body injury but will not be available to start the series. He has not played since March 25.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Was it ever confirmed that Mikko didn't get it?

Yes. Bednar confirmed he didn’t have it. As a close contact of a positive case you have to do 7 days (I believe). Nylander went through the same thing. This is because it is absolutely confirmed that there is a relatable covid case. Even though Mikko tests negative repeatedly he can’t come off the list because there is a confirmed, documented case he came into contact with so there is always a possibility that he has it even without it showing on a test early.

If Perron however hasn’t actually come into contact with a positive case it’s possible that it was simply a faulty test. So he gets a few more opportunities to test and prove that it was indeed faulty. However with other positive tests on the Blues i have to assume he probably is a close contact so I dunno where this all ends up. My gut tells me he doesn’t even miss a game.

 

[Grigowski]

I don´t give a f*** about Perron.

I want to teams as healthy as possible to go for it. No excuses.

 

[Avs71]

I hope when the Avs win the cup they engrave Covidrado Refalanche with the biggest asterisk possible. And Bettman gets his name under the roster.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I hope when the Avs win the cup they engrave Covidrado Refalanche with the biggest asterisk possible. And Bettman gets his name under the roster.

 

[avsfan9]

I think Saad is going to be a key contributor in the avs success this year. Good to have him back for the playoffs. Very underrated pickup by Sakic

 

[The Pwnerer]

That 2nd line is going to be key too. Before all the injuries the Saad-Kadri-Bura line was just not clicking. Hopefully that changes but its nice to know now we have someone like Newhook who can move up the lineup if needed.

 

[JLo217]

Some of ya'll need to keep it classy outside this forum. No reason to get into a shit throwing match with 3-4 dumbass Blues fans.

Yup stay off the main boards/blues board. There’s some gems over there.

 

[JLo217]

I don´t give a f*** about Perron.

I want to teams as healthy as possible to go for it. No excuses.

I won’t mind him not diving and whining every play.

 

[tucker3434]

Some of ya'll need to keep it classy outside this forum. No reason to get into a shit throwing match with 3-4 dumbass Blues fans.

Nah, they're dumb and they need to know it.

 

[Metallo]

Byram will not start the series, and Saad and Timmins could play game 1.


Bednar said forward Brandon Saad and defenseman Conor Timmins could return. Saad missed the final 11 games with a lower-body injury; Timmins sustained an undisclosed injury in a 5-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

"We'll look at St. Louis, what we project of their lines, see what we like for our matchups, at least to start, and keep evaluating on a day-to-day basis," Bednar said. "Guys might find themselves out of the lineup in Game 1 and possibly be in soon after that. Hopefully the lineup decisions we make, the matchup decisions we make, are the right ones, and even then we'll have to adjust our lineup on a daily basis. There's going to be some tough decisions as we get healthy."

Defenseman Bowen Byram is improving in his recovery from an upper-body injury but will not be available to start the series. He has not played since March 25.

I wonder what guys are on the bubble and matchup dependant.

And what we are trying to matchup on the other side.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Nah, they're dumb and they need to know it.

Agreed.

I’ve never seen such a salty lot. It’s almost as if the entire city of St. Louis walks around with sand in their underpants. So many of them have such monstrous chips on their shoulders and work so hard hyping their team, they make it super easy to role-play the Avs as underdogs.

I’m constantly asking myself whether their rage is real or manufactured.

The funny thing is, St Louis Cardinals fans like to see themselves as the “classiest” fans in baseball. But you see here what they’re really like.

 

[Ceremony]

HFBoards would be better if it was a free for all tbh.

 

[Belgican]

I wounder what guys are on the bubble and matchup dependant.

And what we are trying to matchup on the other side.

Nothing new, but it shows that Bednar will not only play his game, he also cares about matchups and opponents.

Probably also some diplomacy towards his players for his future choices, can’t hurt.

 

[RockLobster]

So uhh...I just got an introduction to that one Blues poster many have talked about.

He’s...something, to say the least.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Byram doesn't even come close to Toews, Girard, or Makar defensively. Not yet at least, maybe he gets there one day.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Yeah Byram is not there yet compare to the other three. He might end up being the best of the four defensively but he still has quite of bit of work to do. This is not to take away anything from Byram accomplishments so far. He has had a very good start to his NHL career. I would have loved to see where he would be at currently if he didn't get hurt so much in his first year.

 

[cgf]

With a win over 7th seeded Boston...who are resting everybody...today, the Knicks will clinch the 4th seed and a home playoff series against the 1 potential first round opponent we can actually beat. Meaning the Avs could have another 3-4 weeks until they have to worry about overcoming me watching the games live.

Avs in 4.