Lack offensive talent

[zuck698]

Im sure thomas isnt healthy.
I dont care if he is healthy or not really but im guessing they brought him back early to stop the landslide…. Didnt help tho. I wouldnt doubt if jake did the same.

Agree. Neighbours is getting beat to a pulp as well. It's looking at Buchnevich, Fowler, Parayko where I wonder about undisclosed injuries.

I agree with the question of undisclosed injuries on 17 and 55, but not so sure on 89. I see Buchy just continuing on and maybe getting worse as he was at the end of last year. I have noticed that 55 seems a little slower skating. He hasn't had many of his quick burst rushes this year, and when chasing the puck back into the zone, the other teams guys are keeping up with him when that never happened in the past. Fowler? Who knows? Looks like a complete 180 from last year.

[Bacchk29]

I think we have plenty of offensive talent, we’re just not allowed to use it. We’re back to boring Bannister hockey.

Relieve Steve Ott of his responsibilities and replace him with someone else. He is the constant; and I think there are too many voices.

For that matter get rid of Claude Julien. Brought in for an insurance policy in case Bannister didn’t work out. I thought head coaches could pick their own bench coaches. Why is Hitchcock still a consultant? You see the philosophy here that hasn’t changed.

[Old_Goat]

When does Kyrou start producing offensively? He's a big liability defensively, so that's what he must do, to justify his salary.

Buch is this forum's Carl Brewer, but at least he checks.

When does anyone? Kyrou tied for team lead in points.

Who’s Carl Brewer??? Do you mean Eric Brewer?

I'm sure he meant Eric. Carl Brewer played a very short period for the Blues in the early '70s. He was a shorter D-man known for his puck moving and power play QB skills. I'm going from memory, but he played mostly for Detroit and maybe Toronto earlier in his career. Of course all of this was a long time before this Forum, or the founding of the Internet by a former VP/supposed climatologist, or personal computers.
I always thought Carl Brewer was overrated and really did not help the Blues as much as he was touted & pumped up to be upon his late season arrival and in the Playoff series shortly after they got him. He was no Bobby Orr that's for sure.

[blues2112]

Disagree on premise of "lack of talent." On paper, roster is richer than the one that ended the season. Bolduc (talented for sure), is gone, but Suter, IMO, cancels that loss. Dvorsky and a full camp and season of Snuggerud makes the "talent" a plus.

Having said that, why this team is typically boring befuddles me. Then again, I'm adept at being befuddled!

[Blues Dave]

Disagree on premise of "lack of talent." On paper, roster is richer than the one that ended the season. Bolduc (talented for sure), is gone, but Suter, IMO, cancels that loss. Dvorsky and a full camp and season of Snuggerud makes the "talent" a plus.

Having said that, why this team is typically boring befuddles me. Then again, I'm adept at being befuddled!

There certainly is a heap of befuddledality going on around here, I know I have it.

[icon]

2 goals again. This team is freaking boring. And inept.

[blackinkbiz]

Im sure thomas isnt healthy.
I dont care if he is healthy or not really but im guessing they brought him back early to stop the landslide…. Didnt help tho. I wouldnt doubt if jake did the same.

Agree. Neighbours is getting beat to a pulp as well. It's looking at Buchnevich, Fowler, Parayko where I wonder about undisclosed injuries.

I agree with the question of undisclosed injuries on 17 and 55, but not so sure on 89. I see Buchy just continuing on and maybe getting worse as he was at the end of last year. I have noticed that 55 seems a little slower skating. He hasn't had many of his quick burst rushes this year, and when chasing the puck back into the zone, the other teams guys are keeping up with him when that never happened in the past. Fowler? Who knows? Looks like a complete 180 from last year.

Parayko's back has to be hurting. He's a shell of the player he was the past 2 seasons. You could pretty much count on at least 3-5 end-to-end rushes per game last season, with them yielding at least a few quality scoring chances. They're pretty much nonexistent this season. As far as both Buch and Fowler extensions, sheesh, what a disaster.

The only worse extension I can think of is Oli Marmol.

I will say this, though... imo, the talent is there, although I have no faith Buch can turn it around, but the others, there's more than enough offensive ability on this team to average 3.5 gpg. They were in every game of this road trip and had the chance to win each game.

They're just not getting over the hump right now.

[rezero]

When does Kyrou start producing offensively? He's a big liability defensively, so that's what he must do, to justify his salary.

Buch is this forum's Carl Brewer, but at least he checks.

