2023-2024 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[Mike Liut]

Not sure what my exact expectations will be for Bolduc next season, but he's certainly raised them, and makes Snuggs decision to stay in school easier for me to swallow. Hopefully he has a good full rookie season, so that when our other young forwards come up, he can start to be someone that we can lean on a bit.

Here’s one for you… who will score the most career goals, Neighbors, Bolduc or Snuggs?

 

[Hrkac Circus]

Here’s one for you… who will score the most career goals, Neighbors, Bolduc or Snuggs?

I just hope it’s one hell of a contest.

 

[Mike Liut]

I just hope it’s one hell of a contest.

Truth

 

[Pennask]

Good luck tonight against Dallas. I'll be cheering for you. You are the Canucks hope to keep the WC title open.

 

[Hrkac Circus]

Good luck tonight against Dallas. I'll be cheering for you. You are the Canucks hope to keep the WC title open.

Good luck in the playoffs. Pulling for you.

 

[Stealth JD]

Happy to see Dallas edge the Canucks. Still feels so dirty to have anything but animosity for Vancouver after the past 15 years of matchups with them. Such an unlikeable franchise. Up there for me with the Sharks and Hawks. I don’t even dislike the Wings as much (anymore) as I still loathe Vancouver.

At least with the Wings I came to appreciate their greatness. They were smashing our best (at the time) Cup-dreams…but had legendary HOF players and were a true dynasty.

Vancouver was just a collection of bitches in a pouty city that nearly burned itself down because they didn’t get their way. Between Kessler, Burroughs, the Sedins…hell even Petersson and Miller are unlikeable…I hope they experience heartbreak and unsuccessful postseasons from now until the end of time.

 

[PocketNines]

Happy to see Dallas edge the Canucks. Still feels so dirty to have anything but animosity for Vancouver after the past 15 years of matchups with them. Such an unlikeable franchise. Up there for me with the Sharks and Hawks. I don’t even dislike the Wings as much (anymore) as I still loathe Vancouver.

At least with the Wings I came to appreciate their greatness. They were smashing our best (at the time) Cup-dreams…but had legendary HOF players and were a true dynasty.

Vancouver was just a collection of bitches in a pouty city that nearly burned itself down because they didn’t get their way. Between Kessler, Burroughs, the Sedins…hell even Petersson and Miller are unlikeable…I hope they experience heartbreak and unsuccessful postseasons from now until the end of time.

I can appreciate this perspective and not dispute its accuracy for what they were, but I like Tocchet as a coach. And the city of Vancouver / area of the world is great.

But they are rough as winners, when they win it's like they discovered it. And only their win matters in the whole scheme of teams winning things, so by the Final it's a very tough root

 

[STLegend]

Happy to see Dallas edge the Canucks. Still feels so dirty to have anything but animosity for Vancouver after the past 15 years of matchups with them. Such an unlikeable franchise. Up there for me with the Sharks and Hawks. I don’t even dislike the Wings as much (anymore) as I still loathe Vancouver.

At least with the Wings I came to appreciate their greatness. They were smashing our best (at the time) Cup-dreams…but had legendary HOF players and were a true dynasty.

Vancouver was just a collection of bitches in a pouty city that nearly burned itself down because they didn’t get their way. Between Kessler, Burroughs, the Sedins…hell even Petersson and Miller are unlikeable…I hope they experience heartbreak and unsuccessful postseasons from now until the end of time.

I think Vancouver loses in the 1st round, they are soft.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

 

[Xerloris]

f***, that means we're stuck with Bannister doesn't it?

 

[BlueDream]

f***, that means we're stuck with Bannister doesn't it?

I actually think that quote increases the likelihood that we hire someone else.

The way I see it, Armstrong has already had the last 4 months to evaluate Bannister. The team missed the playoffs and the on-ice play generally wasn’t that different, at least at even strength. He didn’t do enough to take doubt out of Armstrong’s mind.

So if Armstrong isn’t convinced by now that Bannister is the guy, which he really doesn’t have any reason to be, I think he wants to hire one of the other candidates, and Bannister is remaining in the mix in case those other guys just bomb their interviews.

