training camp 2021
- Thread starter jura
- Start date
542365
2018-19 Cup Champs!
- Mar 22, 2012
- 22,536
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No I’m basing it off the fact that Clifford has been below replacement level for years now. The Blues have Schenn, Blais, Barbashev, Bortuzzo, and Sundqvist to play physical. They were physical enough to push teams around en route to a Stanley Cup a couple years ago. I’d rather the Blues bring back Maroon than Clifford. At least Maroon provides something other than the occasional fight which is getting more and more rare anyway.
Reality Czech
Registered User
- Apr 17, 2017
- 5,832
- 9,425
I'm not only talking about throwing hits, but also standing up for their teammates after the whistle. I would have liked to see Maroon brought back close to league minimum, but that ship has sailed. But you are right that Clifford is probably pegged to fill the Maroon role on this year's team. Even though half the Blues fan base ragged on Maroon for that entire season, I think we were all glad to have him by the end of the playoffs. Bortz is the only other true tough guy we have besides Clifford, and he probably won't dress every game. From what I hear he's also a good veteran character guy to have around, which I think is important for every team to have.
Plus, it's good to have a bit more depth as injuries are sure to happen at some point.
No there’s too many guys ahead of him, Krug, Dunn, Scandella, & Gunnarsson. Barring injuries I don’t see him playing this year.
Cheers for update. I think he s easily good enough but your D is mad deep. I get that.
I'm biased and there is zero chance. Only if somebody on left side gets injured and even after that there is Gunnar who is imo 7th guy + he can play both sides and Walman who looked really impressive.
Blues depth on left side is deep. Same breath Scandella doesnt impres me at all. Too slow.
Side note I dont see the hype behind Perunovich. I view Walman is miles ahead of him.
Code:
Krug - Parayko
Scandella - Faulk
Dunn - Bortuzzo
Gunnar
Mikkola/Walman
Perunovich - ReinkeBtw Dunn was huge let down. He didnt look good at all. Sloppy and slow. But all that doesnt matter. They all are in Chief's ranking upper. Prospect need to be amazing to get success and icetime vs vet's.
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Guess Andreas Borgman (LHD) left the organization having seen the writing on the wall. He appears to be in Tampa's organization now.
Renard
Registered User
I think Mikkola will force his way into the lineup. The Chief has praised Mikkola a number of times in training camp.
Gunnersson is a spare part at this stage. The guy he (Mikkola) has to replace is Scandella.
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BlueOil
"well-informed"
- Apr 28, 2010
- 7,251
- 4,253
i'd rather clifford take punches in the face than blais. rivalries and physicality will go up with pure interdivisional play until round 3 of the playoffs. clifford can take the brunt and sammy can try to be something more than 4th liner.
BlueOil
"well-informed"
- Apr 28, 2010
- 7,251
- 4,253
I hope you are right. I dont believe before I see it.
I have seen so many times in Blues history that prospects just dont get icetime over vet's easily.
Short season means you cant try-out. You need to be significantly better to pass vet's or 'paid' players. It is what it is.
Same here. Clifford just slows down his linemates, play almost everytime died in his control. Blais instead can drive the plays is much better in every aspect of game. Only where Clifford is better is fighting.
That old school mentality you need to have fighter in your team is so gone. + Blais is superior hitter vs Clifford. I dont understand why is bad to have guy who can score at 4th line?
Do I need to bring stats who hit most in Blues roster previous years? And Cup run. Blais is maybe our best hitter in our roster.
Renard
Registered User
I heard some complimentary comments about Walman doing the scrimmage.
Walman was a third round draft choice, and considered by some to be a decent prospect. But then he sunk. A forgotten prospect.
But he seems to have improved his game. Maybe he will be an asset for us.
Walman was a third round draft choice, and considered by some to be a decent prospect. But then he sunk. A forgotten prospect.
But he seems to have improved his game. Maybe he will be an asset for us.
Linkens Mastery
Conductor of the TankTown Express
He had a couple of major injuries in college to his shoulder. That tanked his development track.
- Jul 4, 2014
- 8,057
- 8,666
I would guess 15-20 as long as his play is solid. I would expect that they will want to give Binnington a night off once a week or so, especially for back-to-backs. I think we'll probably see his first start Monday or Wednesday at home against San Jose. I'm excited to see him finally get his chance.
- Jul 4, 2014
- 8,057
- 8,666
Not that it was necessarily related to the signing because I doubt Army had any advance information about the scheduling format, but Clifford has a ton of experience against the Pacific Division, which includes most of the teams we will be playing a lot this season. That will certainly help keep him in the lineup, but I expect Blais to get plenty of opportunities this season in the bottom 6.
