What Did you Expect and Why Were You Fooled?

[TheSolution]

Look around the league, the teams that are good went through long rebuilds drafting in the top 10.

Jake Neighbors is a nice NHL player, yeah, but he’s not what these elite players are like.

Snuggy is a goal scorer, cool. He wasn’t a real difference maker at the NCAA level. He’s not a complete player and his offensive abilities, while intriguing, aren’t of the elite tier of the other special young names around the league.

The team couldn’t trade Kyrou, an improved but still pathetic player without the puck. Goal the other night 100% his fault.

This will be the worst year of STL sports in decades, if not ever.

And there isn’t a quick turnaround for the Blues.

The Cardinals are in FAR FAR FAR better position to transition out of the bad.

The Blues have NO ANSWER other than finally being honest with the fans and putting this in a 5-10 year rebuild mode.

You can’t F******G say the rebuild is over and then trade Balduc (who actually can play a full, complete, physical game while producing which is what you need if you aren’t the most skilled team) for a soft D who will need a minimum of 200 games to break into the league.

The Blues forward lineup is full of PLUGS. Total and complete plugs. Walker should be in the Southern Pro league. Texier, Joseph are AHL players.

The 5th and 6th D are embarrassing.

They screwed up Hofer’s development.

This is going to be UGLY.

For this year. For next year. For many years.

And it sucks because they have the right coach for this franchise and city.

They have some excellent guys. Love Thomas. Buch is a solid second tier player. 55 is a treat to have. But man, this team is extremely sub par in the 2025 NHL. Way too many incredibly good young players. The Blues are going to meddle below the playoff bar for many years.

I hope you understand this is reality.

And worse, we have to listen to this loser Mike Kelly with his face zoomed into the screen instead of at least seeing some tattas with Alexa.

[Backesdraft]

And yet another sock emerges during a losing streak.

[TheSolution]

And yet another sock emerges during a losing streak.

Accusing anyone who doesn’t LIVE on these forums with thousands of posts as being something other than a person making a fair point is very truly a mental disease.

[succinct712]

How did they screw up Hofer's developement? He has been a good backup the last two years with around 30 games played each year. I think he'll be fine and don't see how anyone blames the Blues for his putrid play this year. I'm thinking this team just thought they turned the corner after last year and are not doing the little things that win games. Came in overconfident for whatever reason.

[TheSolution]

How did they screw up Hofer's developement? He has been a good backup the last two years with around 30 games played each year. I think he'll be fine and don't see how anyone blames the Blues for his putrid play this year. I'm thinking this team just thought they turned the corner after last year and are not doing the little things that win games. Came in overconfident for whatever reason.

The roster is not the same as last year.
The plus motivation that happens for new coaches isn’t there.

They completely mismanaged the narrative saying the rebuild (or whatever) is over.

They tried to cheat what took other franchises a decade with the Holloway/Broberg deal and then figured they’d be able to sell Kyrou and eventually Binner and whoever else and we’d remain competitive, hold onto the fan base that was captured during the Cup year instead of letting the bottom drop out with a full rebuild.

This team has NO IDENTITY. They’re not skilled enough to run with the teams that have multiple elite offensive players drafted top 5 and they’re not tough enough and edgy enough to win the old Berube way. Bolduc would have been perfect for a team trying to win with some grit to make up for not having one or two of these crazy elite forwards.

[succinct712]

How did they screw up Hofer's developement? He has been a good backup the last two years with around 30 games played each year. I think he'll be fine and don't see how anyone blames the Blues for his putrid play this year. I'm thinking this team just thought they turned the corner after last year and are not doing the little things that win games. Came in overconfident for whatever reason.

The roster is not the same as last year.
The plus motivation that happens for new coaches isn’t there.

They completely mismanaged the narrative saying the rebuild (or whatever) is over.

They tried to cheat what took other franchises a decade with the Holloway/Broberg deal and then figured they’d be able to sell Kyrou and eventually Binner and whoever else and we’d remain competitive, hold onto the fan base that was captured during the Cup year instead of letting the bottom drop out with a full rebuild.

This team has NO IDENTITY. They’re not skilled enough to run with the teams that have multiple elite offensive players drafted top 5 and they’re not tough enough and edgy enough to win the old Berube way. Bolduc would have been perfect for a team trying to win with some grit to make up for not having one or two of these crazy elite forwards.

I don't buy it, still way too early in the season IMO. Plus now you're missing Thomas and Neighbors.

[IsDurbanodoingtime]

How did they screw up Hofer's developement? He has been a good backup the last two years with around 30 games played each year. I think he'll be fine and don't see how anyone blames the Blues for his putrid play this year. I'm thinking this team just thought they turned the corner after last year and are not doing the little things that win games. Came in overconfident for whatever reason.

The roster is not the same as last year.
The plus motivation that happens for new coaches isn’t there.

They completely mismanaged the narrative saying the rebuild (or whatever) is over.

They tried to cheat what took other franchises a decade with the Holloway/Broberg deal and then figured they’d be able to sell Kyrou and eventually Binner and whoever else and we’d remain competitive, hold onto the fan base that was captured during the Cup year instead of letting the bottom drop out with a full rebuild.

This team has NO IDENTITY. They’re not skilled enough to run with the teams that have multiple elite offensive players drafted top 5 and they’re not tough enough and edgy enough to win the old Berube way. Bolduc would have been perfect for a team trying to win with some grit to make up for not having one or two of these crazy elite forwards.

Again, how exactly did they screw up Hofer's development?

