GDT: Game 8: Blues at Red Wings 2/1/13 at 6:30 CST

[LeftBackLegend]

Wings fan in peace... you got shafted hard on the Backes hit, was a beautiful, picture-perfect hit, clean as they come. Atrocious call!

That said, I don't think it's reason to go overboard with the whole bias/rigged/conspiracy thing. Bollocks call, but those happen.

You lot look intimidatingly impressive, I have no doubt you will be challenging this year.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Wings fan in peace... you got shafted hard on the Backes hit, was a beautiful, picture-perfect hit, clean as they come. Atrocious call!

That said, I don't think it's reason to go overboard with the whole bias/rigged/conspiracy thing. Bollocks call, but those happen.

You lot look intimidatingly impressive, I have no doubt you will be challenging this year.

Yeah I don't buy into conspiracies at all. It's unfortunate but I'm trying to move on. It's a bitter pill to swallow though.

 

[LeftBackLegend]

Yeah I don't buy into conspiracies at all. It's unfortunate but I'm trying to move on. It's a bitter pill to swallow though.

Soon forgotten when you go on a tear, though!

 

[trevorftw]

I don't think it was a reputation call at all. It was just a call from an official that did not have a clear look at the play. If they were handing out reputation calls, Tootoo would've been gone for blowing up Polak. Nothing wrong with either hit, but at least Tootoo's looked more violent. Huskins just collapsed after he got the wind knocked out of him. He just wasn't in the right spot to make the call, and the other official either didn't see it, or didn't care. I hope he didn't see it.

couldn't have said it better. I think the refs trusted the hometown fans' boos, since they missed the play.

It's times like these I wish plays were reviewable. I get that the game shouldn't be slowed down, but when the it's so close, and the game is drawing toward conclusion, there's just too much at stake to blow a call like that.

Also, the refs do seem to be rusty this season. That columbus incidental contact call was bogus, but even the simple things like getting out of the way when the puck comes around the boards at you seems to be done at a lesser quality than years back. I'm not sure what the issue is. Maybe it's fatigue. There are many more games in a tighter time frame than other seasons. I don't remember reading anything about the NHL hiring more refs to make up for that.

 

[The Note]

What I can say is I have a new worst call I've ever seen though. And as someone else said Shattenkirk played outstanding tonight

 

[2 Minute Minor]

After sleeping on it, the horrible call still bothers me, but the Blues PK being average bothers me more. I remember the long stretch they went on last season where they killed....felt like 30 penalties in a row or something. This PK doesn't look capable of that to say the least.

I'm also glad that the Blues fanbase can be upset about a bad call, and not things like having their captain out with a concussion (Colorado) or their star center having back surgery (Ottawa). Bad calls are the problems I WANT to have.

That game next Thursday should be a doozy. I also felt the Blues played well enough to win the game, and probably would have won if they played it 10 times, more than half the time. There were some flaws, but coming back from the 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead AT Detroit is the kind of tenacity we haven't always seen from this team. You can tell, they expect to win every game. And with the two losses so far, both games against top teams in the division, on the road, 2nd night of back-to-back, and both were games the Blues could easily have won.

I also find that I care a lot less about how the playoff seeds work out this season, and more about winning in the post-season. Sure, I want them to win every game....but whatever the journey is this team has to take to win the Cup, I want it. And I figure there has to be some adversity during the season for the team to grow to its potential.

 

[Big Al 2]

It was over 50 in a row actually, they almost set the nhl record they were 2 kills or so short of it when Chicago scored a ppg to break the streak.

 

[BlueBeard]

After sleeping on it, the horrible call still bothers me, but the Blues PK being average bothers me more. I remember the long stretch they went on last season where they killed....felt like 30 penalties in a row or something. This PK doesn't look capable of that to say the least.

I'm also glad that the Blues fanbase can be upset about a bad call, and not things like having their captain out with a concussion (Colorado) or their star center having back surgery (Ottawa). Bad calls are the problems I WANT to have.

That game next Thursday should be a doozy. I also felt the Blues played well enough to win the game, and probably would have won if they played it 10 times, more than half the time. There were some flaws, but coming back from the 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead AT Detroit is the kind of tenacity we haven't always seen from this team. You can tell, they expect to win every game. And with the two losses so far, both games against top teams in the division, on the road, 2nd night of back-to-back, and both were games the Blues could easily have won.

