About that aging defense corps . . .

[DawgDad]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

[bud white]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

It takes time to turn an aircraft carrier around. The Cup team lost a lot of D - for a range of reasons (several outside of Army's control such as JBow). And if we knew we'd lost JBow, they don't expose Dunn to Seattle). The "older" D he went with was there to keep the boat afloat as much as possible.

[netboy65]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

It takes time to turn an aircraft carrier around. The Cup team lost a lot of D - for a range of reasons (several outside of Army's control such as JBow). And if we knew we'd lost JBow, they don't expose Dunn to Seattle). The "older" D he went with was there to keep the boat afloat as much as possible.

You have a couple things reversed. JBo had his incident in 2020 and the Kraken expansion draft wasn’t until 2021 so we knew about him when we exposed Dunn. Schwartz should have counted as our contribution but Seattle gamed the system

[seattleblue]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

It takes time to turn an aircraft carrier around. The Cup team lost a lot of D - for a range of reasons (several outside of Army's control such as JBow). And if we knew we'd lost JBow, they don't expose Dunn to Seattle). The "older" D he went with was there to keep the boat afloat as much as possible.

You have a couple things reversed. JBo had his incident in 2020 and the Kraken expansion draft wasn’t until 2021 so we knew about him when we exposed Dunn. Schwartz should have counted as our contribution but Seattle gamed the system

how did they game the system

[a smell of green grass]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

The man has dressed the Barbie, but none of us have any idea if these moves will lead to a date with Stanley Cup. Don't you think you should at least see a couple of games on the ice before you hand out ribbons?

You, Me, ANYBODY can dress a Barbie. That is just putting a purse on an arm, and heels on feet.

[DawgDad]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

The man has dressed the Barbie, but none of us have any idea if these moves will lead to a date with Stanley Cup. Don't you think you should at least see a couple of games on the ice before you hand out ribbons?

You, Me, ANYBODY can dress a Barbie. That is just putting a purse on an arm, and heels on feet.

No. We've already seen Fowler and Broberg. The point here is at the end of the 23-24 season it looked like the Blues were stuck with a smallish, aging, declining, expensive top-4, and how quickly Army has transformed the unit.

[netboy65]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

It takes time to turn an aircraft carrier around. The Cup team lost a lot of D - for a range of reasons (several outside of Army's control such as JBow). And if we knew we'd lost JBow, they don't expose Dunn to Seattle). The "older" D he went with was there to keep the boat afloat as much as possible.

You have a couple things reversed. JBo had his incident in 2020 and the Kraken expansion draft wasn’t until 2021 so we knew about him when we exposed Dunn. Schwartz should have counted as our contribution but Seattle gamed the system

how did they game the system

I don’t remember the specifics, but they negotiated with him in advance didn’t select him in expansion draft then just signed him once FA opened. Or something to that effect

[MiamiLaw]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

It takes time to turn an aircraft carrier around. The Cup team lost a lot of D - for a range of reasons (several outside of Army's control such as JBow). And if we knew we'd lost JBow, they don't expose Dunn to Seattle). The "older" D he went with was there to keep the boat afloat as much as possible.

You have a couple things reversed. JBo had his incident in 2020 and the Kraken expansion draft wasn’t until 2021 so we knew about him when we exposed Dunn. Schwartz should have counted as our contribution but Seattle gamed the system

how did they game the system

I don’t remember the specifics, but they negotiated with him in advance didn’t select him in expansion draft then just signed him once FA opened. Or something to that effect

The Blues absolutely got screwed. Basically, seattleblue, the Kraken had the right to exclusively speak to pending UFAs before they hit the market and before their draft BUT if they signed one before the draft, that was their pick from the old team. It is documented SEA spoke to Schwartz. They obviously agreed in principle on a deal because he signed with them within minutes of UFA opening. However, since they did not technically sign him before the draft, they ALSO got Dunn.

I honestly think the Blues should have filed a grievance and I was super (upset) that it was happening right in the open at the time. And how that obvious loophole was not taken into account with the rules is mindblowing.

They should have lost the right to select from the team if they chose to speak to the pending UFA.

[a smell of green grass]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

The man has dressed the Barbie, but none of us have any idea if these moves will lead to a date with Stanley Cup. Don't you think you should at least see a couple of games on the ice before you hand out ribbons?

You, Me, ANYBODY can dress a Barbie. That is just putting a purse on an arm, and heels on feet.

