Whose fault for this train wreck?

[TampaBlues78]

I mean you would think after having a full off season with Monty the team would be better than they were playing towards the end?!?

Honestly I don’t think losing any of the players we lost would help this team…

We know now Hofer is trash and is not a 1b…

Who is ultimately to blame for what’s going on?

What is the issue?

This team has looked uninspired for most this season. Really tough for me to tune in every night and watch this brand of hockey

[netboy65]

I mean you would think after having a full off season with Monty the team would be better than they were playing towards the end?!?

Honestly I don’t think losing any of the players we lost would help this team…

We know now Hofer is trash and is not a 1b…

Who is ultimately to blame for what’s going on?

What is the issue?

This team has looked uninspired for most this season. Really tough for me to tune in every night and watch this brand of hockey

I think Hofer has shown enough over the last couple years to be given the benefit of the doubt over a couple bad games

[DawgDad]

I mean you would think after having a full off season with Monty the team would be better than they were playing towards the end?!?

Honestly I don’t think losing any of the players we lost would help this team…

We know now Hofer is trash and is not a 1b…

Who is ultimately to blame for what’s going on?

What is the issue?

This team has looked uninspired for most this season. Really tough for me to tune in every night and watch this brand of hockey

The team is struggling (wildly inconsistent) out of the gate. That is all. There is an old adage " things are never as bad or good as they seem [in the moment]". This is ikely true in the Blues case both at the team and player level.

Things that should be that aren't:
1. Hofer
2. Top players scoring
3. Consistent effort
4. Power play efficiency

Things that could be that haven't been:
1. Tucker-Mailloux viability as a 3rd pairing
2. Sunny (they needed him)
3. Chemistry with new players (including Snuggerud)
4. Getting the true talent fully deployed on the power play
5. Mailloux, in general

[Younghopp1991]

I just wish that we had a player who was capable of having 3 to 4 shots on net per night. We haven’t had a player average 3.5 shots a night since Tarasenko 2019 I believe. Cant have 6 shots through half the game.

[TampaBlues78]

I mean you would think after having a full off season with Monty the team would be better than they were playing towards the end?!?

Honestly I don’t think losing any of the players we lost would help this team…

We know now Hofer is trash and is not a 1b…

Who is ultimately to blame for what’s going on?

What is the issue?

This team has looked uninspired for most this season. Really tough for me to tune in every night and watch this brand of hockey

I think Hofer has shown enough over the last couple years to be given the benefit of the doubt over a couple bad games

That’s two really, really bad games… but I agree he didn’t have much help… but he couldn’t stop a bowling ball.. this is not a Snuggy, May-you, Byoogy, and a Suter thing…


Is monty’s seat getting warm?

[TampaBlues78]

I mean you would think after having a full off season with Monty the team would be better than they were playing towards the end?!?

Honestly I don’t think losing any of the players we lost would help this team…

We know now Hofer is trash and is not a 1b…

Who is ultimately to blame for what’s going on?

What is the issue?

This team has looked uninspired for most this season. Really tough for me to tune in every night and watch this brand of hockey

The team is struggling (wildly inconsistent) out of the gate. That is all. There is an old adage " things are never as bad or good as they seem [in the moment]". This is ikely true in the Blues case both at the team and player level.

Things that should be that aren't:
1. Hofer
2. Top players scoring
3. Consistent effort
4. Power play efficiency

Things that could be that haven't been:
1. Tucker-Mailloux viability as a 3rd pairing
2. Sunny (they needed him)
3. Chemistry with new players (including Snuggerud)
4. Getting the true talent fully deployed on the power play
5. Mailloux, in general

Honestly there is no excuse for how this team has looked at home or just period. Losing the players that we had last year should not have affected this team like this. This is not all on the kid… he hasn’t been that bad

[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

[dtkblueshockey]

I mean you would think after having a full off season with Monty the team would be better than they were playing towards the end?!?

Honestly I don’t think losing any of the players we lost would help this team…

We know now Hofer is trash and is not a 1b…

Who is ultimately to blame for what’s going on?

