Re: Hockey News: Blues to Win Cup
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:22 am
Today's a new day! I'm in a better mood and can't wait for some hokies to start!
Discuss the St. Louis Blues, the NHL, or whatever.
http://letsgoblues.com/phpBB/
Also we don't have anyone to dive like they were trying to make the Olympic team anymore.glen a richter wrote:One thing we don't have is David Perron making stupid ass turnovers. That has to be worth something, no?
I'm not real sure what the bolded means. I don't really know what to expect from Tarasenko, but I wouldn't write him off because of his rookie year in the NHL. As far as training goes, he lost 10 pounds in the offseason. That's probably a good sign.Oaklandblue wrote:The only real question on everyone's minds, in my mind, should be 'Did we sign a spark plug?' Because if we didn't, it's going to feel like Groundhog's Day at the end of the season.
We got the right pieces and I feel Roy is going to be big for us. I look at everyone else and we're hoping for talent over training and skill from players like Tarasenko, etc. which, I'm sorry, is outright insane. Just because we bring up players from the minors/other leagues doesn't mean that they will catch fire in this league. It's been proven more ofthen than not that it isn't the case. Yes, we are neck-deep in talent. So who is going to be the one to ignite it? Pie's not. Backes has tried and it's not him; he's too busy carrying and no one's helping him. Defense is a brutal wall with netminding depth the likes of which the Flyers envy.
When it comes to offense, we still need that one player that can ignite the team's cannons. We got many and they vary in skill and ability, but they lack....something. A playmaker? A setup man? A finisher? Do we now have one or is there one in the wings? When I say spark plug, that's what I mean. We have a lot of veteran talent and players who have proven in points of their career that they're close to turning the corner, but don't quite get them. Which makes me wonder: Do we have that plug?
The players we are leaning the hardest on are the rookies and those who are still fairly new to the league, which I feel is 'insane' as in unfair. We're throwing them out to the wolves without the right mix of veterans and coaches to really up their game and forge them into the players we feel they can be. There's a step missing in this and the step is we don't have those 'middle ground' players who are high-skilled and demand the best. We don't seem to have nor breed those kind of players and they're the ones who win Cups. It's almost as if you don't come in the door an Elite, odds are you either you won't be one or will be one - on another team.cardsfan04 wrote:I'm not real sure what the bolded means. I don't really know what to expect from Tarasenko, but I wouldn't write him off because of his rookie year in the NHL. As far as training goes, he lost 10 pounds in the offseason. That's probably a good sign.Oaklandblue wrote:The only real question on everyone's minds, in my mind, should be 'Did we sign a spark plug?' Because if we didn't, it's going to feel like Groundhog's Day at the end of the season.
We got the right pieces and I feel Roy is going to be big for us. I look at everyone else and we're hoping for talent over training and skill from players like Tarasenko, etc. which, I'm sorry, is outright insane. Just because we bring up players from the minors/other leagues doesn't mean that they will catch fire in this league. It's been proven more ofthen than not that it isn't the case. Yes, we are neck-deep in talent. So who is going to be the one to ignite it? Pie's not. Backes has tried and it's not him; he's too busy carrying and no one's helping him. Defense is a brutal wall with netminding depth the likes of which the Flyers envy.
When it comes to offense, we still need that one player that can ignite the team's cannons. We got many and they vary in skill and ability, but they lack....something. A playmaker? A setup man? A finisher? Do we now have one or is there one in the wings? When I say spark plug, that's what I mean. We have a lot of veteran talent and players who have proven in points of their career that they're close to turning the corner, but don't quite get them. Which makes me wonder: Do we have that plug?
David Perron bothers me. I feel he should be gone, but should he be gone because he lacked the skills or gone because we lacked the balls to whip him into what he can be and hold him to it. Edmonton will not take half of what we took from him. If Perron suddenly explodes into a scoring machine, all it will prove is that we can't coach our own, which has been kind of my running theme as of late. Put simply, I feel we tolerate too much and give too much, for far too little.glen a richter wrote:One thing we don't have is David Perron making stupid ass turnovers. That has to be worth something, no?
Also, let me add, we don't have anyone to take back-breaking offensive zone penalties or forehead slapping powerplay penalties.Kreegz2 wrote:Also we don't have anyone to dive like they were trying to make the Olympic team anymore.glen a richter wrote:One thing we don't have is David Perron making stupid ass turnovers. That has to be worth something, no?
