GDT: Game 8/82 Blues @ Leafs 6PM CST FDSNMW

[Reality Czech]

Kyrou haters punching air right now.

Not sure how many actual Kyrou "haters" there are but he played a hell of a game and really stepped up. If he played like that every game then he'd have no haters. Awesome game from him. All of our big boys stepped up, Kyrou, Buch, Parayko and Binnington, who looked like he was seeing the game in slow motion.

I'd actually say the whole team played pretty well and I like the way they are coming together. Texier looks like a brilliant pickup and Saad has been great since he came back from daddy duty. Obviously, Holloway and Broberg made impacts and I actually thought Perunovich looked pretty good considering he hadn't played all year. Yeah his pair was on the ice for the goal against, which was kind of fluky as it hit off Joseph in front. But Perunovich looked like he wants to stay in the lineup and he showed me enough to give him another game.

That was a fun game to watch!

 

[PocketNines]

Kyrou haters punching air right now.

some are.

some who have harshly criticized his previous criticism-worthy efforts are focused on the results and not an agenda.

for some, the only agenda has ever been the Blues winning the championship and preparing to beat the second, third, fourth, fifth etc. best hockey teams in the world to do that

 

[Linkens Mastery]

If we had another top 6 Center I'd be pretty adamant we were at least a playoff team. Man, if Tex or Holloway can stick at center i would absolutely love it.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

If we had another top 6 Center I'd be pretty adamant we were at least a playoff team. Man, if Tex or Holloway can stick at center i would absolutely love it.

I want to see Holloway and Texier at 2C & 3C, respectively.

 

[PocketNines]

I was at the game tonight, I went to Toronto for my 40th and saw the HHoF and went to this game, among other things. Probably my first "live" Blues hockey game in five years. A couple of thoughts, starting with the D and then moving to forwards:

1. Broberg looks even better in person. I thought the knock on him was his IQ was low - that was not what I saw at all. When he had time, he made a nice play. When he didn't, he made a smart, simple play. I was really impressed with him overall. Very interested to see how he grows over the course of the season.

2. Faulk - Faulk was maybe the most frustrating top 4 D to watch. His puck skills are below average and his IQ is f***ing terrible. I HIGHLY disagree with that game score card thingy someone posted earlier. He gets caught in-between CONSTANTLY and it's very frustrating to watch. There were multiple times when he didn't decide if he wanted to step up or back up - his penalty was 100% a direct result of this. He made multiple egregious turnovers that Binner had to stop. He was by far our worst top 4 d-man tonight.

3. Parayko - The man simply eats ice. The only issue I have with him is in-zone PK. On the zone entry, he's a beast. But once the puck gets into the zone, the dude plays like he's 5'8". He plays extremely small, he needs to watch video of Jay-Bo on the PK from like 2016-2020 and watch how he lays out as well as uses the full length of his stick to maximize his surface coverage. We gave up a couple of grade A chances on the PK b/c he stands upright and uses basically only his blade to try and stop passes.

4. Suter - I really liked Suter's game. The dude clearly knows how to defend at the NHL level. I wish he was about 6 years younger, and then I'd have a ton of confidence in our D-core.

5. Peru/Joseph - Peru is terrible, and Joseph isn't good enough to cover for him. Peru just ain't it fam.

Forwards:

6. Schenn - Wow this dude sucks with the puck. Like legit is a f***ing dumpster fire when the puck is on his stick. Made so many bonehead ass plays that would get a kid like Bolduc stapled to the pine. Has legit no business being in the top 6 of a contender. I do not agree at all with whatever advanced stats that card thingy posted earlier says, Schenn was terrible tonight.

7. Joseph and Holloway - loved these two tonight. They both have great wheels and the motor to run them. They are the type of guys that we will need to lean on this year while we figure out how to find more overall talent.

8. Kyrou - I have never watched Kyrou in person before, but now I get what people talk about with the floating and the lack of effort. He had a really good overall game, but man is it hard to watch this guy and not think that there's a whole 'nother level he could hit if he simply had the motor. Ah well, guess we'll simply have to accept the 85 point winger he is, and not the dominant 100+ point winger he might be.

