2014-2015 Post Mortem

[goon attack]

2 wins... 15 wins... both are losers.

Trade Backes, Oshie, and Steen... then watch them win a Cup with teams with a better supporting cast.

I'm all for adding a few badass pieces, but a few extra badass pieces will enhance what we do have already. You don't just scrap the whole damn roster because some marginal second liners are miscast as first liners. It's obvious that Backes and Oshie are second liners AT BEST. Steen is a solid second liner.

Tarasenko is the only true stud on this team. The only one.

Hitchcock should be canned for sticking with PUSSIES on D. Lindbohm and Bortuzzo should have been out there. It would have made a HUGE difference. We are ice dancing around while the refs largely had their whistles in their pockets. I'm sick of this "OMG DON'T TAKE A PENALTY OR YOU'RE GOING TO HELL!" bullshit in the playoffs. We could have beat the living crap out of these pansies but we were playing with pansies ourselves and we were playing scared. Backes, were he true leader, would have led the way on the ice, (Frank) with Hitchcock says. That's a true leader.

send a few guys packing, yes... scrap the whole team? Ain't gonna, and shouldn't, happen.

[Portland Blues]

This is a tough one this year. For me personally it just never felt like we were that close. The last couple of years it felt like a couple bounces and things would have been different - this year it never even felt that close.

Watching all of the other Western series we seemed to be missing the gear the other 7 teams shifted into.

[gaijin]

This is a tough one this year. For me personally it just never felt like we were that close. The last couple of years it felt like a couple bounces and things would have been different - this year it never even felt that close.

Watching all of the other Western series we seemed to be missing the gear the other 7 teams shifted into.

This is the way I've felt the last few years. Who knows what the answer is? Maybe trading guys away, but you're not going to get as great of a return- other teams will know we are shaking things up and will likely not offer us as much in return as we think our guys are worth.

I think I'd prefer to keep Steen, though. Wasn't he our top playoff scorer the last 2 years before this year? He had chances in this series but dumb luck stood in the way (more than Dumba did at least). I think Steen played well.

This whole team is just cursed. At least the Red Sox knew what their curse was- any clue on ours? Scott Stevens?

[abc789987]

This is a tough one this year. For me personally it just never felt like we were that close. The last couple of years it felt like a couple bounces and things would have been different - this year it never even felt that close.

Watching all of the other Western series we seemed to be missing the gear the other 7 teams shifted into.

We looked great against piss poor teams and about half the time we looked okay against playoff teams...

[glen a richter]

This is a tough one this year. For me personally it just never felt like we were that close. The last couple of years it felt like a couple bounces and things would have been different - this year it never even felt that close.

Watching all of the other Western series we seemed to be missing the gear the other 7 teams shifted into.

We looked great against piss poor teams and about half the time we looked okay against playoff teams...

Sometimes we didn't look so great against those poor teams either. I don't feel like going back in time, but there were a lot of times I thought we should put up 6 or 7, pad the stats and then ended up getting caught up in a dogfight and winning 2-1 or some similar atrociously low score. We can't hang with the big boys because we're slow. It's my mantra for the offseason: this team needs to get faster. Also, I agree with Goon that the defense needs to toughen up. We all figured that after they traded Polak it was a pretty major mistake and it proved true. This team needs to get faster up front and tougher on the blueline.

[dmiles2186]

I posted this over in the Game 6 GDT, but I'll post it here as well because it encapsulates my thoughts moving forward.

This is what's going to answer the, 'How can we pay Tarasenko?' question. Backes, Oshie (he's top on my list to ship out), Bouwmeester, Ott, Goc, etc. will all be gone, most likely. Jackman? Maybe.

I would keep Steen, because even though he's only scored 6 playoff goals, he's scored them 2 of them in OT, so that at least adds some value. Plus, he's pretty great for us throughout the entire season in all his roles.

Anyone that blames Allen for this series loss is pretty crazy.

I'm just so deflated. This sort of feel like the rebuild that started after 05-06 just reached it's conclusion and it was a failure. I remember dreaming in '08 or '09 of having a Cup within 5 years. That didn't end up being the case.

The bonus is that the roster still has a young/great core in Senko, Schwartz, Jaskin, Petro, Shatty, Allen, with Fabbri and Barbashev in the wings to build around. I'd sort of like to see the philosophy change. The teams that have beat us the last 4-5 years have all been faster than us. We're too busy skating in mud and trying to hit everything that moves instead of flying around, creating, and cashing in on chances that come from that. Something needs to change for sure.

For now, I'll be off in a dark corner crying and singing emo songs.

