Here how it be...
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Re: Here how it be...
I've been thinking about this for quite a while now.
When the Blues drafted Johnson, it was an unfortunate situation of being sandwiched in the middle of a bunch of heavily offensive drafts. If the situation were such that this team had sucked enough in a different season to be able to draft a guy like Ovechkin or Malkin, or if the Crosby Sweepstakes, which was fixed up the ass so that they could save hockey in Pittsburgh, had gone miraculously differently, how much different would this team look right now? iirc, the 2005 draft was determined entirely by lottery, right? If I'm mistaken, then I'm mistaken and forgive me. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is Johnson was the best available. Could they have had Toews or Backstrom? Sure. Would it have helped offensively? Sure. But, EJ is supposed to be a #1 defenseman putting up gaudy offensive numbers. He's not doing that so far. However, he did get set back a year, and who knows where he'd be in his development now if he hadn't gone playing kickball with a golfcart.
As far as I'm concerned, the one year setback cost him dearly, and this is a developmental year for him. He should mold into an offensive leader on the blueline. I envision, sometime soon, Johnson developing into a guy with Mike Green offense and Scott Stevens defense. If he was contributing more offensively, it would do wonders for this team. HE is the one who needs to be the focal point of the power play, the guy out there logging 25 minutes a game and getting into the offensive rushes. The time away stunted his development and set him a year back. I think that not much later on into the season, he'll start blossoming the way he should and we'll start seeing some benefits, some more offense from the defense and some more consistent scoring all around, as a result. This team CAN score 4 goals a game, and doing that, this team can win 45-50 games a season.
When the Blues drafted Johnson, it was an unfortunate situation of being sandwiched in the middle of a bunch of heavily offensive drafts. If the situation were such that this team had sucked enough in a different season to be able to draft a guy like Ovechkin or Malkin, or if the Crosby Sweepstakes, which was fixed up the ass so that they could save hockey in Pittsburgh, had gone miraculously differently, how much different would this team look right now? iirc, the 2005 draft was determined entirely by lottery, right? If I'm mistaken, then I'm mistaken and forgive me. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is Johnson was the best available. Could they have had Toews or Backstrom? Sure. Would it have helped offensively? Sure. But, EJ is supposed to be a #1 defenseman putting up gaudy offensive numbers. He's not doing that so far. However, he did get set back a year, and who knows where he'd be in his development now if he hadn't gone playing kickball with a golfcart.
As far as I'm concerned, the one year setback cost him dearly, and this is a developmental year for him. He should mold into an offensive leader on the blueline. I envision, sometime soon, Johnson developing into a guy with Mike Green offense and Scott Stevens defense. If he was contributing more offensively, it would do wonders for this team. HE is the one who needs to be the focal point of the power play, the guy out there logging 25 minutes a game and getting into the offensive rushes. The time away stunted his development and set him a year back. I think that not much later on into the season, he'll start blossoming the way he should and we'll start seeing some benefits, some more offense from the defense and some more consistent scoring all around, as a result. This team CAN score 4 goals a game, and doing that, this team can win 45-50 games a season.
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Re: Here how it be...
He is tied for second on the team in points, what kind of a numbers do you want him to put up when no one else is doing it? He has hit a rough patch here but is still by far our most offensive dman and he has shown bad lapses defensively this year but he is an even +/- this year and logging top minutes for us. And like you said this is really only his second year and I don't think he is going to turn it on and be a super star as soon as some forwards are able to do it. Also, Toews and Backstrom aren't Crosby, Malkin or Ovechkin, they made the right choice with Johnson.
Something I haven't really seen Johnson do in a couple weeks and maybe I just missed it, but I saw him do it once or twice last night, is carrying the puck down low into the offensive zone and he is just so smooth making that transition you just think it is a forward. But, it doesn't seem like he has been trying to carry the puck into the zone like he was when he was putting up numbers.
Something I haven't really seen Johnson do in a couple weeks and maybe I just missed it, but I saw him do it once or twice last night, is carrying the puck down low into the offensive zone and he is just so smooth making that transition you just think it is a forward. But, it doesn't seem like he has been trying to carry the puck into the zone like he was when he was putting up numbers.
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Re: Here how it be...
In boring ass Murray hockey, Johnson is doing great.
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Re: Here how it be...
He has been one of the very few consistent bright spots all year. I'm a firm believer the sky is the limit for this guy.Krigloch the Furious wrote:In boring ass Murray hockey, Johnson is doing great.
