GDT: (Still) Defending Stanley Cup Champs St. Louis Blues vs. Chicago

[TruBlu]

I can't tell you the number of times the blues have started the preseason on fire and stank like a turd when the season kicked in. Hopefully this will be a kick to the stones that will get their minds right. I just really hate losing like that to the Hawks.

 

[Robb_K]

Thank God they're not playing the Hawks in Rd. 1.
...or might they?

I'd LOVE it if The Blues got The Hawks in Round 1. Do you REALLY think this first game against another team shows how capable or incapable The Blues would be when it really counts, or that they couldn't make adjustments and beat the weakest team in the tournament???

 

[BlueOil]

blues have a bit more to do to get up to game speed. they have a few more practices and three games to get there so don't count me worried.

passing, positioning, and the god dang powerplay are the next practices i hope

 

[BlueKnight]

Well. Spend the next 3 days practicing. And come out better against the Avs when the games matter.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

This is all we have until we play the Avalanche. It'd be different if we were competitive but we look the worst of any team that's played so far.

Exactly. The only team that’s played worse is Florida, and they played Tampa. We played a team that has no business being here.

Not even a scoring chance.

And the games starting Sunday DO matter. People need to stop pretending it wouldn’t be great to play the lowest remaining seed in round one.

 

[mk80]

I expect we'll see more of the performance we expect on Sunday and moving forward. If we take it up a notch each game over the round robin and really hit our stride going into round 1 we'll be golden. Like I said I expect that we'll see that happen. Nothing I saw in our play tonight was irreparable, some mistakes, rust, poor puck management/forcing plays not there, PP (that's always terrible anyway), and I thought at times we just weren't playing aggressive when we could have.

I thought Binnington looked really good, Allen was capable. Nobody got injured. I think this loss will also light a little extra fire moving forward too. 3 days to adjust things in practice, and come out with our physical grinding game against the Avs and dial it from there.

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

NHL.tv blacks out the games and sports bars aren't really open.

Going to be a lot of Blues radio for me this playoff run.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Don’t confuse playing cold over ability. Team needs practice. Team also needs to cement Pie and that should be done NOW. Get it together and blaze a trail.

 

[BlueDream]

This thread is a complete disaster.

I’m not shocked at all that the Blues didn’t go all out for a meaningless game. It’s not that big of a deal.

 

[mw2noobbuster]

This thread is a complete disaster.

I’m not shocked at all that the Blues didn’t go all out for a meaningless game. It’s not that big of a deal.

I think people are more concerned that a lot of the other contenders have looked much better so far. Hell, the Oilers looked fantastic. I know this game means nothing but this is their only "pre-season" game they have before the games start counting.

 

[BlueDream]

I think people are more concerned that a lot of the other contenders have looked much better so far. Hell, the Oilers looked fantastic. I know this game means nothing but this is their only "pre-season" game they have before the games start counting.

You can’t make a judgment on one game for any team that’s been off for 4 and a half months. It’s not possible.

I guarantee one of the teams that looked “great” in game 1 is gonna play like crap in their next game. It never fails to happen.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Thank God they're not playing the Hawks in Rd. 1.
...or might they?

The Blues would have to win the round robin to fave the Blackhawks. That doesn’t seem most likely to me, plus I think Edmonton will have something to say about it.

 

[mw2noobbuster]

You can’t make a judgment on one game for any team that’s been off for 4 and a half months. It’s not possible.

I guarantee one of the teams that looked “great” in game 1 is gonna play like crap in their next game. It never fails to happen.

You're right, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable if they had more than two solid chances the whole game.

 

[Borderbluesfan]

The Blues did look a little lackluster tonight. I was expecting a little more fire. After watching Edmonton/Calgary last night I was expecting some energy and excitement. Didn’t get that from either team. Felt like a preseason scrimmage by high school football teams where the score didn’t matter as long as the coaches got to see what their team was doing.

 

[stl76]

Really unimpressed with Scandella's game tonight.

 

[Klank Loves You]

Not ideal. I expect the boys to be interested when real games start.

 

[brokeu91]

At least it didn't count. Let's hope they knock the rust off and come out flying in the round robin

 

[WATTAGE4451]

Exactly. The only team that’s played worse is Florida, and they played Tampa. We played a team that has no business being here.

Not even a scoring chance.

And the games starting Sunday DO matter. People need to stop pretending it wouldn’t be great to play the lowest remaining seed in round one.

Weren't the blues one of the teams who had to shut down their local practices because of a player catching covid?

Of course the teams who didnt ever have to shut down are probably ahead on game speed And timing.

 

[WATTAGE4451]

I think people are more concerned that a lot of the other contenders have looked much better so far. Hell, the Oilers looked fantastic. I know this game means nothing but this is their only "pre-season" game they have before the games start counting.

Not all other teams had to close their practices because of a covid outbreak during the training camp phase.

We probably got less practice than some other teams.

 

[Stealth JD]

I'd LOVE it if The Blues got The Hawks in Round 1. Do you REALLY think this first game against another team shows how capable or incapable The Blues would be when it really counts, or that they couldn't make adjustments and beat the weakest team in the tournament???

