Is the season a lost cause

[Bacchk29]

We saw last season that the core group can play good hockey when they are all sufficiently self-motivated and committed to pulling together. This season started with a big thud at home followed by a road recovery followed by the Hofer meltdown. Followed by the Mailloux circus and numerous other defensive lapses, by the Thomas injury, by the Neighbours injury, leading into the current injuries to Snuggerud, Walker, and Toropchenko. Throughout the veteran leadership has been mired in the depths of a dysfunctional offensive funk. They brought up the young #10 overall successor center who promptly joined the veterans in their offensive face-plant. No help, hope shattered. Last night we saw Kyrou and Parayko make eggegious rookie mistakes leading directly to goals. Thomas was wholly ineffective. It's been a shirt-show and it is snowballing.

Trades are needed, they need to shake up the locker room, practice dynamic, and lineup. Declining veterans need to be moved. The return needs to include younger NHL ready players, not just low first round draft picks, and not B-grade roster filler. If teams want to pluck Blues vets for a deep run they need to fork over top prospects in return. The Blues have all their future 1st round picks, they need players not more picks. If it takes a vet plus a pick to land a key prospect they should seriously consider that type of trade. They need a #1 center, a prospect projecting to top pairing D. They need to be bold.

In agreement except for dictating what we’re getting for Schenn Binner Faulk I believe that’s who you’re speaking of. Faulk is the only one with any value. Schenn and Binner stock at an all time low. Get what you can for those two. It’s time to start the Steen era and change direction and philosophy.

[crookedfeeder]

We're in the (Xmas) season of no trades.

[Bob39]

If you look at the teams directly ahead of the Blues in the standings, they aren't anything special. I don't think you have to go on a crazy run, but you have to go on a seven win in ten games kind of run. You also have to start winning at least some of these OT games. If you had gone 4-3 in those vs. going 0-7 your season looks pretty different right now.

[hotrivets]

Binner was just a star in international play so he still has value.

I'm interested in what a team actually says to the players- some of whom do care even if they cannot make much of a change in the trajectory- when they "decide to tank."

Do they actually make bad trades? Put together crazy lines (tried that?) Pull the goalie early in the 3rd?

[MiamiLaw]

No its not a lost cause because the Blues are moving toward younger players in Broberg, Holloway, Hofer, Neighbours, Mailloux, Kessel, Dvorsky, Kaskimaki, Snuggerud and this season these players are getting substantial NHL experience. But yes everything else sucks

That future core is not particularly talented though. They need a year or two of very high picks. Add two Top 5 picks to that group and they could start building something.

[blackinkbiz]

I was so looking forward to this season. After the ridiculous way the team lost to Winnipeg last April I really thought they would respond in a positive way this year. The way the team played the last couple of months in the season and in most of that series it really gave me hope we would have something this year.

And now.....it's like watching the Cleveland Browns for the last 27 years. I don't ever remember a stretch (well I do, the mid 00's era) that has just been so awful, so unwatchable, so unexciting to see. And it's not just one part of the game. It's offense, defense, goaltending, special teams, coaching, managing. There is nothing that has gone right. There have been two winning streaks of two games. That's it. We are tied with Columbus for the fewest wins. It's just been a gross display.

I don't see the 12 game win streak with this group. I don't see 2019 with this group. I'm just about ready to start rooting for the Blues to take on the identity of a late season NBA team that just openly and obviously tanks for a better pick. This all just blows.

To try and look on the bright side, in both 2019 and last season, things looked just as bad. Remember, the 2019 team was the only team in NHL history to be dead last in January, who then went on to win the Cup. Despite the team currently being the worst in the league at +/-, they're still only 4 points out of a WC spot.

While it may not seem like a promising indicator, the fact that almost every player is performing below their historical expectations actually bodes well IMO. If they can manage to be just 4 points out of a WC spot when they're all playing their worst hockey, how will the team look when they all start playing their best?

