Let's Go Blues

Krigloch the Furious wrote:You guys are really ok with Backes leaving??

not_a_wings_fan wrote:Not to mention Backes and Stastny are pretty much the same guy, Stastny has better hands.

Elliotte Friedman was on Toronto’s Sportsnet 590 on Friday morning.

On the St. Louis Blues:

“When they signed Brodeur, I think there were a lot of people who were really skeptical, but he hasn’t been too bad. There’s no question about that. As a matter of fact, he’s kind of stabilized them.

“I think to me, the biggest question is you look at the young players who are starting to take more control of the roster. I think the question in St. Louis is, ‘We’ve proven we’re a good regular season team, we just can’t get over the hump in the playoffs.’ And they tend to lose to really good teams.

“You know, there’s been a lot of rumblings around the Blues that maybe some of their veterans – Berglund, Oshie, I heard Steen’s name came up this week in some report. I didn’t see who reported it, but I heard about it - that maybe one of the veterans goes to get them that piece they need. And I’m curious to see if Doug Armstrong feels the need to do that.

“I get the sense with that team that there is one big move that they’re going to try to make to get them over the hump. And I think they’re a really good team, but I think they look at themselves and say, ‘We thought we were good before, and we haven’t been able to beat (them).’ So I’m curious to see if Armstrong pulls the trigger on something because he still feels he needs another piece to get there.”

Darren Dreger was on Winnipeg’s TSN 1290 on Wednesday afternoon.

On which players on the Winnipeg Jets might be more likely to be moved in a trade:

“No, not really. I mean, we can identify certain individuals and wonder and speculate, but that’s all it is.

“It’s not just Winnipeg. I touched on this last night on TSN with our Insider Trading segment. There’s a lot of talk around the St. Louis Blues, as an example. Is Patrik Berglund going to get traded. Is T.J. Oshie a player who might be available. Alex Steen’s name, for heaven’s sake, has popped up as potential trade fodder.

“But I had a brief chat with Doug Armstrong coming out of the Board of Governors meetings and he said, ‘Look, we like our team right now.’

“You never say never. If somebody approaches Cheveldayoff or approaches Doug Armstrong with a specific need and a player in mind, and is willing to pay a price that makes sense, then those players are absolutely available. But I don’t get the sense out of Winnipeg, nor do I get the sense out of St. Louis, that they’re shopping anyone of any significance.”

cardsfan04 wrote:I hope Dreger is the one that's right. I'm not adamantly opposed to a trade or anything. But, I don't really see the point either. We made changes this offseason with the intention of being more viable in the playoffs. I don't see what has happened in the first ~30 games of the season to change anything. If we're blown away by an offer, well, some decisions make themselves. But, I don't think we should be actively shopping anybody.

Oaklandblue wrote:Trade Backes. If he's that butthurt because Frank is scoring and doing the things a real Captain is doing and David isn't, it's value time. Truth be told, we are at a development stage where these guys, save the newbies, aren't getting any better than they are now. You see their ceiling now, time to sell high.

A captaincy in the NFL means calling “heads” or “tails” for a coin flip.

Most people probably don’t realize NBA teams have captains.

Most big-league baseball clubhouses don’t.

But in the NHL, heavy is the jersey that bears the “C.” In hockey, the letter stands for something more than “celebratory.”

That’s not to say there aren’t skippers of dubious distinction. Alex Ovechkin, captain of the Washington Capitals, was a minus-35 last season. Two NHL teams — Montreal and San Jose — are operating without a captain, preferring to govern by committee.

But in the minds of some, a credible captain is essential to a healthy dressing room.

“I’ve never seen a team have long-term success unless the captain sets the competitive direction of the hockey club,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “When you have a captain like that, it’s like gold.

“Your team becomes consistent in its performance, consistent in its attitude and the transition of players coming and going goes a lot smoother. If you don’t have that, it’s chaos.”

Taking charge

If you play hockey in St. Louis, if you sit in a Roomful of Blues, you don’t find chaos or confusion. You know what is expected and what is valued. You have detailed directions on how to proceed. And if for some reason you are not sure about which path is the best traveled, the captain will set you straight.

One way or another.

On Nov. 25, the Blues gave up a lead, skated to a regulation tie with Ottawa then lost in a shootout. In practice the following day, David Backes took to the sheet of ice the way a bull browses a china shop. He set the competitive direction.

When he was done hitting a restart button, he elected to conduct a “Feats of Strength” session with Vladimir Tarasenko. That would be the 23-year-old Tarasenko with the dazzling shifts and wicked shots, the team’s leading scorer and lamp-lighting talk of the league.

The press clippings didn’t matter. The captain was communicating and he wasn’t particular about who took the statement.

“It’s not always a verbal thing,” Backes said. “It’s a leading-by-example type of thing, mostly. There’s a culture that we expect around here every day. That whole day in practice — the thing with Vladdy aside — we had a day where we were going to practice and we were going to have a full day off the next day.

