Blues/Wild Playoff series discussion

[PocketNines]

incoming seven-game series with 1-0 and 2-1 finals every game.

There is a different kind of stress to that type of series than to the no-leads-are-safe one I'm anticipating.

If it were that type of series we'd be feeling GREAT about Husso and the defense and frustrated with the offense and PP but probably assuming it had to break out sooner or later

 

[PocketNines]

Out of curiosity, why would you want to put the GREEF line out against Saad-ROR-Perron? That is a our lowest scoring line at 5 on 5 by a wide margin and mostly gets defensive assignments. Throwing out the GREEF line against them would likely mean starting them in the O Zone a ton while asking the other lines to check out higher scoring lines.

If they want to go top-line on top-line, my guess would be that the GREEF line would get tasked with making sure Barbie/Schenn/Kyrou don't break the game open.

It's purely instinct, perhaps a bad one. I don't think it takes my best defensive line to take advantage of Barbashev and Kyrou, and I think ROR line is going to be a difference making line right at the moment, they seem ready to roll to me. So if I stifle ROR line out of the gate and keep them from taking over, I'm betting Kaprizov line can beat Thomas line and I'm forcing Barbashev and Kyrou to be the difference makers against me. I've got to pick my poison with the Blues and I'd make Kyrou prove he can handle playoff hockey even without special defensive attention.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Blues have been ass in the playoffs since the Cup. This will last 6-games max; not in the good way. Blues better hope it becomes a special teams battle; at evens the Wild should handle business and feast on our weak defensive zone play.

What do past playoff failures have to do with a series that hasn’t even happened yet?

Answer: Nothing.

This team isn’t as flawed and dealing with injuries or losing their best performing forward to protocols like last season vs the Avs.

I understand skepticism, but not pessimism, especially since NHL hockey isn’t like 1984 where he who controls the past controls the present controls the future.

 

[Stealth JD]

What do past playoff failures have to do with a series that hasn’t even happened yet?

Answer: Nothing.

This team isn’t as flawed and dealing with injuries or losing their best performing forward to protocols like last season vs the Avs.

I understand skepticism, but not pessimism, especially since NHL hockey isn’t like 1984 where he who controls the past controls the present controls the future.

Same coach; and they're further removed from their last series win. Past performance is no indication of future performance; but recent trends should cause alarm for those expecting a deep run.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Same coach; and they're further removed from their last series win. Past performance is no indication of future performance; but recent trends should cause alarm for those expecting a deep run.

And only 13 players remain from 2018-2019 that played in a game that season.

I'm not sure I'm following your logic?

2019-2020 POs were played in a very unique circumstance.

Last year POs were played with a flawed roster that had its flaws exacerbated due to having the second most man games lost to injury.

The Blues were playing their 11th-12th best organizational defensemen in the final games vs Colorado to go along with missing Perron for the entire series along with Faulk for half of it.

Not even Scotty Bowman would've won that series vs Colorado.

2020, sure, maybe Berube deserves more criticism for the result of the series, but I don't see how anyone could've coached the Blues to a different series result vs Colorado last year given the roster flaws.

 

[Joshuar56]

If the Kyrou-Schenn- Barbashev line gets on the scoreboard, it puts a lot of pressure on Minnesota’s game plan. That’s kind of what the Winter Classic looked like.

That wasn't even a line during the winter classic though. Kyrou was playing Tarasenko and Thomas, and I don't think Schenn even played.

 

[Brian39]

The Blues were playing their 11th-12th best organizational defensemen in the final games vs Colorado to go along with missing Perron for the entire series along with Faulk for half of it.

I genuinely couldn't remember which 6 dressed for that last game, so I went to hockey reference to look. It's pretty amusing. Parayko played 27:28 and Krug played 25:27. Scandella came in 3rd at 22:03. And then we had Walman, Mikkola, and Santini playing 15:24, 13:10, and 12:11. I'm not sure I've ever seen a TOI distribution like that.

With that said, we got played out of the building from the opening puck drop of that series before we got comically decimated with injuries on the backend. We had Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Scandella, Bortz and Mikkola in the lineup for game 1 when we got outshot 49-23. We brought the same group back for game 2, where we were getting noticeably outplayed until the Kadri/Faulk hit gave us some brief life. That team didn't have the forward group we had, but the D group is pretty damn similar. A lot of the defensive flaws that existed last year still exist and there is a real argument to be made that swapping Scandella for Leddy makes the blueline worse defensively than the group we brought into the playoffs last year.

I totally get Stealth's reasons for concern (although my level of pessimism isn't nearly as high). The offense is much better and we have a much greater ability to outscore our flaws than we did last year. But the defensive flaws still exist. This team has gotten me to believe to a larger degree than @Stealth JD, but it is far from unreasonable to point out red flags and note that we haven't looked great in a playoff game since 2019. This isn't a different enough team that all of the past should be ignored completely.

