GDT #79: 3/31/12 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

[Nyghtewynd]

Absolutely embarrassing. Blown out by Columbus. Yeah, we're the cup favorites. Like not at all.

[glen a richter]

this team deserves to be swept 1st round, I mean honestly? What the hell was that all about tonight?

[Nyghtewynd]

And they'd better not dare come out to celebrate backing into the division. Get your butts off the ice.

[STLADOGG]

The job is yours Elliott.

[glen a richter]

The only consolation here is that the same shit just happened to the Wangs and I somehow doubt the Wangs fans are worried that if they can't beat the BJ's, how can they possibly win the cup.

Still, it sucks but I suppose there is a possibility that this serves as a wake up call. If there was ever a good time for a wake up call, it would be now and not in the playoffs in a do or die situation.

[theohall]

Halak does not deserve to be the playoff starter after his last 4 games including this one.

This has to be the dumbest thing I have read in a long, long time.

.927 over his last five.

it is called goals allowed. And Halak is averaging what? 4 per game?? That is playoff goaltending??

[cardsfan04]

We clearly need to get it together. But, I'm not as down as some of you. We were bad tonight, no doubt about it. But, guess what. Every single team to ever win the cup had a bad game at some point late in the season. Literally 100% of them. This is 2 bad games in a row, and if we play like we did Thursday and tonight, we'll have a long offseason. But, I don't think having two bad games now means we are going to continue to suck. We haven't lost 3 in a row all season (I think I read that) which tells me this team is able to keep an even keel and bounce back far before anything snowballs.

[theohall]

Halak does not deserve to be the playoff starter after his last 4 games including this one.

This has to be the dumbest thing I have read in a long, long time.

.927 over his last five.

it is called goals allowed. And Halak is averaging what? 4 per game?? That is playoff goaltending??

And when I wrote that prior post, Halak had given up 2 goals on 6 shots against the friggin Blue Jackets. What is that percentage? .667?? But my post was idiotic.

[WaukeeBlues]

Halak does not deserve to be the playoff starter after his last 4 games including this one.

This has to be the dumbest thing I have read in a long, long time.

.927 over his last five.

it is called goals allowed. And Halak is averaging what? 4 per game?? That is playoff goaltending??

And when I wrote that prior post, Halak had given up 2 goals on 6 shots against the friggin Blue Jackets. What is that percentage? .667?? But my post was idiotic.

Well the stats might be bad but my question is how many of those goals tonight were Halak's fault/soft? Was he hung out to drive or was just laying a goose egg along with everyone else?

Regardless of the answer to that question, I still think Elliott should have been starting. Also having big reservations about Halak starting for us in the playoffs now. At least we won't get a Central Division opponent which is nothing short of a relief.

I just don't know how we come into our own house on a Saturday night, Division title on the line, sold-out crowd ready to celebrate and then... that. Ugh.

At least we clinced a top 2 spot in the West. That's the big picture point to keep in mind at least.

[F Keenan]

Halak does not deserve to be the playoff starter after his last 4 games including this one.

This has to be the dumbest thing I have read in a long, long time.

.927 over his last five.

it is called goals allowed. And Halak is averaging what? 4 per game?? That is playoff goaltending??

Since it's obvious that you never played or coached the game before, I'll fill you in: Teams are judged by goals allowed. Goalies are judged by save percentage. While Halak's save percentage was lower than his average last night, at .875, how you can watch that game and think that the loss rest on Halak's shoulders??????? Halak doesn't deserve to start in the playoffs? Are you (Franking) serious? If we are going down that road, this TEAM does not deserve to play in the playoffs after the way that they played last night. And fans like you, fans of the St. Louis Blues, who I am still convinced are the some of the least educated fans in the NHL, do not deserve to watch their team in the playoffs with comments like 'Halak does not deserve to be the playoff starter'. Last night’s game was embarrassing to watch, but fans like you make me embarrassed to be a Blues fan.

[F Keenan]

Halak does not deserve to be the playoff starter after his last 4 games including this one.

This has to be the dumbest thing I have read in a long, long time.

.927 over his last five.

it is called goals allowed. And Halak is averaging what? 4 per game?? That is playoff goaltending??

And when I wrote that prior post, Halak had given up 2 goals on 6 shots against the friggin Blue Jackets. What is that percentage? .667?? But my post was idiotic.

Yes.

[dmiles2186]

Halak does not deserve to be the playoff starter after his last 4 games including this one.