This game looks lopsided on the scoresheet, but frankly, I think the Leafs were the better team. We capitalized on our chances and the Leafs didn't. Binner played outstanding and we found a way to pot a couple goals unexpectedly.

Anyway, that's all I got for this one. Very fun finally seeing a game live for the first time in many years, and I was -not- expecting that outcome lol.

Cheers.

Happy 40th congrats on entering the HHoF! I saw the game breakdown the same way. The extra frustrating thing for the Leafs was they probably were the better team. But the Blues were determined from puck drop, they knew Berube was over there. Binnington binningtonned them in the first and that's the Blues formula for success, goalie their opponents and get the lead. They tried to do this last year but it didn't work often because the Blues weren't fast enough but now they are.

 

[TheOrganist]

I respect Badgers opinion but don't agree with some of those takes either...I think Kyrou has been pretty engaged this year...not sure how you were at the game live and didn't come away impressed with they way in which he hunted the puck and created the turnover which led directly to the Texier goal. His game has matured as Tarasenko's did over time...and offensively, Tarasenko peaked at 82 points in the reg. season so this "I'm disappointed he's not going to be a 100 point player" expectations needs to be relaxed a bit....Faulk is another one who has flaws but is definitely a legit top 4 defenseman on a good team when healthy.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

The Blues have ticked their team speed up two notches from last year. That helps a LOT even if puck skills aren’t elite.

 

[Brian39]

I think Bannister deserves a ton of credit for last night. 1st game without Thomas and he put together a lineup capable of rolling 4 lines while putting together a line that outplayed a damn good 1st line head-to-head. Dylan Holloway led all forwards with just 17:40 in ice time. No one else hit the 16 minute mark and Sunny/Kap were the only guys under 13 minutes. Not everyone/everything was perfect, but all 4 lines did their jobs last night.

Texier-Buch-Kyrou need to stay together for at least a few games. I've liked that trio both times they have been together and they have produced offensively in both games. They were incredible last night. Kyrou led our team in xGF% with a whopping 72.1% while Buch and Texier were right behind him at 69.9% and 62.1%. The next highest forward on the team was at 35.8%. That trio was all 55% or higher in scoring chances while the rest of the forwards were all under 40%. They went 100% in high danger chances while the rest of the forwards were 40% or lower. And the actual goals were 2-0 in their favor.

Most impressively, they did not get sheltered. Their most frequent opposition was the Knies-Matthews-Marner line, who they outshot, outchanced, and outscored. That line just thoroughly outplayed one of the better 1st lines in hockey.

Binner was overwhelmingly my 1st star. We had a lot of good performances from the skaters, but Binner knew he was going to get shelled tonight and brought his very best. Any dummy can tell you that stopping 40 of 41 is a great night, but he just looked dialed in out there. Bannister could have justified 'playing the hot hand' in Hofer since Binner had dropped 3 straight while Hofer is 3-0 and had back-to-back strong performances. Instead, he trusted Binner and was very much rewarded for that trust. I want to see Hofer play 2 of our next 3 (Montreal and Philly) and I think that we can now do that without people wondering who is the guy. Going back to Binner last night and getting that type of performance from Binner tells you exactly whose net this is right now.

I still want the coaching staff trying to start Hofer in roughly 35 games this year with the potential to push for close to an even split if his play earns it. But last night was one of those performances from Binner that allows you to do that without wondering who is going to be in net for the big games.

 

[MissouriMook]

I also found it funny that some were upset he let Joseph get back to Marner first. Kyrou was at the tail end of his shift and Joseph has fresh legs. Kyrou saw Joseph had the speed and legs to catch up and backed off so the two didn't collide and let Marner get a free shot off, and people were upset that "Mr speedy let Joseph beat him"

He also used his stick to try to take away a passing lane once he realized MJ had a step on him.

 

[Xerloris]

The Blues have ticked their team speed up two notches from last year. That helps a LOT even if puck skills aren’t elite.

