The St. Louis Blues...look bad

[Pizza!Pizza!]

If only this kid can get healthy. He's a player, but right now he is just injury prone. Since I like him, since his draft year, alot. This is always frustrating reading he is hurt yet again.

Yea, its sad what happened to him. His career is basically over. Shame he never really got a chance, whereas some goons who shall not be named had long careers and won cups with Pittsburgh.

 

[3074326]

Yea, its sad what happened to him. His career is basically over. Shame he never really got a chance, whereas some goons who shall not be named had long careers and won cups with Pittsburgh.

You talking about Matt Cooke? He won 1 cup in Pittsburgh. Also hasn't played for the Pens in 6 years. Probably time to move on.

 

[Dbrownss]

Yea and look at what a boon Robby Fabbri has been to their offense. Totally compensates for a lack of goaltending.

You mean one of the reasons they made it to the WCF? Him getting his knee wrecked does not take away from the impact he had or the potential he had/has. We'd get to watch Fabbri tear it up somewhere else.

 

[EurlichBachman]

I won't write a novel, but the Blues had a 3-year window where they were cup competitors - this opened around 2011. Armstrong was somehow able to extend that window to 5 years by some shrewd (**** lucky) trades and free agent signings. The Blues' problem was that they hired one of if not the worst possible coach for a young team trying to win a championship - Ken Hitchcock. The day his hiring was announced I predicted exactly what was going to happen over the next 3 (later 5) years.

Ken Hitchcock is not a terrible coach, he has the ability to elevate a team - but only if its the right team, and only in the regular season. "Right Team" being defined as stocked deep with future HOF veterans. He cannot coach young talent, and he cannot coach playoff hockey in the modern era. He has been irrelevant (and his postseason records prove as much) since the salary cap prevent teams from buying a cup. The only coach in the league with a worse playoff record than him was Todd Mclellan.

Hitch's defensive-minded technical execution is great for awhile, but it burns out players and it prevents offensive stars from shining (or developing) and most importantly it meant no team that he's coached since 2001 was able to elevate its play during the postseason. Grind all year, win division, be burned out, round 1 elimination - 6 games max.

The Blues compounded this boneheaded hiring by extending that senile old man, twice. Then hiring the 3rd worst coach in the NHL as his replacement (the guy that got the Mild into the postseason by getting fired). Now here they are. Their core crumbled, their window closed and they have the 3rd worst coach in the league and possibly the worst starting goaltender. Jay Bouwmeester was old 2 years ago and now he's eating up the most minutes on the team that was once touted for its great defence. They're literally the Red Wings post-Lidstrom retirement but with a much much much weaker core and no winning tradition.

This team has been in a 'rebuild' for 2 years and the GM is totally UNAWARE OF THAT FACT. Case in point - watch this video on Armstrong calling Ryan O'Reilly after the trade this summer:



Management is completely out of touch with reality and the best player on the team is a 20goals/60points center and the top goal scorer is one dimensional and lazy. (Seriously, watch Tarasenko closely during games, not just his goal highlights. He sucks. If the GM wasn't a ******, he would trade him for a king's ransom before the rest of the league finds out what garbage he is.)

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What did you predict would happen? They wouldn't win the cup? That is an awfully lofty prediction.... They are obviously a frustrating team to watch sometimes, but lets not act like they were always just scraping by barely competitive.

Hitchcock ended up taking them to the 2nd round his first year in STL, losing to the Kings who ran a train through the playoffs, the next 3 years they played the Kings and Hawks who at the time were the class of the league, alternating who won the cup between them (with the exception being when they played the Wild and and absolutely choked... In 2016 they go to the conference finals and the following year make it to the second round. Not winning the cup doesn't mean the whole season was a complete failure. The last 2 years were a transition from the Backes era.

However, this team has absolutely nothing to do with past seasons. Bozak, Maroon, Thomas, Kyrou, Perron, O'Reilly are all new additions. Thats half the forward group being replaced in one off season. The pieces are in place up front and on defense. Goaltending is suspect at best. They'll turn it around at some point. Just hopefully it isn't too late when they do.

Also... saying Tarasenko sucks is possibly the hottest take I've ever seen.

 

[MoPucks]

See the sad thing is, the Ryan Miller trade was a great move that failed for 3 reasons.

1. Too late in the season - bringing a lifelong Eastern Conference goalie to the West at the deadline meant there was no time for him to adjust before the playoffs. Years later look how well he's playing for Anaheim. If the Blues had made that deal around mid February, I think it would have worked out better.

2. The Blues are/were a terrible overrated team. They stagnated, as all teams did under Hitchcock, in the postseason. I was at some of those games. I watched them rollover and leave Miller out to dry. They spent those games penned in their own zone and gave him no offensive support. They would have needed prime-aged Hasek to get past the 1st round that year.

