Riverman doing well..

[DaDitka]

icetimecleve Dave Eminian
Ben Bishop now 3rd in AHL with .938 saves % and 6th with 2.01 gaa. Both career-bests for him. He's very much now in the All-Star picture

icetimecleve Dave Eminian
Rivermen center T.J. Hensick now alone at top of AHL scoring race with 6g, 15a in 21 games.

[thedoc]

Good stuff to see. Nice to know we have some production down there incase of injury and what not. Also sets up trade possibilities as we try to meet future needs.

[theohall]

Maybe both of their short times with the Blues last season has finally shown them how to play at the NHL level, instead of the AHL level. Glad they are doing well.

[Oz-iz-God]

It's interesting to hear the fans of other teams discussing Elliot as a trade candidate.

He kinda has to be, doesn't he? If you can get a decent return for a guy we got for free, that's playing extremely well but that has a history of absolutely imploding for large stretches of the season, don't you have to listen?

If Bishop's ready, it makes Elliot all the more intriguing as a guy that could possibly bring back another good energy forward.

[theohall]

It's interesting to hear the fans of other teams discussing Elliot as a trade candidate.

He kinda has to be, doesn't he? If you can get a decent return for a guy we got for free, that's playing extremely well but that has a history of absolutely imploding for large stretches of the season, don't you have to listen?

If Bishop's ready, it makes Elliot all the more intriguing as a guy that could possibly bring back another good energy forward.

The problem is Bishop was doing well, granted not this well, in the AHL last season and imploded when he had to take on the role of filling in for injured goaltenders. That's a risky trade situation and we have to see if Halak can actually stay consistent.

[thedoc]

Elliot is the guy we keep for now. If we trade anyone goalie wise anyway it will be Bishop. He is not exactly a "young" prospect anymore and he really has no future with the Blues since Allen is the guy they are grooming. If he makes the All-Star team I say shop him.

[cardsfan04]

I think you definitely have to listen to offers for both of them. Obviously can't trade them both, but if a team wants to overpay for either of them, I'd say make the deal. It's risky, but I'd take the risk if a team wants to pay on this year's performance, not their career performance.

[cardsfan04]

BTW, how far is Allen away from being our starter? Could he be the backup in 2012-13 and compete for the job in 13-14? Is that rushing it? And, would they even make him the backup instead of keeping him on the ice in Peoria?

[peoriabluesfan]

I have only been able to make it to three games so far this season, but have seen both Allen and Bishop. Allen looks absolutely horrible this year. The game on Friday night against Rockford, he had one good period and the rest was not so good. Let in a few soft goals. Bishop has played well thus far and has stood on his head numerous times. I am of the opinion right now that Bishop stays. I am not so sure that Allen will be ready for any nhl play soon.

Here are their numbers as of today.
# Goalies GP Mins W L SOL SO GA GAA SVS SV%
30 Ben Bishop 10 567:20 6 4 0 2 19 2.01 286 0.938
34 Jake Allen 6 336:35 1 3 1 0 25 4.46 162 0.866

Here are some highlights from Friday's game.

[goon attack]

Grooming Allen is a great idea and we should bank on him.

Sincerely,

JD Drew
Colby Rasmus
Eli Marerro
Todd Zeile
etc

[Oaklandblue]

If we trade anyone, it's Halak.

[cardsfan04]

Grooming Allen is a great idea and we should bank on him.

Sincerely,

JD Drew
Colby Rasmus
Eli Marerro
Todd Zeile
etc

wp sir

[cardsfan04]

If we trade anyone, it's Halak.

meh, I disagree. Given Elliot's history of being unbelievable only to fall apart after a hot streak, I'd be very hesitant to make him our starter. I also think teams are more likely to overpay for Elliot which would be the point of trading him.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with Elliot. I just don't think it's likely he maintains this the entire year.