Dude we went from the slowest skater I have ever seen in Hayes to actually having a bunch of fast skaters

 

[joe galiba]

Dude we went from the slowest skater I have ever seen in Hayes to actually having a bunch of fast skaters

Adam Creighton says hi!

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I respect Badgers opinion but don't agree with some of those takes either...I think Kyrou has been pretty engaged this year...not sure how you were at the game live and didn't come away impressed with they way in which he hunted the puck and created the turnover which led directly to the Texier goal. His game has matured as Tarasenko's did over time...and offensively, Tarasenko peaked at 82 points in the reg. season so this "I'm disappointed he's not going to be a 100 point player" expectations needs to be relaxed a bit....Faulk is another one who has flaws but is definitely a legit top 4 defenseman on a good team when healthy.

I've long appreciated Kyrou for his offensive game, and I've given him credit for stepping up defensively as well. I've never really bought into the floater narrative, and frankly I still don't. But to say he hounded the puck on the forecheck that led to Texier's goal is a silly narrative. He did a flyby on the puck carrier in the middle of the ice, it was Buch that won a board battle against two Leafs where Kyrou got to swoop in and make pass straight to Texier, who buried it nicely.

I think Kyrou is a very gifted offensive player, but I also think he over extends on his shifts sometimes, and that leads to issues.

Again, I think he's a very valuable player for the Blues, and I'm 100% happy with his progress on the defensive/work ethic catagories. But you will never confuse him for Holloway or Buch, who seem to never stop working.

 

[TheOrganist]

I don't know if you're watching NHL.com's highlights vs. Sportnet highlights but on Sportsnet they show a longer sequence of the Texier goal and to say that Kyrou's forechecking efforts and tying up Matthews stick didn't help force a turnover that led directly to a goal...well, not sure what to tell you.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I was going off my memory of watching it

 

[Brian39]

I've long appreciated Kyrou for his offensive game, and I've given him credit for stepping up defensively as well. I've never really bought into the floater narrative, and frankly I still don't. But to say he hounded the puck on the forecheck that led to Texier's goal is a silly narrative. He did a flyby on the puck carrier in the middle of the ice, it was Buch that won a board battle against two Leafs where Kyrou got to swoop in and make pass straight to Texier, who buried it nicely.

I really disagree with this assessment.

Kyrou was the first man in on the forecheck. He was looking for a pass from Texier in the neutral zone, but as soon as Texier dumped it instead Kyrou got on his horse to pressure Woll (who left the net to play the puck). His pressure on Woll forced a pass to the D man who was already being pressured by Buch instead of allowing Woll to find a better play.

The rushed D man made a touch pass to Matthews. Kyrou made a stick check on Matthews, causing him to fumble the puck back toward the corner, where Buch engaged in a board battle. Kyrou initially went to the side boards to protect against an outlet, but then chased into the corner once he saw Buch had prevented a clearing attempt. He got there as Buch caused a puck to squirt out and made the great pass.



That is a hell of a lot more puck hounding than a flyby on the puck carrier. Buch's board battle was the most impressive part of the turnover, but Kyrou did exactly what you want the F1 doing on that play. He disrupted multiple players and took away multiple outlet options that led to Buch having the opportunity to engage in that board battle. Kyrou is never going to be the guy that wins a bunch of board battles. That's not his game, but that is also not the end-all-be-all of being a puck hound. Moving your feet, rushing the puck handler into mistakes, clogging lanes, disrupting sticks, and supporting the teammate engaging in the board battle are all part of being a puck hound.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Kyrou bad. Everything good that happens when he's on the ice is the other team being bad or another player on the Blues being good and everything bad that happens when he's on the ice is his fault.

 

[TheDizee]

Kyrou had a solid game but he was not as good as some of you think he was. If he plays like he did last night, with a little more hustle every game, I would not have a problem with him.

Thing is, he likely only played that well because he was amped up playing in his hometown and playing against the man who called out his shenanigans which led to Kyrou helping getting him fired.

Come see me around Christmas to see where we stand with Mr Kyrou.