2023-2024 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[Mike Liut]

not in my lifetime.

They’re always good…..














Until the playoffs start

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Weren’t the leafs good?

Missing the playoffs every year but three is good?

 

[Celtic Note]

I don't think anyone is saying it was all the coaches fault. I have been on the "We are bringing on the wrong Defensemen" and "what are we doing with our defensive scheme/fire Van Ryn" trains for awhile. Its the old meme "Is it bad coaching or bad players? Both? Both. Both is good," Except here, as it is two bad things, both is very, very not good.

I hear what you are saying and I agree the masses are not saying it’s one or the other. But I think some are putting way to much faith in the thought that removing van Ryn will make us so much better. Who are we replacing him with? Someone that really doesn’t have much track record.

We also have an aging defensive core. The trend line expectation for guys the age we have is decline. I am not saying all will or that we won’t generally see a rebound from the group with a coaching change but what’s the realistic upside with this group?

Another thing that has to happen to make the D more successful is better defensive play from our forwards. That includes the young guys (to be expected) and our vets (Newley appointed captain very much included).

But the forwards have similar problems as our defense in that we have continually downgraded our defensive capabilities since the Cup and preceding season. This past season, for example, we removed ROR and the center coming in is Hayes. Regardless of ROR’s performance last year (it was pretty bad), we probably cannot expect better from Hayes defensively. We also added Vrana who isn’t exactly a guy with defensive capability. Point being, our personnel and aging trends aren’t supportive of improvement on the defensive front. The one exception may be Hofer or a refocused Binnington, but expecting a lot from Hofer in his first real season isn’t exactly fair to him, even if I totally think he has it in him.

 

[Mike Liut]

There’s no way Ritchie doesn’t make this team and plays a lot. Berube is going to love him since we’ve been so soft the past couple years.

Blais, Sunny, Toro, Ritchie. I see what you’re doing Army

 

[joe galiba]

I think everyone is just a little tense with opening night just 16 days away, so try what I do and go watch Lemieux plant Draper into the boards and think happy thoughts

 

[joe galiba]

not in my lifetime.

can we move these posts about the Leafs to the main board just for fun?

 

[tfriede2]

There’s no way Ritchie doesn’t make this team and plays a lot. Berube is going to love him since we’ve been so soft the past couple years.

Blais, Sunny, Toro, Ritchie. I see what you’re doing Army

It’s Ratcliffe vs Ritchie for a roster spot. I’m not sure yet.

 

[Celtic Note]

They’re averaging 100+ pts over the last 7 years

You guys need to quit being so argumentative over every persons post. This is not a debate forum. Every post doesn’t need to be analyzed and debated. Sometimes, if you don’t agree, just shut your f***ing mouth and move on.

You literally just debated Likens post in the post you said not every post needed to be debated and the rebuttal wasn’t reflective of what Likens was talking about. Seems quite confusing.


Likens was talking about Bozak’s time with the Leafs. You seem to be referencing times where he was both there and not there. In seasons where Bozak was on the Leafs, they only finished over 100 pts once. They made the playoffs only three times during his time there and were more frequently at the bottom or close to the bottom of their division.

 

[Celtic Note]

can we move these posts about the Leafs to the main board just for fun?

I would love to see the reactions, but having been a Mod, it would be pretty mean to put them though all the Mod work that would ensue.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I think everyone is just a little tense with opening night just 16 days away, so try what I do and go watch Lemieux plant Draper into the boards and think happy thoughts

You know what? That DID make me feel better.

 

[HighNote]

It’s Ratcliffe vs Ritchie for a roster spot. I’m not sure yet.

Ratcliffe looked pretty good tonight. Didn't really notice Ritchie except for the fight.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Depending on Kap's injury it could give an opening to Richie

 

[stlbluz]

Binnington was the only reason we had a chance in most games but no, it's all on him.

