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Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:04 am
by dmiles2186
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Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:28 am
by cprice12
dmiles2186 wrote:[tweet][/tweet]

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Unbelievably good news...and unexpected.

Here come the Blues. 8)

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:38 am
by cprice12
not_a_wings_fan wrote:At least someone is picking the Blues in this series.
Grantland wrote:Series starts: Thursday night in St. Louis

Season series: The Blues took the first three meetings (two of them in shootouts), but the Blackhawks beat them twice in the season’s final weeks.

Line no. 1: The old-school narrative
The Blues are in free fall, collapsing under the weight of their season-long status as Stanley Cup favorites, and now face a humiliating first-round exit at the hands of the defending champs.

Line no. 2: Professor Fancystats says …
The Blues’ losing streak has been driven largely by PDO, so it’s no great cause for concern — but a matchup with the Blackhawks and their excellent 55.2 percent Fenwick sure is.

Line no. 3: The key question
How could a Blues team that was fourth in the league in goals scored on April 1 manage to score just seven times in its final eight games?

Line no. 4: One player to watch
It’s not a hard pick here: The Blues paid a ransom to acquire goalie Ryan Miller with the expectation that he’d be the final piece in their Stanley Cup puzzle, and now it looks like they’ll need him to win this series.

Prediction: Miller gets it done, the Blues win in six, and everyone goes back to considering them Cup favorites.
Full article linky

The reference to PDO is interesting because it suggests, from a stat perspective, that the lack of scoring is unsustainable, an aberration. For an excellent explanation of PDO, see this article.
It makes sense if you are optimist.
They played great for 90% of the season. They hit a rough patch near the end. It only makes sense that they are more apt to playing like they were before the slump since that's how the vast majority of the season went...that's more indicative of how the team can play. They got a few days off and they are apparently getting a number of key guys back from injury...so that's all positive stuff...and stuff you can certainly get excited about...plus we have home ice advantage.

It's all in how you want to look at it. You could say they are struggling and fading...or...you could say they are due to turn it around, got some much needed rest and are will apparently be much healthier when the playoffs start.
It's hard to argue against either point of view...because either is feasible. We just have to wait and see what happens.

I'm hoping for a poor series from Crawford. I've never been sold on him. He can be great, but he can be pretty mediocre as well. It would be nice if the Blues didn't have to deal with a goalie who is standing on his head in the playoffs for a change.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:39 am
by dmiles2186
Hitchcock dampens the mood a bit...

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But if I'm him, these injuries are a great excused to keep Chicago guessing and wondering who to game plan for.

"Are we sitting Tarasenko? Backes? Osh? Are they all playing? I don't know, find out tomorrow night!" It's a perfect chess piece to play at this point.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 12:01 pm
by glen a richter
The more I think about this, I can't help but think about how people argue constantly that such and such a team "peaked too early" or was peaking at the wrong time or whatever. Maybe we're looking at a team that fell apart at the right time and is about to have another peak. I mean really, it's better to lose 6 in a row ending the regular season than 4 in a row starting the playoffs.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 1:22 pm
by cardsfan04
dmiles2186 wrote:Hitchcock dampens the mood a bit...

[tweet][/tweet]

But if I'm him, these injuries are a great excused to keep Chicago guessing and wondering who to game plan for.

"Are we sitting Tarasenko? Backes? Osh? Are they all playing? I don't know, find out tomorrow night!" It's a perfect chess piece to play at this point.
I think it's just strategy and everybody will be back more or less. You don't put somebody on the PP in practice if he's not playing IMO.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 2:04 pm
by ViPeRx007
Prediction: everyone is ready to go, Hitch and the guys are just blowing smoke making it look like we're in disarray.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 2:06 pm
by heff
Blues in 6!

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 2:18 pm
by glen a richter
ViPeRx007 wrote:Prediction: everyone is ready to go, Hitch and the guys are just blowing smoke making it look like we're in disarray.
Blowing smoke will only work for game 1. When Q realizes the boys are full strength, the Hawks game plan will be adjusted accordingly for game 2. Game 2 might be the most important game of this series. Either go to Chicago up 2-0 or split 1-1. Lose 1 and 2, this series is over. Either way, lose game 2, and momentum to Chicago going home.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:42 pm
by Leantonomistake
I think we are in a position where we've got nothing to lose. Everyone expects the early exit because of the season ending and the inury stuff. But it's tomorrow when it'll count.
And as a team player, when your best players are coming back after a bad stretch, it'll give some guys some confidence where they can built on. They know the potential in this locker room and i'm sure they'll show it tomorrow. Especially to begin this series on home ice can be an extra push.

