Half-Assed GDT: Blues @ Wild preseason

[stl76]

If you want to explain what he’s so good at, then go ahead. So far nobody seems able to do that, so it’s more likely you just have “shiny new toy syndrome”.

What are you talking about? I've posted several times what he's so good at - he's an extremely gifted passer. If you're going to accuse me of "shiny new toy syndrome" then I think it's fair to accuse you of "zombie group think syndrome."

Seriously, it's like everyone read the same post that said "Brown is big but plays soft, bad attitude doesn't hustle" and decided to treat it as freaking gospel. I've seen a lot of the same points being parroted by people lately, and frankly the points seem either grossly exaggerated or flat out not accurate.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I don't understand all the Brown hate. It's like everyone read the same couple Ottawa posters and has decided he sucks.

I thought he looked fine tonight, made some nice passes. For some reason he kept getting kicked out of the faceoff circle. Not sure what was going on there, but he wasn't able to get comfortable on the dot. The OT goal was the only goal against Brown was directly involved in - looked like poor communication between him and Walman on a player hand off in the slot.

Thought Husso played a solid game overall. Let up 1 weak goal where he failed to seal the post short side, but had zero chance on the 3 other goals and made a couple highlight reel saves.

The problem is that Brown's path to becoming a difference-maker and securing a roster spot is bleak.

- He's not good enough to be in the top 9 right now, and its hard to see him functioning on the 4th line.
- He's waiver eligible, so sending him down may be as good as losing him for nothing.
- If he makes the team as a spare forward, how is he going to get enough minutes or experience to get better?
- If he's doomed to go down on waivers to have at least the chance of further AHL development, the time to send him is now when every team is scrambling with their final cuts. Later in the year, its more likely other teams will have roster room to gamble on him.

Maybe the Blues keep him for a while and try to feed him occasional starts, let him practice with the team. But I just think its pretty unlikely he's going to develop enough for that path to lead to a useful Blues player. That's the part that reminds ME of Yakupov.

I sincerely hope we're all wrong about him. Maybe he deserves a chance to hang with the club and show he can contribute. But it would be kind of lame to do that at the expense of another guy who has done more to earn a spot.

 

[Majorityof1]

What are you talking about? I've posted several times what he's so good at - he's an extremely gifted passer. If you're going to accuse me of "shiny new toy syndrome" then I think it's fair to accuse you of "zombie group think syndrome."

Seriously, it's like everyone read the same post that said "Brown is big but plays soft, bad attitude doesn't hustle" and decided to treat it as freaking gospel. I've seen a lot of the same points being parroted by people lately, and frankly the points seem either grossly exaggerated or flat out not accurate.

Except it is true. I have established my "going against group think" cred pretty solidly. But sometimes a group thinks a certain way because its true. I have specifically watched Brown for fairly large sections of multiple games this pre-season, rewinding multiple plays to specifically see how he played off-puck. I have never seen someone so unwilling to even briefly touch another player in any contact sport I've ever watched. I legitimately think he has a psychological fear of even rubbing up against an opposing player. I am not joking or exaggerating when I say this. I honestly think he suffers from some phobia.

He bumped shoulders with a puck carrier once that looked almost accidental as Brown was trying to move out of the way. The puck carrier didn't expect him to move away and moved with him. After the contact, Brown stopped skating, kinda jumped, and looked shocked and disturbed by it. When he is bending down to pick up a puck, he straightens up and completely disengages from the puck if an opposing player comes near him. I mean complete disengagement, he takes his stick off the ice, puts his arms close to his body and makes himself as skinny as he he can. I've seen this multiple times. I saw him throw a cross check on the forecheck where he held his stick out at complete arms length and turned his face away from the "contact". I use contact in quotes because there was none. He missed the check because he was turning his face away and coming in super awkward. I specifically looked for him hitting someone, watching him on defense and the forecheck as much as camera angles allowed. The accidental bump is all I saw (stats bear this out as he has one hit).