We're at the 1/3 mark of the season so still a ways to go. As much as I wish they would stop with these bipolar tendencies, at least they've prepared us for this with their previous play. lol

[seattleblue]

This is what happens when your GM is right about a bunch of little things but is wrong about the one big thing. I always refer to 9/27/20 as a horror dark day because it was the day we realized the GM doesn't understand support beams. It's a bigger deal than just the player themselves. The GM doesn't even get it, and that is terrifying.

Then he seemed to get it but this is why I say "crashed the plane into the side of the mountain" because some errors are catastrophic they set you back so much.

Look at this team. It's entire problem is the lack of support beam. They prop it up and then it collapses easily. To be a contender for the Stanley Cup again, the team will need support beams at every position. Is that Robert Thomas? Come on. He's a good player but he's not a support beam, quite obviously. And no defenseman is, which is a major major problem in this sport, for purposes of contending.

What's extra f'd up ... take a look at the standings if they went on a 10 game run or something like last year ... suddenly 19-12-7 and in the playoff mix and then we'd be like ok, ok, we expected to see this. (Ala 2019 or 2025). They just inspire no hope of that. The wild card is goaltending. We have all seen goalies turn the corner and lock it down. The pressure of Team Canada has gone the wrong way this year unlike last year for Binner. The goalies are just killing this team, but there's not much the skaters are doing to help themselves, at any position. Since we've seen basically these same players play in a groove, we know it's possible. Just day after day of them not doing it, eventually that's who they are, the not-doers.

[stlhooked]

They won’t be getting anymore of my money at games.
They’re selling wooden nickels- I can tell a scam when I see one.

[Harry S Deals]

No its not a lost cause because the Blues are moving toward younger players in Broberg, Holloway, Hofer, Neighbours, Mailloux, Kessel, Dvorsky, Kaskimaki, Snuggerud and this season these players are getting substantial NHL experience. But yes everything else sucks

That future core is not particularly talented though. They need a year or two of very high picks. Add two Top 5 picks to that group and they could start building something.

Snuggerud, Dvorsky, Carbonneau, Stenberg, Jiricek, Lindtein, Mailloux, Ralph, Pekarcik, Fischer

Im not sure we are able to make the determination that the talent pool is not particularly talented at this point in time. We are at the early stages with Snuggerud and Dvorsky getting their feet wet

[theograce]

No its not a lost cause because the Blues are moving toward younger players in Broberg, Holloway, Hofer, Neighbours, Mailloux, Kessel, Dvorsky, Kaskimaki, Snuggerud and this season these players are getting substantial NHL experience. But yes everything else sucks

That future core is not particularly talented though. They need a year or two of very high picks. Add two Top 5 picks to that group and they could start building something.

Snuggerud, Dvorsky, Carbonneau, Stenberg, Jiricek, Lindtein, Mailloux, Ralph, Pekarcik, Fischer

Im not sure we are able to make the determination that the talent pool is not particularly talented at this point in time. We are at the early stages with Snuggerud and Dvorsky getting their feet wet

Everyone has a Snuggerud, Dvorsky and Broberg.

[seattleblue]

No its not a lost cause because the Blues are moving toward younger players in Broberg, Holloway, Hofer, Neighbours, Mailloux, Kessel, Dvorsky, Kaskimaki, Snuggerud and this season these players are getting substantial NHL experience. But yes everything else sucks

That future core is not particularly talented though. They need a year or two of very high picks. Add two Top 5 picks to that group and they could start building something.

Snuggerud, Dvorsky, Carbonneau, Stenberg, Jiricek, Lindtein, Mailloux, Ralph, Pekarcik, Fischer

Im not sure we are able to make the determination that the talent pool is not particularly talented at this point in time. We are at the early stages with Snuggerud and Dvorsky getting their feet wet

What we are hoping is they have enough breadth and depth with the current prospects and if they could get a high lottery pick and another 1st rounder or blue chip prospect somehow they could reorient the prospect pool toward this higher trajectory

[aslord]

So wait...it is??? That means I can't watch games any more? I can't wear my Blues gear and cheer for my favorite Team? I can't go nuts while I celebrate goals? I can't get my 3 year old son excited about watching with me and pretending to be our favorite players while we bat a rolled up pair of socks across the floor with our plastic sticks???

