2023-2024 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[Majorityof1]

I've especially got my eye on Thomas, Blais, and Toropchenko. Thomas because I'm expecting a big season, Blais and Toropchenko because there's a chance they might surprise people and I like watching Blais crunch players.

What are your expectations for Blais? I've long been a fan of his. He paced 24g, 53 points over the last 31 games with us. Can he sustain that? I think that may be a bit high unless we get some injuries that give him PP time. But I'm hoping for 15-20G, and 40-45 points

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Predictions time.....

Tucker is our 2LD by the trade Deadline.

Scandella, Vrana, Kapanen, and Perunovich are all traded at or before the trade deadline.

All of Thomas, Kyrou, and Buchnevich are PPG+ players.

Snuggerud signs a NHL contract and plays a handful of games at the end of the season.

Bolduc and Dean are NHLers by the end of the year.

 

[Frenzy31]

What are your expectations for Blais? I've long been a fan of his. He paced 24g, 53 points over the last 31 games with us. Can he sustain that? I think that may be a bit high unless we get some injuries that give him PP time. But I'm hoping for 15-20G, and 40-45 points

I think he can replace Barbs production. 15-20 goal, 40 points. A lot will depend on where he is playing. Is he top 9 or wind up on the 4th line. I think he might be the guy who moves up and down the lineup based on injuries.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I think he can replace Barbs production. 15-20 goal, 40 points. A lot will depend on where he is playing. Is he top 9 or wind up on the 4th line. I think he might be the guy who moves up and down the lineup based on injuries.

i worry that he will be among the injured. seems like his body isn't really equipped for the game he has to play to be effective in nhl.

 

[HighNote]

What are your expectations for Blais? I've long been a fan of his. He paced 24g, 53 points over the last 31 games with us. Can he sustain that? I think that may be a bit high unless we get some injuries that give him PP time. But I'm hoping for 15-20G, and 40-45 points

Yeah, I think those are reasonable numbers, I think he can hit 20 goals 30 assists if he stays healthy. He has solid offensive skills and if he finds a linemate that he has chemistry with, he could provide some solid depth scoring. I love his physicality too.

 

[Spektre]

I don’t like the lines

Buchnevich Thomas Vrana
Saad Hayes Kyrou
Blais Schenn Kapanen

That’s my top 9

 

[Reality Czech]

I don’t like the lines

Buchnevich Thomas Vrana
Saad Hayes Kyrou
Blais Schenn Kapanen

That’s my top 9

Switch Hayes and Schenn and I agree with you. I've always felt Schenn and Kyrou play well together. Not a fan of putting our top 3 forwards all on the same line.

Kyrou is really starting to piss me off with him losing the puck off his stick in key moments of the game. Rarely see that happen to other players, but Kyrou does it every game it seems.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Such a click baity piece of trash "journalist", in case anyone needed any reminder. Thought to myself, I wonder what LeBrun is speculating on related to the Blues. In case you had the same thought, the answer to that would be absolutely nothing. The #stlblues hashtag here is just pure click-bait.

 

[Brian39]

4 days off between games 2 and 3 sucks for us fans, but I like it from a goalie management standpoint (while still trying to bank points early in the season to start off on the right foot).

Binner will play Thursday and Saturday and should be playing rested for both. We should give him the following Tuesday in Winnipeg as well since he'll get 2 nights off. Split the B2B however you'd like (I'd go Hofer in game 1 to give Binner another 2 nights off) and suddenly you've played your #1 guy in 6 of your first 7 games while keeping him well rested through the month of October. We have another 3 nights off before playing Colorado on national TV Wednesday 11/1 (an obvious Binner start). Then 1 night off before a Fri/Sat home B2B where you obviously give Hofer another start.

