Whose fault for this train wreck?

[dhsux]

I'm as unhappy as any one here. They are floundering terribly right now. We can all find multiple reasons why.

But I'll put my money on this being a play off team.

They have not found their game but they will.

[bluetunehead]

This is a pretty wild overreaction for games in October. Just take a look around the league. Last night alone:

Ducks 7 - Bruins 5
Penguins 5 - Panthers 3
Islanders 7 - Red Wings 2
Sharks 6 - Rangers 5
Oilers 6 - Habs 5

This is October hockey in a nutshell. Teams have not gelled yet. Defense is sloppy everywhere. It takes a few weeks to get the kinks ironed out. I know it's frustrating to watch but the Blues are not alone.

Tampa Bay is 1-4-2
Boston is 3-6-0
Florida is 4-5-0
Minnesota is 3-4-1
Dallas and Toronto are both 3-3-1

Anaheim, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and the Islanders all are in playoff spots right now. Those teams finished 23, 24, 25, 27, and 31 in the league last year.

Teams are going to regress to the mean in time.

[callitwhatyouwant]

So many slackjawed simpletons dyin to find fault first, and to hell with patience.

Patience is a virtue the "chicken little" crowd does not possess.

And when they turn it around, and chances are they will once things settle down, none of them will admit they were wrong per usual. Same as it ever was.

That's the issue. We are criticizing a 3-3-1 start like it's the apocalypse. This isn't a stanley cup team, this is thought to be a playoff team who can maybe win a round. But you have a group of people on this board that relish in the team doing bad because they are bad faith actors, and then you have the crowd that probably comes from cardinal fandom and are looking for hope somewhere else because that team is in a 0 direction phase and they are fair weathering over here. It's 3-3-1. The team goes on a 3 game winning streak and they would be playoff worthy. That's not a big sample size. That's way too reactionary.

Hofer has been bad. It's impossible to play in front of a goalie like that. That is unlucky because he is not a bad player. Someone said something that he needed to be sent down to the AHL. There are 30 teams that would claim Hofer and insert him as their backup with about 5-10 who would attempt to start him. Those type of comments are asinine.

I don't know why Thomas does this every year, but he has to be willing to shoot. When he is shooting he is playing really well and it opens up everyone elses game. Kyrou has to drive offense. Those 2 being at career low shot attempts and being the keys to the team will tell you how it's going to go.

I like to look at things with a glass half full unless I'm expecting a stanley cup team which I'm not. What has been good so far? Neighbours, Joseph, Suter, Schenn (physically has brought the team now multiple times when they weren't playing) Broberg and Faulk. Binner outside of the 1st game has looked good too. I didn't get to catch the game yesterday outside of highlights but it looked like Sunny did exactly what I have been saying he would and elevated that 4th line.

[LGB73]

Thomas, Buch, Kyrou, Holloway are all underperforming offensively.

Mailloux is a mess and we can't be playing our top 2 pairs 50 minutes a game. He needs to be playing 14-16 minutes at a minimum to develop. If it's not here, then back to the AHL.

Hofer's play in the last two have been astoundingly bad. He's shown he has the ability to play much better, but this is his first challenge. Does he have the mental toughness to reset his game and bounce back? We should all hope so.

Monty needs to set the lines and stick with them for 8-10 games and let them gel. My preference:

Buch-Thomas-Neighbours
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Joseph-Suter-Snuggerud

[Smith2Herr]

This is a pretty wild overreaction for games in October. Just take a look around the league. Last night alone:

Ducks 7 - Bruins 5
Penguins 5 - Panthers 3
Islanders 7 - Red Wings 2
Sharks 6 - Rangers 5
Oilers 6 - Habs 5

This is October hockey in a nutshell. Teams have not gelled yet. Defense is sloppy everywhere. It takes a few weeks to get the kinks ironed out. I know it's frustrating to watch but the Blues are not alone.

Tampa Bay is 1-4-2
Boston is 3-6-0
Florida is 4-5-0
Minnesota is 3-4-1
Dallas and Toronto are both 3-3-1

Anaheim, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and the Islanders all are in playoff spots right now. Those teams finished 23, 24, 25, 27, and 31 in the league last year.