3. STL fans/media are as stupid as the management. They blamed everything on Miller when even the GM said that he was at best a "5-10%" improvement over Halak. Yet the fans/media acted like he was supposed to get a shutout every game, and rode him when he didn't. So instead of resigning him and keeping a great goalie in town for an extra couple years where he'd be able to adjust to the Western Conference play style, they lost him for nothing and now have Joke Allen in net while Miller is the best backup in the league and helping the Ducks (who on paper should be a bubble team at best) stay #1 in the Western Conference. (Seriously, Gibson and Miller are ****ing magicians last year/this year.) I know its still early, and they'll come down, but its hard to see them miss the playoffs whereas unless the Blues can pull off a mid season trade for Bobrovsky (hah!) it's hard to see them making the postseason.

This is a garbage take.

1. Adjust to what exactly? Do they shoot pucks differently in the west than they do in the east?

2. One goalie stopped 166 of 185 shots for a .897% save percent. The other stopped 201 of 215 shots for a .934% save percentages. Miller got outplayed by Crawford, just like Quick outplayed Elliot the two prior playoff series in '12 and '13. The Blues absolutely played well enough to win in those series if they had better goal-tending.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

I haven’t paid them any attention, so this could be totally wrong. But I’m just assuming the problem is Jake Allen.

Yes and no. He’s good for at least 1-2 weak goals a game, but the defense has been brutal as well. Plus Yeo.

 

[BrettHullsToe]

The curse of the "off-season champion" - they are destined to miss the playoffs.

I'm just glad it wasn't Dallas this year...

 

[tucker3434]

Yes and no. He’s good for at least 1-2 weak goals a game, but the defense has been brutal as well. Plus Yeo.

With teams averaging roughly 3 goals per game, 1-2 weak ones can be an insurmountable obstacle by itself.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Yea, its sad what happened to him. His career is basically over. Shame he never really got a chance, whereas some goons who shall not be named had long careers and won cups with Pittsburgh.

Robby's career is hardly over.

 

[BrokenFace]

This is a garbage take.

1. Adjust to what exactly? Do they shoot pucks differently in the west than they do in the east?

2. One goalie stopped 166 of 185 shots for a .897% save percent. The other stopped 201 of 215 shots for a .934% save percentages. Miller got outplayed by Crawford, just like Quick outplayed Elliot the two prior playoff series in '12 and '13. The Blues absolutely played well enough to win in those series if they had better goal-tending.

Goal tending was never the problem against the Kings. In 2012 the Kings were better in every way, not just goal tending. In 2013 Elliot had a GAA average under 2. The offense was the problem in 2013

 

[Rebels57]

The are Flyers West.

Loaded at forward, but have awful goaltending and coaching.

 

[sufferer]

How do so many teams manage to have terribly inept coaching?

 

[Legionnaire11]

Did anyone else mention Yeo yet?

Seriously though, what did anyone expect from him in St. Louis after watching what he did in Minnesota? As a Preds fan, I'm happy with it, but I'd be ripping my hair out if I were a Blues fan.

 

[TK 421]

Did anyone else mention Yeo yet?

Seriously though, what did anyone expect from him in St. Louis after watching what he did in Minnesota? As a Preds fan, I'm happy with it, but I'd be ripping my hair out if I were a Blues fan.

Pretty much this. Sure Allen sucks and there have been a few players underperforming but Yeo is the single biggest reason this team looks like **** right now. The players are clearly having problems executing what he wants and the staff has confirmed it's using a man to man coverage in the defensive zone which is just stupid.

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

This is a garbage take.

1. Adjust to what exactly? Do they shoot pucks differently in the west than they do in the east?

2. One goalie stopped 166 of 185 shots for a .897% save percent. The other stopped 201 of 215 shots for a .934% save percentages. Miller got outplayed by Crawford, just like Quick outplayed Elliot the two prior playoff series in '12 and '13. The Blues absolutely played well enough to win in those series if they had better goal-tending.

1. The west is (or at least was) a little more run and gun and the east had a lot more set plays. requires a bit of a mental adjustment because how you stay centered/play pucks is a bit different because of the change in tempo.

2. you're just looking at numbers. try watching / attending the actual games. Hawks ran roughshod over the Blues that series. Generated more pressure and better quality chances.

Robby's career is hardly over.

I hope not, but if he keeps getting hurt and missing such big chunks it is hard to see him ever making it in the NHL.

 

[Thallis]

Pretty sure many Blues fans were hesitant if they had made too many changes but meh, what do I know

The 'look forward' is the next 76~ games

Las Vegas had 25 new players last year and made the cup final. Too many changes is not the issue.

 

[MoPucks]

Goal tending was never the problem against the Kings. In 2012 the Kings were better in every way, not just goal tending. In 2013 Elliot had a GAA average under 2. The offense was the problem in 2013

In 2012 the Kings were a buzz saw. But you can’t honestly say that if you switch goalies in 2013 that the outcome is the same. The Penner goal at the end of the second period cannot happen in an elimination game. Quick outplayed Elliot badly.