Assuming that is the rotation, it gives us Binner in 8 of our first 10 games of the season without ever playing him more than twice in a week. He'd be playing on 2+ nights of rest for 4 of those 8 starts no matter what (and potentially playing on 2+ nights rest in up to 6 of his 8 starts depending on how you split up the B2Bs). The absolute-most-taxing stretch would be 4 starts in 8 nights, but that would be book-ended by 4 nights off and 5 nights off. That's not a remotely bad 'busiest stretch of the month' type of schedule.

I very much want the Blues to limit his workload and prioritize resting him this year, but the first 10 games of the season lets them play him a bunch without taxing his body. After game #10, we have 2 days off before a stretch where we play 10 games in 20 days. That includes Arizona (x2), San Jose, Chicago, Anaheim, and Nashville. I'd like to see Hofer get 4 of those games (and potentially 5 if his play earns it). That would get us a few days past Thanksgiving with the starts split 13-7 or 14-6 with Binner not yet having played a super taxing stretch of games and Hofer mostly playing against weak teams.

The schedule is set pretty nicely to keep Binner fresh, put Hofer out there in good situations, and to still get a high percentage of starts with your #1 in net while we figure out what this team is.

 

[Xerloris]

4 days off between games 2 and 3 sucks for us fans, but I like it from a goalie management standpoint (while still trying to bank points early in the season to start off on the right foot).

Binner will play Thursday and Saturday and should be playing rested for both. We should give him the following Tuesday in Winnipeg as well since he'll get 2 nights off. Split the B2B however you'd like (I'd go Hofer in game 1 to give Binner another 2 nights off) and suddenly you've played your #1 guy in 6 of your first 7 games while keeping him well rested through the month of October. We have another 3 nights off before playing Colorado on national TV Wednesday 11/1 (an obvious Binner start). Then 1 night off before a Fri/Sat home B2B where you obviously give Hofer another start.

Assuming that is the rotation, it gives us Binner in 8 of our first 10 games of the season without ever playing him more than twice in a week. He'd be playing on 2+ nights of rest for 4 of those 8 starts no matter what (and potentially playing on 2+ nights rest in up to 6 of his 8 starts depending on how you split up the B2Bs). The absolute-most-taxing stretch would be 4 starts in 8 nights, but that would be book-ended by 4 nights off and 5 nights off. That's not a remotely bad 'busiest stretch of the month' type of schedule.

I very much want the Blues to limit his workload and prioritize resting him this year, but the first 10 games of the season lets them play him a bunch without taxing his body. After game #10, we have 2 days off before a stretch where we play 10 games in 20 days. That includes Arizona (x2), San Jose, Chicago, Anaheim, and Nashville. I'd like to see Hofer get 4 of those games (and potentially 5 if his play earns it). That would get us a few days past Thanksgiving with the starts split 13-7 or 14-6 with Binner not yet having played a super taxing stretch of games and Hofer mostly playing against weak teams.

The schedule is set pretty nicely to keep Binner fresh, put Hofer out there in good situations, and to still get a high percentage of starts with your #1 in net while we figure out what this team is.

Pretty smart plan but I doubt Berube thinks goalies need rest. He comes from an Era where they would play 70+ a season.

 

[bleedblue1223]

The issue is that we've rarely had a good starter and good backup at the same time, and the mentality when we hit a rough patch, is to push through with talent, as opposed to playing the freshest guy, regardless of talent/results.

For Binner, I think it's less managing his load, but being able to give him the mental break when he needs it. In 19/20, Allen provided a good backup for him, but Greiss and year 1 of Husso were bad, so Binner had to push through when he was struggling, as opposed to Berube being able to lean on the backup.

In an ideal world, Hofer excels, and our starter gets ~50-55 starts. To be successful, we need both Binner and Hofer to perform.

 

[Celtic Note]

4 days off between games 2 and 3 sucks for us fans, but I like it from a goalie management standpoint (while still trying to bank points early in the season to start off on the right foot).