I also find that I care a lot less about how the playoff seeds work out this season, and more about winning in the post-season. Sure, I want them to win every game....but whatever the journey is this team has to take to win the Cup, I want it. And I figure there has to be some adversity during the season for the team to grow to its potential.

I agree with you about the PK still being bad, but I am not worried about it in the long run. Hitchcock was pretty outspoken about how the checking game will take the longest amount of time to get back. He has been right so often I'm not even going to worry a single bit about it. We have the right coach and a plethora of players willing to put the work in to get it done, the results will be there when we need them to be.

 

[JustOneB4IDie]

As pissed as I was about that call on Backes at the time. Meh **** it, let the boys get a few more practices in, keep refining some areas and move forward. Like someone else said earlier in the thread, not the first time we've gotten screwed and it won't be the last.

Bring on the Preds.

This.

 

[Celtic Note]

Shattenkirk was ****ing awesome. Cannot bring myself to talk about the hit and officiating. Just, man, what a game for Shatty.

Agreed. Shatty has taken his game up another level. I am more impressed with his defensive game progression than his offense to be honest.

Petro on the other hand does not look as sharp in the defensive zone as he did last year.

Our goaltending has wavered a ton this year. Hopefully they can right that ship...along with our PK.

 

[ComradeRuskie]

From twitter.

Jeremy Rutherford ‏@jprutherford
Halak has a lower-body injury. Will be re-evaluated today. #stlblues

 

[sh724]

NHL rescinded the game misconduct about an hr ago

 

[2 Minute Minor]

It was over 50 in a row actually, they almost set the nhl record they were 2 kills or so short of it when Chicago scored a ppg to break the streak.

I thought it was 50, but then I said to myself, "That can't be right...that is amazing."

 

[2 Minute Minor]

NHL rescinded the game misconduct about an hr ago

What does that mean? What ramification is there?

 

[BlueBeard]

What does that mean? What ramification is there?

It means he doesn't get lumped into the prior offenders crowd so the next time a ref loses his contacts on the ice Backes will not be suspended as a result.

 

[542365]

couldn't have said it better. I think the refs trusted the hometown fans' boos, since they missed the play.

It's times like these I wish plays were reviewable. I get that the game shouldn't be slowed down, but when the it's so close, and the game is drawing toward conclusion, there's just too much at stake to blow a call like that.

Also, the refs do seem to be rusty this season. That columbus incidental contact call was bogus, but even the simple things like getting out of the way when the puck comes around the boards at you seems to be done at a lesser quality than years back. I'm not sure what the issue is. Maybe it's fatigue. There are many more games in a tighter time frame than other seasons. I don't remember reading anything about the NHL hiring more refs to make up for that.

I'm convinced the calls are intentional. The casual hockey fan likes seeing high scoring games. Well, most hockey fans like seeing high scoring games. I love seeing high scoring games, but only when it comes from defensive lapses/creative offensive plays. I don't like these manufactured high scoring games. I'm not talking about the Backes call last night, more so the rest of the soft calls throughout the game against both teams. It just needs to stop. Much rather have a tight checking, 2-1 game with a couple of legitimate PP's to both sides, over a game like last night where the refs clearly wanted that game to end 6-5 or something like that.

EDIT: To add, I also agree with cleaning up the PK. It's just so damn passive this year. That call on Backes was bad, but it didn't give the Wings a free goal. If we kill that penalty, we probably have a lot of momentum and have a very good chance to win the game. We didn't, we gave a ridiculously skilled player in Datsyuk too much time and space, and he did what he usually does, hit his spot. Maybe this passivity on the PK is a conscious decision by the coaching staff to keep the players fresh in the shortened season. I personally hope not, but it's the only reason I can come up with for the system change to something that was so successful last season.

 

[Big Al 2]

It's the league trying to fix the concussion issue. That's what the soft interference calls are about and why the refs seem so bad. It's impossible to call a game consistently with what the league is asking the refs to do its the same way the nfl is getting watered down.

 

[Mike Liut]

It's the league trying to fix the concussion issue. That's what the soft interference calls are about and why the refs seem so bad. It's impossible to call a game consistently with what the league is asking the refs to do its the same way the nfl is getting watered down.

I don't think that stops concussions at all. It gives the wingers full speed to drill a defender into the end boards because they aren't being slowed up.