Do you really think we are leaning on Tarasenko and Schwartz? I don't. I think we have high hopes that they will reach their perceived potential soon, but I don't think we are leaning on them really. Hell, Tarasenko didn't even hardly play in the playoffs last year. I don't think that's a sign of leaning hard on him. We're leaning hard on Backes, Oshie, Steen, Halak, Pietro (OK, he's young but not rookie), Bouwmeester, etc.Oaklandblue wrote:The players we are leaning the hardest on are the rookies and those who are still fairly new to the league, which I feel is 'insane' as in unfair. We're throwing them out to the wolves without the right mix of veterans and coaches to really up their game and forge them into the players we feel they can be. There's a step missing in this and the step is we don't have those 'middle ground' players who are high-skilled and demand the best. We don't seem to have nor breed those kind of players and they're the ones who win Cups. It's almost as if you don't come in the door an Elite, odds are you either you won't be one or will be one - on another team.cardsfan04 wrote:I'm not real sure what the bolded means. I don't really know what to expect from Tarasenko, but I wouldn't write him off because of his rookie year in the NHL. As far as training goes, he lost 10 pounds in the offseason. That's probably a good sign.Oaklandblue wrote:The only real question on everyone's minds, in my mind, should be 'Did we sign a spark plug?' Because if we didn't, it's going to feel like Groundhog's Day at the end of the season.
We got the right pieces and I feel Roy is going to be big for us. I look at everyone else and we're hoping for talent over training and skill from players like Tarasenko, etc. which, I'm sorry, is outright insane. Just because we bring up players from the minors/other leagues doesn't mean that they will catch fire in this league. It's been proven more ofthen than not that it isn't the case. Yes, we are neck-deep in talent. So who is going to be the one to ignite it? Pie's not. Backes has tried and it's not him; he's too busy carrying and no one's helping him. Defense is a brutal wall with netminding depth the likes of which the Flyers envy.
When it comes to offense, we still need that one player that can ignite the team's cannons. We got many and they vary in skill and ability, but they lack....something. A playmaker? A setup man? A finisher? Do we now have one or is there one in the wings? When I say spark plug, that's what I mean. We have a lot of veteran talent and players who have proven in points of their career that they're close to turning the corner, but don't quite get them. Which makes me wonder: Do we have that plug?
I'm not sure if that all makes sense, but I see the talent in all of the players we get but I don't see those elite in-their-prime players nor do I see us have coaching that can craft those elite-in-their-prime players out of the ones that we have, which is why a mediocre or late-bloomer goes to another team and suddenly they're solid.
That's the thing: many teams have the talent and experience to do it. Quite frankly the list of teams that DON'T have the talent or experience to win the cup is probably shorter than the list of those teams that ARE. I don't put much stock in it. And apparently The Hockey News has way more faith in our goaltending than we do haha.dmiles2186 wrote:They certainly have the talent to do it. And we saw how they could dominate any team once Hitch came on in the 2011-2012 season. It's just ever since losing to the Kings in the 2012 playoffs, they've been so inconsistent. As Hitch said about 1500 times last year, it's about getting everyone to buy in. If they can do that for 82 games plus 16 postseason wins, then sure, it could happen.
goon attack wrote:I predict I will do a sixty freakin' niner with Salma Hayek.
That sounds like a long time ago, but it sure doesn't feel like very long ago. Let's hope this is the year, but I still have the nagging feeling that the players we have are only "who was available." Maybe they'll turn out to be the right players.cprice12 wrote: This is a much more fun team to watch than it was 6 or 7 years ago.
I'm excited about the season...so bring it on....again.
cprice12 wrote:That prediction comes as no surprise.
The Blues have been a very, very good regular season team the past couple years...and everyone is waiting for them to break through in the playoffs.
Who knows, for playoff success-starved Blues fans, this could be the year, we'll see...but it's a long season and, like for any eventual cup champion, a lot has to go right during the season and in the playoffs, you have to have a lot of luck on your side and who you draw in the playoffs is a huge part of it.
Like last season, I'm cautiously optimistic.
The cup winning team isn't always the best team in the NHL. But they are always the team that has the most fall in their favor along the way.
I'd rather be lucky than good anyday because the Blues have had some good/great teams...but they've never really had an overly lucky team when it counted.
I'll say this...I'd rather have us in the discussion as cup contenders, than not.
This is a much more fun team to watch than it was 6 or 7 years ago.
I'm excited about the season...so bring it on....again.
And then Hull will finally get his St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup ring.Robb_K wrote:I think it's possible that they win it all, IF everything goes right. I see them improving this season and going fairly deep in the playoffs. But, I don't think they'll get by Chicago in the Conference finals. 2014-15 is when they should win it all. Tarasenko, Schwartz, Jaskin, Rattie, Shattenkirk, Pietrangelo, Oshie, will all be much more ready 2 years from now. They'll be a LOT more consistent at scoring in 2014-15 than this season, in which they'll be Top 9-11 or so. In 2014-15, they should climb into the top 5-6 in Western Conference scoring, to go along with their Top 2-3 defence.