- Jul 4, 2014
- 8,057
- 8,666
He wore #25 in juniors, but it was unavailable to him until this season because it was reserved for Chris Butler. Since Butler has retired, he took it when it became available.
Brian39
Registered User
- Apr 24, 2014
- 7,580
- 14,247
Barring injury or a total collapse from Binner we are not seeing 20 starts from Husso. I don't really care about the number of times we see the backup come in for mop up duty mid-game. Allen posted a .927SV% last season and got 21 starts through 69 games. That is equivalent to 17 starts through a 56 game season. Binner's .912 SV% last year was good-but-not-spectacular, but Berube rode him like a workhorse even though he had a top 5 NHL backup behind him. Binner played 40 of the first 56 games last year. There is just no reason to believe that he will play Binner less than that with a rookie backup unless Binner looks noticeably worse than he did in the regular season last year.
The reduction in travel should largely offset the slightly-more-cramped schedule. The 56 games this season will be played over 115 days. The first 56 games last year were played over 129 days. That is 2 fewer weeks, but that 129 days includes a week-long break for the bye and All Star break. So in terms of condensing games, we are only talking about fitting one week's worth of "extra" games into that 115 day time frame. It is about 1 extra game per month. That is not a huge increase and should be completely offset by the fact that teams are staying in the same city for at least 2 games every trip. Decreasing the number of times you jump on a plane after a game and arrive at a new hotel at 1am or 2am will significantly help rest/recovery times. Knowing that you only have to play 56 total games instead of 82 also decreases the amount you have to "leave in the tank" for the final push of the season. We had 7 back-to-backs in the first 56 games last year and every single one of took place in two different cities. We have 10 this year, but all of them take place in the same city against the same team each night. There are two stretches in March where we play Friday/Saturday and then don't play again until the following Friday/Saturday. That is a chance to give Binner a nice breather mid-season.
I expect about 12-15 starts from Husso barring injury to Binner. He might pick up an extra start or two over Allen's pace on the extra back-to-backs, but I think there will be a handful of non-back-to-back situations where Allen started but Husso won't. Allen definitely got a few "well he hasn't played in 9 days so we need to get him in their" starts that just won't exist in this schedule. I think we ride the starter to hard and would like to see the starts split about 36-20 if Husso plays like an NHL caliber backup. But I just don't see anything that suggests that will be the case.
The reduction in travel should largely offset the slightly-more-cramped schedule. The 56 games this season will be played over 115 days. The first 56 games last year were played over 129 days. That is 2 fewer weeks, but that 129 days includes a week-long break for the bye and All Star break. So in terms of condensing games, we are only talking about fitting one week's worth of "extra" games into that 115 day time frame. It is about 1 extra game per month. That is not a huge increase and should be completely offset by the fact that teams are staying in the same city for at least 2 games every trip. Decreasing the number of times you jump on a plane after a game and arrive at a new hotel at 1am or 2am will significantly help rest/recovery times. Knowing that you only have to play 56 total games instead of 82 also decreases the amount you have to "leave in the tank" for the final push of the season. We had 7 back-to-backs in the first 56 games last year and every single one of took place in two different cities. We have 10 this year, but all of them take place in the same city against the same team each night. There are two stretches in March where we play Friday/Saturday and then don't play again until the following Friday/Saturday. That is a chance to give Binner a nice breather mid-season.
I expect about 12-15 starts from Husso barring injury to Binner. He might pick up an extra start or two over Allen's pace on the extra back-to-backs, but I think there will be a handful of non-back-to-back situations where Allen started but Husso won't. Allen definitely got a few "well he hasn't played in 9 days so we need to get him in their" starts that just won't exist in this schedule. I think we ride the starter to hard and would like to see the starts split about 36-20 if Husso plays like an NHL caliber backup. But I just don't see anything that suggests that will be the case.
I’d like to hear more about your thoughts on Binnington’s declining performance as the season progressed and dismal performance in the postseason. The trend is concerning. That’s more what I think will dictate how many starts go to each player, not simply fatigue.
rumrokh
THORBS
- Mar 10, 2006
- 10,154
- 3,382
Last season.
Overpaid and too hesitate extension by Army. Mikkola could easily replace his position and even perform better.
rumrokh
THORBS
- Mar 10, 2006
- 10,154
- 3,382
Whether or not Mikkola could replace him now, he was very good last season. Try not to let your biases rewrite history in your mind.
jura
booze & blues
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