GDT #71: 3/13/12 > Blues @ Blackhawks > 7:30 PM > FSMW/KMOX

[Winning Unlimited]

Dude needs to watch some Brett Hull tapes

Could you imagine Hull on this team? We don't see enough one-timers. I don't know if it is because the defense is playing the shot block, but we could use some heat on the PP from the slot.

[cprice12]

Stewart's problems are this...

1) For a big man, he handles contact horribly when he has the puck. Rarely does he put a body on someone and lean into them when going to the net. For some reason when he tries to go wide on someone, if they have position on him, he never tries to bull rush them or force them out of their position, he glides around the back of the net, out the other side and usually loses the puck.

2) It's a piece of cake to poke the puck away from him as he tends NOT be creative on one on one situations, and just has the puck sitting out there on his blade.

Overall, he has been a little better over the past few weeks, but he's still a shell of what he needs to be.

[northwest dave]

Stewart's problems are this...

1) For a big man, he handles contact horribly when he has the puck. Rarely does he put a body on someone and lean into them when going to the net. For some reason when he tries to go wide on someone, if they have position on him, he never tries to bull rush them or force them out of their position, he glides around the back of the net, out the other side and usually loses the puck.

2) It's a piece of cake to poke the puck away from him as he tends NOT be creative on one on one situations, and just has the puck sitting out there on his blade.

Overall, he has been a little better over the past few weeks, but he's still a shell of what he needs to be.

My problem with him is that he doesn't get in front of the net. He's a big and tough guy, but he stays out on the perimeter too much.

The guy has some good speed but he isn't creative like Oshie, Perron, or Amac. When he tries he usually does something stupid. I wish he would just play a north-south game using his speed to get there and big body to stay in front of the net.

It's frustrating. I hope he finds his game in the playoffs because he can be the difference maker.

[WaukeeBlues]

Stewart: I actually thought he looked good.

Was it the piss poor decisions crossing the blue line or the piss poor shots from bad angles that led you to this moronic opinion?

Stewart should be handling the puck as little as possible. Dude needs to watch some Brett Hull tapes for like 10000 hours so he can learn how to get into scoring position so he can be fed the puck by people with a clue.

I meant it more in terms of his overall effort. To me, it looked like he was at least trying.

And the very next line I said yes, he held on to the puck too long which goes to you "piss poor decisions crossing the blueline" point. I specifically remember one time he carried it over the line, got taken into the corner and then turned it over. But he was at least involved and to me it looked like he was trying. I shouldn't have said "he looked good" but instead "better than usual." And I thought he DID look that way. Maybe I've missed some of his better performances and only seen the REALLY crappy ones.

[Oz-iz-God]

Stewart's problems are this...

1) For a big man, he handles contact horribly when he has the puck. Rarely does he put a body on someone and lean into them when going to the net. For some reason when he tries to go wide on someone, if they have position on him, he never tries to bull rush them or force them out of their position, he glides around the back of the net, out the other side and usually loses the puck.

2) It's a piece of cake to poke the puck away from him as he tends NOT be creative on one on one situations, and just has the puck sitting out there on his blade.

Overall, he has been a little better over the past few weeks, but he's still a shell of what he needs to be.

My problem with him is that he doesn't get in front of the net. He's a big and tough guy, but he stays out on the perimeter too much.

The guy has some good speed but he isn't creative like Oshie, Perron, or Amac. When he tries he usually does something stupid. I wish he would just play a north-south game using his speed to get there and big body to stay in front of the net.

It's frustrating. I hope he finds his game in the playoffs because he can be the difference maker.

Agreed - I think Cprice over-complicates it a little bit.

The problem with Stewart is that he plays the wrong damn style of game for what he's good at because he doesn't seem to have the stones to play the right one.

He's easy to knock off the puck...so? Don't have him carry it into the zone like a center then. Quit trying to make a skilled forward out of him - he hasn't shown that ability all year. Make him a poor man's Keith Tkachuk and move along.

Plant his ass in front of the net and tell him he's going to take the cross-checks or he's going to play 8 minutes a night on the 4th line. The guy is absolutely no good to us doing what he's doing. Berglund can try to play that kind of game because he's far more skilled and can contribute in other ways if he's not scoring. Stewart, OTOH, provides a whole lot of nothing if he's not putting the puck in the net.

So at least put him down low and having him occupy a skater and create traffic in front of the goalie. He has the size and strength to do it if he just gave enough of a !@#$ to try.

I'm pretty sure I hate him.

[theohall]

Stewart's problems are this...

1) For a big man, he handles contact horribly when he has the puck. Rarely does he put a body on someone and lean into them when going to the net. For some reason when he tries to go wide on someone, if they have position on him, he never tries to bull rush them or force them out of their position, he glides around the back of the net, out the other side and usually loses the puck.

2) It's a piece of cake to poke the puck away from him as he tends NOT be creative on one on one situations, and just has the puck sitting out there on his blade.

Overall, he has been a little better over the past few weeks, but he's still a shell of what he needs to be.

My problem with him is that he doesn't get in front of the net. He's a big and tough guy, but he stays out on the perimeter too much.

The guy has some good speed but he isn't creative like Oshie, Perron, or Amac. When he tries he usually does something stupid. I wish he would just play a north-south game using his speed to get there and big body to stay in front of the net.

It's frustrating. I hope he finds his game in the playoffs because he can be the difference maker.

Agreed - I think Cprice over-complicates it a little bit.

The problem with Stewart is that he plays the wrong damn style of game for what he's good at because he doesn't seem to have the stones to play the right one.

He's easy to knock off the puck...so? Don't have him carry it into the zone like a center then. Quit trying to make a skilled forward out of him - he hasn't shown that ability all year. Make him a poor man's Keith Tkachuk and move along.

Plant his ass in front of the net and tell him he's going to take the cross-checks or he's going to play 8 minutes a night on the 4th line. The guy is absolutely no good to us doing what he's doing. Berglund can try to play that kind of game because he's far more skilled and can contribute in other ways if he's not scoring. Stewart, OTOH, provides a whole lot of nothing if he's not putting the puck in the net.

So at least put him down low and having him occupy a skater and create traffic in front of the goalie. He has the size and strength to do it if he just gave enough of a !@#$ to try.

I'm pretty sure I hate him.

This is a problem. Hitchcock's system isn't suited to having a guy just stand in front of the net or play the way Tkachuk did in his later years. It requires forwards back-checking. It requires forwards fore-checking. And it requires at least some rudimentary puck-handling skills when the other two forwards are back-checking and #25 is the only forward available to move the puck up ice. IMO, Chicago forced the Blues to get the puck to #25 whenever he was in the defensive zone, because they could count on getting the puck back rather quickly. The 'Hawks were not the first team to do this, either. Boston did it in the Blues last home loss. Someone else did it before that, but I can't remember which team. It stands out when the Blues do lose games how often #25 is forced to handle the puck, compared to how much he is not usually relied upon at all to move the puck up ice.