GDT: Its Snuggy Season 7PM

[Cotton McKnight]

That game was a fun one, got stuck watching the DET feed, ESPN+ broke the STL feed sometime overnight and pretended that I was in market...Larry Murphy (former NHL D man, and color guy on the DET broadcast) has a problem with not being able to pronounce names. Said Binnington three different ways, the only one I could understand was Billington. lol Surprising their broadcast was very favorable to the opposition for once, they touched on Chaser's battle with cancer, walked through Binningtons road to the NHL with former AGM Armstrong, mentioned how Vova scored his first two against DET, spent more time talking about the Blues D in-depth. Far less homer coverage versus last year when I had to watch a couple of their broadcasts.

Kyrou the open ice big hitter!

Blues score on the 6v5, that was not how that normally goes!

Fowler had a great overall game, AP who?

Snuggles had a good look on Talbot, looked like he has to get up to speed on the system the Blues play. See some promise from him just from a game.

 

[ds774622]

Schenn has fanned on like 3 shots tonight.

we have to be the leading team in whiffing on the puck.

I swear it happened a dozen times last night. Multiple guys just fanning or weak sauce coming off the heel of the blade. Kyrou even whiffed on his goal. Was maddening all night.

I thought someone from CGY or VAN must have done some counter-Jobu hex, but then in the third period our feed showed Jobu in the tv production area. Why the hell would they disturb the aura of what's going on?

You don't say no-hitter, you don't say shutout, you don't mess with Jobu or his locker area.

 

[Brian39]

Fowler, since joint the Blues, is on a 16-goal & 55-point pace over 82 games, with excellent decision-making and puck poise. He’s been rejuvenated since getting out of Anaheim, where he was stagnant.

Folks want to give credit, rightfully so, to Army for his offer-sheet moves, Fowler acquisition and decision to stand pat at the TDL, but would those moves be paying off as much if Boston hadn’t fired Montgomery and Bannister was still the bench boss? I think Monty deserves as much credit, if not more, than Army or the players.

Montgomery took a decent, but not obscenely-talented Bruins team to historic heights in a record-setting season and has now turned chicken-shit into chicken salad with a floundering Blues roster that suddenly looks unbeatable. I’m giving Bannister (and Chief) a zero percent chance at engineering a similar turn-around mid-season. The guys have bought in and believe in one another. Monty restored a sense of togetherness and pride…these guys are reaching their full potential, which is the sign of a great coach.

Blues hockey is fun again, and there’s a ton of young talent to infuse into the roster over the next 24-months. The entire org. can take a bow if they can clinch a playoff spot and restore hope for a future Cup-window re-opening.

Don't disagree with any of this and Monty deserves plenty of credit.

But I don't think that discredits or undermines the job the front office has done, especially since it is very clear that we have been high on Monty for years now. We were the ones who gave him the chance to resurrect his career as an assistant in 2021/22 and I think it is a no brainer that he'd have been the replacement for Berube if he had still been on our bench by the time we decided to let Berube go. After last season, there was a lot of speculation that our coaching search was essentially in a holding pattern to see if Monty was going to remain with the Bruins. We extended Bannister a couple days after the Bruins made it through round 1 and then (arguably unfairly) fired Bannister to get Monty the instant Monty became available.

Are we fortunate that Boston let him go? Sure. But we also took several steps along the way to put ourselves in position to pounce on him.

 

[Brian39]

I'll add to the Fowler love. He has turned back the clock 5+ years and is playing like a no-doubt top pair D man. And while I don't want him consistently playing the 23+ minutes a night of a no-doubt #1 D man, he is looking good when we have to play him like that.

We got a legit top pair D man for a 2nd round pick in a draft that is still more than 2 years away. And that included retention to bring his cap hit down to $4M. And we got back a 4th rounder in that same draft. I know that he was a distressed asset and hadn't looked like his old self in quite some time with the Ducks. But holy smokes that was a steal.

I also want to give Faulk some credit. Since his brutal game against Vancouver, he's been really solid with 3 points and a +6 in 6 games. He's the only righty on the blueline at the moment and he's effectively handling 22+ minutes a night. He and Broberg have been solid together. I absolutely wouldn't have guessed that our D could be doing what they've been doing without Parayko and Faulk is no small part of that.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Never get in Kyrou’s way when he’s going for a line change!