I agree that he is a gifted playmaker. But he is no Adam Oates, He is not so gifted that we can have him completely give up on any contested puck battle and try to play matador on the forecheck. He doesn't have to be a difference maker physically. But he needs to fight long enough on puck battles to allow teammates to come in. He needs to forecheck well enough to at least make the opposing player slow down enough to go around him. Without doing that, we won't have the puck enough for his play making to matter.

 

[TheDizee]

Husso terrible on 3rd one too.

Husso is not very good and if the Blues are to rely on him to carry the load for any significant time this season, we are in trouble.

 

[Majorityof1]

Husso terrible on 3rd one too.

What is Husso supposed to do on the 3 goal? He had a 6'3" 200+ pound Sturm just camped an inch in front of his face for like 5 minutes. The shot comes in and the guy an inch from his face deflects it. How is he supposed to stop that? I hate how we just let guys camp right in from of our goalie. People say you can't move them anymore cause of the rules. Well if that's the case, why don't we ever camp someone an inch from the goalie?

I don't like the 2nd and 4th goal from Husso. The second was a really great shot though. The announcers said it went between his arm and body, but I put it down to .25 speed. It went just under the bar. That scores on 90% of Nhl goalies. The way they are taught to hug the post now leaves that spot over their shoulder and just under the bar open. One of the goalie guys can probably explain it better, but its called the reverse VH. It supposedly seals the bar better but does leave you completely open to that shot. I wish Perunovich had done a better job pushing him wide. But overall, it was just a perfect shot.

The 4th he should have stopped. I don't think it was screened much. He moved his glove for it, and just didn't get it. But, we never should have gotten to that point. We were trounced in that game outside the first 10-15 minutes. Had we been competitive in the 2nd or 3rd period, it never would have gone to Ot.

Also, not having to do with Husso or the quote, but where was our top line tonight? Kostin, Barby and Bozak has 2 legit NHLers and a promising prospect on it. That line should have dominated. It was invisible. They did have the least ice time of any Blues players. But even in 10 minutes, you'd think they'd get 1 scoring chance and more than 1 Corsi For event between them.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

And I don’t think either Mikkola or Walman are legit nhl d.

If last night is any indication, then Perunovich isn't either in the defensive zone. This is the NHL. You can't give guys that much time and space to shoot. Here they don't miss those shots. Needs some AHL time to figure out the defensive side of the ice. We need a top four left handed shot D man. Scandella can be the #6 guy. If it is between Mikkola, Walman or Perunovich, then I pick Calle Rosen.....

 

[Ranksu]

Brown at faceoffs. 1-12/8%

Faceoff Comparison

 

[Robb_K]

Haha, looking at stats after the game, it may seem that I was totally wrong in the discussion pre-game.

Will have a look at the game later on to get some feels. That being said, I had hoped that players like Brown, Kostin, Alexandrov and Perunovich had used the game to shine. Stats wise, Alexandrov looks decent though.

Time will tell.

Perunovich looked okay, overall, and didn't look like he didn't belong. Brown looked terrible defending on the game winning goal. He just let the puck carrier go to an open space and fire the puck by Husso. He didn't close in on him and try to impede his progress towards the goal, or his view of the goalie and net. That was his man. Brown, earlier, made a couple good passes to his linemates, but he won't be able to play for Berube if he doesn't play 2-way hockey. Kostin didn't do much that was noticeable. For someone, who 3 years ago, looked like he might, with some experience, eventually become a solid power forward in The NHL, he hasn't progressed much over that period.

 

[Robb_K]

If last night is any indication, then Perunovich isn't either in the defensive zone. This is the NHL. You can't give guys that much time and space to shoot. Here they don't miss those shots. Needs some AHL time to figure out the defensive side of the ice. We need a top four left handed shot D man. Scandella can be the #6 guy. If it is between Mikkola, Walman or Perunovich, then I pick Calle Rosen.....

I agree with this. Perunovich, over the 2 years before this, showed me nothing in his defensive game that indicated he'd be able to play regularly as a defenceman in The NHL. But, now, although he doesn't look quite ready, I think his starting in The AHL, and playing 30-50 games there should get him ready. Too bad this will be such a short season. So, he'll come up later, after at least half the season is over.

