Put on the cape: Blues GM wants more from Stastny

[Oaklandblue]

Well I want more out of the Blues coach/GM/owner, and no one seems to give a crap about that, soooooooo...

I think the point is, it doesn't matter. I doubt anyone on here would disagree with you about getting a new coach with the current track record on the table. Probably half here would be fine with dropping Army, but who do you get to take over for him? Hull? Chopper? Marty? And I think a good portion of this forum are with the idea of retooling, from either taking a chunk of the team apart to just shipping out Bergy/Ott and/or bringing up Fabs, etc. to play. But Army has stated he wants to stay with the core and doesn't see a problem there...he 'says'.

The honest truth is, what we want and we get are two different things and Stillman, the guy who signs the checks on the front, has spoken. No matter how we feel about it, that's the reality, as things stand now.

As much as I am passionate about the team and angry at how it seems it is being ran into the ground, I think and I say this cautiously, that it's better that this is the reality than the team not being there at all. The only silver lining and like everything else with the Blues, it's a poor consolation, is that this franchise has never won a Cup, so there's no ceiling for them to aspire to beyond making the playoffs. The main benefit of this, from my angle, is that I can wear my Note and not be considered a bandwagoner. It takes guts to wear a sweater like that and I will say that with the amount of proud Hawks fans we got out my way, who wear their gear no matter what, I have yet to have an issue with any of them and get treated with an insane amount of respect because it's hockey and because with as many Cups as they've won, the fans out here went through the drought with the team and understand what it's like and wouldn't hang that on another fan. Out yall way, I don't know about, but out here I have issues with Sharks, Wings and Canucks fans. The Habs out here even welcome it and'll cross the street just to talk to me about hockey.

Yeah, I know, I'm taking a page out of Cprice's Book of Optimism, but in the end, I think that's all we Blues fan have got...that and replacing any furniture that we've destroyed after the team blew the playoffs the previous season

[STLADOGG]

Well I want more out of the Blues coach/GM/owner, and no one seems to give a crap about that, soooooooo...

The comment about the Owner is pure bullshit. Stillman is what this franchise NEEDED. Hes spending to the cap for fucks sake. He is not trying to screw the franchise over like our last owner did.
Also he is like us, he loves this team, loves this city. I love this guy.

[ecbm]

Well I want more out of the Blues coach/GM/owner, and no one seems to give a crap about that, soooooooo...

The comment about the Owner is pure bullshit. Stillman is what this franchise NEEDED. Hes spending to the cap for fucks sake. He is not trying to screw the franchise over like our last owner did.
Also he is like us, he loves this team, loves this city. I love this guy.

At this point, I agree about the owner-I haven't seen anything not to like about Stillman. He is, however, too much under the influence of Armstrong who strikes me as having little capacity for self-criticism thus: more of the same feces being served next season. I do agree with ye olde Nyghtewynd about the coach and feel like it doesn't bode well for the season that internally with the Blues, the FO and coaches bear very little responsibility for results while the players will be publicly called out for failure. Armstrong wants more out of Stastny? OK, sure-I'll take more out of everybody, thanks, but if some step up and others just maintain this team can improve. But the one guy who HAS to improve for this team to do better? Yep, that would KH, who apparently is golden with DA regardless of results.

[Nyghtewynd]

Well I want more out of the Blues coach/GM/owner, and no one seems to give a crap about that, soooooooo...

The comment about the Owner is pure bullshit. Stillman is what this franchise NEEDED. Hes spending to the cap for fucks sake. He is not trying to screw the franchise over like our last owner did.
Also he is like us, he loves this team, loves this city. I love this guy.

Oh yeah. He's amazing. He looked at this tire fire of the past season and said, "...meh. We're good bro."

Same old same old until further notice. He's not running a charity. The tickets aren't free.

[cprice12]

Well I want more out of the Blues coach/GM/owner, and no one seems to give a crap about that, soooooooo...

The comment about the Owner is pure bullshit. Stillman is what this franchise NEEDED. Hes spending to the cap for fucks sake. He is not trying to screw the franchise over like our last owner did.
Also he is like us, he loves this team, loves this city. I love this guy.