Teams are going to regress to the mean in time.

Great post. Thanks for the perspective.

[Old_Goat]

Hofer will be fine. He definitely takes a step back from “reliable future #1” but this start isn’t who he is.

As for the rest….

This is the same core team it’s always been. The same team that plays uninspired, unmotivated hockey for 9/10s of the season and only tunes up when a coach gets fired or jobs are on the line. Here’s looking at you Thomas, Kyrou, Buchnevich.

The top six is criminally void of physicality and forecheck.

The defense is still - and even more so now - overmatched and horribly weak playing defensive hockey. Couple that with a more aggressive approach this year and it’s been a disaster.

The fourth line, which has traditionally been the beating heart of this putrid core group, was stripped of its identity when we forced guys like Texier and Bjugstad into the mix. Thankfully Sunny’s back but there’s still an edge/swagger missing from that line.

Snuggerud ain’t snuggeruding and Holloway isn’t playing out of his mind yet.

At the end of the day, there’s three things that have needed to change with this team the last several years and we just haven’t seemed to close these gaps:
1. Need to solidify the defense with a proper mix of experienced, defensive specialists.
2. Need a fourth line with identity and an edge.
3. Need to rethink the top 6 and infuse some new backbone and leadership. They need their Brady Tckachuk.

Re the Fourth Line comments...Is there any news about when Toropchenko may be ready to get in play?
Games like last night could have benefited and maybe completed a momentum turn from some of his style of play at times. I'm not saying he is a savior nor that it would solve our scoring issues, and I think that Texier is a great teammate with fairly good skill...also Bjugstad's size and reach is good too, but from a value perspective for what you get in the lineup for the salary as well as for the physicality/fire I hope he is back soon.

[callitwhatyouwant]

Thomas, Buch, Kyrou, Holloway are all underperforming offensively.

Mailloux is a mess and we can't be playing our top 2 pairs 50 minutes a game. He needs to be playing 14-16 minutes at a minimum to develop. If it's not here, then back to the AHL.

Hofer's play in the last two have been astoundingly bad. He's shown he has the ability to play much better, but this is his first challenge. Does he have the mental toughness to reset his game and bounce back? We should all hope so.

Monty needs to set the lines and stick with them for 8-10 games and let them gel. My preference:

Buch-Thomas-Neighbours
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Joseph-Suter-Snuggerud

I don't disagree with those lines too much, outside of I'm not sure about Snuggy/neighbours. In that configuration, if Thomas isn't going to shoot, we will not win. Neighbours needs someone to get the puck to the net for him to have success. Thomas not putting pucks on net is going to hamper Neighbours game. That 2nd line should be together. It was our best line for like 35 games last year. I don't know why we so quickly went to Suter (who is playing well).

I would tell line number 1 that Thomas, we aren't taking shots you are, until you do we don't score.
Line number 2 If I'm Schenn I just say go skate fast and shoot. I'll take care of defense but you need to go play in the Ozone. 4th line I think is going to come together now that Sunny is there. He's a smart hockey player and they will make a difference.

[skilles]

I mean if Hofer plays well we are probably 3-1-1 and I'm not that worried about 2 bad games from Hofer but yeah there are some holes.

The LM trade was really bad and the plan for making it work even worse.

I also thought our preseason and over all approach coming in was very poor

I still disagree LM had modest improvement in his game and the Blues dont need Bolduc, he's a -3 in his last three games playing 10-11 minutes a night. Bolduc still has to develop his game. At some point this trade will be judged a lot differently but its hard to fathom in the clickbait, satisfaction now era.
Simply put the Blues core, well paid players need to lead. Hofer needs to snap out of it. Those two factors are the difference between 3-3-2 and 5-2

of course you do, and you always will.

[skilles]

I mean if Hofer plays well we are probably 3-1-1 and I'm not that worried about 2 bad games from Hofer but yeah there are some holes.

The LM trade was really bad and the plan for making it work even worse.

I also thought our preseason and over all approach coming in was very poor

Zach bolduc, wouldn’t help this team. Hell Connor McDavid wouldn’t help this team right now. Again everyone is blaming LM and this is not even close to being his fault

I didn't blame LM for anything, I think the team was managed very poorly this summer and coached very poorly so far this season starting at camp/preseason.