[Nyghtewynd]

It's not Allen's fault. I don't think Hitch can be faulted for playing Allen throughout the series. I think he can be faulted for not pulling Allen after the second goal in game 5 and the first goal in game 6. Allen obviously didn't have it mentally, and those were must-win games. You have to have a fast trigger, and he didn't. I feel bad for Elliott, because he didn't deserve it, but the only way he's going to stay is if there's a new coach who promises him 65-70 games next year as the #1, a vet is brought it to be the backup for rest days, and Jake Allen is the Chicago Wolves starter. Since I don't think that's going to happen, we're going to trade Elliott for a bag of pucks, and he'll be an All-Star for someone else.

[cprice12]

It's not Allen's fault. I don't think Hitch can be faulted for playing Allen throughout the series. I think he can be faulted for not pulling Allen after the second goal in game 5 and the first goal in game 6. Allen obviously didn't have it mentally, and those were must-win games. You have to have a fast trigger, and he didn't. I feel bad for Elliott, because he didn't deserve it, but the only way he's going to stay is if there's a new coach who promises him 65-70 games next year as the #1, a vet is brought it to be the backup for rest days, and Jake Allen is the Chicago Wolves starter. Since I don't think that's going to happen, we're going to trade Elliott for a bag of pucks, and he'll be an All-Star for someone else.

Who pulls a goalie after the first goal in a game?
Has that EVER happened?
During the game, when they asked Hitch if he considered pulling Allen after the first goal, I loved the look on Hitch's face...it was like he was thinking, what kind of a question it that?
I thought that was an asinine question at the time.
And then right after that, Allen allows another softie and it was time to get him out.
I thought Hitchcock played the goaltending situation just fine in this series.

[Nyghtewynd]

To anyone with eyes who wasn't simply going to follow some stupid baseball-esque unwritten rule about hockey, it was obvious. The first goal was terrible, and Allen was a visible headcase after. He couldn't hardly play a puck cleared behind his own net without almost muffing it into his own goal, and struggled with a couple of easy saves afterwards. He should have been pulled immediately, but Hitch had to Hitch. But he wrote his own epitaph with the interview.

By the way, it' s 10:46a. Why hasn't Hitch or Army been let go yet? End-of-year-interviews is a copout. Any idiot who examines the Internet discussion about this team will notice that...there isn't any. Not here, not on Twitter, not on other sites, nothing. The silence is deafening. Much of your fanbase can't even be bothered to react. They've simply given up on the St. Louis Blues as a franchise. If you don't do something soon, you've lost them for quite a while. The move needs to be made today.

[cprice12]

To anyone with eyes who wasn't simply going to follow some stupid baseball-esque unwritten rule about hockey, it was obvious. The first goal was terrible, and Allen was a visible headcase after. He couldn't hardly play a puck cleared behind his own net without almost muffing it into his own goal, and struggled with a couple of easy saves afterwards. He should have been pulled immediately, but Hitch had to Hitch. But he wrote his own epitaph with the interview.

Nope.
You don't pull Allen after one goal. Sorry. It just doesn't work that way.
I get that he wasn't right in game #5, but he had been so good up until that point. He is the guy that played great in games 1-4 and down the stretch of the season.
You don't pull him after one goal. No coach would have pulled him...not one...and that is for a reason.

By the way, it' s 10:46a. Why hasn't Hitch or Army been let go yet? End-of-year-interviews is a copout. Any idiot who examines the Internet discussion about this team will notice that...there isn't any. Not here, not on Twitter, not on other sites, nothing. The silence is deafening. Much of your fanbase can't even be bothered to react. They've simply given up on the St. Louis Blues as a franchise. If you don't do something soon, you've lost them for quite a while. The move needs to be made today.

Because knee jerk reactions always pan out well.
The right way to do it is to act like adults and to sit down and discuss what went wrong and figure out the plan of attack on what changes need to be made.
There is no need to rush and fire anyone just yet. They have time to figure out what changes they need to make.

[Krigloch the Furious]

Anyone think one of the young punks in the AHL can step in with Stastny and Jaskin?

[heff]

Nice strawman. So, if they destroyed everything that the franchise was, and then won, it would be obvious that they did the right thing. Well duh. And, frankly, they ought to do that. I'd even consider changing the logo and colors. Anything to get rid of the loser status of this franchise.

This is some of the most gutless faggotry I've ever read.

[KrustyKevo]

Nice strawman. So, if they destroyed everything that the franchise was, and then won, it would be obvious that they did the right thing. Well duh. And, frankly, they ought to do that. I'd even consider changing the logo and colors. Anything to get rid of the loser status of this franchise.

This is some of the most gutless faggotry I've ever read.

Took the words out of my mouth/fingers.

[ecbm]

Thanks for a season of banter, all. Y'all have let me down far less than this "squad".

F' it as far as I'm concerned. Tank is a keeper, so keep 12 & 17 because they have chemistry. Shattenkirk is good. Pietrangelo and Stastny can have mulligans. Bortuzzo on an RFA deal will work and Allen is young enough to keep.

