Hitch & Army Press Conference - Today, 11am

[Toasted Oates]

I really expected to see some anger in the Blues presser today - that they find these results unacceptable and that major changes were going to happen. I would find that encouraging if I was a Blues fan. Instead it came off as indecisive and trying not to rock the boat.

I'm sure most expected lip service today. I know I did and that's what we were given. I agree with you, though. The standards have to be higher.

Lots of comments (especially from Armstrong) I'm not crazy about whether it's signing 91 (no shit), Sobotka to the rescue (it's too late; quit BSing us; he can't rescue you), or giving a top dog prospect like Fabbri a 50/50 chance to make the team (don't kid yourself DA, you need this young guy's skill).

Hitch gets to take his time and talk to his family? No. Unless you're waiting on Mike Babcock, there are enough free agent coaches to get somebody in here now and get him acquainted. Hitch had his chance and any other franchise would let him ride into the sunset. Thanks for the memories, big guy, but let us off the hook. Stillman needs to step in on the DA/KH bromance.

The loss is still fresh on my end. Watching the games last night was tough. I love hockey, especially playoff hockey, but this squad has soured it for me.

Love the Blues, always will, and I'll let them break my heart till I'm in the ground if they so choose. I just wish they'd knock that shit off before I'm too old to care as much I do right this second.

[ViPeRx007]

Everybody wants Bane to take over the team and run it with an iron fist. The reality is that there's a lot of things to consider before you just make snap judgments about coaches or players. They do these interviews because of the media, not because they want to.

I'm lying if I say I didn't expect them to give us any news, but I'm also not surprised they didn't either.

I want to see some changes just as much as the next guy, and probably some bigger ones than in the last couple seasons, but this "blow it all up" attitude some people have is a little over the top, IMO.

[glen a richter]

All-Star defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk wanted his coach back, saying, "We're not in this position without Hitch."


What position is that? Watching 8 other teams advance?

[cardsfan04]

Everybody wants Bane to take over the team and run it with an iron fist. The reality is that there's a lot of things to consider before you just make snap judgments about coaches or players. They do these interviews because of the media, not because they want to.

I'm lying if I say I didn't expect them to give us any news, but I'm also not surprised they didn't either.

I want to see some changes just as much as the next guy, and probably some bigger ones than in the last couple seasons, but this "blow it all up" attitude some people have is a little over the top, IMO.

This is the best post of the thread.

[glen a richter]

Maybe blowing up the entire team is overkill, maybe we're overreacting with extremism. But the fact remains that this generations NHL demands speed and offensive creativity. The Hitchcock methodology is from a past era. It can't succeed now when teams are flying all over the ice and making our team which is neither over the hill nor full of cripples look like they're over the hill cripples. Whether Hitchcock gets another season with a roster teeming with genuinely faster players and changes his philosophy to meld more with this generation or a new coach comes in but gets the same cast of characters who we know are slow because we can see it with our own two eyes, does either scenario actually seem likely?

Let's look at this from a realistic standpoint. You're not dumping every player you'd like to dump because that would be a major roster overhaul and we can't support that and expect to stay competitive in the short term. The ownership can't afford lean years because it's hard enough making money when you have first round exits every year and a non-playoff team would cause them to bleed even more money. Oshie, Backes, Ott, Bouwmeester all gone. Jackman not re-signed. I'll submit to keeping Steen because when he's on, he's on. I'll submit to keeping Berglund because he miraculously didn't lay an egg during the playoffs and that means something. Bouwmeester and Jackman can be replaced internally, and in fact should be replaced internally. Oshie and Backes could be replaced internally if whoever's the next coach (or Hitch) believes that Barbashev and Fabbri are ready. This is a deep team in terms of depth at the lower ranks. It's not imperitive to trade Oshie and Backes for live bodies. Draft picks work, prospects work as well. They all need to take a good look at who can join the team who can contribute speed and creativity. Rattie, for example, has looked pretty ratty, pardon the lousy pun, because he's an offensive guy who was thrown onto a defensive team. He and Jaskin should and would do better in an offensive scheme. Tarasenko and Schwartz too. Maybe you can get Eberle from Edmonton, maybe you can get someone from Arizona. Their system is stacked with future stars and they could use a veteran since lord only knows how long Shane Doan will keep playing. I'll consider the offseason not an abject failure if Backes, Oshie and Bouwmeester are gone. I'll accept the other failures staying on the team to accommodate the fact you can't trade everyone.

My prediction is that I'll end up viewing the offseason as an abject failure.

[cardsfan04]

I think we need a bigger shakeup than normal. But, I think that gets accomplished with 2, maybe 3 key guys going somewhere else. 3 key guys being moved in 1 offseason would be a lot.

[glen a richter]

I think we need a bigger shakeup than normal. But, I think that gets accomplished with 2, maybe 3 key guys going somewhere else. 3 key guys being moved in 1 offseason would be a lot.

Do you consider Oshie, Backes and Bouwmeester "key guys" because they make a lot of money? They may be "key" in that sense, but one thing they're not is clutch.

I think a lot of fans overvalue players because they play for their team. We see something that isn't there and it clouds our judgment. Sometimes you have to look at the guy in the jersey, not the logo on the jersey.

[Slim]

Before some of you drive off the cliff, if you happen to have any Blues jerseys or any other memorabilia laying around, I'll take it.

Especially those cheap, high quality jerseys.

