2/11/11 GDT: Blues v Wild, 7 PM, FSMW, KMOX

[kodos]

The stink of miserable failure follows this team like a dark cloud. It's always been there and always will. Nothing but infinite perpetual failure.

This team is miserable. This team will always be miserable. There is no easy fix for this garbage. It's time to re-rebuild. Start over. From scratch.

The rebuild has been a failure. Like everything else the Blues have ever done. FAILURE.

[theohall]

How in the F does a goon like (Frank) get two f'in goals????

[gaijin]

From the Yahoo Sports game recap:

Backes leads St. Louis with a career-best 20 goals, four of them in the last three games.

Wow. Besting his 31 goals of two years ago.

[WaukeeBlues]

It's just about time to admit that the 05-06 rebuild was a failure, and that the reason we haven't gone to the playoffs yet is that these players aren't any good. Other than Oshie, Petro, and EJ, it's time for the fire sale. If anyone wants 'em, come get 'em. And it's also time to figure out whether Payne should be retained. This team is terrible.

This may be crazy of me to say: but I don't think it's the coach. </sarcasm> I think we stick with a coach for more than one season at a time for a change of pace.

See I guess I don't have the overwhelming feeling of despair with this loss than apparently most of you all others have. Yea it was a bad loss and maybe the Blues have had more than there fair share of them but I don't classify tonight's game as a sign to give up all hope. It wasn't THAT bad.

[theohall]

Apparently (Frank) has been blocked

[theohall]

Clutter with F before buck is blocked so kudos to the software.

To th

[cardsfan04]

It's just about time to admit that the 05-06 rebuild was a failure, and that the reason we haven't gone to the playoffs yet is that these players aren't any good. Other than Oshie, Petro, and EJ, it's time for the fire sale. If anyone wants 'em, come get 'em. And it's also time to figure out whether Payne should be retained. This team is terrible.

This may be crazy of me to say: but I don't think it's the coach. </sarcasm> I think we stick with a coach for more than one season at a time for a change of pace.

See I guess I don't have the overwhelming feeling of despair with this loss than apparently most of you all others have. Yea it was a bad loss and maybe the Blues have had more than there fair share of them but I don't classify tonight's game as a sign to give up all hope. It wasn't THAT bad.

I'm not ready to give up all hope either. But, this was a terrible loss. We had 2 points ~locked up with 1 minute to go vs a team we're battling with for a playoff spot. And, we lose. I can still envision a circumstance in which we make the playoffs, but not if we let games like this get away.

[dmiles2186]

Every time the Blues lose a game, I get on here and it's the worst team of all time, the players are all the worst to ever lace up skates, the front office is the most mind numbingly stupid collection of jackarses in suits, etc.

It's a bit tiring.

Yeah, the loss sucks. Yes, we had the lead late and we lost the game. Yes, we had a billion chances in the shootout to win and we coughed it up again.

Do you people not remember just how awful this team was in '05-'06? There is talent there. Is it championship caliber? No. But it's not facking Vladmir Orzagh and Jesse Boulerice and Dean McAmmond getting their share of minutes either.

[Nyghtewynd]

Yeah, I remember.

And how's all of this great young talent doing? Two places above Jesse Boularice and company. >golf clap<

[WaukeeBlues]

Every time the Blues lose a game, I get on here and it's the worst team of all time, the players are all the worst to ever lace up skates, the front office is the most mind numbingly stupid collection of jackarses in suits, etc.

It's a bit tiring.

Yeah, the loss sucks. Yes, we had the lead late and we lost the game. Yes, we had a billion chances in the shootout to win and we coughed it up again.

Do you people not remember just how awful this team was in '05-'06? There is talent there. Is it championship caliber? No. But it's not facking Vladmir Orzagh and Jesse Boulerice and Dean McAmmond getting their share of minutes either.

Hey Orszagh was pretty decent when he was here

[purple_haze]

handing the young the talent the reigns to the team doesn't necessarily immediately have results. i still think our contendership is off by a couple years. Just hold tight guys...seriously what else did u expect after that rediculuously awesome start of the season.

[cprice12]

Yeah, I remember.

And how's all of this great young talent doing? Two places above Jesse Boularice and company. >golf clap<

Bah...whatever.
Everyone is impatient...including myself. The young talent on this team is just that...young talent. There is no sure fire formula...there is no line that says if the rebuild hasn't worked in a few years, it's a failure.
Our young players haven't peaked. I think Perron, Oshie, Backes, EJ, Petro, Steen, Halak, etc. all have their best years ahead of them.
We all want to win now...but some rebuilds take longer than others. It may take another year, or two, or three...or it may be never. But again, it's not like the young players on this team have peaked.
I think it's obvious this team needs some outside help though. They need to acquire a scoring forward via free agency. But that isn't surprising or a sign that the rebuild has failed. Every great team has acquired players from outside the organization to make themselves better. This team will be no different if they want to become a contender...they will eventually have to pick up a star forward or two.

[cardsfan04]

Yeah, I remember.