 

[oPlaiD]

Happy to see Dallas edge the Canucks. Still feels so dirty to have anything but animosity for Vancouver after the past 15 years of matchups with them. Such an unlikeable franchise. Up there for me with the Sharks and Hawks. I don’t even dislike the Wings as much (anymore) as I still loathe Vancouver.

At least with the Wings I came to appreciate their greatness. They were smashing our best (at the time) Cup-dreams…but had legendary HOF players and were a true dynasty.

Vancouver was just a collection of bitches in a pouty city that nearly burned itself down because they didn’t get their way. Between Kessler, Burroughs, the Sedins…hell even Petersson and Miller are unlikeable…I hope they experience heartbreak and unsuccessful postseasons from now until the end of time.

I want to root for them since when I was a kid, Pavel Bure and Mario Lemieux were the two guys I loved outside of the Blues. The '94 Cup finals and some of those playoffs are probably my most vivid non-Blues hockey memory, and it certainly wasn't because of the media slobbering all over Mark Messier.

Then the next era of Canucks hockey happened... I enjoy watching Quinn Hughes, but agree some of their other current players fit in the unlikeable category, so I'm not sure where I sit this year.

Florida is probably a good fit based off style of play and the way they've built their team, but it's really hard for me to get past their colors and their logo. The least aesthetically pleasing team in the entire league, to me.

 

[542365]

I don’t understand what an interview is going to accomplish. What’s the point? You’ve seen him coach this exact team and have(hopefully) been in pretty frequent communication with him in that time.

 

[MissouriMook]

I don’t understand what an interview is going to accomplish. What’s the point? You’ve seen him coach this exact team and have(hopefully) been in pretty frequent communication with him in that time.

Speaking as someone who has interviewed hundreds of people, I would expect that he will want to see how Bannister’s answers compare to the other candidates he speaks with, especially looking for proof of concept for things pertaining to more long term issues such as roster development and deployment. Their conversations during the season were likely focused far more on the present and the remainder of the season.

I’d surprised if Bannister’s “interview” wasn’t the last one of the group for that reason.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Speaking as someone who has interviewed hundreds of people, I would expect that he will want to see how Bannister’s answers compare to the other candidates he speaks with, especially looking for proof of concept for things pertaining to more long term issues such as roster development and deployment. Their conversations during the season were likely focused far more on the present and the remainder of the season.

I’d surprised if Bannister’s “interview” wasn’t the last one of the group for that reason.

Exactly. And he'd want to give Bannister chance to lay out his vision, what changes he would make next season now that he has chance to reflect and full training camp to implement. How does he see his staff? Does he want to keep the current assistants? And Army would also weigh whether it would be positive or negative if he does keep staff. These aren't questions that can be answered in season so much. With Berube he could take the Cup win as proof of concept, but nobody wants this year's team to be level we sustain.

 

[Majorityof1]

I don’t understand what an interview is going to accomplish. What’s the point? You’ve seen him coach this exact team and have(hopefully) been in pretty frequent communication with him in that time.

@MissouriMook nailed it. It happens all the time in corporate America. You have your internal candidate that you want to hire, you still conduct a search to validate your candidate against others. That includes asking them the same interview questions. Bannister said in the interview he has been thinking about the changes he needs to make going forward with a full season. That may not be something Army and he have discussed, as it wasn't pertinent at the time. Army will be asking about it now.

 

[Reality Czech]

I wonder if we consider bringing Coach Q back assuming Bettman lets him coach again. He just gave his first interview since his banishment on the Cam and Strick Podcast and unless he's outright lying about what he knew (which I doubt), then it seems to me that he's been treated unfairly. So many fans judged him based on what they assume he knew/didn't know but as the public is often misinformed and overemotional on issues like these.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I wonder if we consider bringing Coach Q back assuming Bettman lets him coach again. He just gave his first interview since his banishment on the Cam and Strick Podcast and unless he's outright lying about what he knew (which I doubt), then it seems to me that he's been treated unfairly. So many fans judged him based on what they assume he knew/didn't know but as the public is often misinformed and overemotional on issues like these.