At this point, I agree about the owner-I haven't seen anything not to like about Stillman. He is, however, too much under the influence of Armstrong

Stillman has said that he doesn't have any input on talent decisions, nor does he want that because that isn't his area of expertise.
That is Armstrong's job...and Stillman is letting him do his job.
Armstrong has to be able to do his job freely and if an owner is butting in and giving his two cents on who the team should or shouldn't acquire or call up or send down, then you have an owner who is overstepping his bounds and can quite likely impede the development of the team.
Stillman gives Armstrong a budget to work with, which is pretty much the cap ceiling (thank you Tom), and that the goal is the Stanley Cup, and that's about it.

Stillman has been an outstanding owner, in that he stays out of the way and lets the hockey guys do their jobs. He is visible at the games, cheering hard for the team because he is a real fan. We couldn't ask for anything more from an owner.

I haven't soured on Armstrong at all. I'll say that.
I'm not on board with bringing Hitch back, but it is what it is...but I'm fine with Armstrong as our GM right now.

Stastny does need to be better. And I don't have an issue with the money he is getting paid, especially since he turned down more money elsewhere to come here. We didn't overpay for him...we underpaid based on the demand of the market. I do think he needs to be our 1st or 2nd line center tough. That is the only way we are going to instantly get more production out of him. Move him to Oshie and Steen's line and move Backes down to the 3rd line with Jaskin and Berglund. I'm fine with that experiment for the first 10+ games of the season.

[ecbm]

Stillman has said that he doesn't have any input on talent decisions

If he wants KH gone, he's gone. If DA's going to be fired, Stillman is the one who will order/do it. That's where I think the undue influence is. It started with getting JD run out.

I haven't soured on Armstrong at all.

Can't say I've soured on him; I was never big on him. Good at getting contracts done, decent talent evaluator, crap at trades, too rigid in his method. His bromance with KH has also, in my opinion, reached unprofessional levels.

Stastny does need to be better.

As does virtually every member of the squad not named Vladimir Tarasenko. Improvement needed from coaching and FO too. But nobody's calling for that-except Oshie & Stastny who then became Public Enemies #1 & 1a. As I've said a few times over the last month, this is not a good culture.

[Oaklandblue]

My sole issue with Army is that when we need to get a top line player in, we got Stastny. This may not be fair to him because none of us really knows what's going on behind the scenes or the overall plan of where they want to take the team in 3-5 years, but when you watch Spezza and others pass by and end up with someone who is fairly unproven for what we are trying to accomplish, it does raise concerns for me. Yes, Army can put together a team that can compete but can they actually win? The answer from the last four years is no, that there is another step that needs to be taken UP. Not the same level, not down. Granted, DO bring up what we have in the minors to shore up the depth but that one extra elite is what we're missing, someone who has been all the way, someone who is proven in the playoffs and, this is the one we continue to miss, someone who is in their prime. Frank can't handle it alone and we can wait and see if the production of -prospects- gets us there in a few years or invest for someone who can help us go forward now. I think the cheapest way to go for the team would have been to offer Hitch a position in the team on the D side and bring in someone like Byslma. New message, new plan, new approach, refreshed team morale and vision.

While Stillman isn't handling the team aspects, he is paying for it so he is responsible when all is said and done. And after four years of the same, he can't be sitting there saying 'This year is different', unless he has a plan that will make this year different. And so far, from the way they have handled things, this plan does not exist.

I think the biggest fear that I can relate to is, if we had canned Army, who would have came in and would they have made the team worse?

[glen a richter]

An owner butting in and not letting the GM do his job? Sounds like George Steinbrenner to me, and we all know what happened to the Yankees in the 80's. It was a freakin' disaster for fuckssake. They didn't become competitive again until George finally just let Bob Watson, and then Brian Cashman do his job.

If Stillman knows nothing about building a competitive hockey team, my preference would be for him to stay out of it. I don't agree with the retention of Armstrong, but I do agree that someone who is completely clueless about player personnel decisions should stay out of those decisions.

