2023-2024 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[Xerloris]

so maybe it's not just about the points..

That's my point. Kyrou showed no effort last year, we as fans complained about it all season and he was never benched. Vrana shows no effort and is benched, which is fine except that Berube set a precedent last year by showing that your effort don't matter if he likes you. The least he could have done is put vrana on the PP to shoot for us. I mean our PP needs to perform and not be used as a reward for doing what Berube wants. How many games do you think our PP has cost us so far this year?

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

That's my point. Kyrou showed no effort last year, we as fans complained about it all season and he was never benched. Vrana shows no effort and is benched, which is fine except that Berube set a precedent last year by showing that your effort don't matter if he likes you. The least he could have done is put vrana on the PP to shoot for us. I mean our PP needs to perform and not be used as a reward for doing what Berube wants. How many games do you think our PP has cost us so far this year?

or maybe the level of dog in vrana makes kyrou look like patrice bergeron?

 

[Xerloris]

or maybe the level of dog in vrana makes kyrou look like patrice bergeron?

This season sure.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

That's my point. Kyrou showed no effort last year, we as fans complained about it all season and he was never benched. Vrana shows no effort and is benched, which is fine except that Berube set a precedent last year by showing that your effort don't matter if he likes you. The least he could have done is put vrana on the PP to shoot for us. I mean our PP needs to perform and not be used as a reward for doing what Berube wants. How many games do you think our PP has cost us so far this year?

No clue, I'm not going to go tally things to see. [Rhetorical flip question: how many games has our PK won us this year?]

Not that I think the general boards is the be-all for information [see: Gudbranson retaliation thread, et. al.] but you get a sense of what the rest of the league thinks about your team. You don't see anyone - or if there was someone, they're severely outnumbered - saying gosh, the Blues really f***ed Vrana, can't believe they didn't make use of his skill set, what a bunch of dumbasses behind the bench.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

No clue, I'm not going to go tally things to see. [Rhetorical flip question: how many games has our PK won us this year?]

Not that I think the general boards is the be-all for information [see: Gudbranson retaliation thread, et. al.] but you get a sense of what the rest of the league thinks about your team. You don't see anyone - or if there was someone, they're severely outnumbered - saying gosh, the Blues really f***ed Vrana, can't believe they didn't make use of his skill set, what a bunch of dumbasses behind the bench.

funny thing is on main board in vrana thread you mostly have caps, wings, and czech fans all basically posting varying degrees of "so sorry. we told you this is who he was. he has always been a lazy bum who was hated by his coaches" and then we have posters on here, folks who are generally astute posters, making those silly arguments.

 

[Mike Liut]

Go look at our remaining December and January schedule. we’ll be 10 games below .500 by Feb 1

 

[Linkens Mastery]

That is why I had no expectations going into this season. We were not a playoff team before the season started and we've barely been a .500 team this year. We were always going to be in the running for another top 10 pick, and we were projected that way in multiple projections across hockey media. Our only goal is to survive until the new kids are ready and make the playoffs if possible.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Ride things out for the next 10 games, let teams free up cap space, then let it rip.

 

[MissouriMook]

With our upcoming schedule, I could easily see us going 4-12 or 5-11 in the next 16 games to get to the mid point of the season. Given the way the first 25 games have gone, we’ll probably be 8-8 or 7-7-2 in those games. This team is consistently inconsistent and the longer it takes them to find consistency in their play, the less inclined I am to believe that they can make the playoffs. I fear we are looking at picking 13-16 as our most likely scenario this coming offseason and that is the worst possible outcome IMO.

When I wrote this five days ago it was with the expectation that we would win 2-3 of the next 4 games before getting buried by significantly better teams through mid-January. Then we lost the first three games afterwards, and we’ve probably seen the last of being above NHL .500 for the remainder of the season.

Right now I only see Chicago, San Jose, Columbus and Anaheim as likely to finish below us. A Top 5 pick doesn’t seem too far fetched given our current state. Once Vrana is off the roster, I would like to see guys like Bolduc, Dean, Laferriere, Loof, Kessel and Zherenko filtered through the lineup (one or two at a time) for a couple of weeks so we can get a better sense of what we have with them and give them some time with NHL players and at least one NHL paycheck.

Closer to the deadline, I think we need to explore what we can get for guys like Saad, Scandella, Kapanen, and maybe even long shots like Krug, Leddy and Hayes. I would only move Buchnevich if someone absolutely blew our doors off with an offer of a 1st, a 3rd and an “A” prospect, though I would be fine with retention.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

That is why I had no expectations going into this season. We were not a playoff team before the season started and we've barely been a .500 team this year. We were always going to be in the running for another top 10 pick, and we were projected that way in multiple projections across hockey media. Our only goal is to survive until the new kids are ready and make the playoffs if possible.

And then hope they "get it" and start the climb back up, instead of learning how to lose (how not to win) and we end up in a Buffalo-like, Arizona-like, Florida-like cycle where there's lots of talent and it never translates to consistent wins and playoff appearances.