“Our practices had kind of fallen off a little bit. We were practicing at 60-70 percent, kind of sloppy and we needed to amp it up. We needed to make sure we weren’t out at practice just going through the motions, because our games were starting slide into that realm as well.

“We needed to kick it up a few notches. It wasn’t just me, there a few guys who took that initiative. Practice was great that day, a little fireworks at the end, but in the end I think we are a better team because of that day of practice.”

The madness was grounded in method. Two days later, the Blues beat the Oilers 4-3 with Tarasenko getting an overtime-winning goal. A night later, the Blues beat Minnesota, with Tarasenko and Backes collecting regulation goals and Tarasenko scoring the shootout winner.

The Tarasenko tussle was just part of the territory, a defibrillator shock to get the Blues back on track.

“When you have two competitive guys going at it, that’s what happens,” Backes explained. “A byproduct of practicing hard is you see it in the games, too. At the end of the day, when you can get through that as teammates, I think you’re closer than you might be if you never have that incident.”

Others are getting the compliments this season, Backes is getting stitches.

On Nov. 23, he took a high stick to the mouth. Last Monday, he took a slap shot in the face that turned that same mouth into a landfill. He lost teeth and collected more stitches.

Three nights later, he centered a line that scored three goals and added four assists in a victory over the Islanders. On Saturday, in a 3-2 overtime road victory over Colorado, Backes didn’t score but he and linemates T.J. Oshie and Alexander Steen continued to play well.

Additions such as Paul Stastny and Jori Lehtera created a stir, Tarasenko has soared and Martin Brodeur has grabbed headlines. Perhaps captain Backes has been pushed to the background. But make no mistake, he’s still the pulse of the Blues.

With seven goals and 13 points, he quietly has set course for another season of 25-30 goals. In his ninth full season with the Blues, the Minnesota native has put “self” aside and occasionally moved to the wing to accommodate roster changes. That’s to say nothing off the dental work he has endured.

At the age of 30, Backes is in his third term as the 20th captain of a franchise still searching for its first Stanley Cup. And he’s more important to the mission than ever.

“The part I like about David is that he’s a really good big-picture captain,” said Hitchcock, who accepted the job in November 2011 in part because of Backes’ leadership presence. “David fights for all of his teammates. He’s really a guy who is focused on where it’s going, not where it’s at.”

‘LEADS BY EXAMPLE’

Ryan Reaves knows a thing or two about fighting. Reaves, 27, has been with the parent club for five seasons now. He has learned to appreciate the way Backes goes about his business.

It’s not as flashy as others, not as glamorous or sophisticated. It usually happens in the trenches, not in the slot. But Backes scores big goals, makes himself accountable and sets the cultural tone for his teammates. He’s just gold.

“He’s vocal when he needs to be, but more than anything else he leads by example,” Reaves said. “You see in a game when something’s not going right, he’ll be running around, trying get the boys going. And when it needs to be done in practice, he does the same thing.

“He leads by example. That’s what a good captain does.”

The good captain is aware of his surroundings. Backes was on a team that finished with 79 points in 2007-08 and played on team that collected 111 points last season. He never has played on a team like this one.

“This is the most talented team I’ve been on, for sure,” Backes said. “Is it the best team? When you have selfless acts by each player, no matter what the situation is, when each is playing for the greater good of the group rather than your own merits … When you see that, that’s when a team can have great success. That’s what we’re building for.”

Regardless of who scores the goals, makes the saves, tosses the T-shirts, there’s no question who the foreman is on this build. He’s the guy wearing the “C.”

WaukeeBlues wrote:IMO, Tarasenko, Schwartz, Allen and Pietro are about the only untouchables on this team.

cprice12 wrote:

WaukeeBlues wrote:IMO, Tarasenko, Schwartz, Allen and Pietro are about the only untouchables on this team.

I'd trade Petro. We'd get a shit ton in return...and he hasn't been as good as advertised.

Don't get me wrong, he has been good. But he makes too many dumb mistakes to be considered an elite untouchable player. Granted, his best days should still be ahead of him...but if we are going to get a nice package of players for him, which we would... yes, I I'd certainly listen to any offers. But we'd have to get a lot in return...which we would.

ecbm wrote:For those contemplating trading Pietrangelo, consider the point made by an article I read recently: he gets all the tough 5v5 matchups and Shatty gets most of the power plays on the point opposite Steen. Frankly, I don't think we'd get back anything that would actually improve this team. Is Weber or Chara available? Rask, Rinne or Quick? No? What about Toews or Kane? I sure wouldn't trade him for, say, Taylor Hall. Nope. That would be a downgrade, trading a top-2 dman for (maybe) a second-liner.

Let me reframe this: who do you guys think the Blues could acquire who would improve this squad? How would they improve it? I see an impasse there personally as the only thing that would really improve this team for me would be a premier 2-way Dman. None of those are available right now. A more productive fourth line would be nice but nobody significant needs to be moved for that.