I believe in this group , because they showed it several times in the regular season.

Blues in 6!

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:52 pm
by dmiles2186
Jon Hamm and his 15 year old hat believe in us!

Image

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:30 pm
by STLADOGG
dmiles2186 wrote:Jon Hamm and his 15 year old hat believe in us!

Image
It's funny how he completely ignored the East with the # of games lol.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:34 pm
by cardsfan04
His bracket is almost identical to mine. I believe the only differences are Habs>Lightning and NYR>Flyers.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:52 pm
by Oaklandblue
JesusNEVERexisted wrote:OaklandBlue, there is a greater chance Martians or the mythical Jesus will knock on your front door than a Blues sweep! Just FYI 68% of fans on the NHL bracket challenge say Hawks win the series. Considering the Blues play lately I'm surprised it's not higher!

And it's NOT just injuries! Backes and Oshie were often coming up with goose eggs down the stretch when we needed them! Look at the Blues playoff scoring and it doesn't strike fear in anyone.

Three more and The Lord himself will be ringing the doorbell.

And he's bringing Martians. :aaaa:

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 6:49 am
by cardsfan04
It's kinda crazy what 1 game can do to your confidence. Couple random thoughts:

-I think we just saw Miller's coming out party. He was good for the first ~10 games or so, but last night he was phenomenal, at least from the 2nd period on. At one point late in 2OT, I thought to myself that this must be what the Kings felt like against us. There were 2-3 times that I thought the Blackhawks were about to win and he came up huge. It wasn't Miller, but Lapierre's save was one of those times. That felt very Bluesish of the Blackhawks to have a game ending shot stopped by a forward playing goalie.

-I missed the first period, but I thought we played decent for the most part, but kept getting better. 2OT is the best period we've played in a long time. It reminded me of Blues of old.

-Schwartz and Tarasenko are sick. Every time Schwartz is on the ice, he does something productive. Every time. And Tarasenko is that scoring threat we've talked about for years. Every time he touches the puck in the offensive zone, I think about scoring.

-I think Paajarvi is better than Cracknell and Porter, but I don't see how you sit either of them in game 2. I kept saying over and over, "Cracknell just made a good play . . . again." And Porter was solid too, especially negating that icing early in OT.

-We've gotta win more faceoffs and have a little better puck possession.

All that said, I'm feeling really good about the team again. BUT, we have to follow it up with a good game on Saturday. I don't think it's a must-win, but it's not far from it. It's a must-play-well. Would be huge to be up 2-0 when the series gets to Chicago.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:14 am
by STLADOGG
cardsfan04 wrote:It's kinda crazy what 1 game can do to your confidence. Couple random thoughts:

-I think we just saw Miller's coming out party. He was good for the first ~10 games or so, but last night he was phenomenal, at least from the 2nd period on. At one point late in 2OT, I thought to myself that this must be what the Kings felt like against us. There were 2-3 times that I thought the Blackhawks were about to win and he came up huge. It wasn't Miller, but Lapierre's save was one of those times. That felt very Bluesish of the Blackhawks to have a game ending shot stopped by a forward playing goalie.

-I missed the first period, but I thought we played decent for the most part, but kept getting better. 2OT is the best period we've played in a long time. It reminded me of Blues of old.

-Schwartz and Tarasenko are sick. Every time Schwartz is on the ice, he does something productive. Every time. And Tarasenko is that scoring threat we've talked about for years. Every time he touches the puck in the offensive zone, I think about scoring.

-I think Paajarvi is better than Cracknell and Porter, but I don't see how you sit either of them in game 2. I kept saying over and over, "Cracknell just made a good play . . . again." And Porter was solid too, especially negating that icing early in OT.

-We've gotta win more faceoffs and have a little better puck possession.

