- Feb 12, 2008
- 19,925
- 9,457
Half-Assed GDT: Pre-season Dallas - St. Louis
- Thread starter Ranksu
- Start date
Majorityof1
Registered User
- Feb 12, 2008
- 19,925
- 9,457
AjaxManifesto
Pro sports is becoming predictable and boring
Thallis
No half measures
- Feb 12, 2008
- 19,925
- 9,457
Neighbors and Perunovich are players. Kyrou is a star. Buch was a great pickup. Krug played well. Hofer can play. This team is severely underrated.
Ill be looking forward to seeing if it all gels together. On paper, we’ve had an A-grade offseason, imo. But after two seasons of the team looking like they were playing AHL hockey for long stretches of time, I just wanna see them play clean, competitive hockey again. I think they’ve got the right pieces in place for that, but we’ll see what it looks like when you put it all together in a couple of weeks
Just an observation, after the Anas goal in celebration; he and Perunovich are next to each other and are the same size. He played well offensively don’t get me wrong. Slick mitts. Defensively….I’m thinking he needs some AHL time to handle better players. He just looks really small on the ice. Rosen played very well. Smart hockey player. He may surprise in the end, if he plays like that. Neighbours looked much better than Traverse City. Needs to finish to take a top 9 spot though. Just like Kyrou had to.
jura
booze & blues
Thallis
No half measures
Anas is 28 and has been in the AHL for 5 years. Classic case of AHL scorer who lacks the tools to really make it against NHL competition. Nieghbors was decent, but there's still a pretty clear difference between him and NHL talent at this point. Perunovich was a lot more impresive imo.
67Blues
Got it for Bobby
Perunovich looks good, but I'd rather he get some top line minutes in Springfield than fight for the 6/7 spot on the team. Let him play against bigger and faster players in the AHL and get up to speed. Sitting here in the press box for stretches won't help him.
Majorityof1
Registered User
A lot of Perunovich tire pumping in this thread. That makes sense as he did look good in the offensive zone. That one touch pass on our PP goal was beautiful. That type of quick movement is something our PP has been missing.
However, alternatively, he completely blew his coverage on the 2-on-1 that led to the Stars goal. The 2-on-1 wasn't his fault so he gets a little slack there. His job though on a 2-on-1 is to take away the pass and let the goalie handle the shot. Hestarted to do that, but then moved in on the shooter, effectively doing neither. The shooter made the pass, and Binnington was toast. That is just bad fundamental defense. If he can take away the pass, the shooter can beat Binner some of the time, but playing it like that, and its a goal 95% of the time. He did have a slick little steal that led to a chance for us at one point, but even then he was out of position and was lucky to get a stick on the puck.
I am very scared for how he looks defensively against a full NHL squad. Despite his offensive prowess, I want him to learn fundamentals of defense before playing full time in the big leagues.
Celtic Note
Living the dream
- Dec 22, 2006
- 17,339
- 6,308
I want him to develop his defensive game and hone his offensive game. The AHL seems to be the best place to do that for a year. Bring him up when injuries hit and let him get dashed of NHL seasoning to augment the AHL minutes. It also allows him to acclimate to the number of games that he is not used to playing in the NCAA.
bleedblue1223
Registered User
- Jan 21, 2011
- 52,919
- 16,367
I'm expecting that Perunovich gets between 20-40 games this season, the standard amount you sort of expect your 7th/8th guy to play. Circumstances that we don't know will be the determining factor, whether it's injuries or some of the other guys not playing well. I don't see Army risk losing the 7 non-waiver guys, and Perunovich allows us to be 8 deep with confidence, with Santini being the 9th guy.
rumrokh
THORBS
- Mar 10, 2006
- 10,154
- 3,382
I don't deny that Perunovich should've played that better, but he didn't play it any worse than Shattenkirk did on basically every single 2-on-1 in his time with the Blues. Ultimately, the Blues didn't go anywhere until Shatty was gone, but the dude was a positive impact player most of the time. That pass was actually really good and I don't really ding a rookie offensive d-man for getting burned on a play like that - one that veterans who are sound defensively also flub on a nightly basis in the NHL. If he continues to make the same mistake and never adjusts, that's the real problem.
Of course, that doesn't mean he should start the year with the Blues. He can learn in the minors. But there will reach a point at which he'll have to learn in the NHL and things like that will happen. The Blues have shed enough depth in the last couple of seasons that they'll have to learn to deal with it.
It's similar to people trying to pump the brakes on Neighbours just because he didn't finish his chances. Finishing is important, but in the span of a couple damn games, I'm a lot more impressed with the guy who got several good chances the goalie saved than I am the guy who got a couple, airmailed one and finished one.