 

[Louie the Blue]

I genuinely couldn't remember which 6 dressed for that last game, so I went to hockey reference to look. It's pretty amusing. Parayko played 27:28 and Krug played 25:27. Scandella came in 3rd at 22:03. And then we had Walman, Mikkola, and Santini playing 15:24, 13:10, and 12:11. I'm not sure I've ever seen a TOI distribution like that.

With that said, we got played out of the building from the opening puck drop of that series before we got comically decimated with injuries on the backend. We had Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Scandella, Bortz and Mikkola in the lineup for game 1 when we got outshot 49-23. We brought the same group back for game 2, where we were getting noticeably outplayed until the Kadri/Faulk hit gave us some brief life. That team didn't have the forward group we had, but the D group is pretty damn similar. A lot of the defensive flaws that existed last year still exist and there is a real argument to be made that swapping Scandella for Leddy makes the blueline worse defensively than the group we brought into the playoffs last year.

I totally get Stealth's reasons for concern (although my level of pessimism isn't nearly as high). The offense is much better and we have a much greater ability to outscore our flaws than we did last year. But the defensive flaws still exist. This team has gotten me to believe to a larger degree than @Stealth JD, but it is far from unreasonable to point out red flags and note that we haven't looked great in a playoff game since 2019. This isn't a different enough team that all of the past should be ignored completely.

Reinke also played in Game 3, as well.

With regards to the defensive flaws, sure, the majority of the back end is similar to last year, but I think having Faulk and a healthy Parayko will lead to better play along with Krug being more comfortable in his role vs last season. The bottom pairing along with not having a solid top 4 D are still issues that are similar to last season, but I have more faith in playing Scandella and Leddy than I would whatever the Blues were playing the last 2 games of the Avalanche series.

I'd also argue having almost half of the roster being different from the 2019 run being gone would lead credibility to viewing past success as being irrelevant for this series:

Bouwmeester, Pietrangelo, Gunnarson, Dunn and Edmundson are all gone.

Maroon is gone along with Bozak being relegated to 4th line/healthy scratch duty.

Sundqvist, Blais, Fabbri, Schwartz, Steen and Sanford are also gone.

Allen isn't the backup anymore.

That's the entire defense aside from Parayko and Bortuzzo being replaced, an entirely new fourth line, a mostly new third line, and 2 new (Saad,Buchnevich) top 6 forwards along with Allen being gone.

That's a lot of turnover.

 

[PocketNines]

I totally get Stealth's reasons for concern (although my level of pessimism isn't nearly as high). The offense is much better and we have a much greater ability to outscore our flaws than we did last year. But the defensive flaws still exist. This team has gotten me to believe to a larger degree than @Stealth JD, but it is far from unreasonable to point out red flags and note that we haven't looked great in a playoff game since 2019. This isn't a different enough team that all of the past should be ignored completely.

Teams are going to score on the Blues. The difference between Minnesota and Colorado, to me, is that Minnesota can't hold off Blues momentum when they have it. I foresee Blues and Wild each trading momentum with the Blues able to accomplish resilience better than the Wild.

As for the Avs they have the second round circled and play with such force against the Blues, it's difficult to imagine the Blues holding them down 4x with all of the intensity they will bring to bear on that round in particular.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Get a grip man. Feel free to block my opinions if you're going to be triggered by them. Posting expectations of a series outcome in a pre-series chat is hardly negativity. Not every post has to be from the perspective of a Pollyanna.

I caught the same flak here when I posted years ago that Kostin was never going to turn out to be much of a NHL player.

How could I root against my own team? Answer: I wasn't and neither are you by setting somewhat realistic expectations.

 

[Chairman Maouth]

Hi, y'all.

Well, this Canucks fan is back on the Blues bandwagon due to the fact that my Uncle Fred played for the Blues in their inaugural season. He was thrilled in 2019 when we went all the way, and I'm hoping for more good things to happen in 2022.

Go Blues!

Left to right, at the Blues 50-year celebration: Bill McCreary, Larry Keenan, Bob Plager, Norm Beaudin, and Fred Hucul.

 

[Louie the Blue]

I caught the same flak here when I posted years ago that Kostin was never going to turn out to be much of a NHL player.

How could I root against my own team? Answer: I wasn't and neither are you by setting somewhat realistic expectations.

There’s difference between having realistic expectations and citing a team’s performance over the past two playoffs while having the same coach and not acknowledging at the same time that half the roster from 2019 is gone.

 

[GoBluz24]

Hi, y'all.

