Let's Go Blues

Nyghtewynd wrote:

Oaklandblue wrote:

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:

Oaklandblue wrote:

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:OaklandBlue, how does that sweep feel?

Kane and Toews are simply the greatest duo in hockey only next to Crosby & Malkin.

Cprice, those 2000 teams were better! Chopper, Prongs, Walt, Turgeon, Demitra, Courtnall, etc. WAY better than this team! Those Chopper slap shots on the power play were legendary! We don't have anyone like that.

I'm going to say this and I'm going to try hard not to go too far, so if I do, I apologize.

I find it really hard for someone to criticise me for beliving in something when their avatar name is that they don't believe in anything. I believe something, I believe we will win. We're still in the fight. If we somehow don't win, I still believed in something and I still do. To me, that's all there is to it.

I Bleed Blue. Do you?

WRONG dude! I believe in LOTS of things! You are obviously misguided in believing a middle eastern fairy tale is real! It has clouded your judgment to the point you thought the Blues would sweep!

I'm not a Christian.

Stop feeding the troll.

Why didn't I see that? Thanks for that.

dmiles2186 wrote:The most discouraging thing about all of this is that people all over the interwebs are talking like the series is over. It's not. The Blues have an opportunity to make a comeback in this series still. It seems bleak but I'm sure Hawks fans felt the same down 0-2. Until the horn sounds and we have less goals than they do, we've still got a chance.

People originally said it'd go seven, so I guess it will. Haven't we won the last two playoff matchups against the Hawks in seven anyway? I don't remember now. I think someone mentioned that somewhere here early on.

not_a_wings_fan wrote:

flyingnote38 wrote:

Misc. Blues wrote:

Oaklandblue wrote:This IS the best team we've ever had. And the fight ain't over yet.

I agree

This team would get swept by the 2000, 2001, and 1981 versions of the Blues.

"Fight" is the main thing this core has not demonstrated in the playoffs.

I think you are high or something. This team hits, blocks shots, and plays hard all series long. FYI Chicago has one two if the last four cups. They are (Frank) STACKED offensively. What is it you expect to see to demonstrate "fight" in this series? They have out played Chicago for most of the series.

This year's version has shown alot more heart than the last 2 years, in a large part because of bigger roles for Scwartz and especially Tarasenko. But, its not enough to compete, to be "right there with them" as Hitch will tell us. If you want to consider yourselves Cup contenders, you have to win series like these, not just be in them.

It was a god-awful unlucky bounce (and Toews conveniently way out of position, pity we couldn't get the puck to the guy he was supposed to be defending), but this was a must win game and they didn't do it. This team has had 100 chances to change the narrative from a repeat of last year and has failed. What makes anyone here think that this team, with a banged up post-concussed Backes and the Hawks getting back Seabrook, is going to go into the Madhouse on Madison on Sunday and win? Do you think our top 6 forwards are suddenly going to magically become elite snipers and stop missing wide open nets? That Miller has stealing a game in him?

Again I hope they prove me wrong, but the Blues' route to the second round sure looked like it had to include a win in game 5.

glen a richter wrote:Let's all take a breather for a second and then remind ourselves this: At least it's not 2005 anymore.

Maybe if we wake up and the last 9 years have been a dream, maybe just maybe, the Blues will draft Toews instead of Johnson.

flyingnote38 wrote:

glen a richter wrote:Let's all take a breather for a second and then remind ourselves this: At least it's not 2005 anymore.

Maybe if we wake up and the last 9 years have been a dream, maybe just maybe, the Blues will draft Toews instead of Johnson.

Personally, I think we need to open our eyes and see what we really have and we have something really great. A few pieces we'll be letting go of and build up. Hitch has the system, get him the people he needs, bring up Allen...the future is bright.

The only concern I have, and I mentioned this awhile ago, is how deep Stillman's pockets are. With the org not getting money from concessions and other things, it's going to eventually get serious unless they have enough money to build up to a Cup. The one problem we've had is changing owners right before we get to the point of going all the way. Hitchcock and Army have to beat that clock. Our window is open.

As for Towes, honestly, let them have Toews, We'll keep Tarasenko

flyingnote38 wrote:[quote="glen a risaying]Let's all take a breather for a second and then remInd ourselves this: At least it's not 2005 anymore.

Maybe if we wake up and the last 9 years have been a dream, maybe just maybe, the Blues will draft Toews instead of Johnson.[/quote][/quote]

You've been at the PD forum? They keep saying the Blues will be haunted for YEARS by drafting EJ instead of Toews!

OMFG! Keith just said he wasn't even trying to pass to Toews but just clear the zone and it hit Shaw's shin pad then right to Toews! Talk about lucky!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ho ... 7785.story

The Blues don’t bury chances. You’re not going to beat good teams in the playoffs if you don’t have the skill to bury chances. It’s one thing in the regular season to be a hard working four line team with solid D but when you play against the elite teams in the playoffs, you have to bury chances to outscore them. The Hawks are making the Blues pay for their mistakes whereas the Blues struggle to make them pay for their mistakes. The Blues had three empty/partially empty nets situations that didn’t end up with goals tonight. They should have been up at least 4-2 at one point. The Blues should have extended the lead in game four to 4-2 but failed to do so. There is a reason why the Blues have ONE REGULATION WIN in their last FIFTEEN playoff games. They have to work their ass off and play a perfect game to sneak out a win in OT against the elite teams. They are now on the verge of losing FOUR CONSECUTIVE GAMES in the playoffs for the THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR, and have had a 2-0 series lead the last two times. Now they have to win in Chicago but they’ve lost their LAST SEVEN ROAD PLAYOFF GAMES. They are also facing elimination and the Blues have lost their last SEVEN ELIMINATION GAMES. The Blues franchise has won ONE playoff series in the LAST TWELVE years. I am incensed and disgusted. And this series is a duplicate of last year's Kings series. A repeated nightmare. #&$&!