It's a TOTAL lost cause???

you can do all those things, but yes its a lost cause. Cheer for the future

[DawgDad]

We saw last season that the core group can play good hockey when they are all sufficiently self-motivated and committed to pulling together. This season started with a big thud at home followed by a road recovery followed by the Hofer meltdown. Followed by the Mailloux circus and numerous other defensive lapses, by the Thomas injury, by the Neighbours injury, leading into the current injuries to Snuggerud, Walker, and Toropchenko. Throughout the veteran leadership has been mired in the depths of a dysfunctional offensive funk. They brought up the young #10 overall successor center who promptly joined the veterans in their offensive face-plant. No help, hope shattered. Last night we saw Kyrou and Parayko make eggegious rookie mistakes leading directly to goals. Thomas was wholly ineffective. It's been a shirt-show and it is snowballing.

Trades are needed, they need to shake up the locker room, practice dynamic, and lineup. Declining veterans need to be moved. The return needs to include younger NHL ready players, not just low first round draft picks, and not B-grade roster filler. If teams want to pluck Blues vets for a deep run they need to fork over top prospects in return. The Blues have all their future 1st round picks, they need players not more picks. If it takes a vet plus a pick to land a key prospect they should seriously consider that type of trade. They need a #1 center, a prospect projecting to top pairing D. They need to be bold.

In agreement except for dictating what we’re getting for Schenn Binner Faulk I believe that’s who you’re speaking of. Faulk is the only one with any value. Schenn and Binner stock at an all time low. Get what you can for those two. It’s time to start the Steen era and change direction and philosophy.

If they cannot get the good young players they are targeting for a veteran then they just need to keep the player unless they want to bank the cap to buy free agents. If they can't get a top prospect for Binner then keep him. Schenn, I think he has more value than some fans would suspect as quality depth on a team poised to make a run; he can still do a lot of things on the ice. Blues could even afford to package a low first round pick for a quality first line or top pair prospect. Faulk could be a huge difference maker for a good team short an RD.

[Blues Dave]

If you look at the teams directly ahead of the Blues in the standings, they aren't anything special. I don't think you have to go on a crazy run, but you have to go on a seven win in ten games kind of run. You also have to start winning at least some of these OT games. If you had gone 4-3 in those vs. going 0-7 your season looks pretty different right now.

You are correct in what you say. And not only that, but we are not getting clobbered every game we play. Some maybe yes, but every team can get clobbered sometime. I've seen every Blues team since they joined the NHL, and plenty of them have looked worse than this team. I'll even go out on a limb here and bet that this Blues team does not come in last place this season. It's hard to watch after we've seen the Blues play so good that they even won the Cup. But I'm a die-hard Blues fan too. I'll be here for the duration. (Mine I mean)

[Jeff Goldblum]

Give it til the Olympic break.

[blackinkbiz]

If you look at the teams directly ahead of the Blues in the standings, they aren't anything special. I don't think you have to go on a crazy run, but you have to go on a seven win in ten games kind of run. You also have to start winning at least some of these OT games. If you had gone 4-3 in those vs. going 0-7 your season looks pretty different right now.

You are correct in what you say. And not only that, but we are not getting clobbered every game we play. Some maybe yes, but every team can get clobbered sometime. I've seen every Blues team since they joined the NHL, and plenty of them have looked worse than this team. I'll even go out on a limb here and bet that this Blues team does not come in last place this season. It's hard to watch after we've seen the Blues play so good that they even won the Cup. But I'm a die-hard Blues fan too. I'll be here for the duration. (Mine I mean)

Not only this, but if the Blues were playing their best hockey and still losing, it'd be more hopeless. Right now, from top to bottom, they ALL suck.

For whatever reason, this group has these Nov-Jan issues almost every year, but they have found their way out of it each season to finish strong. If they can just hang around (like they kinda are now) until they all start playing better, there's hope.

I'll cuss them out and want to waive the white towel on a weekly basis right now but, at the end of the day, know there's still a long way to go and hopefully some much better hockey ahead.