Fire Hitch before game 7

[drwoland]

Discuss.

[Toasted Oates]

A buddy and I just agreed that if he stepped down before Game 7, I would bet my house on a Blues victory.

[Portland Blues]

While this would be super-awesome, I feel it's about as likely as winning game 7 at our current level of complete choke-ness.

[theohall]

Hitchcock deserves to go for this particular (Frank) which had it not been a (Frank) might have tied the game....

Do whatever it takes to get Tarasenko on the ice for a power play in the last 2 minutes of a period. If it means burning a timeout in the 2nd. So friggin' what? Your team just gave up 3 straight goals and has a chance to tie the game. But does the coach ensure his top scorer can even play? NO. He assumes there will be a faceoff and a line change. Didn't happen. Blues didn't score. Tarasenko rightfully shows his disgust to this disgrace of a coach.

Bring in Dave Lowry or one of the Russian coaches from the KHL.

[Portland Blues]

Armstrong will leave the decision up to Hitch.

[Oaklandblue]

I don't think firing Hitch would assure anything. The damage done here is having the team in a system that doesn't work that has burned them out and created a glass ceiling above them.

The only way they win Game 7 is if Ells stands on his head. That's it.

Over the course of the last half decade, I have heard all sorts of nonsense about the problems of this team. The problem is very simple: Mismanagement. It's obvious the owners brought in have zero interest in winning a Cup. They treat the team like a business and that's all it really is to them, including Stillman.

Sure, Stillman is a true Blues fan, but the business includes dinosaurs like Army and Hitch who are well set in their ways in a young, fast, skill league. Stillman is in a position where, to make this team work, he would have to clean house or impose his will from the top down. If I was spending to the Cap, I would have ZERO issue with firing anyone on a whim who is f-ing up the works. Then again, I want a Cup.

Too many people here are pleased with how great the team is in the regular season and I'm sorry, but until people get into the front office who are deadset on winning AND making winning THE priority, we will never win. And that's the truth.

My line of thinking has always been: If you're going to lose money on a franchise, you'd better bring home the trophy.

[Toasted Oates]

https://twitter.com/FifthFeather/status/724054573929787392

[fargoblues]

This team will look a lot differently next year. How differently will be determined Monday night.

[WaukeeBlues]

I'll be shocked if we win game 7.

I will say this: This years Blues have far more persistence and mental toughness than in years past. They've come back in 3rd periods, they've closed out at least one game this series and seem to have a determination that I didn't see last year and especially in 2014.

But, once again, the ability to close out a series, that "killer instinct" that we've talked so much about... just not there. The Kings used to have it, the Hawks certainly do, the Rangers the last two playoffs in finding ways to win series even when down. It's not on this team apparently.

If we don't win on Monday night Hitchchoke is definitely gone, Armstrong should be gone and Backes likely too.

I don't know what ownership has to do with the current plight of this team. They spend to the cap every season so... not sure what else you're really wanting them to do. I blame Armstrong for asinine moves (or lack thereof) the last few offseasons. When we were up 3-1 Armstrong, Hitch and everyone looked like the geniuses in the room and all of the people like me who've been extremely critical were forced into silence. Hell, we could've swept this series.

[caveat: Lehtera was offsides. If you grow up playing the game he was offsides. The NHL rules is terribly written but if you've played the game and you saw that very last frame-by-frame camera he was off. But I'm still mad because that wasn't the reason for the offsides rule being implemented (it was to prevent the Matt Duchene situations) and no lineman in the league is calling that offsides at full speed, and I really hate the "looking back" at zone entries to determine goals. How far back can you look? Does anyone know? If Lehtera had turned it over and the Hawks walked down and scored could Hitch have challenged Lehtera's original entry? Where's the stopping point. And Shaw didn't interfere with Elliott's ability to make a stop. He was stretched as far as he could go and nothing Shaw did prevented Elliott from the ability to make a save. I hate the outcomes but they were called correctly. I just feel the offsides rule needs to be altered/clarified or eliminated entirely. What happened to Lehtera is not why the rule was put in place.]

Pietrangelo and Tarasenko have been lights out in this series. I've hardly noticed Shattenkirk, and one lucky bounce aside Backes has been largely irrelevant, again. The new blood all seems to be playing well... but...

I don't have the answer. I don't know anyone who does. But if we lose on Monday which I expect that we will, ownership has zero credibility if this team doesn't get shook up and drastically so.

[glen a richter]

Given that the Blues will probably NOT get Dave Lowry to coach, because getting him to coach a team of young offensively gifted players makes too much sense, what if Alain Vigneault were to become available? He's gotten worse teams to the SCF before.

