The All-Purpose Panic Thread
- Thread starter superblues
- Start date
I'll give you Steen, Schwartz, and Ott. Keep *****ing and see what happens Sunday.
-The Hockey Gods
An injured Petro and Jbo/Shattenkirk/Coliacovo are not going goon squad on anybody. Steen and Schwartz are not going goon squad. Keith Aucoin and Ty Rattie would be the weakest guys out there. This team is not that tough with its current injuries other than like 5 guys, and there is no depth left if someone else gets injured playing like that.
BluesTraveller
Registered User
Inglorious Backes
Cursed
The one silver lining of this situation is that my expectations have completely evaporated. It feels like we'll lose again Sunday and find a way to get swept by the Hawks. But who knows, maybe we win on Sunday afternoon and the Avs can't handle the pressure of the division being on the line. Get reasonably healthy and build some momentum in the playoffs. I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised.
TK 421
Barbashev eats babies pass it on
- Sep 12, 2007
- 6,464
- 6,123
I like your approach, this is pretty much how I'll be handling it. There are still all kinds of interesting potential narratives given the circumstances. Like Miller catching fire due to his team being outplayed and outshot. Or the entire team embracing an underdog approach giving us a much different look than we've seen during their poor streches of play this season. With every new wrinkle comes the inevitable trickle down effect and new possibilities for a potential shift in fortunes.
carter333167
Registered User
- Apr 24, 2013
- 6,958
- 3,120
We have been porous defensively even before the rash of injuries.....I made a post about it around the time that Miller came in the trade. We seemed to be giving up backdoor chances at will to all teams....a backdoor goal was scored on Miller in each of his first few games.
To summarize, even before the injuries, our play in our own zone was characterized by the following:
1. Backdoor man being left unattended.
2. Opponent on rush to crease being unchallenged.
3. Opponent stationed in front of crease being largely unchallenged.
4. Petro in particular being very soft in the corners...refusing to take the body. Numerous blitz passes from the corner to unattended man in front of our net end up with the puck in our goal.
Part of the above is poor coaching and part is attributable to our D-Men. I thing our forwards are playing with full effort.
The bottom line: Petro has regressed. He needs to be the best player on the ice for us for us to have a chance to go deep. Lately, he has been far from the best player on the ice for the Blues.
Our overall defensive scheme has regressed as well. We rely solely on quick transitions and passing to get out of our zone. If said strategy does not produce a clean exit, we are in big trouble b/c we lack physicality in our zone.
Finally, signs of this have been around all year. Some folks wanted to dismiss our losing record against the Cali Teams. I think it was a sign of the play that we are seeing now. Wins against mid-tier teams in the middle of he season don't provide a good yardstick of how a team will perform against the best teams in a playoff atmosphere. There were signs all season that the Blues would have trouble with the latter yardstick.
In sum, our cuurent plight has become the perfect storm:
1. We were a bit overrated even when playing well.
2. Our defense is now playing poorly...particularly Petro.
3. We also are suffering injuries.
4. Other teams are turning up the heat and playing better.
This all adds up to the Blues entering the playoffs playing probably the worst of all eight WC teams.
To summarize, even before the injuries, our play in our own zone was characterized by the following:
1. Backdoor man being left unattended.
2. Opponent on rush to crease being unchallenged.
3. Opponent stationed in front of crease being largely unchallenged.
4. Petro in particular being very soft in the corners...refusing to take the body. Numerous blitz passes from the corner to unattended man in front of our net end up with the puck in our goal.
Part of the above is poor coaching and part is attributable to our D-Men. I thing our forwards are playing with full effort.
The bottom line: Petro has regressed. He needs to be the best player on the ice for us for us to have a chance to go deep. Lately, he has been far from the best player on the ice for the Blues.
Our overall defensive scheme has regressed as well. We rely solely on quick transitions and passing to get out of our zone. If said strategy does not produce a clean exit, we are in big trouble b/c we lack physicality in our zone.
Finally, signs of this have been around all year. Some folks wanted to dismiss our losing record against the Cali Teams. I think it was a sign of the play that we are seeing now. Wins against mid-tier teams in the middle of he season don't provide a good yardstick of how a team will perform against the best teams in a playoff atmosphere. There were signs all season that the Blues would have trouble with the latter yardstick.
In sum, our cuurent plight has become the perfect storm:
1. We were a bit overrated even when playing well.
2. Our defense is now playing poorly...particularly Petro.
3. We also are suffering injuries.
4. Other teams are turning up the heat and playing better.
This all adds up to the Blues entering the playoffs playing probably the worst of all eight WC teams.
Last edited:
BluesTraveller
Registered User
Our defense corp has been terrible down this stretch. If they aren't generating offense, we won't score much. They are giving up too many great scoring chances on Miller. Its a perfect **** storm.