I hope not but there had to have been quite a few journalists that would’ve liked to have interviewed Joel on this topic. Yet it went to Andy Strickland?? Perhaps I’m reading too much into it but I could see this being the Blues using Strick to test the waters to see what the reaction would be to such a hire. If so, I have no idea what conclusion they would’ve come to after that interview. Reaction here at least seemed pretty mixed.

Army also mentioned yesterday that of his short list of coaching candidates, there’s one (maybe more than one?) that’s still currently coaching that he’d like to talk to. I was surprised he’d be that open as to me, there’s only one guy that could be - Rod Brind’Amour. Maybe Monty as I see it as an above zero chance he could get fired if the Bruins fall flat in the playoffs again but Rod has an expiring contract.

I’ll be curious what happens to Brind’Amour. He’s pretty glued at the hip to Carolina but then again, it’s odd they haven’t extended him yet.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Bannister wouldn't excite me, but he certainly earned an interview to present what his vision for the future would be. When he took over, it wasn't about what his vision is or what the future was, it was about the short-term, and while the underlying metrics still weren't great, he still had pretty good results.

The interesting aspect of this hire compared to Hitch, Yeo, and Berube, it's less about what their vision is with the current existing roster, there will be bits of that, but how they view incorporating the young players in the next 1-3 seasons, to hopefully get back to a more win-now mentality.

 

[Majorityof1]

I wonder if we consider bringing Coach Q back assuming Bettman lets him coach again. He just gave his first interview since his banishment on the Cam and Strick Podcast and unless he's outright lying about what he knew (which I doubt), then it seems to me that he's been treated unfairly. So many fans judged him based on what they assume he knew/didn't know but as the public is often misinformed and overemotional on issues like these.

Why do you doubt he would lie to protect his reputation and career? Great coach gets banned from NHL? Blues fans are silent. Blues could use a great coach? "Now I really think he has been treated unfairly. After all, HE SAID he was innocent."

 

[Celtic Note]

I hope not but there had to have been quite a few journalists that would’ve liked to have interviewed Joel on this topic. Yet it went to Andy Strickland?? Perhaps I’m reading too much into it but I could see this being the Blues using Strick to test the waters to see what the reaction would be to such a hire. If so, I have no idea what conclusion they would’ve come to after that interview. Reaction here at least seemed pretty mixed.

Army also mentioned yesterday that of his short list of coaching candidates, there’s one (maybe more than one?) that’s still currently coaching that he’d like to talk to. I was surprised he’d be that open as to me, there’s only one guy that could be - Rod Brind’Amour. Maybe Monty as I see it as an above zero chance he could get fired if the Bruins fall flat in the playoffs again but Rod has an expiring contract.

I’ll be curious what happens to Brind’Amour. He’s pretty glued at the hip to Carolina but then again, it’s odd they haven’t extended him yet.

Given that the direction of the future of the team is predicated on viewership/attendance, why even consider Q? You take the chance of pissing off at a minimum a subset of your fans. If fan engagement is so critical, then entertaining Q seems like a mistake.

Army also mentioned that the next coach wouldn’t be a win now, at all cost type. Q is the exact opposite of that.

Q being a candidate seems like a bad business decision.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I hope not but there had to have been quite a few journalists that would’ve liked to have interviewed Joel on this topic. Yet it went to Andy Strickland?? Perhaps I’m reading too much into it but I could see this being the Blues using Strick to test the waters to see what the reaction would be to such a hire. If so, I have no idea what conclusion they would’ve come to after that interview. Reaction here at least seemed pretty mixed.

Army also mentioned yesterday that of his short list of coaching candidates, there’s one (maybe more than one?) that’s still currently coaching that he’d like to talk to. I was surprised he’d be that open as to me, there’s only one guy that could be - Rod Brind’Amour. Maybe Monty as I see it as an above zero chance he could get fired if the Bruins fall flat in the playoffs again but Rod has an expiring contract.

I’ll be curious what happens to Brind’Amour. He’s pretty glued at the hip to Carolina but then again, it’s odd they haven’t extended him yet.

Parsing Army’s coaching comments, I think he has a list in his mind if who he wants to hire. At top is probly Monty or Rod. I expect he maybe wants to talk to Carl’s but doesn’t know him as well and he isn’t currently at top. Perhaps a guy like Shaw even, but that seems less likely. Bannister is I think the guy if those don’t either become available or feel like right fit. When he described what he wants though, that isn’t q.

