2023-2024 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[BlueDream]

Schenn is closer to a Backes captain and Thomas is closer to a ROR/Petro captain.

And the funny thing about this is many people here consider Backes to be the best captain out of that group from a pure leadership standpoint.

Point is, it’s way too early to judge the captain and it honestly doesn’t even matter that much. This talk about how “Thomas should have been captain” is useless. Nobody on this board knows half of what Schenn probably does in the locker room, and Thomas can still be a leader. There’s nothing meaningful Thomas can’t do just because he doesn’t have the C.

 

[Reality Czech]

And the funny thing about this is many people here consider Backes to be the best captain out of that group from a pure leadership standpoint.

Point is, it’s way too early to judge the captain and it honestly doesn’t even matter that much. This talk about how “Thomas should have been captain” is useless. Nobody on this board knows half of what Schenn probably does in the locker room, and Thomas can still be a leader. There’s nothing meaningful Thomas can’t do just because he doesn’t have the C.

100%

I find it silly when fans evaluate what kind of a captain a guy is because they have no idea. Schenn was the obvious choice. Pretty much every podcast and analyst I heard predicted Schenn would be the next captain of the Blues. It was a no brainier. I do agree with the person who said if Thomas was a year or two older he would have got it but Schenn has done a lot for this team and is a respected vet.

Different players are different types of captain. There isn't a foolproof way to analyze what kind of a captain a guy is. Cam Janssen mentioned recently that Petro wasn't a vocal, rah rah captain but rather a mostly quiet guy who led by example. I get the sense that the people bashing Schenn as captain just don't like him as a player. Can't we all just get along?

 

[Celtic Note]

There's a difference between the typical stuff that Kyrou gets, similar to what Tarasenko received, but nothing of that was like what he got last night.

No doubt being tough and/or playing with energy helps, that's why I highlighted Schwartz and Tarasenko in another post on how Thomas and Kyrou get different reactions.

There is also a narrative that formed around Tarasenko and I think it was largely because we needed a scorer for a long time so people were willing to overlook his play away from the puck and their own biases.

So, he was inconsistent, glad we agree.

Which to me is every bit as frustrating as someone who is now trying and not great defensively. Tarasenko could have been a much greater player if he worked on his conditioning and put forth the effort. For JK, the defensive effort this season has been more than we consistently saw from Tarasenko.

 

[Celtic Note]

And the funny thing about this is many people here consider Backes to be the best captain out of that group from a pure leadership standpoint.

Point is, it’s way too early to judge the captain and it honestly doesn’t even matter that much. This talk about how “Thomas should have been captain” is useless. Nobody on this board knows half of what Schenn probably does in the locker room, and Thomas can still be a leader. There’s nothing meaningful Thomas can’t do just because he doesn’t have the C.

But we can see how Schenn handles himself on ice (inconsistency, poor defensive play and sloppy passing…in addition to grit and offense) and how he performs in his interviews or during times like this. That’s really all we have to go on. So the behind closed door stuff may be a place he is great, but he is lacking in the front facing departments so far and has through his time here.

 

[Celtic Note]

100%

I find it silly when fans evaluate what kind of a captain a guy is because they have no idea. Schenn was the obvious choice. Pretty much every podcast and analyst I heard predicted Schenn would be the next captain of the Blues. It was a no brainier. I do agree with the person who said if Thomas was a year or two older he would have got it but Schenn has done a lot for this team and is a respected vet.

Different players are different types of captain. There isn't a foolproof way to analyze what kind of a captain a guy is. Cam Janssen mentioned recently that Petro wasn't a vocal, rah rah captain but rather a mostly quiet guy who led by example. I get the sense that the people bashing Schenn as captain just don't like him as a player. Can't we all just get along?

So you must not like a guy if you are critical of him?

I was not a fan of RORs play last year, I vocalized that, but he is one of my favorite players in the league.

I thought Backes was a good captain, but I criticized his, at times, really dumb penalties.

We are not supposed to critique our captain? We are supposed to take the talking heads wood for it? Sorry, but I firmly disagree with a stance like that. As fans of a sport, we are voyeurs into the work lives of the players, coaches and managers. Evaluating those performances are part of the territory and has been since the dawn of professional sports being paid for by fandom.

 

[Frenzy31]

So you must not like a guy if you are critical of him?

I was not a fan of RORs play last year, I vocalized that, but he is one of my favorite players in the league.

I thought Backes was a good captain, but I criticized his, at times, really dumb penalties.

We are not supposed to critique our captain?

Captain cream puff….. was widely roasted a bit also.

