2014-2015 Post Mortem

[cprice12]

Stillman isn't really saying anything on KMOX right now, other than "I'm sure there will be changes."

He wouldn't comment on specific players performance or on Hitch's job status.

He stated that they share in the disappointment that the fans have right now.

So in other words...he said nothing. Kind of a wasted interview.

I appreciate him saying that they are disappointed, but we kind of knew that already.

[ecbm]

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....

You forgot Kris Russell piloting that powerhouse up in Calgary to the second round.

[not_a_wings_fan]

I said weeks ago it was time to dump hitch, I am still there. He's a fantastic coach, but his voice has gotten stale here and he's gone as far as this group is going to go. It's time for a different voice and a different plan.

I also indicated that I would be in favor of moving several of the players who have been through this entire rebuild. Jackman, Backes, Oshie, and Bergs are high on that list. They are great players, but the results they have produced indicate that it's time for something different. We need a new captain, and you don't take it off a guy and leave him on the roster.

The change in the core started with moving Perron, and that helped some. I think there will be similar improvements moving more of those pieces, I just don't know which ones need to go because I am not in the room with the guys.

This playoffs was unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. Changes need to be made.

I can't fault Allen not being pulled after one goal. I would have started Elliot rather than pulled Allen after the first goal, but that's water under the bridge now.

[Misc. Blues]

If Halak and Bishop lose I might just have to laugh at this point.

Blues goalies not getting out of the first round this year...
Allen check
Elliot check
Miller check
Bishop probably check
Halak probably check

This curse is strong...

[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....

You forgot Kris Russell piloting that powerhouse up in Calgary to the second round.

Oh yea, him too...ugh.

[WaukeeBlues]

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....

You forgot Kris Russell piloting that powerhouse up in Calgary to the second round.

If you watch the handshake video on NHL.com, you can see Chris Stewart skate right up to Leopold afterwards and say something to him that makes Leopold smile and chuckle a bit.

Guarantee it was something to the effect of "Wasn't that awesome that we got off that worthless sinking ship?!"

And he's not wrong. Like the list we just gave, almost every player and coach we dump ends up playing way better elsewhere. I'm starting to feel like our organization and leadership is freakin worse than the Maple Leafs for Christ's sake.

Being a Blues fan is officially embarrassing. I'm really glad people that get paid a lot more money than I do to figure out this team because I can't do it. Maybe it's part speed and part offensive deficiency but for as talented as this team is this SHOULD NOT be happening. It shouldn't.

Yea the Wild are a tough opponent, so was Chicago and L.A. Those last two were uniquely bad draws. But the Wild were no worse or better than the always-good talent level of ANY playoff team. And we still didn't beat them and looked just as bad doing it.

Whatever the "it" factor is that is required for a team to dig deep and expect to win and close out games and playoff series is entirely and utterly absent with the group of players on this roster with only a few exceptions.

[glen a richter]

Hitchcock WAS a good coach. He was a good coach in the clutch and grab and trap and defense-defense-defense era. Same as Torts. Both won Cups because their style fit the generation. Neither adapted to this era. It's why Torts was canned from the Rangers and the Canucks and why Hitch shouldn't return. This era is about speed and puck control, not about hitting everything that moves and losing one of your five on the play as the puck pops out and the other team gets a 2 or 3 on 1. It's evident in the shift of 4th lines around the league that everyone is expected to contribute something on the offense and your top line, specifically, is expected to dictate the flow of play. How often was the STL line the only one playing 100% out there? The rest of the team expected them to pick up the offensive slack. Meanwhile I think 12 or 13 different guys scored for Minnesota while Tarasenko had just under 50% of the total goals scored by the Blues in the 6 games. If we were saying balanced scoring was one of our strengths, it sure as shit didn't show. We've been deluding ourselves into believing balance was one of our biggest assets. Defense is obviously still important, but it's not the primary focus anymore. It's also why the eastern conference will be seeing a resurgence real soon.

[WaukeeBlues]

If Hitchcock is still the coach of this team by the end of the week I would be shocked.

When you have a talented team but don't win, that points to one things: leadership. Coach first. Player leadership second.

I truly like Backes but I seriously wonder how he is in the locker room/on the bench to pull his guys up. Because he's not really doing it by example by making extraordinary plays when his team needs it the most.

[glen a richter]

If Hitchcock is still the coach of this team by the end of the week I would be shocked.

When you have a talented team but don't win, that points to one things: leadership. Coach first. Player leadership second.

I truly like Backes but I seriously wonder how he is in the locker room/on the bench to pull his guys up. Because he's not really doing it by example by making extraordinary plays when his team needs it the most.

Murray, Payne and Hitchcock all failed with the same core. I'd actually say this is the lingering effect of the way Murray treated the kids when they were all coming up. He screwed up Perron but good for his career, and he may have done permanent damage to the others as well. If so, that's a psychological thing and they all need to get the eff over it. He's not their coach anymore, hasn't been in a good while, and never will be again.

[tjk002]

If Hitchcock is still the coach of this team by the end of the week I would be shocked.

When you have a talented team but don't win, that points to one things: leadership. Coach first. Player leadership second.

I truly like Backes but I seriously wonder how he is in the locker room/on the bench to pull his guys up. Because he's not really doing it by example by making extraordinary plays when his team needs it the most.

Murray, Payne and Hitchcock all failed with the same core. I'd actually say this is the lingering effect of the way Murray treated the kids when they were all coming up. He screwed up Perron but good for his career, and he may have done permanent damage to the others as well. If so, that's a psychological thing and they all need to get the eff over it. He's not their coach anymore, hasn't been in a good while, and never will be again.

Don't think you can compare Murray as having the same group. Oshie and Berglund under Murray were flat out drunks. All they did was party. Team was a ton younger than too with no experience.

[WaukeeBlues]

If Hitchcock is still the coach of this team by the end of the week I would be shocked.

When you have a talented team but don't win, that points to one things: leadership. Coach first. Player leadership second.

I truly like Backes but I seriously wonder how he is in the locker room/on the bench to pull his guys up. Because he's not really doing it by example by making extraordinary plays when his team needs it the most.

Murray, Payne and Hitchcock all failed with the same core. I'd actually say this is the lingering effect of the way Murray treated the kids when they were all coming up. He screwed up Perron but good for his career, and he may have done permanent damage to the others as well. If so, that's a psychological thing and they all need to get the eff over it. He's not their coach anymore, hasn't been in a good while, and never will be again.

Don't think you can compare Murray as having the same group. Oshie and Berglund under Murray were flat out drunks. All they did was party. Team was a ton younger than too with no experience.

Maybe they should go back to drinking. We won a playoff series back then.

[dmiles2186]

Soda pressing.
https://twitter.com/allsmandrew/status/593071320469909505

[ecbm]

Just sayin': if I were still in STL, I would absolutely have a season ticket. No doubt.

If Hitch were going to be the coach next season, I would not renew it.