First impressions

[Harry S Deals]

Yeah this is going to be a better team throughout the year than it was last year. Kyrou very specifically worked on his strength to win more one on one battles, and I am impressed with him. I feel good about taking Kyrou at 67+ points this year. Holloway looks all kinds of out of sync but his skill will carry him through soon. Binner, someone like Brodeur probably told him he can have 1 or 2 more of those games like opening night, but the rest have to be locked in if he's going to be the goalie for Canada. He has always been able to rebound. You cannot have that quality without both self reflection and inner confidence. Love Binner.

Mailloux looked better but he got walked again on a scoring chance. We are going to have highs and lows all over with him.

Walker, man he has come a long way even from when he first got here. He is much more consistent in his game.

Broberg looks good to me. Every day with a big defenseman signing has to motivate him lol.

Thomas, Snuggy, Neighbours have been strong out of the gate.

First impressions of Springfield are that Stancl Lindstein looked very good to me. Stenberg is going to be up there with Neighbours and Snuggy for "guys we love" in the not distant future. Dvorsky is just a matter of time. They will pull him up as soon as they need him.

Boy Monty really sheltered Mailloux last night looked like he didnt want Vancouver to be able to match their top line vs Tucker and Mailloux or whoever. It also looks like Monty isnt to thrilled with having both Mailloux and Tucker together a lot esp on the road. We'll see if that changes at home where Blues have a little more control. I also think they will get Kessel in there soon to get him some ice time vs just sitting too long. I honestly thought LM would look a little better but this is going to be a process. Hes an enigma the physical tools are obviously present its going to be a task for Weber and co. to get him up to NHL speed. Give it time. Neighbours and Snuggerud are making the Bolduc trade irrelevant plus the impending extensions coming. Im good with the Blues taking as much time as needed with LM it will be best for his long term career

[seattleblue]

Neighbours and Snuggerud are making the Bolduc trade irrelevant

I was never in the camp that loved Bolduc. If you had asked me to pick which one should go between Kyrou, Snuggy, Bolduc, Carbo, I trade Bolduc all day long. He was the right player to trade and when they traded him my main concern was who they traded him for. I completely understood they had to pick one RW to move. I am pretty sure they tried to see what they could get that was available on RHD for Kyrou and when they couldn't make it work Bolduc was the no brainer Plan B. Kyrou is also a better player than Bolduc, and the thought about trading him was to get a better RHD back than Mailloux.

[Harry S Deals]

Neighbours and Snuggerud are making the Bolduc trade irrelevant

I was never in the camp that loved Bolduc. If you had asked me to pick which one should go between Kyrou, Snuggy, Bolduc, Carbo, I trade Bolduc all day long. He was the right player to trade and when they traded him my main concern was who they traded him for. I completely understood they had to pick one RW to move. I am pretty sure they tried to see what they could get that was available on RHD for Kyrou and when they couldn't make it work Bolduc was the no brainer Plan B. Kyrou is also a better player than Bolduc, and the thought about trading him was to get a better RHD back than Mailloux.

Last night watching Snuggerud he has that "dog on a bone" mentality the Blues want to play with, hound pucks all over the ice, hustle turnovers, etc. I didnt see that with Bolduc may be thats why "fitting into the top 4" was mentioned. At Bolducs age of course that can still in instilled.
Did Army do Bolduc a solid by dealing him to the Habs or was LM coveted by the Blues brass?

[seattleblue]

Neighbours and Snuggerud are making the Bolduc trade irrelevant

I was never in the camp that loved Bolduc. If you had asked me to pick which one should go between Kyrou, Snuggy, Bolduc, Carbo, I trade Bolduc all day long. He was the right player to trade and when they traded him my main concern was who they traded him for. I completely understood they had to pick one RW to move. I am pretty sure they tried to see what they could get that was available on RHD for Kyrou and when they couldn't make it work Bolduc was the no brainer Plan B. Kyrou is also a better player than Bolduc, and the thought about trading him was to get a better RHD back than Mailloux.

Last night watching Snuggerud he has that "dog on a bone" mentality the Blues want to play with, hound pucks all over the ice, hustle turnovers, etc. I didnt see that with Bolduc may be thats why "fitting into the top 4" was mentioned. At Bolducs age of course that can still in instilled.
Did Army do Bolduc a solid by dealing him to the Habs or was LM coveted by the Blues brass?

There's no way you trade Bolduc to his preferred team just because you want to do him a solid. The Habs have had some breakthroughs on defense between Hutson's emergence and Dobson's acquisition, and they had a lot of defensive prospects in the pipeline. Blues had not drafted Mailloux due to the circumstances originally so they obviously were willing to have him develop long term for them all along. It's a complete give it time situation, but people have to stop comparing this guy to Pronger and Parayko. Those two players were/are defensive beasts.

[ManitobaBlues]

So far, I really like what I’m seeing from this team. Thomas looks more prepared for this season than I’ve ever seen him. The defense has had some lapses, but I love Monty’s adjustment of separating Tucker and Mailloux. Overall, the defensive core looks strong, and Cam Fowler is fitting in nicely.