Anyone else can go. Steen and Oshie are dead to me. (Steen shouldn't be that divisive-he's had one really good half season with the Blues and that's it...it makes no difference that two of the six playoff goals he's scored in 31 games (that pace gets you 16 in a full season) were in OT.) Backes is a somewhat hard call, as he's a consistent 20-30 goal guy but this team's leadership is rotten to the core and I don't see how he's not part of that problem.

On D-could care less if Michalek and Jackman walk and would try to find takers for Bouwmeester and Gunnarson.

The hand-wringing over Elliott is ridiculous. He doesn't have the track record of Patrick f'in Roy or Dominic f'in Hasek now does he? Fact: when he joined the blues he was a career backup who had shit the bed when given a chance to start. Hey Brian, want to start a game in the playoffs? Then don't play horribly in 9 of your last 20 in the regular. You can have that tip absolutely free.

I don't give a shit that some of these players are good. Apparently good players grow on trees-ask all of the teams that have gone from crap to playoff performers while the Blues spin their wheels. Since '01-02, for example, the Flames have won twice as many playoff series as the Blues-actually making a final, becoming one of the worst teams in the league, then making the playoffs this season and winning a round. Ridiculous.

This sort of feel like the rebuild that started after 05-06 just reached it's conclusion and it was a failure.

It absolutely feels like that to me. Did the Blues just serially take the wrong guy with their high picks? Or did the club do this to them?

On the subject of the front office, I also don't get the patience for Armstrong. The core of this team was in place when he showed up. He's tinkered around the edges of the squad and when I look at the, I see no way in which he's significantly improved it. Miller? Bouwmeester? Stastny? He acquires guys at the deadline and they sit in the press box. Doesn't strike me as a winner.

Hitch's epitaph is his playoff record since the '04-05 lockout: 12-25. Truth is, he hasn't been able to get it done since the turn of the millennium: 33-45. Dump and chase doesn't work any more. I doubt he's going to learn new tricks at this point.

As for pulling Allen-hell, who knows? He did look absolutely lost the last couple games. I mean, he literally almost threw the puck into his own goal.



Well I guess it's baseball season.

/rant

[dmiles2186]

https://twitter.com/jprutherford/status/592752829040873472

[KrustyKevo]

https://twitter.com/jprutherford/status/592752829040873472

UH OH

[abc789987]

Public apology? ha

[KrustyKevo]

Public apology? ha

Maybe to announce they're both resigning

[ViPeRx007]

2 wins... 15 wins... both are losers.

Trade Backes, Oshie, and Steen... then watch them win a Cup with teams with a better supporting cast.

I'm all for adding a few badass pieces, but a few extra badass pieces will enhance what we do have already. You don't just scrap the whole damn roster because some marginal second liners are miscast as first liners. It's obvious that Backes and Oshie are second liners AT BEST. Steen is a solid second liner.

Tarasenko is the only true stud on this team. The only one.

Hitchcock should be canned for sticking with PUSSIES on D. Lindbohm and Bortuzzo should have been out there. It would have made a HUGE difference. We are ice dancing around while the refs largely had their whistles in their pockets. I'm sick of this "OMG DON'T TAKE A PENALTY OR YOU'RE GOING TO HELL!" bullshit in the playoffs. We could have beat the living crap out of these pansies but we were playing with pansies ourselves and we were playing scared. Backes, were he true leader, would have led the way on the ice, (Frank) with Hitchcock says. That's a true leader.

send a few guys packing, yes... scrap the whole team? Ain't gonna, and shouldn't, happen.

Well, you already have Stewart and Leopold, recent castoffs from our team, who are moving on to the next round and we're making tee times again. Halak is holding his own in a resurgent season for the Isles....

I agree with most of what you are saying, however, I don't think you can recast Oshie/Backes/Steen as second liners and expect them to be happy and to succeed on THIS team. At least 1 or 2 of them have to go, IMHO (and I hope it's not Steen). I don't see a way around it, unless they can suck up their pride and deal with it. But do we, as fans, trust them? Even in a reduced role? It just seems to me like the course has been run for that line. Hitch tried to mix them up (much to the dismay of many on this board) for that very reason, with terrible results. How many times over the course of the season was the STL line a clearly superior line? More than it should have been. We didn't have a #1 line this season. You mix and match the top 6 any way you want and I don't think there's ever a true #1 line. It's a #2 line and maybe-slightly-better-than-#2-but-not-a-complete-#1 line.

That's also why the question of whether or not Hitch should go is hard as well. I don't think he is really to blame, BUT, it's the same type of thing as with the #1 line: you almost HAVE to fire him to infuse some type of change and the coach will always be the fall guy. It's the easiest way to make fans go, "ok, we're doing something" even if, in all reality, it probably doesn't do THAT much.

[cprice12]

https://twitter.com/jprutherford/status/592752829040873472

I saw that.
It has to be that he is retiring and taking a management position with the club.