 

[Robb_K]

I'm happy with the way Husso played. His play, most of last season, looked very shaky to me, other than a couple good games. He looked good tonight. Maybe he'll have more confidence, and play better this season.

 

[Ridge1982]

God help us if Binny goes down for an extended period of time.

 

[TheDizee]

God help us if Binny goes down for an extended period of time.

If he goes down this team won't sniff the playoffs even if they have a huge advantage on the last spot

He's the worst backup we've had since Toivonen

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

The problem is that Brown's path to becoming a difference-maker and securing a roster spot is bleak.

- He's not good enough to be in the top 9 right now, and its hard to see him functioning on the 4th line.
- He's waiver eligible, so sending him down may be as good as losing him for nothing.
- If he makes the team as a spare forward, how is he going to get enough minutes or experience to get better?
- If he's doomed to go down on waivers to have at least the chance of further AHL development, the time to send him is now when every team is scrambling with their final cuts. Later in the year, its more likely other teams will have roster room to gamble on him.

Maybe the Blues keep him for a while and try to feed him occasional starts, let him practice with the team. But I just think its pretty unlikely he's going to develop enough for that path to lead to a useful Blues player. That's the part that reminds ME of Yakupov.

I sincerely hope we're all wrong about him. Maybe he deserves a chance to hang with the club and show he can contribute. But it would be kind of lame to do that at the expense of another guy who has done more to earn a spot.

If our 4th line is bozo and Barbie couldn’t brown function on that? I wouldn’t want him with Joshua and Clifford but bozo and Barbie have some skill.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

What is Husso supposed to do on the 3 goal? He had a 6'3" 200+ pound Sturm just camped an inch in front of his face for like 5 minutes. The shot comes in and the guy an inch from his face deflects it. How is he supposed to stop that? I hate how we just let guys camp right in from of our goalie. People say you can't move them anymore cause of the rules. Well if that's the case, why don't we ever camp someone an inch from the goalie?

I don't like the 2nd and 4th goal from Husso. The second was a really great shot though. The announcers said it went between his arm and body, but I put it down to .25 speed. It went just under the bar. That scores on 90% of Nhl goalies. The way they are taught to hug the post now leaves that spot over their shoulder and just under the bar open. One of the goalie guys can probably explain it better, but its called the reverse VH. It supposedly seals the bar better but does leave you completely open to that shot. I wish Perunovich had done a better job pushing him wide. But overall, it was just a perfect shot.

The 4th he should have stopped. I don't think it was screened much. He moved his glove for it, and just didn't get it. But, we never should have gotten to that point. We were trounced in that game outside the first 10-15 minutes. Had we been competitive in the 2nd or 3rd period, it never would have gone to Ot.

Also, not having to do with Husso or the quote, but where was our top line tonight? Kostin, Barby and Bozak has 2 legit NHLers and a promising prospect on it. That line should have dominated. It was invisible. They did have the least ice time of any Blues players. But even in 10 minutes, you'd think they'd get 1 scoring chance and more than 1 Corsi For event between them.

I’m not saying he should have stopped 3rd one, but he kinda lunged at it like Jake Allen when off his game.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

If last night is any indication, then Perunovich isn't either in the defensive zone. This is the NHL. You can't give guys that much time and space to shoot. Here they don't miss those shots. Needs some AHL time to figure out the defensive side of the ice. We need a top four left handed shot D man. Scandella can be the #6 guy. If it is between Mikkola, Walman or Perunovich, then I pick Calle Rosen.....

Perunovich is work in progress on d but I think he needs to learn to defend nhlers not minor leaguers who won’t make him pay for lapses.

 

[BlueDream]

If our 4th line is bozo and Barbie couldn’t brown function on that? I wouldn’t want him with Joshua and Clifford but bozo and Barbie have some skill.

Not sure if Brown would be a fit there either, at least Clifford or Joshua in that spot gives you some energy and another PK’er.

 

[i aint Dunn yet]

has the season started yet ?

