Who was worse last night….

[diehardbluesfan1]

The goaltending? It was bad the first two goals. Talk about deflating, but we end the period 2-2. The rest of the goals I do t really blame anyone although the one binner gave up was suspect.

The coaching? You put shaky gofer back in? Why!? I thought Keenan took over last night.

The defensemen? Out of position, poor transition, poor decision making and forced plays. No chemistry.

Forwards? 0 and I mean 0 chemistry. It was unbearable to watch. Nobody wanted to touch the puck and no one knew who it was going to. Bad checking and no forecheck.

How many breakaways/ 2on 1’s/ and just odd man rushes did we face last night.

I thought the opener was puke worthy but man this was right there with it.

I didn’t hear Schenns name until like the third period.

Just an abysmal garbage effort all around.

[ManitobaBlues]

The team dynamic has changed, and it’s going to take some time for them to find their groove again. I can’t tell if they’re pressing too hard or just not confident in each other right now.

[DawgDad]

Hofer made at least three glaring mental errors in the first period alone, two of which wound up in the net. It looked like he was drunk, drugged, massively distracted, something, he was not normal, not processing the game.

As for the rest of the game, there was some effort, some hard play, but too many mistakes is coverage. When one player is not functioning it can make the whole unit look bad. By the middle of the second period the Blues checking game disappeared.

The Blues are getting schooled at home, that screams of a lack of focus on the game. Traveling from Vancouver to St. Louis is not easy, it's always more difficult to go long distances west to east, but that should not have affected Hofer. The line matchups aren't working at home. Tucker AND Mailloux may be a bridge too far. Still, they scored three goals, they should have been in the game until the end but some of the guys threw in the towel.

I would have Mailloux and Tucker in some intense video review sessions today. Perhaps some of the other, too. As a team they need to work on their ozone tactics, they are out of sync on driving to the net and rotating blue line coverage. That includes Thomas. It seems like Chicago checked the Suter line off the ice, out of the rink, they disappeared except for Joseph laying on the ice.

[TheJackBurton]

Simply put Hofer was the worst player on the ice last night.

It won't happen often, in fact based on previous play many nights he's on the ice he will be one of the best, but last night he simply wasn't.

Goalers have off nights.

[11WSChamps]

Looked like a giant case of jet lag.

[TheJackBurton]

Looked like a giant case of jet lag.

Yeah, it can't be ruled out.

[sdaltons]

Luckily there's room for all of them to have been the worst!

But the answer is very obviously Hofer. And this is coming from a goalie-defender. When scoring is already a challenge and you have your goalie just giving away goals against, it can sink a team's confidence/morale/whatever.

And to me, that's exactly what happened. He gave up two softies and they were able to battle back, but then even when he settled down, he still wasn't stopping much. And the team checked out.

Don't love it but can't really blame them.

[Frank Underwood]

Luckily there's room for all of them to have been the worst!

But the answer is very obviously Hofer. And this is coming from a goalie-defender. When scoring is already a challenge and you have your goalie just giving away goals against, it can sink a team's confidence/morale/whatever.

And to me, that's exactly what happened. He gave up two softies and they were able to battle back, but then even when he settled down, he still wasn't stopping much. And the team checked out.

Don't love it but can't really blame them.

The old Jake Allen phenomenon that ultimately led to the rise of Binnington. You’re right, softies kill a team.

[Cahokanut]

The fourth line. Has lost that fourth line feel.

Schenn doesn't start trying till Dec. Also he has our two best wingers as his linemates(crazy)

Hofer had a lot on his mind.

Buch. Doing what he does. Not much.

Parayko is playing for the offense, at the wrong times.

Fowler packed the Cali house and his game was in it Now that games here.

Thomas's All responsibility and no fun. Makes Rob a dull boy.

Holloway and Broberg hasn't found what they had last year.

Without Bolduc to take managements bad mode, everyone is worried it will hit them.

[amp]

The whole team was awful last night. It happens. It's not the first time I've seen complete incompetence from the team. It was just one of those nights where the effort wasn't there, too many mistakes were made, and no puck bounces went our way. Pucks hopping over sticks, passes were just a little off, lost every 50/50 battle, etc. I've been watching hockey long enough to know that they'll come out stronger next game. Might not win but it won't be as awful as this one. It was an off night for a team that has a long history of playing down to their competition.

[Harry S Deals]

Hofer made at least three glaring mental errors in the first period alone, two of which wound up in the net. It looked like he was drunk, drugged, massively distracted, something, he was not normal, not processing the game.