Captains do take clack because I think fans are looking for the scape goat when teams are losing.

We don’t know why Schenn was picked, and frankly everyone should be up for criticism. I am just not sure it was up to him to tell the fans off. In fact it might make things worse.

You know who really should have told the limped dick fans booing him off, other fans. It should be up to the reasonable fans to tell the other douche bags to shut it.

 

[Celtic Note]

Captain cream puff….. was widely roasted a bit also.

Captains do take clack because I think fans are looking for the scape goat when teams are losing.

We don’t know why Schenn was picked, and frankly everyone should be up for criticism. I am just not sure it was up to him to tell the fans off. In fact it might make things worse.

You know who really should have told the limped dick fans booing him off, other fans. It should be up to the reasonable fans to tell the other douche bags to shut it.

I don’t think any player should tell fans off. It’s bad for business and it means no one is taking the high road. He could have stood up for his teammate and/or tried to diffuse the situation. As the captain you are the front facing leader of the players of the team. Thomas did a nice job of stepping into that role, but as captain it is your responsibility. If you are not carrying There are plenty of times in our jobs where as a leaders we have to do things that are stressful, frustrating, potentially not great for our personal benefit and require leading by example. This is/was one of those times.

 

[542365]

I’ll be in the building tonight with my Kyrou jersey on and cheering loudly.

 

[Reality Czech]

So you must not like a guy if you are critical of him?

I was not a fan of RORs play last year, I vocalized that, but he is one of my favorite players in the league.

I thought Backes was a good captain, but I criticized his, at times, really dumb penalties.

We are not supposed to critique our captain? We are supposed to take the talking heads wood for it? Sorry, but I firmly disagree with a stance like that. As fans of a sport, we are voyeurs into the work lives of the players, coaches and managers. Evaluating those performances are part of the territory and has been since the dawn of professional sports being paid for by fandom.

There's a difference between criticizing someone's play (which is totally fair) and declaring that someone is a bad captain based on the slivers of information we have available. No one on this forum knows what is said inside the locker room or the relationship between Schenn and his teammates. I never said you can't criticize a player based on his performance on the ice, but all these people declaring that Schenn is a "bad captain" are already biased against him. That's what I meant.

Whenever I hear players and ex-teammates talk about either Schenn brother, they have only good things to say about them in terms of their character. He was the most obvious choice to be the captain of this year's team, and I'm not sure why it would be hard for anyone to understand why.

 

[Celtic Note]

There's a difference between criticizing someone's play (which is totally fair) and declaring that someone is a bad captain based on the slivers of information we have available. No one on this forum knows what is said inside the locker room or the relationship between Schenn and his teammates. I never said you can't criticize a player based on his performance on the ice, but all these people declaring that Schenn is a "bad captain" are already biased against him. That's what I meant.

Whenever I hear players and ex-teammates talk about either Schenn brother, they have only good things to say about them in terms of their character. He was the most obvious choice to be the captain of this year's team, and I'm not sure why it would be hard for anyone to understand why.

Schenn may be liked. He seems like a likable guy. But that doesn’t mean he is captain material.

We could have chosen not to appoint a captain. Even if he was the obvious choice, it doesn’t make it a good one. It could just mean we are short on leadership worthy candidates. Given they way we have played this year and last (and the play of our leadership group), I think it’s fair
to say that’s a reasonable possible conclusion.

 

[Reality Czech]

Schenn may be liked. He seems like a likable guy. But that doesn’t mean he is captain material.

We could have chosen not to appoint a captain. Even if he was the obvious choice, it doesn’t make it a good one. It could just mean we are short on leadership worthy candidates. Given they way we have played this year and last (and the play of our leadership group), I think it’s fair
to say that’s a reasonable possible conclusion.

I wouldn't use the team's performance to judge whether or not someone is a good or bad captain. We played terrible last year, does that mean ROR was a bad captain?

 

[TheOrganist]

There is also a narrative that formed around Tarasenko and I think it was largely because we needed a scorer for a long time so people were willing to overlook his play away from the puck and their own biases.


Which to me is every bit as frustrating as someone who is now trying and not great defensively. Tarasenko could have been a much greater player if he worked on his conditioning and put forth the effort. For JK, the defensive effort this season has been more than we consistently saw from Tarasenko.

Vladdy is ranked 33 in NHL HISTORY in goals per game in the playoffs. I could give two shits about his play away from the puck when a winger scores at a pace like that.

Kyrou should be viewed in a similar vein. He should always be viewed as a net positive if he’s scoring 40+ per year.