 

[BlueDream]

It's funny how the goalies on this team seem to get a free pass. I am not worried at all about our PK. You think guys like Backes, Oshie, Steen, Sobotka, Nichol, Jackman, Polak, Petro, Shattenkirk have forgotten how to kill penalties? It's not like anything with our units has changed. It's the goalies that aren't stopping pucks. Look, Elliott's save% is .900 and Halak's is .889. That's not good. They have not been one of the strong points on this team. Everyone else looks pretty good for the most part.

The Blues got screwed out of a win here but they should come back angry with hopefully 2 wins Tuesday and Thursday.

 

[richo]

Not a Blues fan at all, but had to comment on the crap call. The hit was as good as they come and it's my understanding that Backes is a class act. The replay shows the ref behind Huskins without a view of how Backes actually hit Huskins. This means he made a call based upon what he thinks occurred instead of what actually occurred. Crap.

I also had to say I was impressed with the fact that your team did not send someone to immediately attack Tootoo after his hit. Too often now after someone gets hit hard, cleanly, the other team feels some need to go try to beat the crap out of him. Come on. In the old days you would note the guys number and then go get him back the same way when he had his head down.

 

[542365]

It's funny how the goalies on this team seem to get a free pass. I am not worried at all about our PK. You think guys like Backes, Oshie, Steen, Sobotka, Nichol, Jackman, Polak, Petro, Shattenkirk have forgotten how to kill penalties? It's not like anything with our units has changed. It's the goalies that aren't stopping pucks. Look, Elliott's save% is .900 and Halak's is .889. That's not good. They have not been one of the strong points on this team. Everyone else looks pretty good for the most part.

The Blues got screwed out of a win here but they should come back angry with hopefully 2 wins Tuesday and Thursday.

The players haven't changed, but the system seems to be much more passive this year. Last season the Blues would hound the puck carrier and make his life hell. Now, multiple times at various parts of the game, the players have stood in a passive box and just watched the play go down. The goalies have under performed also, no doubt about that. However, the PK in front of them hasn't exactly been great.

 

[rumrokh]

I also had to say I was impressed with the fact that your team did not send someone to immediately attack Tootoo after his hit. Too often now after someone gets hit hard, cleanly, the other team feels some need to go try to beat the crap out of him. Come on. In the old days you would note the guys number and then go get him back the same way when he had his head down.

The Blues move the puck quickly and they have a lot of smart, heads-up players, so it's rare that someone gets really lit up. So the sheer number of overreactions by Blues players is going to be low. And on top of that, most of the guys on the team can take care of themselves. Polak is a freakin' yeti, so if he didn't go after the guy who hit him, the rest of the team knows they don't have to, either.

 

[od71]

Not a Blues fan at all, but had to comment on the crap call. The hit was as good as they come and it's my understanding that Backes is a class act. The replay shows the ref behind Huskins without a view of how Backes actually hit Huskins. This means he made a call based upon what he thinks occurred instead of what actually occurred. Crap.

I also had to say I was impressed with the fact that your team did not send someone to immediately attack Tootoo after his hit. Too often now after someone gets hit hard, cleanly, the other team feels some need to go try to beat the crap out of him. Come on. In the old days you would note the guys number and then go get him back the same way when he had his head down.

At least he had to see that Baskes knees were bent, his skates were on ice and he couldn't reach Huskins head with his shoulder

 

[Oberyn]

It's funny how the goalies on this team seem to get a free pass. I am not worried at all about our PK. You think guys like Backes, Oshie, Steen, Sobotka, Nichol, Jackman, Polak, Petro, Shattenkirk have forgotten how to kill penalties? It's not like anything with our units has changed. It's the goalies that aren't stopping pucks. Look, Elliott's save% is .900 and Halak's is .889. That's not good. They have not been one of the strong points on this team. Everyone else looks pretty good for the most part.

The Blues got screwed out of a win here but they should come back angry with hopefully 2 wins Tuesday and Thursday.

Although our goalies do need to be better, our PK looks drastically different this year. It's incredibly passive now which is frustrating to watch since last year they would be attacking the puck carrier consistently. We're giving the opposition way too much time to make a pass.

 

[JustOneB4IDie]

My take on the Backes game misconduct incident Friday : I think the NHL needs some sort of limited coaches challenge to avoid these situations. They can be game deciding, as was the case against the Blues in Detroit. They just need to limit the challenge to one a game and you lose a time out or get a delay of game if you're wrong. Thoughts?