Could you imagine if we used a defense strategy that played to our weaknesses and strengths? Like maybe box out, gather and control reobunds? Our defense didn't box anyone out. Binnington routinely had no help in front of the or around the crease at all. But no! It's all on Binnington.

Cujo was the last goalie that the Blues had that could get away with so many rebounds. He did it on purpose & was a master at it. He directed rebounds so that he was in position for the secondary shot - he said it made his stats look better. At least he was honest.

Bozak looked good on the Leafs.

 

[TK 421]

"...Torey Kruegger, he can't get you while you're awake Doug but he'll come for you in your dreams and he'll bring his no trade clause with him" #nigthmareondougstreet#

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Abramov, Callin, Dickinson, Heim, Hoelscher, Blakabutuka, Duszak, Gaudet, Osmanski, Skinner, Cranley, and Zherenko sent down. Ritchie and Welinski released from their PTOs.

 

[Celtic Note]

Moving Krug does not seem like it’s going to be easy, especially if his comments on the Blues site are true.

 

[Memento]

Did we already release Ratcliffe?

 

[BlueDream]

Did we already release Ratcliffe?

Don’t think so. He is currently injured and there’s been no details as to how long he’s expected to be out though.

 

[shpongle falls]

Abramov, Callin, Dickinson, Heim, Hoelscher, Blakabutuka, Duszak, Gaudet, Osmanski, Skinner, Cranley, and Zherenko sent down. Ritchie and Welinski released from their PTOs.

Interesting I figured Ritchie would make the team.

 

[LGB]

Good, would have been very stupid to deprive young players of ice time in favor of Ritchie.

 

[HighNote]

I'm a big fan of the identity we have going in our bottom 6. I love that we brought back Blais and Sundqvist, and I'm high on Toropchenko. Throw in Neighbours and Alexandrov, and we've got some gritty depth. In a league that has slowly gotten softer, I find it important to have a bottom 6 that can take advantage of more and more opposing players being allergic to physicality. I like a skilled top 6, and speed is a plus, but gimme that physicality in the bottom 6. Even looking back to our Cup win, you could see that our depth in the bottom half of the lineup was very important to our success. Steen-Sundqvist-Barbashev was a nasty 4th line that would hit everything that moved, and Maroon/Bozak on the 3rd line were no slouches either. Our physicality in the bottom 6 was a big part of our success and I'm glad we're gaining that identity back, even if it's in a year where we aren't expected to contend.

I'd like to see Ratcliffe given a chance as well, at least as a guy that can draw into the 4th line when we want more size. He looked good in the game against the Blue Jackets. Blais also threw a bunch of big hits, he looked like he was playing angry.

Buchnevich - Thomas - Kyrou
Saad - Schenn - Vrana
Neighbours - Hayes - Blais
Ratcliffe - Sundqvist - Toropchenko

Kapanen, Alexandrov

And if you're wondering, the average size of that bottom 6 is 6'4", 211 lb.

 

[Majorityof1]

And if you're wondering, the average size of that bottom 6 is 6'4", 211 lb.

And the average time it takes them to skate up the ice is 6 minutes, 4 seconds. The average number of goals they will give up per minute is 2.11.

Ok that is sarcasm. obviously. I know Toropchenko is fast, and Sunny is good defensively. But the point still stands, if you are picking your lines by size, you are doing it wrong. Size is useful, but only if you have skill as well.

 

[BlueDream]

I'm a big fan of the identity we have going in our bottom 6. I love that we brought back Blais and Sundqvist, and I'm high on Toropchenko. Throw in Neighbours and Alexandrov, and we've got some gritty depth. In a league that has slowly gotten softer, I find it important to have a bottom 6 that can take advantage of more and more opposing players being allergic to physicality. I like a skilled top 6, and speed is a plus, but gimme that physicality in the bottom 6. Even looking back to our Cup win, you could see that our depth in the bottom half of the lineup was very important to our success. Steen-Sundqvist-Barbashev was a nasty 4th line that would hit everything that moved, and Maroon/Bozak on the 3rd line were no slouches either. Our physicality in the bottom 6 was a big part of our success and I'm glad we're gaining that identity back, even if it's in a year where we aren't expected to contend.