Thallis
No half measures
The problem with those chances is that puck was basically funneled to him by NHL players vs AHL players. There wasn't really all that much offensive creation going on by Neighbours. It's not a knock that he's taking those shots, but it's hard to say the same impact would happen vs NHL competition. When he was relied on to create those chances, the results were more mixed. Again it's preseason, so it's hard to really get a read, and overall he played a good game, but Sam Anas was arguably better and he's likely a career ahler.
rumrokh
THORBS
- Mar 10, 2006
- 10,154
- 3,382
Strongly disagree. Neighbours was clearly better in forechecking and winning battles. And Neighbours was able to be a part of those plays because he read them and moved to the right spot. Anas botched his one good chance other than the OT winner - not because he didn't finish, but because he should have shot or passed when he had the opportunity, but, instead, he walked himself out of real estate and put a softy right into the goalie. Neighbours, on the other hand, made his decisions instantly, which is why he was able to get his opportunities.
Thallis
No half measures
Anas had 2 shots on goal from inside the dots, including one where he created an odd man break from a touch pass off the boards, picked up the clear attempt and brought the puck in for a good shot at 2:50 in the second. The play I think you're talking about in the 3rd was started by Anas to begin with. He won a puck battle and found the point, won a second battle and made a chance happen. Sure, he hung on to the puck a bit too long looking for a pass instead of shooting it, but it's still a long stretch of possession and a few that were created by Anas's work. I'm not trying to say that Neighbours didn't have a good game, but it seemed to me that most of his chances were the result of his linemates' work instead of his.
Brian39
Registered User
- Apr 24, 2014
- 7,580
- 14,246
I was very pleased with what I saw of Perunovich last night (I only watched about half the game). For me, I'm not at all concerned about him making the opening night roster, so the mistakes don't bug me. I saw the tools of an NHL player at his size last night and vision that was good enough to execute at a speed that's higher than the NCAA level. Last night reinforced my opinion that he could be an NHL player. I thought the good outweighed the bad, which is what I want out of an offensive specialist D man. Nothing about last night convinced me that the good would outweigh the bad against better competition, but it is positive that the good was outweighing the bad vs actual pros.
If he keeps looking like that as more NHL guys get inserted into these lineups then the staff has a decision to make. If he has a poor outing or two then it is easy to send him down. I think logging big minutes in the AHL a bit would be good for him, so my belief is that he has to play too well to cut to avoid that.
If he keeps looking like that as more NHL guys get inserted into these lineups then the staff has a decision to make. If he has a poor outing or two then it is easy to send him down. I think logging big minutes in the AHL a bit would be good for him, so my belief is that he has to play too well to cut to avoid that.
Meatwagon
Blues=Overrated
I went to the game (thanks wifey!) and a couple notes I would like to pass along:
Kyrou-He may very well be the breakout player of the year! Yes it’s preseason, yes it was against a B-squad team, but the guys fast twitch moves were crazy, I made a point of watching him the whole game, and he was legit a level above everyone on the ice. He looked more confident, more poised than ever and he could be a LEGIT game breaker! I could go on, but homeboy is fast/quick/elusive as anyone the Blues have had since Demitra.
Krug- skated with his bucket off in warm ups, only ROR and Faulk did that. I don’t know if he did it last year?, but he looked ready for the season. He was all over the ice. He was very good positionally, and had some really great keep ins, that showed his real skill level. As long as he stays healthy, he will easily put up 50 pts this year. As the same with Faulk, when you come to a new Org after leaving the only one you’ve known, there are growing pains. They’ve both had them and like Faulk was our best Dman last year, I expect Krug to really step up, have a bigger voice and earn that contract.
Perunovich-he’s ready offensively, but I’m not sure he’s quite there defensively. He is 23, so he’s an older prospect(COVID, not his fault) but he is a Krug type defenseman(Sorry Ransku). Hell he may even be elite offensively, he’s super calm under pressure when he has the puck, he can skate, and make a pass through most holes Dman don’t see. Due to his age, I expect him to break camp with the big club and he’ll at least get 9 games. Is he ready physically for NHL, I’m not sure, but his O-game is NHL caliber. The grind and defensive game is my biggest question mark, so we shall see.
Neighbors-if this was the Blues of 2015, he breaks camp with the Blues, for sure. But with the additions of Buch(note on him lower) and Saad, I’m not sure there is a spot for him. He skating is more than good enough. It’s has always been cited as a negative, but he could easily keep up with everyone but Kyrou and Parayko. Everything else written about him is true. He’s got a nose for the net, he’s a coaches dream and works his ass off. I could legit see him making the squad and getting the 9 game treatment until juniors in Dec. He’s probably not a game breaker, but at worst, he’ll be a very solid middle six forward with grit, physicality and some gumption. Panger will love him.