 

[mk80]

One more with CBJ and then it's on to the regular season! We're getting close

 

[TruBlu]

If he goes down this team won't sniff the playoffs even if they have a huge advantage on the last spot

He's the worst backup we've had since Toivonen

I'd argue that our goalie grade took a bigger hit with Allen leaving than our D corps did with Petro leaving. I don't think we are really looking to be in the mix more than maybe a first round out this year. I think it's a retool and DA is going to look at dumping Tank at the TDL so we can improve some positions of need...assuming Tank improves his value.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Very few came away from this game with higher marks.

 

[TheDizee]

I'd argue that our goalie grade took a bigger hit with Allen leaving than our D corps did with Petro leaving. I don't think we are really looking to be in the mix more than maybe a first round out this year. I think it's a retool and DA is going to look at dumping Tank at the TDL so we can improve some positions of need...assuming Tank improves his value.

I think that is a fair statement. If Binny does not perform this team is going nowhere. And by perform, he needs to be in the top 5-10 of NHL goalies in most stats including games played.

 

[execwrite1]

It's astonishing how poorly we play against the empty net. Other teams should pull their goalies in the first period.

Husso missed his angle on the second goal. That hurt. But otherwise he seemed fine.

 

[rumrokh]

I'd argue that our goalie grade took a bigger hit with Allen leaving than our D corps did with Petro leaving.

That's because they acquired Krug and Faulk, who stepped up in Pietrangelo's absence. It's no surprise that focusing significant resources on an aspect of the team will shore up losses. If they only tried to fill Pietro's vacancy with Walman, Mikkola, and Reinke???, we'd be currently talking about who the Blues are going to draft top 5 for their second straight year. Sure, Husso probably has a better pedigree as a developing player than those guys do, but it's really difficult to compare those two aspects of the team.

It doesn't really matter, though, because the Blues made the playoffs last year - which hasn't always been the case. I recall at least one year in which Conklin was so bad, if he only turned in an average backup performance, the Blues would have made the playoffs with a little bit of room to spare. Instead, they missed. If the Blues look good this season, but Husso leaks points to a dangerous degree, I expect Armstrong to acquire a goaltender.

 

[Xerloris]

Probably because there’s nothing about Brown to like. He’s 6’6 and is soft as toilet paper.

He’s not likely to last long here.

10-ply bud.

What is Husso supposed to do on the 3 goal? He had a 6'3" 200+ pound Sturm just camped an inch in front of his face for like 5 minutes.

He needs to watch some video of other goalies. I would suggest...

 

[Majorityof1]

It's astonishing how poorly we play against the empty net. Other teams should pull their goalies in the first period.

Husso missed his angle on the second goal. That hurt. But otherwise he seemed fine.

How did he miss his angle? He was hugging the post. It just went over his shoulder and under the bar. He had the post sealed in a Reverse VH. RVH gives the shooter under the bar, and the shooter hit it. Husso might have been crouched down a little lower than he should be but Duhaime came down with speed and wasn't slowed down much by Perunovich. Husso had to get into position quickly. It wasn't bad form for having to get into that position so quick. I think even if Husso was in a text book RVH, that still scores as it went in just under the bar.

First goal was a rebound we didn't clean up. Husso does give up too many rebounds, but these weren't his fault. Santini stood in front of the net while Greenway took a pass down low and tried to jamb it home. Greenway got his own rebound while Santinistood there, flipped a backhand off Husso's blocker from close, while Santini stood there. That rebound went right to Rask for the open shot while Santini stood there. Mikkola flew across the crease trying to block the shot while Santini stood there. Mikkola almost blocked it. Santitni just stood there.

Third goal he had a guy an inch from his face, who tipped it. He had no chance.

4th goal was his worst. It was a relatively uncontested shot from the high slot, but he saw it all the way. He tried to make a glove save and just missed. I wish Brown pressured the shooter a little more, but you got to hope your goalie comes up with that one. Still, we should have never been in OT to begin with.

That game was on the skaters. Husso kept them in it as well as anybody could have. I think Husso is getting a lot of flak for the team playing poorly. He is not a top-flight backup, and he is still relatively inexperienced at the pro level. If he cleans up his rebounds and his early gaffes, he will be more than adequate. He actually had a better point capture percentage than Binnington last year, so his play didn't hurt us. He has the potential to do a good bit better too.