Jack T Adams wrote:The Blues franchise has won ONE playoff series in the LAST TWELVE years.

Good lord, it's brutal to see we've just never gotten the right bounces...

Portland Blues wrote:

Jack T Adams wrote:The Blues franchise has won ONE playoff series in the LAST TWELVE years.

Good lord, it's brutal to see we've just never gotten the right bounces...

But they did make the playoffs 25 years in a row from '79-'04. How many teams can say that?

I don't think the Rams have won a playoff game since 2003 then they committed a HUGE choke against Carolina!

The Rams have won a Super Bowl. In St. Louis.

Oaklandblue wrote:The Rams have won a Super Bowl. In St. Louis.

True but they have been gawd awful since and had the worst 5 year stretch in NFL history! You could never say that about the Blues!

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:

Oaklandblue wrote:The Rams have won a Super Bowl. In St. Louis.

True but they have been gawd awful since and had the worst 5 year stretch in NFL history! You could never say that about the Blues!

Worst 5 year stretch in history and have won it all once.

Hell, I'd take ten years like that for the Blues to win the Cup once.

As I read this thread, I'm reminded of Maximus in the movie "Gladiator." Pretty well known scene in which he dispatches an arena full of competitors in a grisly fashion. As the crowd looks on in shock, he inquires, "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?"

That ending obviously hurt, but I'll be damned if these games haven't been ultra competitive/wildly entertaining. Yeah, we all want the Cup, but I'm grateful we're getting at least one more of these butthole pucker uppers. It's better than any summer blockbuster or cliffhanger TV show.

Chicago is tough. If the Blues can't fight back and win this thing....well that tells us all we need to know. That's the beauty of sports. Blues in 7.

ST. LOUIS — Duncan Keith saw the rebound come off Corey Crawford’s body and into the slot area, so he simply wheeled and fired the puck down the ice to clear it. But the puck ticked off Andrew Shaw’s shin pads — the same magic shinpads that “scored” the game-winning goal in triple-overtime of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final last spring — and skittered up the ice right to Jonathan Toews, fresh over the boards and all alone at the red line.

“It was a lucky break,” Keith said. “I was happy to see it was No. 19 going on the breakaway.”

And 67 minutes into a game loaded with excruciatingly close missed chances at either end, Toews wasn’t about to squander this one. He raced in all alone on Ryan Miller, beat him with a quick deke, and gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 5 of this heart-stopping first-round playoff series.

“It just happened so fast,” Toews said. “I jumped on the ice and got the puck — it just came right to me, and it happened to go in. The celebration, I just wasn’t sure if it was real or not, it happened so quick.

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:OMFG! Keith just said he wasn't even trying to pass to Toews but just clear the zone and it hit Shaw's shin pad then right to Toews! Talk about lucky!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ho ... 7785.story

Yeah it's true - I DVRd the game and watched the play a couple times and Keith just takes a swat at the puck to clear it. It wasn't even going to center ice but rather way to the right. But it then deflects off a player and goes to center ice. Toews was just in the right place at the right time.

flyingnote38 wrote: Since you aren't a Blues fan you are unaware of the debate about acquiring Miller that started prior to us actually doing that. Or about this core's inability to live up to its reputation as Cup contenders.

I know you think Miller has played "really well" in the series, but the numbers suggest otherwise. His save percentage and GAA are both worse than Eliott put up last year.

Miller doesn't get a "pass" if he's merely not a weak link; he was acquired for a king's ransom to be a difference maker. He has clearly not been that.

In the post-mortem for the series, I think the 3 things they will point to as the biggest factors:
1) Seabrook's hit on Backes.
2) Miller being outplayed by Crawford
3) Blues' failure to make Hawks pay for penalities by scoring on the PP.

Some thoughts:
1) I thought Halak was fine and a goalie trade was not needed. Halak was money all season for you guys until that trade.
2) The numbers for Miller in the series showed he has played really well. You can't blame him for not stopping the one-on-one last night. Toews is our best in the shooutout and that was a shootout type of goal. It would be like Oshie having a breakway.
3) As for the 3 biggest factors you mentioned I have to point out that the the Seabrook hit on Backes LOST the game for the hawks and allowed you guys to come back on a PP goal with 6 seconds left and then win it. MIller being outplayed by Crawford? I would say the goalies have been even for the most part. Blues failure to score on the PP? We've sucked too on the PP - I think we are 2-for-23. Both teams play great defense so the PK of each is pretty strong.

To win the Stanley Cup, you have to win road games. Sunday is no different.

Good lord 25 years in a row going to the playoffs... whoopdeedoo. It's like Napoleon Dynamite getting Summer to go to the prom with him, but she ditches him while he's shoving gum into his mouth and he never gets to bang her. You can make it there 1000 times but if you don't get what you went there for, what's the point?

<<<Once again, a series that has now seen 365 minutes, 9 seconds of nonstop action — including a record-tying four overtimes for the Blues — continues to closely follow the storyline of the club’s 2013 playoff loss to Los Angeles. In that series, too, they won the first two games, were shutout in Game 3 as they went on to drop three straight, and then fell 3-2 in OT in Game 5.>>>

but maybe this time the movie will end differently.