[glen a richter]

As far as what Oakland said at the end of his last post:

I think the biggest fear that I can relate to is, if we had canned Army, who would have came in and would they have made the team worse?

I'm probably going to be ripped to shreds for this one, but how hard can it honestly be to be a GM? You have an assistant GM, you have scouts up the wazoo, you have coaches telling you what needs have to be addressed and as long as you don't do something assholeish like ask for (Franking) Sidney Crosby in exchange for Steve Ott, the other GM's won't laugh you out of town and would be willing to work with you. It doesn't seem like rocket science to me. The obvious needs on this team are speed up front and toughness on the blueline. Some can be addressed internally (Lindbohm, Bortuzzo) and others will have to be addressed elsewhere.

[dmiles2186]

Well I want more out of the Blues coach/GM/owner, and no one seems to give a crap about that, soooooooo...

The comment about the Owner is pure bullshit. Stillman is what this franchise NEEDED. Hes spending to the cap for fucks sake. He is not trying to screw the franchise over like our last owner did.
Also he is like us, he loves this team, loves this city. I love this guy.

Oh yeah. He's amazing. He looked at this tire fire of the past season and said, "...meh. We're good bro."

Same old same old until further notice. He's not running a charity. The tickets aren't free.

It's not like we have 4 months until our first game of next season to see how the roster shakes out. It's not like teams are still playing. It's not like the draft is still coming up and team can orchestrate trades around that. It's not like free agency is still on the table.

Oh, wait...all of that has yet to happen.

We're all unhappy, but if Army, Stillman, or Hitch come out and say, "We want to trade everyone but Tarasenko, 'cause they suck, bruh," then guess what? We drive down trade value on every single player. It's a poker game. Showing 29 other teams your cards isn't the best move if you want to try to go in for the kill.

[Krigloch the Furious]

Steen - Stastny - Backes
Schwartz - Lehtera - Tarasenko
3 and 4th line? No clue!

[glen a richter]

Steen - Stastny - Backes
Schwartz - Lehtera - Tarasenko
3 and 4th line? No clue!

What kind of message is being sent by making Schwartz/Lehtera/Tarasenko the #2 line?

[ComradeT]

Steen - Stastny - Backes
Schwartz - Lehtera - Tarasenko
3 and 4th line? No clue!

What kind of message is being sent by making Schwartz/Lehtera/Tarasenko the #2 line?

And do we really want two 20-goal scorers on our first line, next to Stastny? To really unlock his potential, he needs another 30+ scorer next to him, and it's nether Steen nor Backes.

[APOD]

Steen - Stastny - Backes
Schwartz - Lehtera - Tarasenko
3 and 4th line? No clue!

What kind of message is being sent by making Schwartz/Lehtera/Tarasenko the #2 line?

And do we really want two 20-goal scorers on our first line, next to Stastny? To really unlock his potential, he needs another 30+ scorer next to him, and it's nether Steen nor Backes.

I agree that STL line should be our first line.

Comrade if you look at this years numbers, I would think that Backes at the wing with Stastny at center he would be in the 30+, Steen looks to be posting higher number these past two seasons, not to mention he had 40 assists this year. I have no probelm with those 3 being a 2nd line.

I'm more worried about the 3rd line, I personaly like Ott and I know he can get the face offs and play the min, but he is a 4th line guy. Reaves can occasionaly shine but again 4th line guy. I think we need to focus on getting a 2nd/3rd left wing scorer and some extra depth at center and thats if we decide to get rid of oshie and berg.

[glen a richter]

The best thing for Stastny would be to center Schwartz and Tarasenko, but you really can't break up the STL line. I guess you could have Schwartz/Stastny/Tarasenko as PP unit #1 and Schwartz/Lehtera/Tarasenko as even strength unit #1. Or vice versa. I don't know. It's frustrating because Stastny is being paid to be a #1 center but it could be potentially devastating to break up Lehtera and Tarasenko. He was brought in specifically for the chemistry they have together. Stastny wasn't brought in to be a #3 center, though. His lousy stats are just as much the result of who he plays with, though in theory he should be elevating the play of Berglund and lord knows that didn't happen.

