What is going on with the Blues?

[txpd]

Stanley Cup hang over is a real thing. They get tired

 

[TheGoldenGod]

Stanley Cup hang over is a real thing. They get tired

 

[voxel]

Injuries.

 

[TheGoldenGod]

What HF sees:

What is going on with the Blues?

What I see:

What is going on with the Chaws?

 

[Note Worthy]

It's a funk for sure but they'll get out of it. A number of the losses they have played well enough to win but didn't get the breaks going their way. Last night for example, they outplayed Nashville pretty heavily but couldn't get more than one past Rinne. It happens.

No Tarasenko pretty much all season and then the JBo incident happened...it's a tough deal. They'll pull out of it.

 

[bdub24]

We've won a Cup. Don't care if we go on an 0-82 tear now.

Neither do any of the other teams' fan bases.

I'm sure Berube will solve this Rubik's cube.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

They should bring up Ville Husso.
He is young, hungry and carries tons of potential, NHL starter potential.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

The defense has been lackluster, at best. From what I've seen they have been giving up too many second and third chances, and also letting shooters get open in great scoring positions. I described it on the Blues board as too many people playing the puck and not a player in their own end.

They played more than well enough to win yesterday. Rinne was hot in net for the Preds, and on the GWG, after playing pretty well in their own end all day, four players went to the boards for a loose puck leaving only Faulk back. That is a symptom of too many people trying to do too much. Faulk is not the guy you want in that position.

Goaltending has not been spectacular, but has been good enough to win some of these games. But, if teams are going to get second and third chances, or have good looks near the net, the save percentage is not going to fall as a result.

They also need to find somebody who can fill JayBo's shoes, which will not be easy.

 

[sr edler]

Didn't one of their best and most solid D-men almost die on the bench just recently? Hockey teams are people and stuff like that can affect anyone.

 

[Note Worthy]

Didn't one of their best and most solid D-men almost die on the bench just recently? Hockey teams are people and stuff like that can affect anyone.

It's clearly affecting the team emotionally which is to be expected. I don't think it will linger but there's no doubt in the games following the incident that the team was out of sync.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

It's clearly affecting the team emotionally which is to be expected. I don't think it will linger but there's no doubt in the games following the incident that the team was out of sync.

That is certainly a factor, but they were not playing well before the JayBo incident. That just made it worse.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

"What's happening to X?"

Same thing as every other team that has to play 82 hockey games: they have streaks, ups and downs, etc.

 

[McSpecial DraiBlend]

"What's happening to X?"

Same thing as every other team that has to play 82 hockey games: they have streaks, ups and downs, etc.

Exactly. Blues are a good team. Better to slump now than going into the playoffs.

 

[Dbrownss]

Blues finally hit their rough patch. They're losing 1 goal games while playing some terrible hockey at times.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

Exactly. Blues are a good team. Better to slump now than going into the playoffs.

It's a long season. I mentioned a when this slump started that you probably had to go back to the 76-77 and 77-78 Canadiens to find teams that didn't hit a slump for more than maybe three or four games. And those two were the best two teams in my lifetime.

There isn't anything in my observations that can't be resolved by "settling down," getting back to basics, maybe getting an injured player or two back, and having guys who are banged up but playing be less banged up or have fewer of them in that condition. It is the normal cycle of the season. Now whether they collectively have enough in the tank to be ready for the grind of the playoffs is another question, but one everybody faces.

If their slump is still going on in about three weeks or so, I'll be worried.

 

[GaryU]

That is certainly a factor, but they were not playing well before the JayBo incident. That just made it worse.

This. Blues have been playing lousy for awhile now.

 

[Note Worthy]

That is certainly a factor, but they were not playing well before the JayBo incident. That just made it worse.

This. Blues have been playing lousy for awhile now.

Oh I agree. I don't recall stating that the JBo incident was THE reason for the slump as it clearly started before his incident but only that it has exacerbated it.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

Oh I agree. I don't recall stating that the JBo incident was THE reason for the slump as it clearly started before his incident but only that it has exacerbated it.

Yeah, my comment was not meant at you but as a warning to anyone who does not follow the Blues thinking that was the root cause and everything else was a-ok.

Take a struggling team, particularly in coverage in their own zone, then remove a veteran, disciplined, skilled defender and you have where we are now.

My vast NHL coaching experience (clue, it is best described by a word that rhymes with "hero") tells me that they need to take a breath and get back to the basics of Chief's philosophy. Problem is that is hard to do as the game clock ticks on and things are not clicking.

 

[Retire91]

I wouldn't worry too much its pretty hard to repeat but give the way they rose last season they seem like a team that can overcome adversity.

 

[stl76]

Cannot over estimate the importance of Oskar Sundqvist.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Multitude of things. We aren’t getting the bounces we were for a while. As tacky as that sounds it’s very true. We cannot bury right now, a bit of lackluster defense, and very average goaltending.

Top end players aren’t really producing through this stretch like they were ROR/Perron but instead we are getting good production from the guys who weren’t producing before (except for Faulk).

Can chalk it up to a bad spell, would definitely go ahead and try and sure up the defense for the stretch run though if we want a chance in the playoffs. Losing Jaybo is going to hurt us ALOT more than a lot of people realize. After his slow start last season of looking awful he’s been a steady shutdown guy with Parayko for 22-25 mins a night. We don’t have a replacement for that.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

They got the blues....

 

[BuLLeT1291]

This thread is about 2 weeks to early.

 

[rumrokh]

Lackluster play, but it seems like every time they do play well, they're getting absolute trash luck at both ends of the ice. You can see it wearing on them a bit. Fortunately, though, they continue to work hard. They'll probably even out and the only big question should be health when the playoffs arrive.

 

[BlueDream]

Really starting to miss Tarasenko.

This would have happened with him in the lineup too. Blues fans act like he’s Jesus.