And how's all of this great young talent doing? Two places above Jesse Boularice and company. >golf clap<

Bah...whatever.
Everyone is impatient...including myself. The young talent on this team is just that...young talent. There is no sure fire formula...there is no line that says if the rebuild hasn't worked in a few years, it's a failure.
Our young players haven't peaked. I think Perron, Oshie, Backes, EJ, Petro, Steen, Halak, etc. all have their best years ahead of them.
We all want to win now...but some rebuilds take longer than others. It may take another year, or two, or three...or it may be never. But again, it's not like the young players on this team have peaked.
I think it's obvious this team needs some outside help though. They need to acquire a scoring forward via free agency. But that isn't surprising or a sign that the rebuild has failed. Every great team has acquired players from outside the organization to make themselves better. This team will be no different if they want to become a contender...they will eventually have to pick up a star forward or two.

Yeah, completely agree. I'm very surprised people thought we were going to be a contender this year. I bought into a lot of the fool's gold at the start of the season too. But, in reality, nobody predicted the Blues to be contenders this year. So, the fact that they aren't isn't a sign of failure.

[cprice12]

Yeah, I remember.

And how's all of this great young talent doing? Two places above Jesse Boularice and company. >golf clap<

Bah...whatever.
Everyone is impatient...including myself. The young talent on this team is just that...young talent. There is no sure fire formula...there is no line that says if the rebuild hasn't worked in a few years, it's a failure.
Our young players haven't peaked. I think Perron, Oshie, Backes, EJ, Petro, Steen, Halak, etc. all have their best years ahead of them.
We all want to win now...but some rebuilds take longer than others. It may take another year, or two, or three...or it may be never. But again, it's not like the young players on this team have peaked.
I think it's obvious this team needs some outside help though. They need to acquire a scoring forward via free agency. But that isn't surprising or a sign that the rebuild has failed. Every great team has acquired players from outside the organization to make themselves better. This team will be no different if they want to become a contender...they will eventually have to pick up a star forward or two.

Yeah, completely agree. I'm very surprised people though we were going to be a contender this year. I bought into a lot of the fool's gold at the start of the season too. But, in reality, nobody predicted the Blues to be contenders this year. So, the fact that they aren't isn't a sign of failure.

I thought they would be a playoff team...and they still might be. We'll see...it's gonna be tough though.
But it doesn't mean the rebuild has failed if we don't make the playoffs.
We've rehashed this to death, but this team has played most of the season without it's best three or four players. Excuses or not...that's a big reason why they are where they are right now.
We need more scoring depth...and adding top line scoring talent is a quick way to create good depth on this team.

[cardsfan04]

Yeah, I remember.

And how's all of this great young talent doing? Two places above Jesse Boularice and company. >golf clap<

Bah...whatever.
Everyone is impatient...including myself. The young talent on this team is just that...young talent. There is no sure fire formula...there is no line that says if the rebuild hasn't worked in a few years, it's a failure.
Our young players haven't peaked. I think Perron, Oshie, Backes, EJ, Petro, Steen, Halak, etc. all have their best years ahead of them.
We all want to win now...but some rebuilds take longer than others. It may take another year, or two, or three...or it may be never. But again, it's not like the young players on this team have peaked.
I think it's obvious this team needs some outside help though. They need to acquire a scoring forward via free agency. But that isn't surprising or a sign that the rebuild has failed. Every great team has acquired players from outside the organization to make themselves better. This team will be no different if they want to become a contender...they will eventually have to pick up a star forward or two.

Yeah, completely agree. I'm very surprised people though we were going to be a contender this year. I bought into a lot of the fool's gold at the start of the season too. But, in reality, nobody predicted the Blues to be contenders this year. So, the fact that they aren't isn't a sign of failure.

I thought they would be a playoff team...and they still might be. We'll see...it's gonna be tough though.
But it doesn't mean the rebuild has failed if we don't make the playoffs.
We've rehashed this to death, but this team has played most of the season without it's best three or four players. Excuses or not...that's a big reason why they are where they are right now.
We need more scoring depth...and adding top line scoring talent is a quick way to create good depth on this team.

Yeah, I thought they would be a playoff team too. But, I don't think all playoff teams are legit contenders.

As for injuries, that's definitely a reason, but they have underachieved even w/ taking injuries into account I think. But, how many more games would we have won w/o the injuries 3-5? 6-10 points is huge, and probably enough to stop people from being in a panic. Hell, 10 more points would give us the 4 seed right now.

The current ownership hasn't had much chance to prove themselves yet IMO. Why sign a big free agent to take a cellar team to a low playoff seed? But, now (or last offseason) somebody like Brad Richards would make a huge impact. How big of a play they make for him or somebody similar will be very telling of their dedication to winning.

[DaDitka]

So Halak has a dumb azz play, Boyes misses two gimmes and Brewer get caught spectating in the final minute and its time to blow this up?

Bergie, played one of his best games all year. Backes and McD are magic together. EJ actually didn't suck last night..