[ComradeT]

The best thing for Stastny would be to center Schwartz and Tarasenko, but you really can't break up the STL line. I guess you could have Schwartz/Stastny/Tarasenko as PP unit #1 and Schwartz/Lehtera/Tarasenko as even strength unit #1. Or vice versa. I don't know. It's frustrating because Stastny is being paid to be a #1 center but it could be potentially devastating to break up Lehtera and Tarasenko. He was brought in specifically for the chemistry they have together. Stastny wasn't brought in to be a #3 center, though. His lousy stats are just as much the result of who he plays with, though in theory he should be elevating the play of Berglund and lord knows that didn't happen.

I really hope that over the summer/pre-season Lehtera will be able to skate and gel with others, as will Stastny, so that we have two top lines that can be mixed and meshed if needed.

To APOD's point, I don't believe Backes has 30+ goals in him. He just doesn't have the skill. He may have a 30+ season but at this point he's not going to get any better. Also assuming that putting him on the wing will increase his production is careless, to me, as he may have issues adjusting to playing on the wing after playing center for so long.

For what it's worth, I may be wrong.

[ecbm]

I don't believe Backes has 30+ goals in him. He just doesn't have the skill. He may have a 30+ season

Seasons with 31, 31, 27 and 26 while being a premium defensive matchup center suggests to me he can do it.

[ComradeT]

I don't believe Backes has 30+ goals in him. He just doesn't have the skill. He may have a 30+ season

Seasons with 31, 31, 27 and 26 while being a premium defensive matchup center suggests to me he can do it.

That doesn't show that he "can" do it in my view, only that he "did" have two (ok, not one, two) barely 30+ seasons. Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I just can't project consistent 30+ with an occasional 40+ for him for the next few years.

Again, I may be wrong. It's just what I think.

[cprice12]

My sole issue with Army is that when we need to get a top line player in, we got Stastny. This may not be fair to him because none of us really knows what's going on behind the scenes or the overall plan of where they want to take the team in 3-5 years, but when you watch Spezza and others pass by and end up with someone who is fairly unproven for what we are trying to accomplish, it does raise concerns for me.

It has come out that the Blues tried very hard to get Spezza in addition to getting Stastny. They wanted both.
So they didn't pass on Spezza in favor of Stastny. It wasn't either-or.

While Stillman isn't handling the team aspects, he is paying for it so he is responsible when all is said and done. And after four years of the same, he can't be sitting there saying 'This year is different', unless he has a plan that will make this year different. And so far, from the way they have handled things, this plan does not exist.

To be fair...they have stated that the system will change, with a focus on increased pace and pressure on the rush...resulting in a more reckless/aggressive style.
Yes, talk is cheap, but they HAVE said that things are going to change, which is encouraging...but we'll see how that works out.

I think the biggest fear that I can relate to is, if we had canned Army, who would have came in and would they have made the team worse?

I mentioned on the podcast that I think Julien BriseBois (assistant GM in Tampa Bay) is a guy I would like them to seriously consider...IF Armstrong were to be canned...but that isn't happening any time soon (nor do I think it should), but if he were to be fired, I think Brisebois could be an excellent choice based on things I have heard about him.

[glen a richter]

My issue is this. Hitch said in the 2013-2014 post-mortem that his summer assignment to the players was to work on improving their speed. Now one of two things happened: either the players DID work on their speed and he just didn't utilize it at all, meaning he didn'thold up his end of the bargain, or the players DIDN'T work on their speed and thus didn't hold up their end of the bargain.

I'm inclined to believe the players assume it's lip service. Hitch has never been about speed before, why would he start now? So they didn't even bother to work on what they were asked to work on because when the season gets going, they knew that wouldn't be their style. So again, we're being told the system will change, speed will be a more integral part of the game and will that be what we see come October or will the players again know that Hitch is just blowing hot air so he can generate some good sound bytes for the local media? If this is the case, the only solution is to get players who will actually listen to their coach.