training camp 2021

[rumrokh]

THAT was a good shift from Walman.

 

[542365]

Blais is a much better player than Clifford and can play the 4th line. I don’t understand that signing.

 

[DoubleK81]

Binnington is looking good

 

[Mike Liut]

Blais is a much better player than Clifford and can play the 4th line. I don’t understand that signing.

Probably wanted more toughness with this type of a schedule.

 

[542365]

Nice goal.

 

[BlueMed]

Gotta love everyone taking this scrimmage so seriously. Everyone is going 50% tryning not to get hurt or hurt anyone else and "so and so" is a GREAT playmaker lolol

 

[shpongle falls]

Blues powerplay is gonna be nasty this year. I like the third line already...Binner and Husso both look sharp so far. Really pumped to see how Husso plays this year.

 

[Spektre]

Gotta love everyone taking this scrimmage so seriously. Everyone is going 50% tryning not to get hurt or hurt anyone else and "so and so" is a GREAT playmaker lolol

I think everyone is aware it’s just a scrimmage game but it’s fairly easy to see when players do and don’t belong, or have poise etc..

In past years when we could attend these events it was the same way. Thomas impressed me so much during his first camp I said he was easily the Blues best prospect. We all know this isn’t a real game with checking 100%. It’s still a chance to gain some insight on how the youngsters play when they’re on the ice with the full time NHL guys.

Perunovich looks like he belongs at least offensively. He will have a learning curve on the defensive side but it’s expected.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Blais is a much better player than Clifford and can play the 4th line. I don’t understand that signing.

My understanding is that the players requested Armstrong acquire someone who can by an enforcer type. I think Clifford is getting the main time on the 4th line and maybe even the first couple games, but I suspect Blais will wind up being the regular starter at wing there as the season goes along, if the roster is healthy.

 

[Spektre]

Walman looks a lot more comfortable vs previous years

 

[rumrokh]

RIGHT IN HIS WHEEL KITCHEN

 

[Spektre]

Thomas to Hoffman like that is hopefully a common occurrence this year

 

[BlueDream]

Probably wanted more toughness with this type of a schedule.

Yeah, I think Clifford will come in handy this year.

He’s also a previous Cup winner, can chip in 15-20 points and was also getting some PK work in practice. So, he is actually a solid 4th liner, it’s not like he’s just a talentless goon.

I didn’t see the scrimmage but love what I’m hearing about the 3rd line. Sounds like Sanford-Bozak-Kyrou may be one of our best lines so far...our depth is unreal. Sanford also added weight and is up to 215 now so he can use his frame to play a power game and I expect another good year from him.

 

[Blueline2757]

I forgot about they were streaming the scrimmage. Anyone going to do a recap for those who missed it.

How did everyone look particularly Faulk, Krug and Binny.

 

[DoubleK81]

I forgot about they were streaming the scrimmage. Anyone going to do a recap for those who missed it.

How did everyone look particularly Faulk, Krug and Binny.

They all looked terrible. We'll be lucky to make the playoffs.

 

[Mike Liut]

I’m really high on Kyrou. He’s not some one dimension speed guy. He can skate, score and set up. He’s going to be a force

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Both goalies were sharp. 3rd line looked really good. Love the depth on this team.

 

[rumrokh]

I forgot about they were streaming the scrimmage. Anyone going to do a recap for those who missed it.

How did everyone look particularly Faulk, Krug and Binny.

Keep in mind it's a scrimmage and almost nobody was playing like they can.

Binnington was sharp. A few dandy saves. Krug isn't as mobile as he should be in order to live up to the contract, but he was a constant threat in the offensive zone (great vision to shoot for sticks around the net) and did a good job getting his stick on pucks in the d-zone. Faulk was solid. He was on the grinders+Binnington team, so he faced a lot of the Blues' best and kept up just fine.

 

[BlueDream]

Both goalies were sharp. 3rd line looked really good. Love the depth on this team.

The depth is what’s blowing my mind right now. Obviously we have to see the games but on paper, I think this team is currently even deeper than the Cup team. Not saying they’re better, but probably deeper.

Which is crazy in itself because Cup teams rarely stay that way because of the cap. If you win the Cup you’re guaranteed to lose guys. Every team does. Combine that with the pandemic situation and Armstrong could have used a lot of valid excuses as to why the team got weaker.

But, it didn’t. He’s replaced everyone. Petro, Bouwmeester, Edmundson, Fabbri, Maroon and Steen are gone but he brings in Krug, Faulk, Scandella, Hoffman, Clifford and the further development of young guys like Thomas, Sanford, Blais, Kyrou, and MacEachern all getting better enhances the lineup more. Not to mention others like Perunovich, Mikkola, Poganski, etc pushing for time.

It’s pretty remarkable. We could roll 5 lines and 5 D pairings without issue. I really can’t criticize Armstrong for anything he’s done anymore over the last few years. Some of his moves (Faulk) will always be debatable, but he has put the team in as good of a position as possible to win. Who can we say is legitimately better than us? I’d say Tampa and Colorado. Other than that, we are among the next tier of teams that can still compete for a Cup.

This should be a fun season to watch.

 

[Ranksu]

How many games Huss could play in this short regular season?

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

How many games Huss could play in this short regular season?

Assuming health for both goalies.

There's 9 sets of back to backs, so I'd put that as the minimum, I could see upwards of 18, which would be ~25 games if it were an 82 game season.

 

[Brian39]

Blais is a much better player than Clifford and can play the 4th line. I don’t understand that signing.

Blais has suffered 4 separate injuries over the last 2 seasons and has a total of 83 NHL games played over 3 seasons. He plays an absurdly physical game and has not demonstrated the skillset to suggest he can be an effective NHLer if he dials that style back. I think it would be foolish to rely on him for 56 games this year.

I don't agree that he is a much better player than Clifford. He is better offensively, but Clifford has a pretty long track record of being better defensively. But even accepting your assessment that Blais is much better, I think it is wise to have a backup plan for him if/when he gets hurt. Berube likes having flexibility to rotate a couple guys between the bottom 6 and the press box and the Clifford addition gives him a solid vet to use in that role. Clifford's entire cap hit can be buried in the AHL if we decide to waive him. Blais makes too much to be fully buried in the AHL, so it is pretty clear that he won't be a waiver casualty to make room for Clifford. We didn't give Blais a 2 year deal at $1.5M to sit him in the press box every night.

He'll get plenty of games this year.

 

[Ranksu]

Hah end of 2nd period Mikkola came to apologize to Perron on that hit when Perron drive in at powerplay and Mikkola pinch at blue line.
Perron give him tap in the pads and both looked laughing.

 

[Ranksu]

Who is #63?

Is there list of player + numbers?

 

[Reality Czech]

Blais is a much better player than Clifford and can play the 4th line. I don’t understand that signing.

I hope you're not basing this off what you saw in last night's scrimmage. I'm pretty sure coaches still value toughness, and who else do the Blues have to mix it up in a chippy game? I'd like to see Blais succeed but he's been pretty inconsistent up to now.