 

[TheOrganist]

Faulk has been good but man he really needs to cut down on his turnovers...his puck management leaves a lot to be desired at times and he makes too many unforced errors with the puck which is the kind of thing that can kill you in a playoff series...especially with the type of competition we'll be facing.

 

[Reality Czech]

Fowler, since joining the Blues, is on a 16-goal & 55-point pace over 82 games, with excellent decision-making and puck poise. He’s been rejuvenated since getting out of Anaheim, where he was stagnant.

Folks want to give credit, rightfully so, to Army for his offer-sheet moves, Fowler acquisition and decision to stand pat at the TDL, but would those moves be paying off as much if Boston hadn’t fired Montgomery and Bannister was still the bench boss? I think Monty deserves as much credit, if not more, than Army or the players.

Montgomery took a decent, but not obscenely-talented Bruins team to historic heights in a record-setting season and has now turned chicken-shit into chicken salad with a floundering Blues roster that suddenly looks unbeatable. I’m giving Bannister (and Chief) a zero percent chance at engineering a similar turn-around mid-season. The guys have bought in and believe in one another. Monty restored a sense of togetherness and pride…these guys are reaching their full potential, which is the sign of a great coach.

Blues hockey is fun again, and there’s a ton of young talent to infuse into the roster over the next 24-months. The entire org. can take a bow if they can clinch a playoff spot and restore hope for a future Cup-window re-opening.

Fowler has been a revelation and season saver for us. I don't think even the most optimistic of fans thought he'd be this good. Getting out of Anaheim has rejuvenated him. I kinda thought he was "just a guy" but he's been so important since joining the team.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I'll kind of echo the same thoughts of others here. In a similar way to the Caps, virtually all of our moves have hit the mark. The lesser moves like Texier didn't, but who cares about that. Holloway, Broberg, Suter, Faksa, Fowler, and Monty have all been very positive acquisitions. And they've been successful to the point that everyone involved gets credit. Army for bringing them in, themselves for performing, and the guys around them for making it a situation for them to succeed in. Army said it best in his recent interviews talking about how well this group has come together, how the young guys and old guys are making it one group as opposed to different factions within the team.

Fowler's playing great hockey. In 45 games here, he already has a better +/- than any other season he had in Anaheim. Going back to the discussion comparing this team to 2019, I still think 2019 has the edge, but it really is crazy how much closer this defense is to that one. Faulk isn't what he used to be, but he has genuinely improved as the season has gone on. We are a top 4 that is strong enough where either one can effectively play the top pair if the other pair gets an injury. Having 2 different pairs that you can look at to play upwards of 25 minutes is huge because it means neither pair has to do that every night or even any night. You can manage the minutes down closer to 20 mintutes at times.

It's been a few years, but as a fan, it's nice to have basically everything be positives.

 

[Xerloris]

Do you guys remember when that one poster kept wanting to fire Armstrong because he put together a roster that is incapable of winning? I'm starting to think it was just that had a shitty coach and the roster was actually solid

 

[ds774622]

I think given how the offense had a lackluster game last night in terms of solving CamBot, and it's great everyone is giving love to Fowler, but the top four D played very well last night. Broberg and Faulk were matched up primarily against their top line of Debrincat-Larkin-Kane, while Fowler and Leddy got the Raymond-Kasper-Rasmussen assignment.

5-v-5 xG% of ~57% for Broberg/Faulk, and ~76% for Fowler/Leddy. Tucker definitely had a poor night.

 

[TheDizee]

I think given how the offense had a lackluster game last night in terms of solving CamBot, and it's great everyone is giving love to Fowler, but the top four D played very well last night. Broberg and Faulk were matched up primarily against their top line of Debrincat-Larkin-Kane, while Fowler and Leddy got the Raymond-Kasper-Rasmussen assignment.

5-v-5 xG% of ~57% for Broberg/Faulk, and ~76% for Fowler/Leddy. Tucker definitely had a poor night.

Tucker needs to be healthy scratched for a game after a inexcusable and awful pinch that led to a 2on1 and Binner had to make a superb save.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Fowler, since joining the Blues, is on a 16-goal & 55-point pace over 82 games, with excellent decision-making and puck poise. He’s been rejuvenated since getting out of Anaheim, where he was stagnant.

Folks want to give credit, rightfully so, to Army for his offer-sheet moves, Fowler acquisition and decision to stand pat at the TDL, but would those moves be paying off as much if Boston hadn’t fired Montgomery and Bannister was still the bench boss? I think Monty deserves as much credit, if not more, than Army or the players.