 

[Reality Czech]

I hope not but there had to have been quite a few journalists that would’ve liked to have interviewed Joel on this topic. Yet it went to Andy Strickland?? Perhaps I’m reading too much into it but I could see this being the Blues using Strick to test the waters to see what the reaction would be to such a hire. If so, I have no idea what conclusion they would’ve come to after that interview. Reaction here at least seemed pretty mixed.

Army also mentioned yesterday that of his short list of coaching candidates, there’s one (maybe more than one?) that’s still currently coaching that he’d like to talk to. I was surprised he’d be that open as to me, there’s only one guy that could be - Rod Brind’Amour. Maybe Monty as I see it as an above zero chance he could get fired if the Bruins fall flat in the playoffs again but Rod has an expiring contract.

I’ll be curious what happens to Brind’Amour. He’s pretty glued at the hip to Carolina but then again, it’s odd they haven’t extended him yet.

Strick has taken a lot of heat for his Tkachuk prediction and he has himself to blame for that, but he's also been right about quite a few things over the years too. I don't think there's any doubt that he's very well connected to not only the team but the league in general. It's kind of crazy how many big names they've convinced to come on their podcast over the years.

I'm not sure if the Blues had any part in him appearing on the show, but I do think that Q realized that if he has any chance of reviving his career that he needed to speak on the issue and give his side of the story. I thought he said the right things for the most part but there were plenty of questions he said "no comment" to for obvious reasons. It will be up to Bettman to reinstate him but if a team approaches him and says they want to hire Q then that might be what it takes for him to consider it.

As for Rod, I'd be thrilled to have him as coach but it doesn't really line up with what Army said yesterday. If they aren't going to sign big ticket players while "re-tooling" then signing a big ticket coach wouldn't seem likely either. Then again, if you can lock up a guy who could potentially be a face of the franchise for years to come then maybe it would be worth it. Isn't Carolina's owner known for being tight-fisted at times? That's the only reason I can think of they'd let him go, though another playoff disappointment might make his decision easier.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I feel like our next coach is most likely going to be another transitionary coach like Davis Payne or Mike Yeo. We're not going to legitimately compete for a couple of seasons and I can't see them investing big dollars into a 'big name' head coach just yet. I could see Bannister returning for that reason. All that said, there are a few exceptions I think Army would jump on.

Brind'Amour would be a no-brainer to me. He's chosen to bet on himself by not extending with the Hurricanes. If he can make a run to the Cup, and Carolina has the horses to do so, he's going to increase his asking price in a big way. He's going to be in demand regardless so he'll get paid no matter what happens, but why not take a chance on yourself to earn an extra $1-1.5M annually on your contract by having a Cup win under your belt? I would love this hire but ultimately I think he only leaves Carolina for a high-profile opportunity such as Toronto, if Sheldon Keefe gets the boot.

Another interesting name is Jim Montgomery. Despite successfully helping Boston transition to a post-Bergeron era, there were rumblings in the Boston sports media that Monty might already be on the hot seat. Will the Bruins front office tolerate a first round exit? I would think after a 100 point season Monty would have a leash that extends to 2024-25, but I am curious how quick of a trigger Don Sweeney will have. I'd welcome Monty back with open arms.

I had my eye on Jon Cooper around mid-season when it appeared the Lightning were going to miss the playoffs. I thought they may be interested in going another direction with a team in transition but Cooper did a fabulous job with that team down the stretch. I think he's a lock to be behind the Lightning bench next season.

The timing of the Joel Quenneville 'redemption interview' is interesting, but I'd be surprised if the Blues make that move. I do think he'll get an interview if cleared by the league.

 

[bleedblue1223]

If for some bizarre reason Boston doesn't want Monty anymore, just give him the job. We'd just have to hope that us giving him the chance to return after his Dallas incident means something to him, otherwise, I doubt we have much of a chance.

And I'd be curious if Army is more focused on bigger NHL level names, or interviewing some of the up and comers, similar to Monty when Dallas hired him.