The BEST Draft Class The St. Louis Blues Ever Put Together

[smilinjoefission]

1976 draft you get Federko, Sutter, and Liut...that isn't a bad draft.

[bluetunehead]

In 2007 had Couture in my sights for that top pick like Carbonneau back then but they took Eller.

Still a solid draft. However the 1976 draft with Federko Sutter Luit is the top Blues draft until 2023 which might truly be the one. I realize they weren't selecting "best draft year" prior to the lockout but 1976 is tops.

Yeah I remember following that draft and being so (upset) when they traded out of the #9 spot with Couture available. He seemed like such a no brainer pick. As I recall the Blues were pretty openly desperate for Voracek, and when Columbus took him at #7 they gambled that they could grab an extra 2nd and still get McDonagh. Jarmo outsmarted himself, even if Eller and Cole were both solid in their own right.

Your memory is good - yes they were after Voracek instead of Couture. Not Jarmo's most impressive draft, but at the same time he selected my all time favorite player in that draft. Ironically that was the peak of Jarmo time, that 2007 draft special where he gushed over Ian Cole "He's a man now."

I always cringe at "he's a man now" So? Doing a lot of developing young athletes myself I just don't see early onset of maturity as something to pursue at all. Those athletes are very often left in the dust when others catch up.

This is especially the case with female athletes as some of them are full grown at 11 while others are still more like toddlers. I remember one locally that played on an elite STL team that hit puberty early and was full grown at 10 or 11 and made all of our girls look silly. They were already talking about her D1 scholarships and almost every one of our girls had passed her by by the age of 14 and most by 13 and she eventually got cut.

I just don't see early maturity as A transferable quality. The reality is early maturity athletes often have bad form and dominate anyway creating really bad muscle memory and lack many skills to ever compete with other full grown men/women.

This was some of the issue with EJ as well IMO. His draft stock skyrocketed after his first World Juniors because he just looked like a beast relative to the rest of the draft eligible guys.

A few years down the road and he was still a good player obviously but he couldn’t dominate the same way.

[skilles]

In 2007 had Couture in my sights for that top pick like Carbonneau back then but they took Eller.

Still a solid draft. However the 1976 draft with Federko Sutter Luit is the top Blues draft until 2023 which might truly be the one. I realize they weren't selecting "best draft year" prior to the lockout but 1976 is tops.

Yeah I remember following that draft and being so (upset) when they traded out of the #9 spot with Couture available. He seemed like such a no brainer pick. As I recall the Blues were pretty openly desperate for Voracek, and when Columbus took him at #7 they gambled that they could grab an extra 2nd and still get McDonagh. Jarmo outsmarted himself, even if Eller and Cole were both solid in their own right.

Your memory is good - yes they were after Voracek instead of Couture. Not Jarmo's most impressive draft, but at the same time he selected my all time favorite player in that draft. Ironically that was the peak of Jarmo time, that 2007 draft special where he gushed over Ian Cole "He's a man now."

I always cringe at "he's a man now" So? Doing a lot of developing young athletes myself I just don't see early onset of maturity as something to pursue at all. Those athletes are very often left in the dust when others catch up.

This is especially the case with female athletes as some of them are full grown at 11 while others are still more like toddlers. I remember one locally that played on an elite STL team that hit puberty early and was full grown at 10 or 11 and made all of our girls look silly. They were already talking about her D1 scholarships and almost every one of our girls had passed her by by the age of 14 and most by 13 and she eventually got cut.

I just don't see early maturity as A transferable quality. The reality is early maturity athletes often have bad form and dominate anyway creating really bad muscle memory and lack many skills to ever compete with other full grown men/women.

This was some of the issue with EJ as well IMO. His draft stock skyrocketed after his first World Juniors because he just looked like a beast relative to the rest of the draft eligible guys.

A few years down the road and he was still a good player obviously but he couldn’t dominate the same way.

I'm not gonna lie EJ fooled me, after his first season I thought we had a hall of famer in the making. I still think the way he moved that first season was pretty special but he just never looked like that again.

I can't complain as he would have been my pick without hesitation.

[bluetunehead]

In 2007 had Couture in my sights for that top pick like Carbonneau back then but they took Eller.

Still a solid draft. However the 1976 draft with Federko Sutter Luit is the top Blues draft until 2023 which might truly be the one. I realize they weren't selecting "best draft year" prior to the lockout but 1976 is tops.