What is the issue?

This team has looked uninspired for most this season. Really tough for me to tune in every night and watch this brand of hockey

The team is struggling (wildly inconsistent) out of the gate. That is all. There is an old adage " things are never as bad or good as they seem [in the moment]". This is ikely true in the Blues case both at the team and player level.

Things that should be that aren't:
1. Hofer
2. Top players scoring
3. Consistent effort
4. Power play efficiency

Things that could be that haven't been:
1. Tucker-Mailloux viability as a 3rd pairing
2. Sunny (they needed him)
3. Chemistry with new players (including Snuggerud)
4. Getting the true talent fully deployed on the power play
5. Mailloux, in general

You’re hitting the nail on the head here Dawg.

The Blues are the definition of inconsistent. They have done great on the road but terrible at home. The only thing I can tell that is different is the level of opposition they have faced at home vs away.

The only home game against a good opponent the Blues won was against Dallas. They have not played nearly as good as that game in any of their other home outings.

What’s more worrisome is the lack of scoring from the top nine. The youth seem to be showing up to a degree but the vets all collectively starting slow is not helping them win. Hofer and Mailloux starts have both been bad.

Something else that I haven’t seen anyone else mention….their physical game doesn’t seem to start until they’re in the hole. It’s almost comical watching Schenn become a 4th line hit guy when they are 2 or 3 in the hole.

It’s like, where was that before those goals were scored?

If the Blues cant out skate or be at a higher skill than their opposition then they need to be checking hard and being physical. I get stick work and positioning is important in today’s NHL but if you play the man and remove him from the puck and win those battles then it kills plays.

[a smell of green grass]

Simple. The problem is a 4-letter word that begins with A and ends with Y.

[TampaBlues78]

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

[moose-and-squirrel]

lol.. monty ain't goin nowhere

[TampaBlues78]

Simple. The problem is a 4-letter word that begins with A and ends with Y.

What did Andy Strickland do?

[Harry S Deals]

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

[moose-and-squirrel]

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

whoa whoa whoa.. there's no place for logic in here.. show yourself out mister

[Harry S Deals]

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 would frankly rather have

Neighbours Suter Joseph and im not trading anyone on this line for Bolduc right now. Im still taking Snuggerud over Bolduc even tho Snuggy is 21 yrs old, Zack Bolduc is certainly not the issue here

[callitwhatyouwant]

It's really hard to call 3-3-1 a trainwreck. especially when given the context. You have the stars/mild/kings/oilers who were all playoff teams last year off to similar starts. Things get concerning once you reach 20-25 hockey games. You haven't found an identity by then, you are going to have some trouble growing.

Anyways, the real context is that Hofer came out and gave you basically 2 unwinnable games. If you played 10 games with the starts that hofer gave you in the Blackhawks games and last nights, you maybe win 1. You don't just come back from back breakers like that. And at least from the condensed version of the game I got to see, it looked like the Blues found some game in the 2nd and 3rd. But you push a boulder up a mountain, it's eventually going to run you over. And that's what was happening.

As far as who I would be looking at as whose "fault" it is. Hofer is candidate number 1, and then the trio of Hollywood/Kyrou/Thomas. Kyrou and Thomas have to be held to a higher standard than everyone else in terms of driving offense. We know Thomas is on his game when he is shooting. Last 2 seasons Thomas is shooting the puck on net at minimum 2 times per game. So far this season he has 7 shots in 7 games. Kyrou shoots the puck on net 3 shots ppg in the past 3 seasons. Currently he has 12 shots in 7 games. Holloway I'm willing to bet is going to break out. The pressure of reliving that 2nd year in a contract year is probably getting to him a bit. I'm willing to be patient there.

But Kyrou/Thomas/Buchy, aren't getting enough pucks to the net. There's something not right there. But Kyrou and Thomas were paid and given the reigns to the Org to be OFFENSIVE drivers. If they aren't doing it, can't expect anyone else to.