Last edited by a moderator:
PitchDoug
Registered User
- Nov 27, 2011
- 1,316
- 8
Boy, this is the wrong place to ask my question. Like the blind leading the blind. Nevertheless, here goes:
What should would be sacrificing to appease the hockey gods? They sure haven't shown much favor our way, ever. Suggestions welcome - I at least want to try
What should would be sacrificing to appease the hockey gods? They sure haven't shown much favor our way, ever. Suggestions welcome - I at least want to try
BluesTraveller
Registered User
ChicagoBlues
Sentient
- Oct 24, 2006
- 14,271
- 5,446
Boy, this is the wrong place to ask my question. Like the blind leading the blind. Nevertheless, here goes:
What should would be sacrificing to appease the hockey gods? They sure haven't shown much favor our way, ever. Suggestions welcome - I at least want to try
May I suggest you never volunteer to be sacrificed?
Brez50
Registered User
Burning sage and the Pope visit brought the Rams a Superbowl Championship
Burning sage?
I've got a pentagram set up out back with a few goats, a couple of virgins, eye of newt, and a 300-year old latin text. Wish me luck! It's gonna be a long night!
(just kidding people...maybe?)
Reality Check
Registered User
- May 28, 2008
- 16,756
- 2,542
TK 421
Barbashev eats babies pass it on
- Sep 12, 2007
- 6,464
- 6,123
Except our injuries have been since day one.
At least the Wings still had time to get guys back.
Thallis
No half measures
BluesTraveller
Registered User
Except our injuries have been since day one.
Which also means that your call-ups have had all season to get comfortable in the NHL, with the team and with the coach's system.
Falco Lombardi
Registered User
Hopefully by that he means they will all be back by game 4 at the latest. I posted a while back that apparently the plan for Tarasenko was to have the cast on for 4 weeks, which would mean it is coming off at some point this week.
Multimoodia
Sicker Than Usual
Vladys Gumption
Colt55
Multimoodia
Sicker Than Usual
I suspect Pietrangelo is injured, possibly shoulder. I'll give my uneducated reasons for this suspicion below:
1) Pietrangelo has never been a particularly physical player, however he has always known how to sort of lean in to the player to be able to strip the puck. That has come to an abrupt end, especially around December where he suddenly went in to "stick check only" mode. At the same time Bouwmeester suddenly started playing more physical than I have seen him since he played on Florida. Anyone who has played contact hockey can tell you that trying to lift and separate using the shoulder hurts like a ******* when it's sore or range of motion is limited.
2) Pietrangelo has never had the hardest shot, however he did usually get it off quickly before traffic had a chance to set up in front of him. Indeed I remember that being one of the biggest differences between him and EJ, Johnson's shot was harder but by the time he set it up the entire defense was between him and the net. Now Pietrangelo is having to settle the puck down and get it "just so" before shooting thus allowing the defense to set up. Additionally while he was never really slap-shot user, I think I can count on both hands the number of times I recall him using it this year. Far below the norm.
3) The holdout in the offseason did him no favors and as such he likely did not get the training in he was supposed to. Thus weaker and more injury prone.
4) He's shielding himself a lot and instead of tangling up players he is instead using positional only defense against them. When I injured my elbow I remember doing this a lot because the pull against it when tangling up sticks hurt like a mother.
I may be completely incorrect of course, but that would be typical.
So why put this post in this thread? Because I do not believe resting Pietrangelo for a game is going to magically repair that shoulder. He is going to need rest and therapy that only comes after the season.
The Petro we have seen is the same one we are going to see in the playoffs. Which means our best defenseman is Bouwmeester, something that he is not usually comfortable with at all.
Yuck
1) Pietrangelo has never been a particularly physical player, however he has always known how to sort of lean in to the player to be able to strip the puck. That has come to an abrupt end, especially around December where he suddenly went in to "stick check only" mode. At the same time Bouwmeester suddenly started playing more physical than I have seen him since he played on Florida. Anyone who has played contact hockey can tell you that trying to lift and separate using the shoulder hurts like a ******* when it's sore or range of motion is limited.
2) Pietrangelo has never had the hardest shot, however he did usually get it off quickly before traffic had a chance to set up in front of him. Indeed I remember that being one of the biggest differences between him and EJ, Johnson's shot was harder but by the time he set it up the entire defense was between him and the net. Now Pietrangelo is having to settle the puck down and get it "just so" before shooting thus allowing the defense to set up. Additionally while he was never really slap-shot user, I think I can count on both hands the number of times I recall him using it this year. Far below the norm.
3) The holdout in the offseason did him no favors and as such he likely did not get the training in he was supposed to. Thus weaker and more injury prone.
4) He's shielding himself a lot and instead of tangling up players he is instead using positional only defense against them. When I injured my elbow I remember doing this a lot because the pull against it when tangling up sticks hurt like a mother.
I may be completely incorrect of course, but that would be typical.
So why put this post in this thread? Because I do not believe resting Pietrangelo for a game is going to magically repair that shoulder. He is going to need rest and therapy that only comes after the season.
The Petro we have seen is the same one we are going to see in the playoffs. Which means our best defenseman is Bouwmeester, something that he is not usually comfortable with at all.
Yuck
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