 

[TheOrganist]

Everyone’s favorite reporter just posted a nice article with quotes from Chief. To summarize: “you’ve systematically removed players who play my style of hockey and replaced them with an identityless group of middling young players and castoffs. I did what I could”…that was my interpretation anyway.

 

[Celtic Note]

I wouldn't use the team's performance to judge whether or not someone is a good or bad captain. We played terrible last year, does that mean ROR was a bad captain?

I think there was something that caused the leadership group to slide (could just be age) in their in ice performance last year. I think we needed more from that group. We all have our down years. But we have been consistently poor in our inconsistent effort for two years now. Is leadership part of that problem? Possibly. I think it’s worth considering. And while we are talking about Schenn as captain, this would also apply to our other leaders.

Vladdy is ranked 33 in NHL HISTORY in goals per game in the playoffs. I could give two shits about his play away from the puck when a winger scores at a pace like that.

Kyrou should be viewed in a similar vein. He should always be viewed as a net positive if he’s scoring 40+ per year.

Agreed in many ways.

One thing that has set Vladdy apart from some other was his ability to step up in big games. Kyrou hasn’t had nearly the history of doing that, but he also hasn’t had the opportunities. I do think he stepped up against Colorado in the playoffs.

 

[BrokenFace]

Schenn was always just a meh choice for C

He's over the hill but occasionally tries hard in futility. Unfortunately, he's the perfect captain for this meh version of the Blues

 

[PocketNines]

Everyone’s favorite reporter just posted a nice article with quotes from Chief. To summarize: “you’ve systematically removed players who play my style of hockey and replaced them with an identityless group of middling young players and castoffs. I did what I could”…that was my interpretation anyway.

Like Armstrong repeatedly said, it's Armstrong's fault. He's taken a non-playoff team he inherited right after the Blues drafted a defense first #1 defenseman who is now top 50 all time in career defenseman points and climbing and turned it into a non-playoff team with no direction or identity or impact defensive prospects.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Everyone’s favorite reporter just posted a nice article with quotes from Chief. To summarize: “you’ve systematically removed players who play my style of hockey and replaced them with an identityless group of middling young players and castoffs. I did what I could”…that was my interpretation anyway.

Chief ain’t wrong.

 

[Itsnotatrap]

Chief ain’t wrong.

I believe most everyone sees it for what it is, and Armstrong himself said as much. It doesn’t bother me, because Berube is going to land somewhere in months, if not weeks, assuming he wants to. And that situation he will have a better chance of success for him and he’ll get to be a fresh voice.

We may get some dead cat bounce, but I feel ultimately the blue line is fundamentally insufficient, and very poorly constructed. It would require a lineup darn near full of legit 2 way forwards to patch over that, and we barely have any.

 

[simon IC]

Unpopular take, but I honestly think Parayko should be captain.

 

[shpongle falls]

I hope Chief will do some TV spots on a panel that would be epic.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I hope Chief will do some TV spots on a panel that would be epic.

Roy Kent - like

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Need more Roy Kent

 

[Majorityof1]

100%

I find it silly when fans evaluate what kind of a captain a guy is because they have no idea. Schenn was the obvious choice. Pretty much every podcast and analyst I heard predicted Schenn would be the next captain of the Blues. It was a no brainier. I do agree with the person who said if Thomas was a year or two older he would have got it but Schenn has done a lot for this team and is a respected vet.

Different players are different types of captain. There isn't a foolproof way to analyze what kind of a captain a guy is. Cam Janssen mentioned recently that Petro wasn't a vocal, rah rah captain but rather a mostly quiet guy who led by example. I get the sense that the people bashing Schenn as captain just don't like him as a player. Can't we all just get along?

Fans have no right to judge if a guy is a good captain, but podcasters....now that is a different story. They know man, they just know.

 

[Frenzy31]

I wouldn't use the team's performance to judge whether or not someone is a good or bad captain. We played terrible last year, does that mean ROR was a bad captain?

Yes. I think ROR was terrible last year.

 

[BlueDream]

Schenn may be liked. He seems like a likable guy. But that doesn’t mean he is captain material.

We could have chosen not to appoint a captain. Even if he was the obvious choice, it doesn’t make it a good one. It could just mean we are short on leadership worthy candidates. Given they way we have played this year and last (and the play of our leadership group), I think it’s fair
to say that’s a reasonable possible conclusion.

Well he is captain material, that’s why he was selected by people who have worked in professional hockey for a long time. Sorry to say but they know more about who is captain material than you do. We can criticize the front office for many things but I 100% believe they have enough hockey knowledge to correctly select a captain of a team.