Montgomery took a decent, but not obscenely-talented Bruins team to historic heights in a record-setting season and has now turned chicken-shit into chicken salad with a floundering Blues roster that suddenly looks unbeatable. I’m giving Bannister (and Chief) a zero percent chance at engineering a similar turn-around mid-season. The guys have bought in and believe in one another. Monty restored a sense of togetherness and pride…these guys are reaching their full potential, which is the sign of a great coach.

Blues hockey is fun again, and there’s a ton of young talent to infuse into the roster over the next 24-months. The entire org. can take a bow if they can clinch a playoff spot and restore hope for a future Cup-window re-opening.

Doesn’t that just validate Armstrong deserves even more credit for hiring and firing Bannister?

Montgomery is who he wanted all along and would have hired him over Bannister if he was available. Instead, he gave Bannister a short term commitment with the idea being if the team failed in 2 years they could move on or it would be very easy to move on from Bannister if someone became available, which Montgomery did.

Montgomery deserves some credit for the improved play, no doubt, but the players are also playing substantially better than before. Having Fowler helps as well.

Bannister wasn’t incompetent like Yeo was.

 

[TheDizee]

Mike Yeo, Davis Payne or Drew Bannister.

Which one survives?

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Mike Yeo, Davis Payne or Drew Bannister.

Which one survives?

The one that's bald.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Mike Yeo, Davis Payne or Drew Bannister.

Which one survives?

Bannister and it’s not close

 

[ezcreepin]

Do you guys remember when that one poster kept wanting to fire Armstrong because he put together a roster that is incapable of winning? I'm starting to think it was just that had a shitty coach and the roster was actually solid

Definitely did not think the roster was as bad as they were playing, but they remind me of the 2011-2012 Blues team. Not necessarily super talented in one specific area, but it took a great coach to get the best out of the team and to show they were capable of being a playoff team. I think in 2 years this team is going to be unbelievable up front, but it's going to take a few more years before we see the fruits of the draft on defense. We have a lot of time though to let these guys marinate. We have Loof, Lindstein, Tucker, and Kessel who can hold down the fort behind veterans while the much more regarded talent develops behind them (Ralph, Fischer, Jiricek, Burns, Buchinger). Obviously Loof and Lindstein have not played in the NHL yet, but I think Lindstein will have a fairly seemless transition and I think Loof would be serviceable if not adequate to play 12-13 minutes up here. We have gotten quite lucky with how things have progressed in 2 years.

 

[ezcreepin]

Also just wanted to mention how f***ing hard and fast Snuggerud's first shot on net was despite him being pretty off-balance. I really want to see him get a clear look or let off a slapper like we saw with Tage when he first came up. Can't wait to watch him figure out goalies.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Definitely did not think the roster was as bad as they were playing, but they remind me of the 2011-2012 Blues team. Not necessarily super talented in one specific area, but it took a great coach to get the best out of the team and to show they were capable of being a playoff team. I think in 2 years this team is going to be unbelievable up front, but it's going to take a few more years before we see the fruits of the draft on defense. We have a lot of time though to let these guys marinate. We have Loof, Lindstein, Tucker, and Kessel who can hold down the fort behind veterans while the much more regarded talent develops behind them (Ralph, Fischer, Jiricek, Burns, Buchinger). Obviously Loof and Lindstein have not played in the NHL yet, but I think Lindstein will have a fairly seemless transition and I think Loof would be serviceable if not adequate to play 12-13 minutes up here. We have gotten quite lucky with how things have progressed in 2 years.

This team isn’t remotely like 2011-2012 for a variety of reasons.

1. This team has a bonafide 1C in their prime with Thomas. Backes at his best was either a first pairing wing or likely a very good 2C.
2. 2011-2012 had other talented forwards with Steen, Oshie, Perron around their prime with Schwartz and Tarasenko on the horizon. This team’s forward group of players in their prime and on the horizon is much deeper.
3. 2011-2012 had Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk entering their primes. The closest comparable on this roster to that is Broberg, who will likely exceed Shattenkirk but not be in the same atmosphere as Pietrangelo (which is no knock on Broberg, just that Pietrangelo is generational). Also shoutout to Polak.
4. The immediate construction of the defensive pairings leave more problems than answers due to $ and age for this year and the future.
5. As much as I loved Moose and liked Halak, Binnington is a much more reliable and consistent workhorse than either of them were with a way higher ceiling.
6. 2011-2012 was exiting a rebuild and entering contention. While this year is really promising, they are still likely 1 more year off from being actual contenders.