[WaukeeBlues]

Given that the Blues will probably NOT get Dave Lowry to coach, because getting him to coach a team of young offensively gifted players makes too much sense, what if Alain Vigneault were to become available? He's gotten worse teams to the SCF before.

I'm sure there will be plenty of options once the floodgates open here in a little bit.

Or the Blues could do like the Flyers and go an unconventional route. There's no law that you have to hire a former NHL coach or player.

[flyingnote38]

I don't think firing Hitch would assure anything. The damage done here is having the team in a system that doesn't work that has burned them out and created a glass ceiling above them.

Essentially agree with this and have made this point in the past. I think the Hitch effect is really that he forces the team to over-achieve in the regular season, by being demanding and over-playing the Blues' best players in all game situations. Firing Hitch isn't going to raise the overall team speed and talent level. That's the GM's job. Or make the players grow hearts.

The problem is very simple: Mismanagement. It's obvious the owners brought in have zero interest in winning a Cup.

This I don't agree with at all. There is no reason, other than wanting to win, for the Blues to spend at the cap. The problem is the owners have trusted Army and he clearly has failed as a GM

This team will look a lot differently next year. How differently will be determined Monday night.

We can only hope so. But even if they lose, will anyone be held accountable? If the only change is firing Hitch, I'd say that sets back our contender window by probably 2 more years....................of course if they defy expectations and win.....

[xbleed83bluex]

I blame Hitch for the 2nd period - I bet he told the team to play defensive/conservative hockey to hold the lead: that style of thinking does NOT work in Playoffs, and does NOT work against the HAWKS of all teams in the Playoffs.

If the Blues can play the entire game as if they are behind, dominating offensively, they can do good things. Hopefully Hitch got a reality check from that game.

That said, I knew Blues winning a first round series was too good to be true. Blues gave away a 3-1 series lead AND a 4-1 game 5 lead. Pathetic. I knew it would be too good to be true for Blues to win in overtime game 5, and I knew it'd be too good to be true had they ended the series in game 6. Sadly, they may lose this series. Again. Again. Again.

But I hope not.

[Toasted Oates]

I think shifting Upshall for Fabbri in the 2nd proves he was sitting back. There were trends from the 2nd period of Game 5 that should have convinced him to tweak a couple things. Unfortunately, he thought they "played a hell of a hockey game."

Split 22 and 55 up. Get 22 back on the right side.
27-6, 22-19/4, 55-4/19. Those pairings were money towards the end when this team was playing its best hockey.

Get Fabbri and Stastny back together. Free Robby Fabbri for God's sake, I'm tired of the way he's treated.
17-12-91
15-26-36
20-21-42
If Steen is only gonna score once in 6 games he can play on a shutdown line.

Free Vladi Tarasenko.

Hitchcock can't stay out of the way when they need him to and can't make adjustments when they need him to. Get bent, Ken.

[cprice12]

1) The last I checked, the Blackhawks were a very good team. Correct?
2) You guys are acting like we have already lost game #7.
3) I get the frustration with the last two games right now...but it shouldn't surprise anyone that this has gone 7 games. The series has been VERY close...ever game, even game #6 until late.
4) I'll be disappointed and pissed if we lose...but I'll be very happy and content if we win. I don't care if we blew a 3-0 lead and it went 7 games...as long as they win the series...I don't care how or why. The ends justifies the means in the playoffs. Winning game 7 would show a lot of bounce back character and could bode well for them the rest of the playoffs.

Of course, losing game #7, and heads should roll.

But you guys are depressing. We have a game 7, at home against our arch rivals...and it could be fantastic...but some of you guys are chalking it up as a loss already.

Knock it off.

[ecbm]

I think the Hitch effect is really that he forces the team to over-achieve in the regular season, by being demanding and over-playing the Blues' best players in all game situations.

Then why was 91 only 4th in ATOI for the season? Why does Bouwmeester get so much time? He and Stastny are not among the elite players on this team. Hitchcock plays them like they are. That keeps the team from hitting the heights its talent level suggests it could. Hitchcock very much is part of the problem. That he's giving Tarasenko 1:10 fewer a night in the playoffs than the regular season while lavishing time on Backes and Steen who are clearly not fully over their injuries and Stastny, who has been roundly ineffective, is who he is in a nutshell. He knows how to coach for regular-season points when you can grind teams down; he somehow loses the urgency to win in the playoffs and it trickles down to the squad. In the playoffs, you can't play 3 poor games, put a happy rah-rah face on it for the media and just pick it up over the next 12-15 games. I'm not speculating or arguing here-I'm just describing the last few seasons. Even the series win against the Sharks was pretty hollow. That team/squad had the same problems the Blues do and then the Kings took us behind the woodshed in any case.