Buch hits? Kyrou had more hits than Buch last year and more takeaways. Buch is the softest player on this team, but people think he is tough because he head butted some dude 3 years ago.

[rezero]

Disagree on premise of "lack of talent." On paper, roster is richer than the one that ended the season. Bolduc (talented for sure), is gone, but Suter, IMO, cancels that loss. Dvorsky and a full camp and season of Snuggerud makes the "talent" a plus.

Having said that, why this team is typically boring befuddles me. Then again, I'm adept at being befuddled!

Bolduc > Suter

Bolduc had a little bit of a mean streak and had 108 hits last year. Pius is on pace for around 50. Faska had around 120. We took out grinders who could win puck battles and play hard against the walls for finesse players. This team has zero toughness which equates to zero offensive zone time. That is our biggest difference between this year and last.

[Tony Palazzolo]

Im sure thomas isnt healthy.
I dont care if he is healthy or not really but im guessing they brought him back early to stop the landslide…. Didnt help tho. I wouldnt doubt if jake did the same.

Agree. Neighbours is getting beat to a pulp as well. It's looking at Buchnevich, Fowler, Parayko where I wonder about undisclosed injuries.

I agree with the question of undisclosed injuries on 17 and 55, but not so sure on 89. I see Buchy just continuing on and maybe getting worse as he was at the end of last year. I have noticed that 55 seems a little slower skating. He hasn't had many of his quick burst rushes this year, and when chasing the puck back into the zone, the other teams guys are keeping up with him when that never happened in the past. Fowler? Who knows? Looks like a complete 180 from last year.

Parayko's back has to be hurting. He's a shell of the player he was the past 2 seasons. You could pretty much count on at least 3-5 end-to-end rushes per game last season, with them yielding at least a few quality scoring chances. They're pretty much nonexistent this season. As far as both Buch and Fowler extensions, sheesh, what a disaster.

The only worse extension I can think of is Oli Marmol.

I will say this, though... imo, the talent is there, although I have no faith Buch can turn it around, but the others, there's more than enough offensive ability on this team to average 3.5 gpg. They were in every game of this road trip and had the chance to win each game.

They're just not getting over the hump right now.

My guess is that Parakyo still isn't 100% from the knee surgery. I had the repair version of that surgery over 6 months ago and I won't be 100% for another few months.

[zamadoo]

Disagree on premise of "lack of talent." On paper, roster is richer than the one that ended the season. Bolduc (talented for sure), is gone, but Suter, IMO, cancels that loss. Dvorsky and a full camp and season of Snuggerud makes the "talent" a plus.

Having said that, why this team is typically boring befuddles me. Then again, I'm adept at being befuddled!

Bolduc > Suter

Bolduc had a little bit of a mean streak and had 108 hits last year. Pius is on pace for around 50. Faska had around 120. We took out grinders who could win puck battles and play hard against the walls for finesse players. This team has zero toughness which equates to zero offensive zone time. That is our biggest difference between this year and last.

I liked Bolduc as a prospect and as a player last year. He obviously chose to start playing aggressively with more physicality to earn ice time as a young player. Roy told him to work on other elements in his game his final year of Jrs, saying his NHL coaches will want him to be able to play a full game. But what I saw in the playoffs showed me that it's not a natural part of his game and more of a gimmick that will get him in trouble.

Suter and Bolduc have very similar stats on two very different teams. I would rather have Bolduc over Suter, but that's more to do with future potential than who is actually the better player now. I agree though that we're missing an element of grit on this team. That doesn't solve why, after being pretty good, we became an awful OT team, but it means we struggle to maintain/gain possession of the puck and get outshot at even strength. They did well intercepting passes against NJ, but then couldn't figure out what to do when they did, and then also let NJ in on some breaks as well as maintain zone time often.

They're coming together a bit now, with Neighbours and Joseph back in the lineup. I liked Jake with Dvorsky, who seemed to feed off his game. Dvo does have a tendency to finish his checks. He'll make a heavy hit every once in a while and go in for some work along the boards, but man he's got magic mitts sometimes and often manages to move the puck in a beneficial way during puck battle situations with just a little flick of his stick.

I'd prolly try to roll this to increase the grit across the lineup:

Holloway-Thomas-Kyrou
Neighbours-Dvorsky-Snuggerud
Joseph-Schenn-Buchnevich
Suter-Sunny-Bjugstad<---give this line some minutes

or

Holloway-Thomas-Kyrou
Schenn-Dvorsky-Neighbours
Joseph-Suter-Buch
Toro-Sunny-Walker

OR

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

It really is a top-6 weakness. Weakness that is.