[blues2112]

Which train wreck? The premise of the topic? The forum panic?

[Bacchk29]

So many slackjawed simpletons dyin to find fault first, and to hell with patience.

Patience is a virtue the "chicken little" crowd does not possess.

And when they turn it around, and chances are they will once things settle down, none of them will admit they were wrong per usual. Same as it ever was.

That's the issue. We are criticizing a 3-3-1 start like it's the apocalypse. This isn't a stanley cup team, this is thought to be a playoff team who can maybe win a round. But you have a group of people on this board that relish in the team doing bad because they are bad faith actors, and then you have the crowd that probably comes from cardinal fandom and are looking for hope somewhere else because that team is in a 0 direction phase and they are fair weathering over here. It's 3-3-1. The team goes on a 3 game winning streak and they would be playoff worthy. That's not a big sample size. That's way too reactionary.

Hofer has been bad. It's impossible to play in front of a goalie like that. That is unlucky because he is not a bad player. Someone said something that he needed to be sent down to the AHL. There are 30 teams that would claim Hofer and insert him as their backup with about 5-10 who would attempt to start him. Those type of comments are asinine.

I don't know why Thomas does this every year, but he has to be willing to shoot. When he is shooting he is playing really well and it opens up everyone elses game. Kyrou has to drive offense. Those 2 being at career low shot attempts and being the keys to the team will tell you how it's going to go.

I like to look at things with a glass half full unless I'm expecting a stanley cup team which I'm not. What has been good so far? Neighbours, Joseph, Suter, Schenn (physically has brought the team now multiple times when they weren't playing) Broberg and Faulk. Binner outside of the 1st game has looked good too. I didn't get to catch the game yesterday outside of highlights but it looked like Sunny did exactly what I have been saying he would and elevated that 4th line.

Best thing you said is that it’s early. No need to panic…yet. Biggest issue is squarely on the GM. Team is worse on paper than the end of last season. Old and slow up the middle, didn’t address the 2C issue. Suter is a 3C and Schenn shouldn’t be playing center anymore. Most logical people’s problem with the Bolduc trade is - not Mailloux but nothing additional in that trade. Thomas is what he is, a bottom tier first line probably 2C in the League. No game breakers on the roster, but you have to pay $11-12 mil for that guy and give up assets to get him. The club and fanbase constantly overvalues the talent here.

[Tony Palazzolo]

This is a pretty wild overreaction for games in October. Just take a look around the league. Last night alone:

Ducks 7 - Bruins 5
Penguins 5 - Panthers 3
Islanders 7 - Red Wings 2
Sharks 6 - Rangers 5
Oilers 6 - Habs 5

This is October hockey in a nutshell. Teams have not gelled yet. Defense is sloppy everywhere. It takes a few weeks to get the kinks ironed out. I know it's frustrating to watch but the Blues are not alone.

Tampa Bay is 1-4-2
Boston is 3-6-0
Florida is 4-5-0
Minnesota is 3-4-1
Dallas and Toronto are both 3-3-1

Anaheim, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and the Islanders all are in playoff spots right now. Those teams finished 23, 24, 25, 27, and 31 in the league last year.

Teams are going to regress to the mean in time.

I think it's normal for teams that didn't make the playoffs the prior year to come out of the gate better. Most of them played meaningless games for the last quarter of the season, had a whole summer to recoup and think. Teams that went to the playoffs had the intensity of making the playoffs and playing on the playoffs. Logically points in October count as much as they do in March, but mentally it's doesn't seem as important. It's not a personal issue, they are just playing below their ability.

[BalotelliMassive]

Same problem that has carried on from the past two seasons minimum - teams that are built on speed give the Blues fits.

[Bacchk29]

Same problem that has carried on from the past two seasons minimum - teams that are built on speed give the Blues fits.

Exactly right. No true no 1 PP qb on D and no game breaker forward.

[ManitobaBlues]

[theograce]

Same problem that has carried on from the past two seasons minimum - teams that are built on speed give the Blues fits.

Nazar looks so good. I’m a fan