Half-Assed GDT: Theres a game today

[elkranio]

10 months till october. This offseason sure is long.

 

[Bluenatic]

Do you guys think the players are embarrassed about the results this season? I cannot recall any interviews and heard anyone say so. I think it would be refreshing to hear personally

 

[Have]

That was a real depressing period of hockey. The Canucks are as bad as I expected.

Blues...Are they a team?
- I saw only individuals, playing one at a time. When they got puck possession, it seemed everyone froze and just waited what the guy with the puck was gonna do. How can you pass to your linemate when he's hanging out on the other side of the rink?
- Zero support.
- Opening passes...I've seen similar on the third highest level in Finland. And after the opening pass the D-men stop playing - where's the support for the offence?
- Neutral zone passes were insanely bad, every rush ended to a give-away on the neutral zone or to a dump-in (to which rarely anyone was going for).
- Transition was bad, defending rushes was bad.

Positive: defensive zone defense worked well when the Nucks got long attacks. They didn't lose their men. (this might be simply because the Canucks are bad but I wanted to find something positive)
Johnson hasn't let in any goals.
Kyrou and Thomas had one good shift each.

 

[WeWantTacos]

The main tv in the arena's Biergarten had a football game on. lmaoooo

 

[Dbrownss]

Zero f***ing forcheck

 

[Bluenatic]

Sunny shoot that!

 

[Lord Helix]

Sunny can't make a 3 foot pass when he should be shooting it.

 

[EastonBlues22]

The thing about team sports is that a well-coached team is almost always going to look better than the sum of their parts, and a poorly coached one almost always looks like a bunch of individuals who are under-performing.

Can we say with any confidence that the Blues have been a well-coached team at any point this season?

Personally, I don't think they have been, and I expect to see more of the same from the Blues until a good coach has some time to work with them.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

That was a sick little move by Thomas there

 

[Dbrownss]

One day Maroon wont be on this team

 

[Lord Helix]

Thomas...The puck has a much better chance of going in if you don't pass it to Maroon.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Purely coincidental that it is Chet, but still, it is what I thought of.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Filthy move by Thomas there.

 

[Robb_K]

I don't understand The Blues, at all. They play listlessly all early season, getting their coach fired, putting themselves in a desperate situation regarding the playoffs. Then, they get a coach who stresses hard-checking, gritty play. They finally put together a whole game playing that way, have their best game this season, a 1-0 shutout. Then, basking in the glory of that game, they come out lazy and flat in their next game. It makes no sense. Now, knowing that the only way they can compete is to play hard and gritty, and to stress defence, they go back to their bad habits. They have a very fragile mental state, that breeds a false confidence. When they play a good game and win, the next game, they feel that they have "made it all the way back to "a good groove", and they "think that all they have to do is step out onto the ice, and they will play well. They forget to play hard like the last game. They have an average NHL roster talent level, but a lousy mix of mental makeup (work ethic, ego, realistic/unrealistic confidence, motivation, leadership). It's VERY frustrating for fans. MOST of The Blues players could, individually, go to other teams and play very well. But as a team, under this coaching, they don't play as a team.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Blues attempting the play hockey the game after win.

 

[Lord Helix]

How about we try not to make passing decisions within 5 feet of the blueline?

 

[Bluenatic]

Thomas looking great. Sanford not so much

 

[Vladys Gumption]

More of that kind of play Thomas.

 

[Ranksu]

I don't understand The Blues, at all. They play listlessly all early season, getting their coach fired, putting themselves in a desperate situation regarding the playoffs. Then, they get a coach who stresses hard-checking, gritty play. They finally put together a whole game playing that way, have their best game this season, a 1-0 shutout. Then, basking in the glory of that game, they come out lazy and flat in their next game. It makes no sense. Now, knowing that the only way they can compete is to play hard and gritty, and to stress defence, they go back to their bad habits. They have a very fragile mental state, that breeds a false confidence. When they play a good game and win, the next game, they feel that they have "made it all the way back to "a good groove", and they "think that all they have to do is step out onto the ice, and they will play well. They forget to play hard like the last game. They have an average NHL roster talent level, but a lousy mix of mental makeup (work ethic, ego, realistic/unrealistic confidence, motivation, leadership). It's VERY frustrating for fans. MOST of The Blues players could, individually, go to other teams and play very well. But as a team, under this coaching, they don't play as a team.

There has to be some reflects on that what their veteran players do and show example.

Only balls what I've seen its from guy like Dunn, Thomas and Nolan.

 

[Lord Helix]

No shot on goal? Sweeeeeet...

 

[EastonBlues22]

I don't understand The Blues, at all. They play listlessly all early season, getting their coach fired, putting themselves in a desperate situation regarding the playoffs. Then, they get a coach who stresses hard-checking, gritty play. They finally put together a whole game playing that way, have their best game this season, a 1-0 shutout. Then, basking in the glory of that game, they come out lazy and flat in their next game. It makes no sense. Now, knowing that the only way they can compete is to play hard and gritty, and to stress defence, they go back to their bad habits. They have a very fragile mental state, that breeds a false confidence. When they play a good game and win, the next game, they feel that they have "made it all the way back to "a good groove", and they "think that all they have to do is step out onto the ice, and they will play well. They forget to play hard like the last game. They have an average NHL roster talent level, but a lousy mix of mental makeup (work ethic, ego, realistic/unrealistic confidence, motivation, leadership). It's VERY frustrating for fans. MOST of The Blues players could, individually, go to other teams and play very well. But as a team, under this coaching, they don't play as a team.

The Blues easily could have lost that Winnipeg game given the number of posts Winnipeg hit. It looked like a great defensive effort because of the final score, but a lot of that was Allen standing on his head and luck.

This game, the Blues defensive play wasn't nearly as bad as the score would suggest. The first goal was a fluke, and Allen probably wishes he had one (if not both) of the other two goals back. I would have expected both to be saved far more often than not, honestly, just from watching the play develop. If we had last game's Allen in net instead of this game's Allen, it's 1-0 at worst off a fluke goal. If anything, I think this should be an indication of just how much a goalie's play can affect the perception of how the defense in front of him is playing.

The common theme between the two games for the skaters is that the offense is struggling big time to generate anything meaningful...and that's been a theme for awhile, now.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

 

[elkranio]

kek

 

[ScratchCatFever]

Good Grief

 

[Bluenatic]

Blues playing well, getting looks. Nothing. Vancouver first decent look. In the net.