4 players were unacceptable last night....Boyes, McC, Brewer, and Jacks. I don't see how that is suggestive that the rebuild has failed. Get a 30 goal scorer and replace Brewer and Jackman and were ready to compete.

At least they are finally cutting Jackmans ice time. Now it time to admit than after playing much better the first half of the season, Brewer is playing as poor as ever again.

Hopefully EJ will be back to his old self next year. If we get those two dead beats off the blue line, I think you'll be amazed how much better these forwards can be.

[not_a_wings_fan]

Our young talent isn't 40g+ talent.

We need someone who can finish with consistency, a guy that scores in more than half the games he plays. All the best teams either have that or have three guys that are close to that.

[Nyghtewynd]

Yeah, I remember.

And how's all of this great young talent doing? Two places above Jesse Boularice and company. >golf clap<

Bah...whatever.
Everyone is impatient...including myself. The young talent on this team is just that...young.

Fixed your post. For most of them, all we know is that they're young. We have no idea whether they have any talent or not other than the aforementioned keepers.

[cardsfan04]

Our young talent isn't 40g+ talent.

We need someone who can finish with consistency, a guy that scores in more than half the games he plays. All the best teams either have that or have three guys that are close to that.

That's not true. Here's the top 3 scorers on each team to win the Stanley Cup since the lockout.

09-10 Blackhawks:

Kane (30), 2 tied at 25 for 2nd, and a few between 20-24.

08-09 Penguins:

Malkin (35), Crosby (33) Sykora (25)

07-08 Red Wings

Zetterberg (43), Datsyuk (31), Franzen (27)

06-07 Ducks

Selanne (48), Penner (29), McDonald (27)

05-06 Canes

Staal (45), Williams (31), Stillman (21)



There are 3 total 40G scorers out of those 5 teams, and none in the past 2 seasons. If you drop to the 2nd highest scorer, average is 29.8G/player. Obviously the Blues need a scorer badly, and almost certainly one that's not on the roster. I say almost because Perron was on pace for 40G this year when he was hurt (but only 12 games, so not a huge sample). But, if you can peg Oshie and Steen as 20-25G/year, Perron and Backes at 25-30, and we add another 30G scorer (say Brad Richards), we're actually somewhat consistent at the top with the previous 5 Cup winners.

Since 2005-2006, there have been 46 40G seasons (some players count multiple times). Of those 46, only 3 scored 40 in the same season they won the Cup. I'm not trying to suggest having a 40G scorer is bad at all. But, it doesn't correlate to success as much as people on here are suggesting.

My point is, assuming our young guys continue to improve, we could be one key addition away from being a very legit contender.

[cprice12]

Our young talent isn't 40g+ talent.

We need someone who can finish with consistency, a guy that scores in more than half the games he plays. All the best teams either have that or have three guys that are close to that.

That's not true. Here's the top 3 scorers on each team to win the Stanley Cup since the lockout.

09-10 Blackhawks:

Kane (30), 2 tied at 25 for 2nd, and a few between 20-24.

08-09 Penguins:

Malkin (35), Crosby (33) Sykora (25)

07-08 Red Wings

Zetterberg (43), Datsyuk (31), Franzen (27)

06-07 Ducks

Selanne (48), Penner (29), McDonald (27)

05-06 Canes

Staal (45), Williams (31), Stillman (21)



There are 3 total 40G scorers out of those 5 teams, and none in the past 2 seasons. If you drop to the 2nd highest scorer, average is 29.8G/player. Obviously the Blues need a scorer badly, and almost certainly one that's not on the roster. I say almost because Perron was on pace for 40G this year when he was hurt (but only 12 games, so not a huge sample). But, if you can peg Oshie and Steen as 20-25G/year, Perron and Backes at 25-30, and we add another 30G scorer (say Brad Richards), we're actually somewhat consistent at the top with the previous 5 Cup winners.

Since 2005-2006, there have been 46 40G seasons (some players count multiple times). Of those 46, only 3 scored 40 in the same season they won the Cup. I'm not trying to suggest having a 40G scorer is bad at all. But, it doesn't correlate to success as much as people on here are suggesting.

My point is, assuming our young guys continue to improve, we could be one key addition away from being a very legit contender.

Maybe it's just bad luck.
For over a decade, we had the best pure goal scorer in NHL history in Brett Hull. We had a potent offense at times with Hull in the lineup and only made it to the conf. finals once when Hull was here. We either couldn't get the bounces in the playoffs or didn't get the goaltending when we needed it.
We've had teams that could have easily won a cup, but it just didn't work out. The era right before Detroit started winning their cups, we should have had at least one cup. And hell, if it weren't for Detroit getting in the way seemingly every year, we may have had another cup.
We had a lot of scoring up front back then...it was just bad luck or not getting the big saves in net when we needed them (that we got during the season) as to why we didn't do more in the playoffs.

It just makes me step back and wonder how much help a 40 goal scorer will be. Our team needs that "it factor"...and we don't have it, and I'm not sure a 40 goal scorer would do it for us. I think we need to just be bursting with confidence on the ice. Confidence can do a lot for you.