No. We've already seen Fowler and Broberg. The point here is at the end of the 23-24 season it looked like the Blues were stuck with a smallish, aging, declining, expensive top-4, and how quickly Army has transformed the unit.

I agree that he changed the lineup quickly and likely for the better. I'll clap for that. It's not much of a clap though.

I admire your cheerleading and optimism. Good for you.

[SRV1990]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

The man has dressed the Barbie, but none of us have any idea if these moves will lead to a date with Stanley Cup. Don't you think you should at least see a couple of games on the ice before you hand out ribbons?

You, Me, ANYBODY can dress a Barbie. That is just putting a purse on an arm, and heels on feet.

I find it curious you are now taking a wait and see approach to Army’s recent moves, but in the past you’ve been very quick to pass judgement and criticize. So either you’re a complete hypocrite or… never mind, you’re a hypocrite.

[Tony Palazzolo]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

It takes time to turn an aircraft carrier around. The Cup team lost a lot of D - for a range of reasons (several outside of Army's control such as JBow). And if we knew we'd lost JBow, they don't expose Dunn to Seattle). The "older" D he went with was there to keep the boat afloat as much as possible.

You have a couple things reversed. JBo had his incident in 2020 and the Kraken expansion draft wasn’t until 2021 so we knew about him when we exposed Dunn. Schwartz should have counted as our contribution but Seattle gamed the system

how did they game the system

I don’t remember the specifics, but they negotiated with him in advance didn’t select him in expansion draft then just signed him once FA opened. Or something to that effect

The Blues absolutely got screwed. Basically, seattleblue, the Kraken had the right to exclusively speak to pending UFAs before they hit the market and before their draft BUT if they signed one before the draft, that was their pick from the old team. It is documented SEA spoke to Schwartz. They obviously agreed in principle on a deal because he signed with them within minutes of UFA opening. However, since they did not technically sign him before the draft, they ALSO got Dunn.

I honestly think the Blues should have filed a grievance and I was super (upset) that it was happening right in the open at the time. And how that obvious loophole was not taken into account with the rules is mindblowing.

They should have lost the right to select from the team if they chose to speak to the pending UFA.

It was all legal - once he hit free agency he could've signed with anyone. They just happened to know he wanted to be there so he could be closer to his dying mother.

[MiamiLaw]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

It takes time to turn an aircraft carrier around. The Cup team lost a lot of D - for a range of reasons (several outside of Army's control such as JBow). And if we knew we'd lost JBow, they don't expose Dunn to Seattle). The "older" D he went with was there to keep the boat afloat as much as possible.

You have a couple things reversed. JBo had his incident in 2020 and the Kraken expansion draft wasn’t until 2021 so we knew about him when we exposed Dunn. Schwartz should have counted as our contribution but Seattle gamed the system

how did they game the system

I don’t remember the specifics, but they negotiated with him in advance didn’t select him in expansion draft then just signed him once FA opened. Or something to that effect

The Blues absolutely got screwed. Basically, seattleblue, the Kraken had the right to exclusively speak to pending UFAs before they hit the market and before their draft BUT if they signed one before the draft, that was their pick from the old team. It is documented SEA spoke to Schwartz. They obviously agreed in principle on a deal because he signed with them within minutes of UFA opening. However, since they did not technically sign him before the draft, they ALSO got Dunn.

I honestly think the Blues should have filed a grievance and I was super (upset) that it was happening right in the open at the time. And how that obvious loophole was not taken into account with the rules is mindblowing.

They should have lost the right to select from the team if they chose to speak to the pending UFA.

It was all legal - once he hit free agency he could've signed with anyone. They just happened to know he wanted to be there so he could be closer to his dying mother.

I know it was “legal” by the book

[DawgDad]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

The man has dressed the Barbie, but none of us have any idea if these moves will lead to a date with Stanley Cup. Don't you think you should at least see a couple of games on the ice before you hand out ribbons?

You, Me, ANYBODY can dress a Barbie. That is just putting a purse on an arm, and heels on feet.

I find it curious you are now taking a wait and see approach to Army’s recent moves, but in the past you’ve been very quick to pass judgement and criticize. So either you’re a complete hypocrite or… never mind, you’re a hypocrite.

