Especially letting players as old as Schenn stay out there for that long. And we could see how tired Buchnevich was when he had a chance to just reach a loose puck and skate in on goal on a wide breakaway, and was so gassed, a Shark who started behind him, passed him up, while he had to even stop skating completely. That could have been the game sealer.
It's a lot harder on the wind and legs on defence when you are adjusting your movements to where the puck carrier and/or the player you are covering are going, causing you to change directions more often, in less fluid movements (taking significantly more energy). Even Buchnevich got exhausted on that 3 minute shift. It's one thing to leave 21-25 or 26 year old star players on the ice too long to give your team a better chance to score. But, both Schenn and Buchnevich have shown fairly early tiring this season. And that long shift could easily have cost The Blues this game.
Did you see Glenn Hall, Curtis Joseph, Mike Liut, or Grant Fuhr play for The Blues? I saw them all (a decent amount in person, and a lot more on TV). I think that during his first 2 years with The Blues Glenn Hall, and Jacques Plante, in his 2 years with The Blues, both played at a higher level than Binnington. I think Binnington has been a little more steady than Joseph, but during Joseph's hot streaks, he had higher highs. If you think that during 2022-23, 2023-24, and this season, The Blues' team defence has really pulled Binnington down, making things difficult, you should have seen the ridiculously porous defences who gave Joseph almost no help at all. The same was true for most of Liut's Blues' career. The NHL game was very different back then. There were many, many more goals scored by ALL teams back when Joseph, Liut, and even Grant Fuhr, were playing for The Blues. I think Hall, Plante and Liut all played better at their heights than Binnington. Maybe Binnington could be lumped in with Joseph and Fuhr, as a second tier. Hall's play for The Blues in 1967-68, and especially the playoffs, was about the best goaltender play I've ever seen. He was instrumental in their first 2 series wins, and almost singlehandedly kept them in all 4 games in The Finals vs. The Canadiens. Even near the age of 40, he was as acrobatic making unbelievable saves, one after another, as good as any goalie I've ever seen play (including Plante's younger days with The Habs, and Terry Sawchuck with The Wings, Johnny Bower with The Leafs, Gump Worsley with The Canadiens, Ken Dryden, Martin Brodeur, Tony Esposito. Jacques Plante in 1968-69 with The Blues was almost unbeatable. Binnington was a lot less consistently great than those 2 at their heights. Hall was also excellent in '68-69. His game fell off some in '69-70, when age caught up with him. But in watching NHL, WHL, WCHL MJHL hockey from about 1950-2024, I can't remember better goaltending play for any season than Plante and Hall in their earliest 2 years with The Blues. Liut was closer to that level than Binnington, and probably Joseph, too. And maybe Binnington could have reached Fuhr's level by now.
Agreed.
Binnington is also playing during an era where scoring is up due to a multitude of reasons, compared to those two. That is the main reason for their save percentages being similar. When Mason and Turek were playing, over half the league wasn’t averaging over 3 GPG.
Bolduc and Holloway each had a little over 5 minutes of ice time after the 1st period. Both were at 9+ after the 2nd period and then both were effectively benched for old guys.
It is funny. There were several way better options that were out at the time like Smashing Pumpkins ‘Siamese Dream’, Guru’s Jazzmatazz, Clutch’s first EP, Sade ‘Love Deluxe’, Anita Baker put out a stellar record that year. Way better options than Sonia Dada, which was very popular at the time.
Hall, Cujo, and Liut also played here in the era of ties. Since the introduction of OT in the regular season, the average starting goalie probably gets 5-10 more wins per season.
I was a little disappointed that CuJo had poor taste in music, but whatever. Sonia Dada, along with 4 Non Blondes and Stone Temple Pilots were our three biggest sellers at that time.
His mental mistakes in both zones make me wonder if he's already experiencing cognitive decline.