Binner will play Thursday and Saturday and should be playing rested for both. We should give him the following Tuesday in Winnipeg as well since he'll get 2 nights off. Split the B2B however you'd like (I'd go Hofer in game 1 to give Binner another 2 nights off) and suddenly you've played your #1 guy in 6 of your first 7 games while keeping him well rested through the month of October. We have another 3 nights off before playing Colorado on national TV Wednesday 11/1 (an obvious Binner start). Then 1 night off before a Fri/Sat home B2B where you obviously give Hofer another start.

Assuming that is the rotation, it gives us Binner in 8 of our first 10 games of the season without ever playing him more than twice in a week. He'd be playing on 2+ nights of rest for 4 of those 8 starts no matter what (and potentially playing on 2+ nights rest in up to 6 of his 8 starts depending on how you split up the B2Bs). The absolute-most-taxing stretch would be 4 starts in 8 nights, but that would be book-ended by 4 nights off and 5 nights off. That's not a remotely bad 'busiest stretch of the month' type of schedule.

I very much want the Blues to limit his workload and prioritize resting him this year, but the first 10 games of the season lets them play him a bunch without taxing his body. After game #10, we have 2 days off before a stretch where we play 10 games in 20 days. That includes Arizona (x2), San Jose, Chicago, Anaheim, and Nashville. I'd like to see Hofer get 4 of those games (and potentially 5 if his play earns it). That would get us a few days past Thanksgiving with the starts split 13-7 or 14-6 with Binner not yet having played a super taxing stretch of games and Hofer mostly playing against weak teams.

The schedule is set pretty nicely to keep Binner fresh, put Hofer out there in good situations, and to still get a high percentage of starts with your #1 in net while we figure out what this team is.

I appreciate the thought and if we were looking to compete then I would be onboard, but I would rather give Hofer more starts to help his development.

 

[taylord22]

 

[Brian39]

I appreciate the thought and if we were looking to compete then I would be onboard, but I would rather give Hofer more starts to help his development.

To be clear, going to Binner 13-14 times in the first 20 games doesn't mean that I don't want Hofer on track for 30ish starts throughout the year. The schedule quickly gets busy and provides plenty of chances for Hofer to play every week with some 2 game weeks sprinkled in.

Game 20 on Sunday 11/26 kicks off back to back weeks where we play 4 games each: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. I want Hofer playing 3 or 4 of these games, which would get him up to get to 8-10 starts through our first 27 games. That's right where I want him (hopefully at 9 or 10 starts because his play earns it).

I just can't see him getting into more than 2 games in these first 10. Binner should have played the season opener and the home opener. And with 4 days off, Binner should be in net for the next 2 games. Binner's play in the first 2 games earned the next start after a 4 day rest and then we have the Pens at home on a Saturday. Play your starter. Then we have 2 more days off before playing 3 games in 4 days in Canada as our only games in a 10 day window. Your starter should get 2 of those 3 games. Binner is still the #1 guy here and shouldn't be playing just 1 game in a 10 day stretch to get a rookie into the net twice. October is simply set up in a way that your starter absolutely should get 6 of the first 7 unless he plays awful. Then we have 13 games in 26 days to start November. Unless Binner is playing terribly, Hofer shouldn't be in line for more than 5 or 6 of those games. Again, Binner is the #1 and shouldn't be falling under 50% of the start share for a multi-week period unless his play merits the bench.

I don't really think it helps Hofer's development to hand him a tandem role in his rookie year unless/until his play demands it. He can be patient in October while the entire team is playing too few games. He should get a game in our B2B next week. Then November is set up to get him 5-6 games in a 4 week window against mostly bad teams. Here are his 5 likely opponents in that 13 game stretch in November: Montreal, Arizona, @ San Jose, @ Anaheim, and @ Chicago. If you don't want Binner in net for both the Wednesday/Friday around Thanksgiving then Hofer would either get another game against Arizona or a game against Nashville. That is a perfect stretch to let a guy settle in to a groove starting 35-40% of the team's games for a 4 week period.