[Oaklandblue]

If we trade anyone, it's Halak.

meh, I disagree. Given Elliot's history of being unbelievable only to fall apart after a hot streak, I'd be very hesitant to make him our starter. I also think teams are more likely to overpay for Elliot which would be the point of trading him.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with Elliot. I just don't think it's likely he maintains this the entire year.

I've given this some thought as well. Here's the deal:

In goal, the team snaps to caliber with Elliott. The team struggles or appears to work alot harder when Halak is in goal. Elliott's record is the opposite of Halak's. And Halak's numbers have gradually dropped since being in St. Louis. If the issue was the team, Elliott would be feeling the pain too. Think is, he's not. Same players. Different outcomes. The problem is either Halak or Hirsch. For those who want to say that Halak at best is a backup (Which I can easily agree to), then consider that we got a backup winning games for us between the pipes. That excuse doesn't hold.

If Elliott falls apart on us, and I'm not going to jinx him here, but all things are possible, then we are NOT making the playoffs, unless Halak does a spectacular 180 and from what I see, I don't think he has it in him at this point and time.

Our ideal solution is to keep the situation the way it is and cycle both netminders. The rhytmn seems to help Elliott win games and might be the difference-maker in him not getting burned out, I don't know. Halak isn't getting it done, it might be time to bring up Bishop and play him for a few games. If Bishop can win, that'll tell us what we need to know about the situation and at that point we may want to entertain the notion of dumping Halak.

In the end, we have to go with what wins the games, not the big paychecks or wounded pride. If Halak can turn his game around and Ells stays the way he is, we might have the tandem needs to help steal the Cup.

[cardsfan04]

I can't really disagree that the Blues have fared better with Elliot than Halak thus far. But, we're talking about less than 10 starts for Elliot. That's not really a sample size that makes me comfortable making a drastic move. Not to mention that Halak has played better his past few games. If Elliot can play like he has for the entire year, then good for him and I'll eat my crow. I just doubt that he maintains this pace due to his history of hot streaks followed by subpar play.

[DaDitka]

If we trade anyone, it's Halak.

meh, I disagree. Given Elliot's history of being unbelievable only to fall apart after a hot streak,

So are we talking about Halak or Elliot here? Because both apply.

Too early to lean one way or the other, but Elliot is playing much better right now and the BIG thing is the way he controls the rebounds and does a great job of using his stick to deflect them to the corner. Halak uses position to let the buck hit him, thus the his inability to control rebounds. I feel Elliot does a better job of 'playing the shot' and that's why he's looked better thus far.

All that said, both these guys have stood on their heads in their careers only to stink up the joint at a latter time and there is absolutely no reason to rush to judgment right now.

That said, Elliot should clearly see more starts then Halak for now until either gives you a reason to reconsider that stance.

[JPonder94]

I don't know why we are all up in arms about goaltender trades. There are 28 other teams in this league that are happy with their goaltending. The only team that isn't is Columbus and they will want a #1 guy... so Halak is probably the only trade piece Columbus would consider.

Even then, I still don't see it happening. Call it gut instinct if you want, but I think Columbus will end up with Cory Schneider by season's end.

[cardsfan04]

If we trade anyone, it's Halak.

meh, I disagree. Given Elliot's history of being unbelievable only to fall apart after a hot streak,

So are we talking about Halak or Elliot here? Because both apply.

Too early to lean one way or the other, but Elliot is playing much better right now and the BIG thing is the way he controls the rebounds and does a great job of using his stick to deflect them to the corner. Halak uses position to let the buck hit him, thus the his inability to control rebounds. I feel Elliot does a better job of 'playing the shot' and that's why he's looked better thus far.

All that said, both these guys have stood on their heads in their careers only to stink up the joint at a latter time and there is absolutely no reason to rush to judgment right now.

That said, Elliot should clearly see more starts then Halak for now until either gives you a reason to reconsider that stance.

Good point. In fairness, Halak had a much longer and more meaningful hot streak. But, your point still holds true that he was later pretty bad.