 

[mw2noobbuster]

Fire Yeo and we're good.

 

[MoPucks]

1. The west is (or at least was) a little more run and gun and the east had a lot more set plays. requires a bit of a mental adjustment because how you stay centered/play pucks is a bit different because of the change in tempo.

2. you're just looking at numbers. try watching / attending the actual games. Hawks ran roughshod over the Blues that series. Generated more pressure and better quality chances.


I hope not, but if he keeps getting hurt and missing such big chunks it is hard to see him ever making it in the NHL.

I watched the games as well and I saw some brutal goaltending. Regardless, that series was over when Seabrook ended Backes productive portion of his career. Miller did nothing to help their chances. He stunk and couldn’t wait to get out of there.

 

[Dbrownss]

1. The west is (or at least was) a little more run and gun and the east had a lot more set plays. requires a bit of a mental adjustment because how you stay centered/play pucks is a bit different because of the change in tempo.

2. you're just looking at numbers. try watching / attending the actual games. Hawks ran roughshod over the Blues that series. Generated more pressure and better quality chances.


I hope not, but if he keeps getting hurt and missing such big chunks it is hard to see him ever making it in the NHL.

Fabbri is having muscle issues with getting back in game shape for what thats worth. We've been told the knee is good to go just a few muscles need more time. He said he has a date circled for his return so we will see.

 

[Critical13]

I still think they need a true franchise C to take the next step.

Playing against my boys in blue should be a pill for whatever ails their offence though. I’m expecting thence to drop 5 or 6 on us.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

I still think they need a true franchise C to take the next step.

Playing against my boys in blue should be a pill for whatever ails their offence though. I’m expecting thence to drop 5 or 6 on us.

Lol and on the flipside?

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

Also... saying Tarasenko sucks is possibly the hottest take I've ever seen.

Go to a Blues game and just watch him everytime he gets on the ice. He's a one dimensional player and loves to coast and take shifts off. He doesn't show up for big games and only seems to turn on the skill when the team is playing well/already winning. Saying he "sucks" is just an easy way to condense my criticisms, but obviously he does have talent and can skate and shoot the puck - at least when he feels like it. He's basically Phil Kessel except he has Kessel's off ice work ethic on the ice and vice versa.

Also, yes the Kings and Hawks were great teams then, but that doesn't change the fact that the Blues had the same formula every year under Hitchcock where they would overperform in the regular season and then be burned out for the playoffs. They not only lost to better teams but they looked like they didn't belong in the same league - which should not be the case when you finished ahead of those same teams in the standings. Hell the conference finals year was probably the worst. Watching them actually give a f*** and play 110% playoff hockey and leave blood/sweat/tears on the ice just to scrape out 2 close game 7 victories only to then be gassed and roll over to get defiled by a Sharks team that in turn embarrassed themselves against Pittsburgh. Could you imagine if somehow the Sharks had choked? The Blues would have lost all 4 games 10-0.

The way the Blues always seem to build their franchise, regardless of ownership / management, always seems to lead to the same trainwreck. Good team but horrible coach, great coach but horrible team. They can never get on the same page. Their best chances to win a cup were in the 80s/early 90s but those windows were squandered by financial woes and later poor GM decisions.

My biggest issue with the Blues is that they should not be as bad as they are. If you took a fantasy all-time Blues roster it would be so stacked and deep it would rival any of the original 6 all-time lineups, the same cannot be said about the other perennial losers - Vancouver and Buffalo - yet both of those teams have come much closer to actually winning a championship.

The way history keeps repeating itself, I do not think the Blues will ever win a Cup unless they can get lucky with another Roman Turek fluke year except without the mental breakdown in the Conference Final.

 

[izzy]

issues

Bouwmeester plays too much
Team is mentally weak
Players dont get rewarded for good play (kyrou)
Tarasenko is lazy and is basically a wrist shot turret
Parayko has not improved at all, team was banking on him being elite
Steen is junk 60% of the time
Yeo sucks and doesnt have control of the room

JAKE ALLEN IS THE WORST GOALIE IN THE NHL

 

[57special]

Put me down as someone who isn't counting the Blues out. They simply have too much talent, and always end up being a competent team. Yeo isn't Scotty Bowman, and he has his quirks, but he's a decent coach. It's early...the Bues will figure it out and get the new players blended into the system.

The only problem that might linger is the goalie situation. Once a team loses faith in a goalie, it affects everything. MN pre- Dubnyk was playing Kuemper, a broken down Backstrom, a MS ridden Harding, and Bryzgalov( who was ok , actually). Never knew what you were going to get in the net from game to game. Really messed up the team.

So, the solution is clear. Get another Dubnyk! Only costs a 3rd rounder!