I think I’d take the current roster’s immediate future over 2011-2012 as, on paper, it blows 2011-2012 out of the water everywhere aside from Pietrangelo/Shattenkirk.

 

[BlueMed]

This team isn’t remotely like 2011-2012 for a variety of reasons.

1. This team has a bonafide 1C in their prime with Thomas. Backes at his best was either a first pairing wing or likely a very good 2C.
2. 2011-2012 had other talented forwards with Steen, Oshie, Perron around their prime with Schwartz and Tarasenko on the horizon. This team’s forward group of players in their prime and on the horizon is much deeper.
3. 2011-2012 had Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk entering their primes. The closest comparable on this roster to that is Broberg, who will likely exceed Shattenkirk but not be in the same atmosphere as Pietrangelo (which is no knock on Broberg, just that Pietrangelo is generational). Also shoutout to Polak.
4. The immediate construction of the defensive pairings leave more problems than answers due to $ and age for this year and the future.
5. As much as I loved Moose and liked Halak, Binnington is a much more reliable and consistent workhorse than either of them were with a way higher ceiling.
6. 2011-2012 was exiting a rebuild and entering contention. While this year is really promising, they are still likely 1 more year off from being actual contenders.

I think I’d take the current roster’s immediate future over 2011-2012 as, on paper, it blows 2011-2012 out of the water everywhere aside from Pietrangelo/Shattenkirk.

There are two tendencies I have noticed on this forum from almost the majority of posters.

1. Overrating past players (as well as players on other teams). I'm moreso referring to Shattenkirk here. I thought he was a really smart offensive defensemen who had a knack for putting the puck in high danger areas, but his defense left a lot to be desired. He accrued lots of points on the powerplay, but I'd choose present day Broberg over prime Shatty with all things considered.

2. Placing a disproportionate amount of emphasis on the best player while ignoring depth. There's no question Pietrangelo is the best defensemen on both rosters, but let's look at the entirety of both D cores.

Colaiacovo Pietrangelo
Jackman Shattenkirk
Russell Polak

vs.

Fowler Parayko
Broberg Faulk
Leddy Suter

The current D core has much better depth, and I would hesitate to pick the top group without more consideration.

 

[Louie the Blue]

There are two tendencies I have noticed on this forum from almost the majority of posters.

1. Overrating past players (as well as players on other teams). I'm moreso referring to Shattenkirk here. I thought he was a really smart offensive defensemen who had a knack for putting the puck in high danger areas, but his defense left a lot to be desired. He accrued lots of points on the powerplay, but I'd choose present day Broberg over prime Shatty with all things considered.

2. Placing a disproportionate amount of emphasis on the best player while ignoring depth. There's no question Pietrangelo is the best defensemen on both rosters, but let's look at the entirety of both D cores.

Colaiacovo Pietrangelo
Jackman Shattenkirk
Russell Polak

vs.

Fowler Parayko
Broberg Faulk
Leddy Suter

The current D core has much better depth, and I would hesitate to pick the top group without more consideration.

Your point is fair regarding Shattenkirk, but I did acknowledge that Broberg is likely better than him and the combination of Pietrangelo/Shattenkirk of being young defensemen > Broberg. Polak was also 26 when the season finished. I’d take those 3 collectively for their potential youth wise over whatever the Blues have with Kessel/Tucker in addition to Broberg.

 

[Stealth JD]

There are two tendencies I have noticed on this forum from almost the majority of posters.

1. Overrating past players (as well as players on other teams). I'm moreso referring to Shattenkirk here. I thought he was a really smart offensive defensemen who had a knack for putting the puck in high danger areas, but his defense left a lot to be desired. He accrued lots of points on the powerplay, but I'd choose present day Broberg over prime Shatty with all things considered.

2. Placing a disproportionate amount of emphasis on the best player while ignoring depth. There's no question Pietrangelo is the best defensemen on both rosters, but let's look at the entirety of both D cores.

Colaiacovo Pietrangelo
Jackman Shattenkirk
Russell Polak

vs.

Fowler Parayko
Broberg Faulk
Leddy Suter

The current D core has much better depth, and I would hesitate to pick the top group without more consideration.

There were playoff series where Shattenkirk was a massive liability and contributed to series losses…he simply couldn’t be sheltered enough because, as you mentioned, the depth just wasn’t there to allow it.

