The Single Biggest Reason for the Turnaround

[Stupendous Yappi]

I think this team could get to the mid-90s in points, but it would have meant chasing the pack until the last week or so of the playoffs. We certainly wouldn't be at or even all that near a playoff spot at the moment.

That's exactly what I thought would happen, get in on the last week or so.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Biggest reason for our turnaround? Binnington, hands down.

Biggest reason we're sitting in a playoff spot at the current time? The bottom 2/3rds of the WC being an abject disaster.

 

[trevorftw]

I went with ROR, because without his consistent play early on, we wouldn't be at shouting distance of a playoff spot even with the WC failing miserably. Without that, I don't think a lot of these other pieces fall into place.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

I voted Binnington when I meant to hit Berube.

Not to harp on the guy because from all accounts, he’s a good person, but Mike Yeo just simply isn’t good enough to be a head coach in the NHL. I’m not ready to say Berube is the guy, but he’s a definite upgrade from Yeo.

I also don’t know what it is, but something got fixed in the locker room. I’m not sure if it was the fight between Sanford and Bortuzzo or something else was said that we don’t know about, but something got fixed.

 

[Brockon]

I voted for ROR's 2 way dominance, because as TrevorFTW said, his consistency has been a rock to build on for almost all aspects of our game.

Improved defence benefits from dzone draw wins. Coaching, definitely leans on him in all situations. Binny sees the guys (particularly ROR) out there working for him and plays a collected, steady game in net, rarely overcomitting.

The fact that ROR was giving this same effort when everything was falling apart at the seams around him is a demonstration of pure professionalism - it makes me wonder how he wore out his welcome in past stops if this was the same effort he gave there. I'm glad he's been able to lead us by example to help right the ship.

 

[BlueDream]

It has to be Binnington. We aren’t where we are without getting good goaltending still. Goaltending is huge and it’s one of the main things that killed us early in the season.

 

[Robb_K]

I say it is a combination of 3 roughly equal major factors: (1) Berube installing a defensive system, fixing Yeo's chaotic non-systemic team defence; (2) Binnington's solid play in goal, which instills confidence in his teammates' play, replacing Allen's erratic play, which forced his teammates to play in fear "not to lose"; and (3), the new teammates believing in Berube's system, trying hard to make it work, and finally gelling together. O'Reilly's excelling, and Bouwmeester's returning to health are part of that, but play less of a role than the 3 factors listed above.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

It was a hard choice, but for me, it's Berube for removing the god awful man to man that was employed by Yeo. Binnington is a close second.

 

[Default]

This is like one of those questions on a test where you're like "this is the right answer...wait no this one is... wait..".

I'd say Binnington and Berube are the two big ones, but I voted for everyone meshing together because I feel like that's also a big one and often overlooked. And I just knew it wouldn't be voted for a lot, so I had to give it some love.

 

[Xerloris]

Posts and missed nets are, very often, results of solid positioning. When guys feel they have to be that precise, it's because there isn't anything else to aim at.

Better be careful stating facts about goaltenders around these parts.

 

[Reality Czech]

View attachment 184421

Wow he kind of looks like Jake doesn't he?

As others have said, it's a combination of reasons. Surely the goaltending is important but I just think the team is finally playing to their potential. Maybe it took awhile for guys to get comfortable with so many new players, coaches, roles on the team, etc.

Momentum and the mental game seem so important in pro sports. Sometimes things are going well and winning almost seems easy. Other times it seems like everything is going wrong and we can't buy a win.

Also our star winger is finally starting to play like one. That helps.

 

[ScratchCatFever]

 

[TheDizee]

they stopped being crybabies and going emo everytime something dont go their way. mainly because of Binnington playing good.

 

[Veneficus]

Where's the Barclay option?

 

[mab894]

I think it's the aggressiveness and confidence of the team as a whole. The catalyst was Binnington and once we started winning some games, I think the Blues finally started to believe that they are a really good team and can hang with the best of them.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Confidence
Consistency
Coaching

 

[StLHokie]

Coaching blows everything else out of the water, even goaltending. It was Berube's decision to give Binnington a chance after all. Even before the Blues started getting goaltending, the team was playing lightyears better than what they were doing under Yeo.

 

[GardinerTheForward]

I will address the obvious, yes I am a leaf fan. I’m just wondering if Binnington is for real.

Is he “hot” right now or simply that good - kind of like how Matt Murray came and stole the show.

 

[Colt55]

I think it was a domino effect. Though Berube put the dominos in place bennington was the first domino to fall. Then jaybo and tarasenko healed up started playing well. The young new faces started playing better than we thought. After that everyone bought into Berube system and we have become dominant.

 

[tfriede2]

I will address the obvious, yes I am a leaf fan. I’m just wondering if Binnington is for real.

Is he “hot” right now or simply that good - kind of like how Matt Murray came and stole the show.

We’re all wondering the same. Only time will tell.

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

I have a Blues afghan that I got for Xmas last year. One of my cats peed on it, but its on a couch in a room I don't use so I didn't notice it until yesterday. I'm washing it today, so if the Blues start losing again we'll know how to lift the voodoo curse.