Well, this Canucks fan is back on the Blues bandwagon due to the fact that my Uncle Fred played for the Blues in their inaugural season. He was thrilled in 2019 when we went all the way, and I'm hoping for more good things to happen in 2022.

Go Blues!

Left to right, at the Blues 50-year celebration: Bill McCreary, Larry Keenan, Bob Plager, Norm Beaudin, and Fred Hucul.


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That's a cool history to share. And the Blues can use all the rooting interest they can get. It's going to be a long series.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Wild will be tough to handle

 

[Chairman Maouth]

That's a cool history to share. And the Blues can use all the rooting interest they can get. It's going to be a long series.

I'm so fortunate that I was born into the family I was. Uncle Fred became close friends with Blues teammates, Glenn Hall and Red Berenson, who often came to the ranch in western Alberta where I had my own horse and where I lived for a few months every summer. This was maybe the early to mid-'70s and Hall and Berenson would stay for weeks. Their wives and kids would be there too. Then, us guys, on horseback would saddle up our horses, grab our Winchester rifles, rig up a couple of pack horses, and go for a week or so trout fishing in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains - catching rainbows and cutthroat mainly, in untouched areas, streams, where few if any people had ever been to. It was an idyllic life for a kid. I could tell you stories...

 

[mk80]

Hi, y'all.

Well, this Canucks fan is back on the Blues bandwagon due to the fact that my Uncle Fred played for the Blues in their inaugural season. He was thrilled in 2019 when we went all the way, and I'm hoping for more good things to happen in 2022.

Go Blues!

Left to right, at the Blues 50-year celebration: Bill McCreary, Larry Keenan, Bob Plager, Norm Beaudin, and Fred Hucul.


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All the best to you and your uncle and family! With that connection I wouldn't even say you're on the bandwagon, you quite literally bleed Blue! Don't be a stranger here on HFBlues

 

[ChicagoBlues]

There’s difference between having realistic expectations and citing a team’s performance over the past two playoffs while having the same coach and not acknowledging at the same time that half the roster from 2019 is gone.

I understand.

 

[Chairman Maouth]

All the best to you and your uncle and family! With that connection I wouldn't even say you're on the bandwagon, you quite literally bleed Blue! Don't be a stranger here on HFBlues

You got it.

You guys have always been very welcoming to me.

 

[PocketNines]

Hi, y'all.

Well, this Canucks fan is back on the Blues bandwagon due to the fact that my Uncle Fred played for the Blues in their inaugural season. He was thrilled in 2019 when we went all the way, and I'm hoping for more good things to happen in 2022.

Go Blues!

Left to right, at the Blues 50-year celebration: Bill McCreary, Larry Keenan, Bob Plager, Norm Beaudin, and Fred Hucul.


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That's awesome. The first #2 defenseman in Blues history.

 

[Chairman Maouth]

That's awesome. The first #2 defenseman in Blues history.

I did not know that.

But that was his number in the pros. It's the same number he kept through all his years in the minors too. His brother, Sandy, wore number 4.

Uncle Fred also holds a pretty funny NHL record - amount of time between NHL goals. He went from 1953 where he scored for the Blackhawks, to 1967 where he scored for the Blues. 14 years between NHL goals. The time between them he spent in the minors as a perennial all star. He's quite the legend in the old WHL - Western Hockey League.

Here he is with his brother, Sandy, a guy who Don Cherry called one of the meanest, toughest players he ever played against.

 

[Drubilly]

I'm so fortunate that I was born into the family I was. Uncle Fred became close friends with Blues teammates, Glenn Hall and Red Berenson, who often came to the ranch in western Alberta where I had my own horse and where I lived for a few months every summer. This was maybe the early to mid-'70s and Hall and Berenson would stay for weeks. Their wives and kids would be there too. Then, us guys, on horseback would saddle up our horses, grab our Winchester rifles, rig up a couple of pack horses, and go for a week or so trout fishing in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains - catching rainbows and cutthroat mainly, in untouched areas, streams, where few if any people had ever been to. It was an idyllic life for a kid. I could tell you stories...

Jealous

 

[AjaxManifesto]

If we didn't look like hot garbage the last 2 playoffs I'd be more optimistic.

On paper we look great. The fatal flaw is that we mentally wander in games.

I've lost count of games where we went 10-15 minutes without a shot on net.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Let’s win game one and go from there. Make the doubt in the Wild’s mind get bigger and bigger. Playoffs are mental warfare just as much as physical.

Off to a good start, imo.

 

[mk80]

Copied from the GDT: The NHL DOPS is reviewing the Spurgeon play according to reports

 

[PocketNines]

Did Barbashev get hurt in the third? Minutes were low