Buchnevich- this guy is a MAJOR addition, he is a legit 1st line winger(who may play 2nd line here), but he isn’t just a scorer. I was VERY interested to see him live and he did not disappoint. He was very physical for a preseason game, played penalty kill very well and was all over the place in the o-zone. I can’t wait to see this guy 82+ games this year. The Ranger are f’ing idiots for trading him and for BLAIS and a 2nd, like WTF?
Faulk-he’s a beast, period. Maybe the Blues 3rd best skater behind Kyrou and Colton(those who played). Last year was not a fluke and he is a top end 1st pair defensemen(again, sorry Ransku).
Anas-highly skilled, didn’t look out of place, but small. I like his game, but not enough to displace our signed prospects or a current roster spot. Hope he signs an AHL contract, he’s the prototypical skilled tweener. Wish him all the best.
Tucker- he was my surprise player! Kid could skate, had good size and was involved all night. I don’t see a ton of upside, but could be a very good 4th liner.
Parayko-he’s back! That’s all.
anyway TL;DR. Kyrou’s a beast! Krug will be worth his contract. Notable prospects are close. Faulk is a 1st pair Dman. Parayko’s back!
Kyrou-He may very well be the breakout player of the year! Yes it’s preseason, yes it was against a B-squad team, but the guys fast twitch moves were crazy, I made a point of watching him the whole game, and he was legit a level above everyone on the ice. He looked more confident, more poised than ever and he could be a LEGIT game breaker! I could go on, but homeboy is fast/quick/elusive as anyone the Blues have had since Demitra.
Krug- skated with his bucket off in warm ups, only ROR and Faulk did that. I don’t know if he did it last year?, but he looked ready for the season. He was all over the ice. He was very good positionally, and had some really great keep ins, that showed his real skill level. As long as he stays healthy, he will easily put up 50 pts this year. As the same with Faulk, when you come to a new Org after leaving the only one you’ve known, there are growing pains. They’ve both had them and like Faulk was our best Dman last year, I expect Krug to really step up, have a bigger voice and earn that contract.
Perunovich-he’s ready offensively, but I’m not sure he’s quite there defensively. He is 23, so he’s an older prospect(COVID, not his fault) but he is a Krug type defenseman(Sorry Ransku). Hell he may even be elite offensively, he’s super calm under pressure when he has the puck, he can skate, and make a pass through most holes Dman don’t see. Due to his age, I expect him to break camp with the big club and he’ll at least get 9 games. Is he ready physically for NHL, I’m not sure, but his O-game is NHL caliber. The grind and defensive game is my biggest question mark, so we shall see.
Neighbors-if this was the Blues of 2015, he breaks camp with the Blues, for sure. But with the additions of Buch(note on him lower) and Saad, I’m not sure there is a spot for him. He skating is more than good enough. It’s has always been cited as a negative, but he could easily keep up with everyone but Kyrou and Parayko. Everything else written about him is true. He’s got a nose for the net, he’s a coaches dream and works his ass off. I could legit see him making the squad and getting the 9 game treatment until juniors in Dec. He’s probably not a game breaker, but at worst, he’ll be a very solid middle six forward with grit, physicality and some gumption. Panger will love him.
Buchnevich- this guy is a MAJOR addition, he is a legit 1st line winger(who may play 2nd line here), but he isn’t just a scorer. I was VERY interested to see him live and he did not disappoint. He was very physical for a preseason game, played penalty kill very well and was all over the place in the o-zone. I can’t wait to see this guy 82+ games this year. The Ranger are f’ing idiots for trading him and for BLAIS and a 2nd, like WTF?
Faulk-he’s a beast, period. Maybe the Blues 3rd best skater behind Kyrou and Colton(those who played). Last year was not a fluke and he is a top end 1st pair defensemen(again, sorry Ransku).
Anas-highly skilled, didn’t look out of place, but small. I like his game, but not enough to displace our signed prospects or a current roster spot. Hope he signs an AHL contract, he’s the prototypical skilled tweener. Wish him all the best.
Tucker- he was my surprise player! Kid could skate, had good size and was involved all night. I don’t see a ton of upside, but could be a very good 4th liner.
Parayko-he’s back! That’s all.
anyway TL;DR. Kyrou’s a beast! Krug will be worth his contract. Notable prospects are close. Faulk is a 1st pair Dman. Parayko’s back!
Last edited:
He doesn't need to create his own offense to stick. What he needs is to be able to keep up mentally and physically with pace of game. If we think it will aid his development (of that offense you are looking for), he will stick.