I threw this out here for a dual purpose, to acknowledge the good work Army has done transforming a stagnant defense AND to demonstrate the current state of the forum, proportionately overloaded with cynics, naysayers, trolls, and outright Army haters. Precious few of you have said "Yeah, he's done some good work here", or even "didn't expect this level of transformation this quickly". I really don't see that as cheerleading, it's just being honest.

None of us know how Mailloux will turn out but it's pretty clear the Blues needed a young top half of draft quality RHD more than they needed an emerging young winger. When you think the team COULD still have Leddy, Parayko, Krug/Perunovich, and Faulk as the top-4, well . . .

This is an exciting time to be a Blues fan. The team is in transition working in a number of solid-looking young players, they have a top-notch coach, and they are coming off a record setting extended win streak and 2OT game 7 playoff elimination by the President's Trophy team, a team they outscored 17-5 in the three home games in the series. A team that looked like a dysfunctional mediocre mess a year ago.

[a smell of green grass]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

The man has dressed the Barbie, but none of us have any idea if these moves will lead to a date with Stanley Cup. Don't you think you should at least see a couple of games on the ice before you hand out ribbons?

You, Me, ANYBODY can dress a Barbie. That is just putting a purse on an arm, and heels on feet.

I find it curious you are now taking a wait and see approach to Army’s recent moves, but in the past you’ve been very quick to pass judgement and criticize. So either you’re a complete hypocrite or… never mind, you’re a hypocrite.

Some decisions take time to critique. Some don't.

I'm happy that I'm smart enough to know what people care discuss. Nobody cares to discuss an evaluation of a BluesTalk user. That's boring, man.

[a smell of green grass]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

The man has dressed the Barbie, but none of us have any idea if these moves will lead to a date with Stanley Cup. Don't you think you should at least see a couple of games on the ice before you hand out ribbons?

You, Me, ANYBODY can dress a Barbie. That is just putting a purse on an arm, and heels on feet.

I find it curious you are now taking a wait and see approach to Army’s recent moves, but in the past you’ve been very quick to pass judgement and criticize. So either you’re a complete hypocrite or… never mind, you’re a hypocrite.

I threw this out here for a dual purpose, to acknowledge the good work Army has done transforming a stagnant defense AND to demonstrate the current state of the forum, proportionately overloaded with cynics, naysayers, trolls, and outright Army haters. Precious few of you have said "Yeah, he's done some good work here", or even "didn't expect this level of transformation this quickly". I really don't see that as cheerleading, it's just being honest.

None of us know how Mailloux will turn out but it's pretty clear the Blues needed a young top half of draft quality RHD more than they needed an emerging young winger. When you think the team COULD still have Leddy, Parayko, Krug/Perunovich, and Faulk as the top-4, well . . .

This is an exciting time to be a Blues fan. The team is in transition working in a number of solid-looking young players, they have a top-notch coach, and they are coming off a record setting extended win streak and 2OT game 7 playoff elimination by the President's Trophy team, a team they outscored 17-5 in the three home games in the series. A team that looked like a dysfunctional mediocre mess a year ago.

I was luxuriating in the re-whatever tub, waiting for the bubbles to climax, and Army pulled the plug on me when he said that the re-whatever is over. I've been a little on edge as a result.

Lately, Army is making moves that promise bubbles soon, so I'm a little happier.

[SRV1990]

From the vantage point of the end of the 2023-24 season how many of us envisioned THIS transition in the defense:

Broberg added
Fowler added
Mailloux added
Coach hired who likes Tucker

Suter signed, leveraged, and released
Krug to LTIR (terminal)
Leddy waived

An aging top-4 is 1/2 to 3/4 transformed into what figures to be a bigger, tougher, good skating, more point-productive unit with solid L/R balance.

Give the man some credit. This is awesome, frankly.

The man has dressed the Barbie, but none of us have any idea if these moves will lead to a date with Stanley Cup. Don't you think you should at least see a couple of games on the ice before you hand out ribbons?

You, Me, ANYBODY can dress a Barbie. That is just putting a purse on an arm, and heels on feet.

I find it curious you are now taking a wait and see approach to Army’s recent moves, but in the past you’ve been very quick to pass judgement and criticize. So either you’re a complete hypocrite or… never mind, you’re a hypocrite.

Some decisions take time to critique. Some don't.

I'm happy that I'm smart enough to know what people care discuss. Nobody cares to discuss an evaluation of a BluesTalk user. That's boring, man.

Keep moving the goalposts, it’s what losers and hypocrites do. And those who lack intelligence.