Cause if you look back at the original wave of kids starting 2006-07 or so, our kids and all their talent struggled for a couple years, went on a miraculous run to the playoffs in 2009 after key veterans went down injured, then struggled through the next 2 seasons and the start of the '11-12 season until Hitchcock showed up and cracked the whip and got them to learn how to win - and even that required an all-time goaltending performance by Brian Elliott and an outstanding job by Jaroslav Halak in support to make that happen, because that offense was in the bottom third of the league.

 

[Xerloris]

What are the chances of getting a stud #1LD from a top 5 pick this draft?

 

[LetsGoBooze]

I think you go best defender available regardless of handedness. However, specifically Left handed there should be Dickenson and Silayev available between 4-12. Throw in 2-3 more Righties in that range as well, and you're looking at a good draft to get some D prospects. I'm hoping we can grab an additional 1st at the deadline and add two D-men in the 1st round. This year looks stacked with high quality Defensemen.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I don't see us getting an extra 1st at the deadline unless we're blowing it up in some fashion.

And if we're blowing it up in any way, buckle in - because it's going to get ugly for a while.

 

[Xerloris]

I don't see us getting an extra 1st at the deadline unless we're blowing it up in some fashion.

And if we're blowing it up in any way, buckle in - because it's going to get ugly for a while.

Only need one in the top 5.

 

[SI90]

Isles fan coming in peace ! Just wanted to share with you something about your boy Bortuzzo. The guy has been an islander for less than a week(5days) and he’s visiting sick children in hospitals. A lot of respect for him and really shows the man and person he is.

 

[mk80]

Isles fan coming in peace ! Just wanted to share with you something about your boy Bortuzzo. The guy has been an islander for less than a week(5days) and he’s visiting sick children in hospitals. A lot of respect for him and really shows the man and person he is.

I had to look so hard for him in this picture, I don't ever remember seeing him without facial hair!

 

[Majorityof1]

Isles fan coming in peace ! Just wanted to share with you something about your boy Bortuzzo. The guy has been an islander for less than a week(5days) and he’s visiting sick children in hospitals. A lot of respect for him and really shows the man and person he is.

That is a NYI PR organized thing and they do it for that exact reaction. It seems like the whole team went. I don't see how that says anything about Bortuzzo. Not saying Bortuzzo isn't a great guy. But the cynic in me believes you lose the selflessness credit for a good deed if you stop to take the social media photo op, and/or its required for work. Good deeds should be their own reward without screaming "Hey, look at me do this good thing".

 

[SI90]

That is a NYI PR organized thing and they do it for that exact reaction. It seems like the whole team went. I don't see how that says anything about Bortuzzo. Not saying Bortuzzo isn't a great guy. But the cynic in me believes you lose the selflessness credit for a good deed if you stop to take the social media photo op, and/or its required for work. Good deeds should be their own reward without screaming "Hey, look at me do this good thing".

He’s been on Long Island living in a hotel for 5 days. His wife and family are behind in STL, he could have spent his off day looking for an apartment and zooming with his family who are in another state.

Yes, it’s part of the team initiatives but surely a guy who just got traded here 5 days ago isn’t expected to go along on something like that so soon.

 

[BlueDream]

He’s been on Long Island living in a hotel for 5 days. His wife and family are behind in STL, he could have spent his off day looking for an apartment and zooming with his family who are in another state.

Yes, it’s part of the team initiatives but surely a guy who just got traded here 5 days ago isn’t expected to go along on something like that so soon.

But I mean, Bortuzzo went to hospitals and did that when he was with the Blues too. Most teams do stuff like that. It’s not new and I have to agree with Majority that it really doesn’t mean anything. If you are a new player on a new team, you would kind of look like an asshole if you told them “nah I’m good, I’m gonna stay at my hotel instead.” Guys just aren’t going to do that, of course they’re going to show up and spend time with their new teammates to get to know them and not feel lonely.

 

[Mike Liut]

I guess Army doesn’t like top 5 picks. We’ll get hot for a month, then start sucking again and ruin our top 5 pick.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

This team isn't getting hot. If we don't start dealing some of these vet contracts and dead weight we're going nowhere but down.

We're in a top 10 position by the start of February.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Only need one in the top 5.

Then that better be our pick, cause we're not trading someone else for theirs.

And if Armstrong isn't blowing up this team this season, we're not picking in the top 5 unless we get lucky and win the lottery - and we'll get lucky and win the lottery is a bad way to go planning for a future roster.

 

[joe galiba]

Bortz lost about 5 or 6 years of age!

 

[Mike Liut]

This team isn't getting hot. If we don't start dealing some of these vet contracts and dead weight we're going nowhere but down.

We're in a top 10 position by the start of February.

We are 1 game away from a top 10 pick now and the schedule starts getting brutal.

 

[joe galiba]

we changed coaches, now bring up Z to be the goalie and we are on our way to the cup