Yeah I remember following that draft and being so (upset) when they traded out of the #9 spot with Couture available. He seemed like such a no brainer pick. As I recall the Blues were pretty openly desperate for Voracek, and when Columbus took him at #7 they gambled that they could grab an extra 2nd and still get McDonagh. Jarmo outsmarted himself, even if Eller and Cole were both solid in their own right.

Your memory is good - yes they were after Voracek instead of Couture. Not Jarmo's most impressive draft, but at the same time he selected my all time favorite player in that draft. Ironically that was the peak of Jarmo time, that 2007 draft special where he gushed over Ian Cole "He's a man now."

I always cringe at "he's a man now" So? Doing a lot of developing young athletes myself I just don't see early onset of maturity as something to pursue at all. Those athletes are very often left in the dust when others catch up.

This is especially the case with female athletes as some of them are full grown at 11 while others are still more like toddlers. I remember one locally that played on an elite STL team that hit puberty early and was full grown at 10 or 11 and made all of our girls look silly. They were already talking about her D1 scholarships and almost every one of our girls had passed her by by the age of 14 and most by 13 and she eventually got cut.

I just don't see early maturity as A transferable quality. The reality is early maturity athletes often have bad form and dominate anyway creating really bad muscle memory and lack many skills to ever compete with other full grown men/women.

This was some of the issue with EJ as well IMO. His draft stock skyrocketed after his first World Juniors because he just looked like a beast relative to the rest of the draft eligible guys.

A few years down the road and he was still a good player obviously but he couldn’t dominate the same way.

I'm not gonna lie EJ fooled me, after his first season I thought we had a hall of famer in the making. I still think the way he moved that first season was pretty special but he just never looked like that again.

I can't complain as he would have been my pick without hesitation.

Yeah something just never clicked for him. His best year remains his second year with the Blues, after his knee injury. I just don’t think he could ever think the game at the level of a guy like Petro.

[skilles]

In 2007 had Couture in my sights for that top pick like Carbonneau back then but they took Eller.

Still a solid draft. However the 1976 draft with Federko Sutter Luit is the top Blues draft until 2023 which might truly be the one. I realize they weren't selecting "best draft year" prior to the lockout but 1976 is tops.

Yeah I remember following that draft and being so (upset) when they traded out of the #9 spot with Couture available. He seemed like such a no brainer pick. As I recall the Blues were pretty openly desperate for Voracek, and when Columbus took him at #7 they gambled that they could grab an extra 2nd and still get McDonagh. Jarmo outsmarted himself, even if Eller and Cole were both solid in their own right.

Your memory is good - yes they were after Voracek instead of Couture. Not Jarmo's most impressive draft, but at the same time he selected my all time favorite player in that draft. Ironically that was the peak of Jarmo time, that 2007 draft special where he gushed over Ian Cole "He's a man now."

I always cringe at "he's a man now" So? Doing a lot of developing young athletes myself I just don't see early onset of maturity as something to pursue at all. Those athletes are very often left in the dust when others catch up.

This is especially the case with female athletes as some of them are full grown at 11 while others are still more like toddlers. I remember one locally that played on an elite STL team that hit puberty early and was full grown at 10 or 11 and made all of our girls look silly. They were already talking about her D1 scholarships and almost every one of our girls had passed her by by the age of 14 and most by 13 and she eventually got cut.

I just don't see early maturity as A transferable quality. The reality is early maturity athletes often have bad form and dominate anyway creating really bad muscle memory and lack many skills to ever compete with other full grown men/women.

This was some of the issue with EJ as well IMO. His draft stock skyrocketed after his first World Juniors because he just looked like a beast relative to the rest of the draft eligible guys.

A few years down the road and he was still a good player obviously but he couldn’t dominate the same way.

I'm not gonna lie EJ fooled me, after his first season I thought we had a hall of famer in the making. I still think the way he moved that first season was pretty special but he just never looked like that again.

I can't complain as he would have been my pick without hesitation.

Yeah something just never clicked for him. His best year remains his second year with the Blues, after his knee injury. I just don’t think he could ever think the game at the level of a guy like Petro.

For my eyes his rookie season was by far his best and he never moved like that or had that level of athleticism again even though he had more points the 2nd year.

[Whatashame]

1976.

Has to be. Without question.
Federko
Sutter
Liut

[Tabasco Flowers]

In 2007 had Couture in my sights for that top pick like Carbonneau back then but they took Eller.

Still a solid draft. However the 1976 draft with Federko Sutter Luit is the top Blues draft until 2023 which might truly be the one. I realize they weren't selecting "best draft year" prior to the lockout but 1976 is tops.

1976 is tops, hands down. None other is even close.