True, he will never have the star power that the likes of Ovechkin, Crosby, etc posses but in terms of value to an organization, a guy like EJ who, as we hope, develops into an absolute horse on the blueline, is just as valuable. It may not always be on the point sheet, but mark my words down the line when he's leading Petro, Rundblad, etc on the blueline, this team will someday be THE team to try and score against. Or so we all hope.
We got unlucky in the drafts, it's not really any more than that. It happens. Sure we could've drafted Toews but he's not lights out or anything (if you're comparing him to Crosby/Malkin/Ovechkin) and nothing in his play thus far suggests to me that he will ever be.
I sometimes curse the hockey gods for not timing things right for us in the draft but, as usual, it does no good. I'm excited for EJ and I think he'll be a great longtime dman in the bluenote.
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Re: Here how it be...
WaukeeBlues wrote:He has been one of the very few consistent bright spots all year. I'm a firm believer the sky is the limit for this guy.Krigloch the Furious wrote:In boring ass Murray hockey, Johnson is doing great.
True, he will never have the star power that the likes of Ovechkin, Crosby, etc posses but in terms of value to an organization, a guy like EJ who, as we hope, develops into an absolute horse on the blueline, is just as valuable. It may not always be on the point sheet, but mark my words down the line when he's leading Petro, Rundblad, etc on the blueline, this team will someday be THE team to try and score against. Or so we all hope.
We got unlucky in the drafts, it's not really any more than that. It happens. Sure we could've drafted Toews but he's not lights out or anything (if you're comparing him to Crosby/Malkin/Ovechkin) and nothing in his play thus far suggests to me that he will ever be.
I sometimes curse the hockey gods for not timing things right for us in the draft but, as usual, it does no good. I'm excited for EJ and I think he'll be a great longtime dman in the bluenote.
Make no mistake--having Toews and Oshie (linemates on teh top line in college hockey) on the same line would have been special. Toews has more pure skill than Oshie and has a better knack for getting the puck in the net, but Oshie plays twice as hard, every shift, every game...
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Re: Here how it be...
EJ as far as I can tell will be a superstar.
That young and already showing signs of greatness.
Pronger who? Seriously, all he is missing is the dirtyness.
That young and already showing signs of greatness.
Pronger who? Seriously, all he is missing is the dirtyness.
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Re: Here how it be...
According to Strickland, EJ is a healthy scratch next game.. Don't worry Jackman and Brewer will be playing..
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Andy-Str ... te/5/25172Word is D-man Erik Johnson will be scratched Tuesday vs. Nashville. Obviously things can change but as we sit today that appears to be the plan. Johnson has seen his game drop off in recent days.
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Re: Here how it be...
I think there's a lot of misinterpretation of what I'm saying.
I think Johnson, without having missed the whole season last year, would have obviously been further in his development on both the offensive and defensive ends. This year is almost like his first year all over, and he's still showing signs of being an incredibly valuable piece of the puzzle. Later in the season, he should start to really blossom, and next season should be a breakout where I can envision a ton of assists, power play points, maybe a 10 goal campaign, and a whole new look on this team.
The immediate impact of an offensively gifted forward, although the best available was "only" Toews or Backstrom, would have probably had a quicker effect on the team in terms of putting up points on the board, but what we're looking at is a team that should have a fully functional offense-capable defensive corp soon, with Johnson QB'ing the PP and logging #1 d-man minutes.
Whether or not his numbers are good right now, which compared to the rest of the team, they are, they will be better as he develops more of an ability to transition from defense to offense and back which will lift up the entire team. And most importantly, when he has rounded out, Brewer will cease to be Mur's #1. He won't be able to deny it anymore. When that happens, maybe Brewer will cease to totally suck.
I think Johnson, without having missed the whole season last year, would have obviously been further in his development on both the offensive and defensive ends. This year is almost like his first year all over, and he's still showing signs of being an incredibly valuable piece of the puzzle. Later in the season, he should start to really blossom, and next season should be a breakout where I can envision a ton of assists, power play points, maybe a 10 goal campaign, and a whole new look on this team.
The immediate impact of an offensively gifted forward, although the best available was "only" Toews or Backstrom, would have probably had a quicker effect on the team in terms of putting up points on the board, but what we're looking at is a team that should have a fully functional offense-capable defensive corp soon, with Johnson QB'ing the PP and logging #1 d-man minutes.
Whether or not his numbers are good right now, which compared to the rest of the team, they are, they will be better as he develops more of an ability to transition from defense to offense and back which will lift up the entire team. And most importantly, when he has rounded out, Brewer will cease to be Mur's #1. He won't be able to deny it anymore. When that happens, maybe Brewer will cease to totally suck.