This has to be the dumbest thing I have read in a long, long time.

.927 over his last five.

it is called goals allowed. And Halak is averaging what? 4 per game?? That is playoff goaltending??

Since it's obvious that you never played or coached the game before, I'll fill you in: Teams are judged by goals allowed. Goalies are judged by save percentage. While Halak's save percentage was lower than his average last night, at .875, how you can watch that game and think that the loss rest on Halak's shoulders??????? Halak doesn't deserve to start in the playoffs? Are you (Frank) serious? If we are going down that road, this TEAM does not deserve to play in the playoffs after the way that they played last night.

Amen. The team played like balls in front of Halak, he was getting peppered with pucks every which way. Go back and watch the goals again. 2-3 of the goals came with a Blue Jackets standing right in the crease and no Blues defenseman doing anything about it. The other goal was Stewart's 'great' pass to Umberger to put him on a breakaway. Not to mention one of the goals came when they were down 5 on 3 because they decided to take 3 penalties in a row.

The team played like crap in front of Halak in Chicago too. Keenan is right, if you're going to say Halak doesn't deserve to start because of this one performance, neither do the Blues.

Look, we've had a few bad performances in a row. But the Wangs lost to the Jackets a few nights ago and the Penguins, the hottest team in the league recently, lost back to back games to the Islanders.

Hitchcock won't stand for a performance like this. Elliott would have given up goals with the performance the Blues gave last night too. I just don't understand how anyone can blame Halak. He made some big saves, keeping it even from being even worse.

The Blues. Sucked. Balls. Last. Night.

Columbus just has a way of getting under the Blues skin and bringing the worst out of them. They did it again last night.

[dmiles2186]

And on top of that, the crowd was into it, the division title was there for the taking against the worst team in the league. Up until the empty netter, the home crowd was pulling the team on...and they turned in a completely lackluster performance.

But I try to look at the positives. They just won a division title. They've got 3 games to right the ship and then almost a week of practice time to prepare for Game 1. I know as Blues fans we're trained to think/fear the worst, but in the playoffs ANYTHING can happen.

And: if a team is in contention for the President's trophy and is still susceptible to knee-jerk reactions, what team isn't?

[theohall]

So none of you have noticed Halak is giving up really bad rebounds again, like he was doing in October? Also GAA is another measure for goalies, not just save pct. Meanwhile, Elliott was not giving up horrendous rebounds and was stopping breakaways when the D failed in front of him. Can't say the same about Halak recently.

[STLADOGG]

Goodbye 1st place.

[Krigloch the Furious]

they dont play again until Wednesday, So hopefully Hitch will get the boys ready.
It really shouldnt be all that hard, it's against Detoilet.

[goon attack]

You pansies need to calm down. They are having what's known as a psychological rest... they are IN the playoffs and they know it. Big deal. They'll come out blazing when it matters.

This is where the leadership of 44, 10, & 15 comes into play... and especially Hitch.

No biggie.

[northwest dave]

You pansies need to calm down. They are having what's known as a psychological rest... they are IN the playoffs and they know it. Big deal. They'll come out blazing when it matters.

This is where the leadership of 44, 10, & 15 comes into play... and especially Hitch.

No biggie.

Totally agree. Plus, the Blues got a couple players that haven't played in awhile, so I'm sure it will take some time for all of them to jell.

I'm not worried. These last few games are to get the kinks out. Hitch knows what he is doing and the vets on the team are there to lead the boys on the ice.

[KPFBlue]

Wasn't able to watch the game last night, but I did listen to it online and saw the highlights.

A few points:
1) According to Chaser, the Blues were getting jobbed in the penalty department. Is this accurate?
2) Yes, the Blues clinched last night, and Goon, I totally understand psychological rest, but it can't happen in front of a sold-out home crowd who's expected to buy playoff tickets. It's embarrassing. Do that shit on the road.
3) Nice pass, #25
4) A lot of those goals against us were not by particularly nice plays, but by opponents dogging our net for rebounds. If you're going to put 4 guys in the penalty box at one time, it'd better be because you broke a stick over a guy's face in the crease.

That is all.

[fargoblues]

Relax. Although it would have been nice to curbstomp the BJs and seal the deal for the Central crown the right way, it's not the end of the world. It will be a wakeup call for the team.

I expect them to come out and totally seal club Detroit on Wednesday. Anything less than a total effort and I'll be upset, and concerned.