I don't think we would be helping his development by starting him in games he hasn't earned at the expense of Binner getting the 2 games a week you want your starter to play. Put him in position to succeed and make him earn one of those games around Thanksgiving. Conversely, Binner should be the guy (on a 50-55 start pace) unless/until his play opens the door for Hofer.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

We’re cup bound now

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Went ahead and doubled down on my futures bet. Going to be nice to hoist the Cup again this season.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

 

[oPlaiD]

Days without generating a random meaningless narrative: 0

 

[BlueOil]

Such a click baity piece of trash "journalist", in case anyone needed any reminder. Thought to myself, I wonder what LeBrun is speculating on related to the Blues. In case you had the same thought, the answer to that would be absolutely nothing. The #stlblues hashtag here is just pure click-bait.

JR is apparently the new Adrian Dater, a team reporter that no one should take seriously

 

[joe galiba]

I have the scoop
Schenn and Kyrou were next to each other waiting their turn in a drill and they started talking about Christmas movies
Schenn said Christmas Vacation was the best one ever, Kyrou said it was A Christmas Story and things got a little heated, at least, until Bortz yelled over no dumbasses- it is Die Hard
everyone looked at each other and shrugged and went back to the drills

 

[Majorityof1]

JR is apparently the new Adrian Dater, a team reporter that no one should take seriously

Do we know this was nothing? Just because they were seen being friendly later doesn't mean there wasn't a legit spat earlier. I hate modern reporting where you report through twitter in 140 characters without getting the full story. But that is modern day journalism. Don't hate the player, hate the game. That still doesn't mean the original incident wasn't worth reporting. I am curious if anyone else will report on this or if something may come of this down the line.

 

[oPlaiD]

Do we know this was nothing? Just because they were seen being friendly later doesn't mean there wasn't a legit spat earlier. I hate modern reporting where you report through twitter in 140 characters without getting the full story. But that is modern day journalism. Don't hate the player, hate the game. That still doesn't mean the original incident wasn't worth reporting. I am curious if anyone else will report on this or if something may come of this down the line.

So far the only thing we know is what Berube said after the practice, per JR:





Even given Berube wouldn't tell us if there was something more to it, this really makes it sound like the "scrum" was just typical of a hard practice. Anyone who has played a contact sport has taken a hit or tackle in practice a bit harder than they think they should and it's not surprising when that leads to things getting heated.

The only reason we're hearing about it is because it's Kyrou, but I think it's telling that the part about why that's more relevant than if it was say Schenn and Saad was left out.

If I was JR I'd use this as flavor in maybe two different articles, one about Schenn asserting himself as captain and another about Kyrou trying to become a more complete player in the first year of his new contract. I wouldn't be surprised if that still happens, but I can't feel a bit cynical about a tweet like this since it really just feels like stirring the pot for drama's sake.

I should cut JR a little slack, though, because one of the reasons I don't work as a journalist anymore is I hated how inextricably tied it became to social media. As you said, don't hate the player. I certainly hate the game.

 

[BlueDream]

I have the scoop
Schenn and Kyrou were next to each other waiting their turn in a drill and they started talking about Christmas movies
Schenn said Christmas Vacation was the best one ever, Kyrou said it was A Christmas Story and things got a little heated, at least, until Bortz yelled over no dumbasses- it is Die Hard
everyone looked at each other and shrugged and went back to the drills

The fact that nobody said the real winner, which is Elf, shows why we missed the playoffs last season.

 

[TheOrganist]

I like the competitiveness we’re observing. We had a bunch of important players who had one foot out the door by December of last yr and you know that impacted the locker room. Blues will be hamstrung by their defensive core for at least two seasons so my expectations are low but I will certainly be more engaged as a fan during this franchise lull if we have a well coached team that brings the hard hat every night.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Manufactured drama to boost interest while we wait over a ridiculous break in the early season schedule.

Modern journalism and professional sports ... just forms of entertainment to occupy our time.