As for the rest of the game, there was some effort, some hard play, but too many mistakes is coverage. When one player is not functioning it can make the whole unit look bad. By the middle of the second period the Blues checking game disappeared.

The Blues are getting schooled at home, that screams of a lack of focus on the game. Traveling from Vancouver to St. Louis is not easy, it's always more difficult to go long distances west to east, but that should not have affected Hofer. The line matchups aren't working at home. Tucker AND Mailloux may be a bridge too far. Still, they scored three goals, they should have been in the game until the end but some of the guys threw in the towel.

I would have Mailloux and Tucker in some intense video review sessions today. Perhaps some of the other, too. As a team they need to work on their ozone tactics, they are out of sync on driving to the net and rotating blue line coverage. That includes Thomas. It seems like Chicago checked the Suter line off the ice, out of the rink, they disappeared except for Joseph laying on the ice.

Do you give Mailloux a night off and dust of Kessel? I'd probably stick with it unless LM is losing confidence which only the staff will know his state of mind. There were definitely moments when he looked like an NHL defenseman
Also I don't see mentioned much is the Hawks played really well the game was 4-2 and the Hawks were coming in waves they checked really well in their end the have tons of speed and skill. They could be a handful.

[MiamiLaw]

Luckily there's room for all of them to have been the worst!

But the answer is very obviously Hofer. And this is coming from a goalie-defender. When scoring is already a challenge and you have your goalie just giving away goals against, it can sink a team's confidence/morale/whatever.

And to me, that's exactly what happened. He gave up two softies and they were able to battle back, but then even when he settled down, he still wasn't stopping much. And the team checked out.

Don't love it but can't really blame them.

The old Jake Allen phenomenon that ultimately led to the rise of Binnington. You’re right, softies kill a team.

Especially softies at a bad time, which was Jake's specialty. Every time the Blues battled back, the goalies (mentioning that because Binner's was bad too) let one in. Maybe you get away with that once in a game, but more than that it is almost a guaranteed loss. The margin for error is so thin in an NHL game.

[hockey jedi]

The Blues looked sharp to start the game, but that first Chicago goal changed the rhythm of play. The Blues were competitive after that for a while, but after that, there were bad passes, reluctance to shoot, making one too many passes, over skating the puck, the puck getting lost in between skates, Hofer looked shaky and couldn't find the puck after he made a save. I don't know if the Blues were hung over from the rookie dinner or jet lag. Even down 5-2 I thought we could climb back into the game. We just fell apart. Chicago started to believe they could win and they got lucky with some of their shots. I am just writing it off. It was a clunker, and we will be fine. BTW, I wish Parayko would have pounded Bedard into the ice when Bedard got in his face.

[mike laga]

Wonder if the strange start time and the fact that the game started 20 minutes after the posted time threw them off.

[Russdv14]

On 101 Jamie Rivers said that Buchnevich was also at fault when Hofer shot the puck toward him. Buch plays like Lost in Dpace. He said that after the goal, Buchnevich stared down Hofer and said that could be really intimidating and could have shaken his confidence, including that next goal that was scored right through him

Buchnevich might be the new whipping boy outside of Mailloux … but I don’t like Buch’s play. Since Tarasenko left and Barbashev left I think Buchnevich has been a very moody player and not too effective regularly. I don’t understand the Buch signing. He seemed to need a same change of scenery.

The whole team didn’t play as a team, especially in the defensive zone also. They just look like individuals out there except for that beautiful play from Kyrou to Holloway

[Younghopp1991]

On 101 Jamie Rivers said that Buchnevich was also at fault when Hofer shot the puck toward him. Buch plays like Lost in Dpace. He said that after the goal, Buchnevich stared down Hofer and said that could be really intimidating and could have shaken his confidence, including that next goal that was scored right through him

Buchnevich might be the new whipping boy outside of Mailloux … but I don’t like Buch’s play. Since Tarasenko left and Barbashev left I think Buchnevich has been a very moody player and not too effective regularly. I don’t understand the Buch signing. He seemed to need a same change of scenery.

The whole team didn’t play as a team, especially in the defensive zone also. They just look like individuals out there except for that beautiful play from Kyrou to Holloway

I am not a huge buch fan, but he is also tasked to do the majority of the grit work. He’s consistently mogged when he gets the puck in the ozone. Im not smart enough hockey-wise to know if hes being hung out to dry or if he just does a terrible job of finding open ice. The when he gets his opportunities, he misses and you feel for the dude. But i think this season his first line status may not be so certain. Its almost his transition time.