I'd like to see Ratcliffe given a chance as well, at least as a guy that can draw into the 4th line when we want more size. He looked good in the game against the Blue Jackets. Blais also threw a bunch of big hits, he looked like he was playing angry.

Buchnevich - Thomas - Kyrou
Saad - Schenn - Vrana
Neighbours - Hayes - Blais
Ratcliffe - Sundqvist - Toropchenko

Kapanen, Alexandrov

And if you're wondering, the average size of that bottom 6 is 6'4", 211 lb.

I mostly agree with this but I still have some questions about who will take that next step. I love that we brought back Blais and Sundqvist too, but due to their style of play, I think we know they will inevitably get hurt at some point. So who else can bring what they do when they’re missing? MacEachern and Walker are depth pieces to fill in for a few games here and there, but they can’t be counted on for much more than that.

We really need Neighbours, Alexandrov and Toro to show improvement and become reliable players. And to be honest, I’m not seeing it so far in preseason as I think they’ve looked largely invisible. Of course we have to take preseason with a grain of salt because it doesn’t mean much and maybe they’ll turn it on when the real games start, but my confidence level in them being better than last season is currently kinda low. We will be in trouble if our young players don’t produce.

Hopefully Ratcliffe can get healthy and get a spot so we can see what he’s made of. It will be interesting to see how the lineup shakes out. Maybe there’s someone off our radar that gets a look too, or a young player in Springfield earns an early callup and doesn’t look back. I don’t know, but one of these things needs to happen to shore up our depth.

 

[HighNote]

And the average time it takes them to skate up the ice is 6 minutes, 4 seconds. The average number of goals they will give up per minute is 2.11.

Ok that is sarcasm. obviously. I know Toropchenko is fast, and Sunny is good defensively. But the point still stands, if you are picking your lines by size, you are doing it wrong. Size is useful, but only if you have skill as well.

I slid Ratcliffe in there for the fun of it, but the rest of those guys are are going to be in the lineup regardless, so I'm not just putting them together because of their size. If we want to have our best 6 forwards in the top 6, then that is simply how the bottom 6 shakes out with who's left (minus Ratcliffe). So those are certainly realistic lines.

And it's not as if all of those guys are just big grinders. Hayes is good for at least 40 points, Blais was on pace for 50 with us last season, Sundqvist is strong defensively as you mentioned, but also a very smart player in general. Toropchenko might surprise this season. Neighbours is the big question mark, it will be interesting to see if he can take that next step. But he has shown flashes of his skill. He's still only 21 after all.

But yeah, Ratcliffe would just be a fun experiment, Kapanen would more than likely be in the lineup.

I mostly agree with this but I still have some questions about who will take that next step. I love that we brought back Blais and Sundqvist too, but due to their style of play, I think we know they will inevitably get hurt at some point. So who else can bring what they do when they’re missing? MacEachern and Walker are depth pieces to fill in for a few games here and there, but they can’t be counted on for much more than that.

We really need Neighbours, Alexandrov and Toro to show improvement and become reliable players. And to be honest, I’m not seeing it so far in preseason as I think they’ve looked largely invisible. Of course we have to take preseason with a grain of salt because it doesn’t mean much and maybe they’ll turn it on when the real games start, but my confidence level in them being better than last season is currently kinda low. We will be in trouble if our young players don’t produce.

Hopefully Ratcliffe can get healthy and get a spot so we can see what he’s made of. It will be interesting to see how the lineup shakes out. Maybe there’s someone off our radar that gets a look too, or a young player in Springfield earns an early callup and doesn’t look back. I don’t know, but one of these things needs to happen to shore up our depth.

Toropchenko is my player to watch.