‘Twas sarcasm, as a result of getting rag-dolled by the worst team in the tourney. I went on to say that this club will be fine, even if they mail it in through the round-robin games.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

A few thoughts after watching the game:

- I don’t think Berube made any effort to match personnel. He let AHL guys be out against Kane’s line, etc. He wasn’t trying to maximize chances of winning as much as let people be out in a variety of situations.

- The defense wasn’t sharp. Specifically, Pietro wasn’t as good as usual with his stick. Faulk and Scandella were not in position. I didn’t track the pairings closely, but there were a couple times at least where it looked like both guys thought they were playing the same side. Out of sync.

- I think we are going to miss Bouwmeester. If Scandella and Parayko don’t show some good chemistry as a pairing, it’s going to be hard to put them out there together against the top lines. Bouwmeester played his best hockey as a Blue during the postseason last year. It’s a tall order to replace that at the price they paid for Scandella. I’m worried that the early good games may prove to be fool’s gold to some degree. But he looked slow to react and a lot less effective (and slower) than Bouwmeester. (I’m reminded of how awful Bouw looked when he was returning from surgery and how we almost unanimously wanted to cut him for nothing.)

- I’m more bothered by the lack of scoring chances than the defense. The Blues look pretty easy to defend right now.

- I expect Edmonton to win that series. They looked good in their game. Chicago looked vulnerable. That’s the worst part...the Blues got shut out by a mediocre-looking opponent.

- It’s a good thing the next 3 games can’t eliminate the Blues. They have a ways to go to be ready to compete and win a series against a good opponent. I really don’t know what to expect from the round robin games.

 

[TheBluePenguin]

NHL.tv blacks out the games and sports bars aren't really open.

Going to be a lot of Blues radio for me this playoff run.

Check your messages, I got you

 

[MissouriMook]

I'm trying not to be overly concerned, but the fact of the matter is that the next game does count, even if it doesn't put us in an elimination situation. This was the only game we had to shake off the rust and get back some of the continuity that they lost over the last 4.5 months and they squandered it. If the play-in round goes chalk, the round robin means the difference between playing the 5 seed in the first round and the 8. To me, that should matter.

I'm fine that they weren't going balls out, but that's not the same as not competing and I feel like a lot of that was missing last night. One issue I have is with a roster decision by Berube. After last year, its hard to question his decisions, but I'm going to anyway. He "took advantage" of the NHL temporary rule allowing for 20 skaters in the exhibition game and I think it cost them. There was clearly little flow and cohesiveness with the forwards and the D, and I think a lot of it stemmed from having 13F and 7D to manage. Too many guys getting moved around, especially on the back end. I can't understand why someone would value getting guys like Brouwer and Mikkola a game now over getting guys clicking together. I feel that Barbashev should have slotted in where Steen was absent since Barby is going to be leaving the bubble soon, and the rest of the squad should have been put together and left together where they are going to line up on Sunday to try to gain or regain some chemistry.

 

[mw2noobbuster]

If Scandella and Parayko don’t show some good chemistry as a pairing, it’s going to be hard to put them out there together against the top lines.

Weren't Scandella and Parayko really good as a pairing before the season ended? They probably just need a game or two to find that chemistry again.

 

[WATTAGE4451]

I'm trying not to be overly concerned, but the fact of the matter is that the next game does count, even if it doesn't put us in an elimination situation. This was the only game we had to shake off the rust and get back some of the continuity that they lost over the last 4.5 months and they squandered it. If the play-in round goes chalk, the round robin means the difference between playing the 5 seed in the first round and the 8. To me, that should matter.

I'm fine that they weren't going balls out, but that's not the same as not competing and I feel like a lot of that was missing last night. One issue I have is with a roster decision by Berube. After last year, its hard to question his decisions, but I'm going to anyway. He "took advantage" of the NHL temporary rule allowing for 20 skaters in the exhibition game and I think it cost them. There was clearly little flow and cohesiveness with the forwards and the D, and I think a lot of it stemmed from having 13F and 7D to manage. Too many guys getting moved around, especially on the back end. I can't understand why someone would value getting guys like Brouwer and Mikkola a game now over getting guys clicking together. I feel that Barbashev should have slotted in where Steen was absent since Barby is going to be leaving the bubble soon, and the rest of the squad should have been put together and left together where they are going to line up on Sunday to try to gain or regain some chemistry.

I have no problem using the skaters if you want to make sure plenty get ice time and are sharp in case of injuries, but isnt dunn healthy now, why not get him in game and just limit his minutes as 7 dman if easing him in rather than mikkola who most likely wont play at all, though it is possible with both bortuzzo and gunnarsson being injury prone.

The brouwer one is baffling. There are so many guys that should play over brouwer on the delth chart, it just made no sense to play him.

Sundqvist, steen, and kyrou didnt play and all are above him. Arguably, even de la rose might play before brouwer ever sees a game.

I can understand using 20 skaters to get everyone some ice time but why waste it on guys who arent ever going to play.