Alright just got in to work, a little hungover, time to rant.
Where is the forecheck?
Schwartz clearly isnt ready, he looks awful out there and its not his fault entirely. He is working hard but he is just getting pushed around and outmuscled every play, he needs to go down.
Redden blows. Cole needs to play, thats all.
Ellliot is playing like the real Elliot. Not a huge surprise
Petro isnt Erik Karlsson, quit trying to play like him and play your game, its great that hes the only one creating any offence but we need him to play d like he did last year.
Where is the forecheck?
Stewart really pissed me off last night, IMO that 3rd goal was all on him, he is standing right next to that guy(forget his name) with his thumb in his ass while this guy just hammers in the rebound, where is the effort?
Steen clearly isnt cutting it at center, he needs to be moved back to the wing, cant win a faceoff if his life depended on it, not that any of our guys could. He is so much more effective on the wing, a lot of people say our number one need is a partner for Petro, I disagree, we need another center.
Perron. Kid, you are not Malkin, you are not Kovalev, you have these things called teammates, use them, pass them the puck. Im so sick of him trying to do everything himself and just stickhandle around by himself until he coughs up the puck, honestly I wouldnt mind seeing him go.
Sorry for the rant but like i said im hungover and really pissed about the last couple games. good day
Oh, and wheres the forecheck?
edit: Got all caught up in my hate and forgot to mention, Oshie looked great, he is playing great this year.
Fantastic post, I agree with everything.
I don't think I've ever been as pissed off about a game as I was last night. Usually when the Blues play poorly I'm mad for the next half hour after the game but I get over it. But man that game last night has really put me in a sour mood. Just can't stop thinking about it...it's awful the way we've lost the past few games. And Hitchcock is apparently giving them a day of rest today. I strongly disagree with that. We've had enough rest lately by playing 2 games over the past week and look what freakin' happened. They laid an egg in both games and looked completely pathetic out there. I would have worked them hard today, but what do I know...
Stewart isn't working on this team. Hate to say it but it's true.
Perron isn't much better. He has a couple good games and scores a bunch of points and then starts playing like an idiot for the next stretch.
I would look at moving both of them (as I pointed out in the trade proposals thread).
I've seen enough of Schwartz and Russell. I don't get what Hitch sees in these two...they need to sit for a while. They are awful and just too small. Honestly, Porter would be better suited here. His energy on the 4th-line would be welcomed.
I feel bad for Cole and even D'Agostini. Give them a chance, and with REAL players this time. Don't put D'Ags with Nichol and Reaves. He has no chance of scoring there...
I must have underrated Halak, we need him back. He isn't the savior by any means, but he IS better than Elliott. Good grief Elliott's been horrible.
Agreed, we need a center in the worst way...That should be our #1 priority. Cole/Redden may not be ideal but they should be OK.
I want to see more from McDonald, he's not impressing me that much.
Oshie, Jackman and Shattenkirk are some of the few who have impressed me during this horrible stretch. They play hard and pretty well. I do admire Oshie's work ethic...he gets a lot of ice time and always shows up. He's a good player for us. Berglund and Tarasenko have been alright. I like Berglund a lot more now. I used to lump him in with Stewart as inconsistent, and while he still may be offensively, his defensive game is much improved, so whenever he's out there I now feel like he at least makes an impact somehow. Backes' game I'm okay with. Yeah he needs to start scoring but his physical presence is one that we cannot live without.
A lot to talk about. Saturday will be interesting. Will they get back to their game and identity? Because the forecheck and physicality has just completely disappeared...and that's very strange. They need to get back to playing their brand of hockey. But still, these losses have exposed some flaws the Blues have and we have to fix them.