All that said, I'm feeling really good about the team again. BUT, we have to follow it up with a good game on Saturday. I don't think it's a must-win, but it's not far from it. It's a must-play-well. Would be huge to be up 2-0 when the series gets to Chicago.
Man Porter was really moving his feet last night and was one of the best players in the OT's.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:24 am
by gaijin
Guess I'm the only one not very reassured by the game last night. I would think that Game 1 with an extra day's rest, several players back from injury, wanting to exercise the demons of a 6-game losing streak, on your own ice against your bitter rival, trying to set the tone for the whole series... they would have been able to put together something more convincing than a 3OT win. Now granted, the Hawks are a good team, and this is going to be a tough series throughout. But you KNOW the plan is to beat down the Hawks before heading to Chicago for games 3 and 4. We should have shown Chicago exactly how hopeless their chances are.

I don't think we did, and I don't think that sets a good tone for the rest of the series. But like others have said, we need to come out jumping in Game 2. And when it comes down to it, wins are all that matter now, and there's one in the bag.

:letsgoblues:

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:30 am
by glen a richter
Game 2 is definitely a must win. After a demoralizing loss for the Hawks last night, we need to put pedal to the metal and come out flying tomorrow. If Chicago goes back home with hope and a 1-1 split, it can just as easily become a 3-1 hole. What's the word on Oshie? Back for #2?

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:13 am
by cardsfan04
gaijin wrote:Guess I'm the only one not very reassured by the game last night. I would think that Game 1 with an extra day's rest, several players back from injury, wanting to exercise the demons of a 6-game losing streak, on your own ice against your bitter rival, trying to set the tone for the whole series... they would have been able to put together something more convincing than a 3OT win. Now granted, the Hawks are a good team, and this is going to be a tough series throughout. But you KNOW the plan is to beat down the Hawks before heading to Chicago for games 3 and 4. We should have shown Chicago exactly how hopeless their chances are.

I don't think we did, and I don't think that sets a good tone for the rest of the series. But like others have said, we need to come out jumping in Game 2. And when it comes down to it, wins are all that matter now, and there's one in the bag.

:letsgoblues:
I would have liked that better I guess. Come out and dominate start to finish and tell the Blackhawks that this is our series to lose. That would have been nice. But I really like the fact that we tied it up late and Miller stonewalled them in OT. That also sends a message, that we are never out of a game until the buzzer sounds and Miller is playing for keeps.

Re: Blues vs. Blackhawks Round 1 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 2:19 pm
by cprice12
gaijin wrote:Guess I'm the only one not very reassured by the game last night. I would think that Game 1 with an extra day's rest, several players back from injury, wanting to exercise the demons of a 6-game losing streak, on your own ice against your bitter rival, trying to set the tone for the whole series... they would have been able to put together something more convincing than a 3OT win. Now granted, the Hawks are a good team, and this is going to be a tough series throughout. But you KNOW the plan is to beat down the Hawks before heading to Chicago for games 3 and 4. We should have shown Chicago exactly how hopeless their chances are.

I don't think we did, and I don't think that sets a good tone for the rest of the series. But like others have said, we need to come out jumping in Game 2. And when it comes down to it, wins are all that matter now, and there's one in the bag.

:letsgoblues:
Nah. A win is a win in the playoffs. It doesn't matter how you get them.
And a triple OT win would likely be more devastating than, say, a convincing 4-1 Blues win. That kind of shit can be deflating. I think I heard that of the last 18 times a game #1 has went into OT, the winner of that game has won the series 13 times...which is a little better percentage than it is for a team who wins game #1 eventually going on to win the series...so there may be something to that.

We did hit a couple posts as well, and we did own the stat sheet almost top to bottom. Crawford made a ridiculous desperation save that goes in 19 out of 20 times.
The game could have been a 5-3 or 6-3 Blues win.
With the way the Blues played to end the season, and with getting guys back that haven't played in a game in quite a while, I'm very happy with the way they played. We outplayed a Hawks team that was healthier and more rested.
And the OT periods may very well give Miller the consistency and confidence he was looking for. He seemed to get his game together after the 1st period, and looked very good the rest of the way.

The Hawks are a great team, picked by most to beat us (because of how we finished the season) and picked by many to go to the finals again. So any win against them is a great win as far as I am concerned.