[succinct712]

How did they screw up Hofer's developement? He has been a good backup the last two years with around 30 games played each year. I think he'll be fine and don't see how anyone blames the Blues for his putrid play this year. I'm thinking this team just thought they turned the corner after last year and are not doing the little things that win games. Came in overconfident for whatever reason.

The roster is not the same as last year.
The plus motivation that happens for new coaches isn’t there.

They completely mismanaged the narrative saying the rebuild (or whatever) is over.

They tried to cheat what took other franchises a decade with the Holloway/Broberg deal and then figured they’d be able to sell Kyrou and eventually Binner and whoever else and we’d remain competitive, hold onto the fan base that was captured during the Cup year instead of letting the bottom drop out with a full rebuild.

This team has NO IDENTITY. They’re not skilled enough to run with the teams that have multiple elite offensive players drafted top 5 and they’re not tough enough and edgy enough to win the old Berube way. Bolduc would have been perfect for a team trying to win with some grit to make up for not having one or two of these crazy elite forwards.

Again, how exactly did they screw up Hofer's development?

They didn't!

[TheSolution]

How did they screw up Hofer's developement? He has been a good backup the last two years with around 30 games played each year. I think he'll be fine and don't see how anyone blames the Blues for his putrid play this year. I'm thinking this team just thought they turned the corner after last year and are not doing the little things that win games. Came in overconfident for whatever reason.

The roster is not the same as last year.
The plus motivation that happens for new coaches isn’t there.

They completely mismanaged the narrative saying the rebuild (or whatever) is over.

They tried to cheat what took other franchises a decade with the Holloway/Broberg deal and then figured they’d be able to sell Kyrou and eventually Binner and whoever else and we’d remain competitive, hold onto the fan base that was captured during the Cup year instead of letting the bottom drop out with a full rebuild.

This team has NO IDENTITY. They’re not skilled enough to run with the teams that have multiple elite offensive players drafted top 5 and they’re not tough enough and edgy enough to win the old Berube way. Bolduc would have been perfect for a team trying to win with some grit to make up for not having one or two of these crazy elite forwards.

I don't buy it, still way too early in the season IMO. Plus now you're missing Thomas and Neighbors.

It’s jut an excuse, missing both is of course major but this issue and the REAL trajectory of this franchise has nothing to do with those guys missing rn.

[succinct712]

How did they screw up Hofer's developement? He has been a good backup the last two years with around 30 games played each year. I think he'll be fine and don't see how anyone blames the Blues for his putrid play this year. I'm thinking this team just thought they turned the corner after last year and are not doing the little things that win games. Came in overconfident for whatever reason.

The roster is not the same as last year.
The plus motivation that happens for new coaches isn’t there.

They completely mismanaged the narrative saying the rebuild (or whatever) is over.

They tried to cheat what took other franchises a decade with the Holloway/Broberg deal and then figured they’d be able to sell Kyrou and eventually Binner and whoever else and we’d remain competitive, hold onto the fan base that was captured during the Cup year instead of letting the bottom drop out with a full rebuild.

This team has NO IDENTITY. They’re not skilled enough to run with the teams that have multiple elite offensive players drafted top 5 and they’re not tough enough and edgy enough to win the old Berube way. Bolduc would have been perfect for a team trying to win with some grit to make up for not having one or two of these crazy elite forwards.

I don't buy it, still way too early in the season IMO. Plus now you're missing Thomas and Neighbors.

It’s jut an excuse, missing both is of course major but this issue and the REAL trajectory of this franchise has nothing to do with those guys missing rn.

No it's a fact that two of the Blues top players are out.

[DawgDad]

How did they screw up Hofer's developement? He has been a good backup the last two years with around 30 games played each year. I think he'll be fine and don't see how anyone blames the Blues for his putrid play this year. I'm thinking this team just thought they turned the corner after last year and are not doing the little things that win games. Came in overconfident for whatever reason.

The roster is not the same as last year.
The plus motivation that happens for new coaches isn’t there.

They completely mismanaged the narrative saying the rebuild (or whatever) is over.

They tried to cheat what took other franchises a decade with the Holloway/Broberg deal and then figured they’d be able to sell Kyrou and eventually Binner and whoever else and we’d remain competitive, hold onto the fan base that was captured during the Cup year instead of letting the bottom drop out with a full rebuild.

This team has NO IDENTITY. They’re not skilled enough to run with the teams that have multiple elite offensive players drafted top 5 and they’re not tough enough and edgy enough to win the old Berube way. Bolduc would have been perfect for a team trying to win with some grit to make up for not having one or two of these crazy elite forwards.

I don't buy it, still way too early in the season IMO. Plus now you're missing Thomas and Neighbors.

It’s jut an excuse, missing both is of course major but this issue and the REAL trajectory of this franchise has nothing to do with those guys missing rn.

No sale. Period.

[sdaltons]

I expected a rough year as more kids started to get bigger roles. It's going a little worse than I expected but not enough to be upset and definitely not enough to feel like I was fooled.

[theograce]

It's going a little worse than I expected but not enough to be upset and definitely not enough to feel like I was fooled.

Last place in the div with the fewest goals and most goals against

Laughing at you

[11WSChamps]

And yet another sock emerges during a losing streak.

He does have a point about Alexa and those tatas.

[sdaltons]

And really anyone who followed how last season and then the offseason unfolded objectively should be about where I am.

Rockier start than expected but now missing two key forwards. And I also didn't anticipate Hofer forgetting how to be a NHL goalie. That's a bummer!

[succinct712]

And really anyone who followed how last season and then the offseason unfolded objectively should be about where I am.

Rockier start than expected but now missing two key forwards. And I also didn't anticipate Hofer forgetting how to be a NHL goalie. That's a bummer!

Certainly seems like a perfect sh*t storm currently!