It’d much rather have the group we have now…though Suter has been exposed with Dallas and is probably the weak link heading into the post-season a year later.

This years group isn’t that far off the Gunnarsson-Dunn-Edmundson group of 2019. The top-3 of Petro/Parayko/Bouw are a bit better than Parayko/Fowler/Broberg…but I think I’d take Faulk/Leddy/#6 (Suter/Tucker/Kessell) over the support cast in the Cup team. It’s certainly not as big of an overall gap as it once was.

 

[TheDizee]

There were playoff series where Shattenkirk was a massive liability and contributed to series losses…he simply couldn’t be sheltered enough because, as you mentioned, the depth just wasn’t there to allow it.

It’d much rather have the group we have now…though Suter has been exposed with Dallas and is probably the weak link heading into the post-season a year later.

This years group isn’t that far off the Gunnarsson-Dunn-Edmundson group of 2019. The top-3 of Petro/Parayko/Bouw are a bit better than Parayko/Fowler/Broberg…but I think I’d take Faulk/Leddy/#6 (Suter/Tucker/Kessell) over the support cast in the Cup team. It’s certainly not as big of an overall gap as it once was.

That was the 2016 series vs the Hawks where Shattenkirk was terrible. He and Edmundson were a terrible combo and had to be sheltered severely.

IIRC he had some pregame quote along the lines of "we are going to play our best hockey of the season tonight" before Game 6 vs Hawks and then followed that up with a -3 game and some of the worst hockey I ever saw him play.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

Kyrou the open ice big hitter!

Blues score on the 6v5, that was not how that normally goes!

Fowler had a great overall game, AP who?

Snuggles had a good look on Talbot, looked like he has to get up to speed on the system the Blues play. See some promise from him just from a game.

Yeah, Kyrou of this vintage could actually be a perennial playoff force.

Fowler is basically everything that Krug should have been, and then some.

I think you meant Benedict Pietrangelo.

But I doubt Snugs would have much ice time the rest of the year. He is mostly here just to acclimate to the NHL and to learn from a playoff ready team.

 

[ezcreepin]

This team isn’t remotely like 2011-2012 for a variety of reasons.

1. This team has a bonafide 1C in their prime with Thomas. Backes at his best was either a first pairing wing or likely a very good 2C.
2. 2011-2012 had other talented forwards with Steen, Oshie, Perron around their prime with Schwartz and Tarasenko on the horizon. This team’s forward group of players in their prime and on the horizon is much deeper.
3. 2011-2012 had Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk entering their primes. The closest comparable on this roster to that is Broberg, who will likely exceed Shattenkirk but not be in the same atmosphere as Pietrangelo (which is no knock on Broberg, just that Pietrangelo is generational). Also shoutout to Polak.
4. The immediate construction of the defensive pairings leave more problems than answers due to $ and age for this year and the future.
5. As much as I loved Moose and liked Halak, Binnington is a much more reliable and consistent workhorse than either of them were with a way higher ceiling.
6. 2011-2012 was exiting a rebuild and entering contention. While this year is really promising, they are still likely 1 more year off from being actual contenders.

I think I’d take the current roster’s immediate future over 2011-2012 as, on paper, it blows 2011-2012 out of the water everywhere aside from Pietrangelo/Shattenkirk.

We’re going to agree to disagree here because there are similarities to this team and there are clear differences. The 2011-2012 team did not have a star offensive forward, but there were plenty of players who could accrue 50-60 points on the roster (end result was different). That team was a defensive stalwart and anyone who disagrees is just wrong. But this is also how the league was at the time and we were one of the best. Now, the league has shifted to more offensive power and you see it on this roster. How many truly great defensive forwards do we have on this roster? At most 4 I guess? The 2011-2012 team had a pretty defensively talented top 9 or at the very least 6 very responsible forwards.

Defense is much different, but somehow they managed to be quite good defensively given a certain structure. Before the coaching change, we would’ve said any one of Faulk, Leddy, Fowler, Tucker, or Suter is washed, but they have bought into the system and completely rewritten who they are as players. I think the same could be said for the 11-12 team. The tandem I think we could call even performance wise but obviously Binnington is much more durable and consistent than either of the two.

I’m not going to sit here and say that they are the same team, because they are not. But I think the similarities are there and present enough that it’s fair to compare the two while also being mindful that the game has changed over the last decade.