GDT: Game 52/82 Blues @ Avs 8PM CST FDSNMW

[taylord22]

Might be an unpopular opinion since our fanbase -by and large- prefers a ‘playing it tough’ style of handling things, but I’m not surprised at all we came out in eggshells after the comments that Army made. Playing to not make a mistake against the Avs is a recipe for disaster.

There’s just far too much: skating hard for the purpose of skating hard, being physical for the purpose of being physical, etc, etc…

Half of this lineup is incapable of making plays on a consistent basis. And im not talking about our skill guys trying to create under pressure…that happens. I’m talking about pucks in skates on unpressured breakouts. Blindly whipping pucks into hard vs. soft ice. Those things make it nearly impossible for any line to generate momentum.

The skill guys haven’t been good enough. The goaltenders haven’t been good enough. The bottom 6 just isn’t good enough. This just isn’t a well built team - and it hasn’t been for years. We’ve been filling out our roster with spare parts, cast offs, and players you have to squint at to believe they’re actually NHL quality.

…it’s also why there’s not much national commentary on the Blues falling out of the race. The only people shocked it’s happening seem to be Army and the local beat writers. We have ‘pieces’, not a team.

I’m disappointed Thomas, Buch have had such a rough January. I’m disappointed our 1 working line has been average the last 6 games. I’m disappointed the goaltending hasn’t been great, and our special teams have been abysmal.

The only things I’m “worried” about -long term- is that our GM/Front Office believes that our “core” has enough help, and that this roster was good enough to hold accountable for failing to make the playoffs.

 

[Majorityof1]

I think there is a difference between punting on season before it starts and accepting reality when it is clear the playoff chase is lost. We have learned a lot about some of our kids- the Offer Sheet Boys are keepers- and seen progress there. The rest of the season we need to look solely to player development and not focus on wins, IMO. Perhaps we should have reached that conclusion sooner, but this is where we’re at.

After the offer sheets, off-season moves, etc, I was actually on board at the start of the season. It wasn't until Thomas got hurt 8 games in that I jumped on the tank train and have never gotten off. Losing Thomas was going to put us in a hole, and we weren't good enough to get out of it. The cheap depth wasn't working out, Leddy was hurt, a few younger players took a step back/sideways rather than the step forward we hoped, Buch at C was an epic failure. We didn't have it, and it seemed obvious.

We should have been focusing on player development all year. Doing it with 30 left is not as valuable as with 50 or 60. We'd have probably learned more about our kids if we had given some of them consistent deployment and not burying them in some chase for the playoffs with flawed veterans. And it's not hindsight when someone has been saying that all year.

C'est le vi. But I can't help but feel a certain way about being called a sourpuss, killjoy and fake fan for seeing early what EVERYONE is saying now.

 

[Frobbo]

Uh, maybe Dom and others were right with their less than lukewarm pre-season Blues forecasts.

 

[TheDizee]

Uh, maybe Dom and others were right with their less than lukewarm pre-season Blues forecasts.

There were a few of us who knew this team was terrible.