Snuggy is looking like a strong Calder contender right now. Holloway continues to play that full-ice, 200-foot game—he’ll start finding the scoresheet soon. Kyrou has been a bit slower to produce offensively than I expected, but he tends to start off slow. Binner and Hofer look like they’ll be solid contributors moving forward.

[MandatoryDenial]

I know and Thomas, Neighbours and Snipers werent drafted Top 5 or 15????? Say what?????

talk about a horrible GM and front office... yeesh

Terrible scouting staff, definitely overpaid moochers. Use the dart board, find just as much success

[b-a-a-a-rclay]

Really impressive things im seeing so far:

Blues tenacity on the puck, both ends of the ice, Blues are a PITA so far
Depth at forward looks good Kyrou, Holloway and Buch havent got going yet, they will but Snuggs and Neighbours are great. 4th line looked good
Structure esp PK and 6v5, team looks very well coached
Both goalies look solid


3 games in, hard to gleam much but so far so good

Remember the reactions here after the 1st game?
It's more fun just to observe this place after a bad game than to get involved in it ... for me anyway. I understand that some people get their frustrations out here though which is totally fine. But it is a reminder that this place is a drama/comedy series.
BTW: I'm pretty sure I saw LM out there for a defensive zone face off.

[callitwhatyouwant]

Big notables to start

Suter - above advertised
Thomas - still seeing everything on the ice despite not having his best games
3rd/4th lines- they are picking up where they left off as a 4th line last year but actually adding some touch. There's skill there now to balance out the grit.

Snuggy - dude might set a record for the Blues for rookie shot attempts

2nd line- Probably the most creative looking so far, but we have been on the PP a lot so not going to say our 5 on 5 has settled in. But you see some interesting plays being developed between Kyrou and Hollywood but they haven't materialized.

Defense
Broberg is fast as hell
Faulk is dialed ATM
Parayko is Parayko

Fowler just might be the reason these guys all got better. A little outside once a Top NHL defensemen to build some cohesion


Anyways, early there isn't really anyone in the doghouse. Everyone seems to be doing what they are supposed to be doing. Top line is getting checked and it's opening up the door for others. Not a big deal. Tucker and Mailloux have gotten beat or some bad luck stuff happen to them. Also not a big deal for who they are.

In regards to mailloux, only thing I hope doesn't happen is as he is learning on D, he get's passive in O. He jumped up in the rush a couple times last night and had a couple good pinches. But his stick looked like swiss cheese and the puck got thru.

[dhsux]

I really like the focus the last two games.

Coming back from deficits, maintaining leads, answering back to the opposition.

All great traits of winning teams. Quite a turnaround from game 1.

[aroos]

Kyrou was excellent last night. He consistently won puck battles, was great with the puck on his stick and was defensively responsible.

[dhsux]

Kyrou was excellent last night. He consistently won puck battles, was great with the puck on his stick and was defensively responsible.

He has made continuous improvements in his game over the past 2 seasons and it appears he will do the same in year 3.

I've been a big fan and he's making us look good.

[George Zipp]

Kyrou was excellent last night. He consistently won puck battles, was great with the puck on his stick and was defensively responsible.

And instead of trying to stuff that shot in where he had no room at all, he waited, patiently, Schenn showed up, and he set him up beautifully for the goal.

I like the bounce back after the egg laid on opening night. Really hoping that was a one off type game we see very little of this season. All teams will play an occasional dog dung game. Let's hope we got one of the worst out of the way game 1.

[TampaBlues78]

Snuggs on the third line is a good move.

Playing LM with Broburg is another smart move. Someone said that LM didn't have any defensive zone starts last night. After a tough first game he's been better the last two.

I like Tex on the fourth line too. It's nice to have some skill on that line.

Can't wait for Chicago next game, I think

Agree on both the Snuggy and Tex moves. Obviously, Snuggy looked good last night but Tex was very noticeable too. He’s got some hands and some good instincts in the O-zone.

I’ll tell ya who else has looked good so far is Joseph. Using his speed, going hard to the net. Rang one of the crossbar last night.

I believe that will start to be problems for other teams really soon. Suter was playing on Van big line I believe last gear when he scored his 25 so it’s obvious I believe all 3 have skill it’s just a matter of time and maybe Joseph can pot 10-15 on that line

That's akin to 40-45 from Kyrou.

Maybe Suter can get more out of Joseph, we'll see. I need to see more, I still see a guy with straightline speed and toughness, a pretty good energy guy, a decent fit on the 3rd line when he stays out of the box.

Joseph could’ve potted two last night… one hit the post and the other the goalie made a nice save

[ManitobaBlues]

Kyrou was excellent last night. He consistently won puck battles, was great with the puck on his stick and was defensively responsible.

He has made continuous improvements in his game over the past 2 seasons and it appears he will do the same in year 3.

I've been a big fan and he's making us look good.

he definitely has improved and he is a slow starter. Once that line clicks they will be fine

[Kilokaai]

Kyrou was excellent last night. He consistently won puck battles, was great with the puck on his stick and was defensively responsible.

Even though he doesn't have a ton of points to show for it yet I also agree that Kyrou has looked fantastic. Once Holloway gets going that line is going to hum, I think they are all suffering from being a little out of rhythm so far. But it's nice that others are picking up that slack, once that line gets going there is going to be some serious issues defending this team offensively as there will be no breaks.