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Re: Here how it be...
Great. Erik Johnson not playing can only help this team....wait, what? Another young player sentenced to the box in the sky. What's the reason this time: Too many points? Not enough own goals? Good to hear that Eric "-10" Brewer will be out there chewing up massive minutes in his absence. That will work out splendidly I'm sure.section319 wrote:According to Strickland, EJ is a healthy scratch next game.. Don't worry Jackman and Brewer will be playing..
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Andy-Str ... te/5/25172Word is D-man Erik Johnson will be scratched Tuesday vs. Nashville. Obviously things can change but as we sit today that appears to be the plan. Johnson has seen his game drop off in recent days.
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Re: Here how it be...
ViPeRx007 wrote:Great. Erik Johnson not playing can only help this team....wait, what? Another young player sentenced to the box in the sky. What's the reason this time: Too many points? Not enough own goals? Good to hear that Eric "-10" Brewer will be out there chewing up massive minutes in his absence. That will work out splendidly I'm sure.section319 wrote:According to Strickland, EJ is a healthy scratch next game.. Don't worry Jackman and Brewer will be playing..
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Andy-Str ... te/5/25172Word is D-man Erik Johnson will be scratched Tuesday vs. Nashville. Obviously things can change but as we sit today that appears to be the plan. Johnson has seen his game drop off in recent days.
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Re: Here how it be...
That may work short term, but Blues management knows they can't reward the players for playing poorly by firing the head coach.cprice12 wrote:Even if the poor start isn't entirely Murray's fault, you can't change the team that much. It's a lot easier and sometimes more effective to change the coach and his staff. If the current coach can't get consistent efforts out of his players, he needs to go because his message, his philosophies, etc...aren't working.deadphish wrote:I think we can all agree that Murray is super stubborn. Although not a black and white issue I maintain my point that the players, specifically the younger ones (under 30) were not putting forth consistent efforts night in and night out.Krigloch the Furious wrote:so you guys think that 30 freaking games is all the players fault???
It was never a matter of horrible, sure there was some, but it was the most boring hockey I've ever seen.
That is the coaches fault.
We know that the Blues are a classic underdog, come from behind team. They need to find that level of intensity that rewards them with W's and start playing that away always. I think it's a team mentality maturation process.
Still, they must know that they have to make an example of someone, and McKee ain't doing the trick
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Re: Here how it be...
ViPeRx007 wrote:Great. Erik Johnson not playing can only help this team....wait, what? Another young player sentenced to the box in the sky.section319 wrote:According to Strickland, EJ is a healthy scratch next game.. Don't worry Jackman and Brewer will be playing..
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Andy-Str ... te/5/25172Word is D-man Erik Johnson will be scratched Tuesday vs. Nashville. Obviously things can change but as we sit today that appears to be the plan. Johnson has seen his game drop off in recent days.
Exactly!
I just don’t get it. I’m sure there are some that will point to how hard he was on Bergie and how he’s playing now, but I’ll state that Bergie finally found his grove and may have found it a month age if he’d been given the opportunity.
Johnson is possibly the best player you have on your roster right now and you are going to sit him?
Reminds me of when Perron was ‘in the dog house’ a week or two ago because he hadn’t scored in something like 13 games. HE WAS STILL LEADING THE TEAM IN GOALS!!! Bench those other guys that could catch him will he was on a scoring sabbatical.
Leave the kids alone….
Have Walt take Brewer out in the woods and put him down…..
Steal Walt’s bread crumbs so he can’t find his way back out of the woods….
Plant Brewer’s stuff in Jackman’s car so he’s suspected in the ‘disappearance’….
And fire Murray.
See, it’s not really that complicated.
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Re: Here how it be...
Murder aside, WTF are these people thinking. Murray must have dirt on every exec. that there is in the front office. Dollar Dave, JD, and even our beloved Al needs to take there pucks out of his purse and do something. As we sit right now at 39 points we are 7 away from a playoff spot and 8 away from being tied for up to 5th. Does anyone think that sitting EJ is going to help narrow this gap? As a doctor in my professional opinion Murray has some emotional issues that are leading him to a path of self destruction and he is taking everyone close to him along for the ride. Somebody get the straight jacket and I will help hold him down while we commit him.
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Re: Here how it be...
Oh, and for fack's sake, DON'T put Perron on the same line as Oshie and Backes to replace Kariya, Paul. Not that Steen isn't deserving, but .
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Re: Here how it be...
Santa(blues management) gave me my Christmas present a fired Murray