Kane and Toews consistently play 20+ minutes a night. Keith plays as many as 35-40. In the double-OT game last night, Tavares played about 35 minutes. Shit, Barkov played 34 and Huberdeau played 33. Tarasenko got 21:28 in ours, fully 10 fewer minutes less than Stastny. No, I'm not buying Hitch's BS implication that Tank is less athletic than all those guys. Anyone who thinks it's not totally on him if the Blues lose this series with their best forward playing 17 minutes a night is way too much of a fanboy.

1) The last I checked, the Blackhawks were a very good team. Correct?

You imply that is an acceptable rationalization for collapsing against them. It is not. All I see is the Blues on the precipice of being eliminated for the fourth straight time by a lower seed.

2) You guys are acting like we have already lost game #7.

That's a reasonable criticism but you surely won't act like you can't relate.

But you guys are depressing.

With all due respect, we are depressed, it's the Blues' recent playoff performances that are depressing.

[cprice12]

1) The last I checked, the Blackhawks were a very good team. Correct?

You imply that is an acceptable rationalization for collapsing against them. It is not. All I see is the Blues on the precipice of being eliminated for the fourth straight time by a lower seed.

What collapse?
Game #5 went to 2OT and then they beat us in their building in game #6.
The Hawks won the last two games...I hardly call that a collapse.

2) You guys are acting like we have already lost game #7.

That's a reasonable criticism but you surely won't act like you can't relate.

I just don't see the point in being a debbie downer before game #7 even starts.

But you guys are depressing.

With all due respect, we are depressed, it's the Blues' recent playoff performances that are depressing.

I could MAYBE understand the depression if we were going to Chicago for game #7, but it's in St. Louis.
And if they lose game #7, there will be plenty of time to be depressed after the fact if they can't win game #7.
But right now...I'm excited to see what happens.

They've played Chicago very well in this series so far...aside from the bad 2nd period in game #6, they've been fine.
I have no reason to believe they won't come out and play well tonight. If they don't, then we'll talk about it and all be pissed off together...but right now? Nah.

4-1 Blues tonight. Why? Because they can.

[theohall]

1) The last I checked, the Blackhawks were a very good team. Correct? Yes.
2) You guys are acting like we have already lost game #7. Without better coaching which actually plays the more talented players more than the less talented players, yup. Look at what every other coach not named Hitchcock is doing. Playing their star players, regardless of age, not their still playing injured veteran players more.
3) I get the frustration with the last two games right now...but it shouldn't surprise anyone that this has gone 7 games. The series has been VERY close...ever game, even game #6 until late.Given the blown leads and what looks like a team quitting for whole periods... damn right it's frustrating. One 60 minute effort in the past 2 games and this Game 7 thing isn't happening.
4) I'll be disappointed and pissed if we lose...but I'll be very happy and content if we win. ...as long as they win the series...I don't care how or why. On this part we agree.

[theohall]

On top of the Tank/Hitchcock thing... there is this...

Paul Stastny centered one of the hottest lines down the stretch in regular season...Took just one 5 on 5 offensive zone face off in Game 6.

Why? Because Q keeps throwing Toews out there and Hitch insists on having Backes take those faceoffs - even when it isn't Backes' line.

Q out-coached Hitchcock big time in Game 6.

[ecbm]

What collapse?

Seriously? The Blues were 2 periods away from a 4-1 series win, holding a 2-goal lead. Now we're heading into a game 7-look at what the bookmakers say about it. People who actually put their money where their mouths are are confident of the result of this game & series. That's a collapse. Hopefully, the Blues make it irrelevant tonight.

I just don't see the point in being a debbie downer before game #7 even starts.

I can only express my own feelings, Curt. I wish I could tell you I was confident and excited and had faith that the coaches and squad would pull this out. All I really have is hope.

I could MAYBE understand the depression if we were going to Chicago for game #7, but it's in St. Louis.

In 2016, home ice doesn't track to results at all. It doesn't matter.

4-1 Blues tonight.

I so hope you're right.

Paul Stastny centered one of the hottest lines down the stretch in regular season...Took just one 5 on 5 offensive zone face off in Game 6.

Also, from the stats department: Stastny also took more faceoffs and won a higher %age of them than Backes in the regular season despite playing in 15 fewer games.


I really wonder what's going on in Hitchcock's head sometimes.