[glen a richter]

Before some of you drive off the cliff, if you happen to have any Blues jerseys or any other memorabilia laying around, I'll take it.

Especially those cheap, high quality jerseys.

I have a clown jersey in my attic crawl space. That would be perfect for these clowns. Make them wear those until they get out of a 1st round.

[cardsfan04]

I think we need a bigger shakeup than normal. But, I think that gets accomplished with 2, maybe 3 key guys going somewhere else. 3 key guys being moved in 1 offseason would be a lot.

Do you consider Oshie, Backes and Bouwmeester "key guys" because they make a lot of money? They may be "key" in that sense, but one thing they're not is clutch.

I think a lot of fans overvalue players because they play for their team. We see something that isn't there and it clouds our judgment. Sometimes you have to look at the guy in the jersey, not the logo on the jersey.

Key guys might have been a bad phrase. I was trying to exclude fringe guys. If we trade Porter (who I like, but he's clearly fringe), that's a nothing move. If we trade Oshie, that's a big move.

[Portland Blues]

A couple new articles on STLToday. Here's a snippet regarding Armstrong.

Snip:

Armstrong will head to New York on Wednesday to watch the club’s American Hockey League affiliate, then return to St. Louis next week for meetings and later head to the Czech Republic for the upcoming World Championships, where he will also meet with Vladimir Sobotka to gauge the forward’s interest in returning to the Blues next season.

It wouldn’t be until after completing that itinerary, Armstrong said, that he would “come back and push the team forward.”

[Oaklandblue]

A couple new articles on STLToday. Here's a snippet regarding Armstrong.

Snip:

Armstrong will head to New York on Wednesday to watch the club’s American Hockey League affiliate, then return to St. Louis next week for meetings and later head to the Czech Republic for the upcoming World Championships, where he will also meet with Vladimir Sobotka to gauge the forward’s interest in returning to the Blues next season.

It wouldn’t be until after completing that itinerary, Armstrong said, that he would “come back and push the team forward.”

Fire him.

[theohall]

hmmm. backes, oshie suck in the playoffs, so Sobotka will fix that?????

Horrible Press Conference

[glen a richter]

I wouldn't blame Boat if he never played in the note again. First he gets shafted while Ott gets the contract, then the team has another 1st round meltdown while he's playing abroad. Now Armstrong goes crawling back begging him to return? Boat has the leverage now and if he wants to play on a contending team he can just bide his time and wait for one. While Armstrong is pissing in the wind, he'll miss every real opportunity to improve the team.

[dmiles2186]

Look, I'm not saying Sobotka will be the player that fixes everything if he returns. However, criticizing Army for checking in with him is a little asinine, if you ask me. This is very similar to the thing that he did with Lehtera at the 2014 Olympics, and what do you know, Lehtera was a hugely impactful signing (for the most part). Yeah, he had his up's and down's, but for his first full season in the NHL, I don't think any of us would have complaints about what Lehtera brought to the table this year.

But his talks with Boat do two things:

1) You gauge where the player is at and if he wants to come back, that's one FA signing or trade you don't have to make. We already own his rights, he's familiar with our franchise, the transition should (emphasis on should) be an easy one.

2) If you find out he absolutely doesn't want to come back here, guess what? You've got yourself a shiny, new trade chip. Boat isn't the most valuable asset and he's not going to land you a top line forward in return, but he's a hard nosed player who gives everything he's got on every shift.

Knowing whether or not Boat wants to come back can then open the door to whatever step you want to do next in terms of building the roster for next season.

[cprice12]

I wouldn't blame Boat if he never played in the note again. First he gets shafted while Ott gets the contract, then the team has another 1st round meltdown while he's playing abroad. Now Armstrong goes crawling back begging him to return? Boat has the leverage now and if he wants to play on a contending team he can just bide his time and wait for one. While Armstrong is pissing in the wind, he'll miss every real opportunity to improve the team.

He really can't wait for a team to come along. He is under contract with the Blues for one more year of service. The Blues would have to trade him for him to end up somewhere else. Sobotka wanted to be on the top two lines, but he's not that kind of player and that would be horrible for this team if that was his role.

I don't think the Blues need Sobotka. He is a good player, but he's a 3rd liner at best. He's likely not going to be the difference in having playoff success or going home. Sobotka bolted to Russia with one year left on his contract. He abandoned this team and is essentially demanding a trade. The Blues hold all of the cards here. They could just sit on his contract, never trade him and make him come back with his tail between his legs and to play out his last year of his contract if he wants to play somewhere else.

What we need is CONFIDENT players who can provide dynamic timely scoring depth in the playoffs and we also need a bit of a defensive overhaul. Getting all worked up over Sobotka seems like a waste of good internet space, especially when there are other more pressing issues to address that more directly relate to the success of this team in the playoffs.

[ComradeT]

I wouldn't blame Boat if he never played in the note again. First he gets shafted while Ott gets the contract, then the team has another 1st round meltdown while he's playing abroad. Now Armstrong goes crawling back begging him to return? Boat has the leverage now and if he wants to play on a contending team he can just bide his time and wait for one. While Armstrong is pissing in the wind, he'll miss every real opportunity to improve the team.

He really can't wait for a team to come along. He is under contract with the Blues for one more year of service. The Blues would have to trade him for him to end up somewhere else. Sobotka wanted to be on the top two lines, but he's not that kind of player and that would be horrible for this team if that was his role.

I don't think the Blues need Sobotka. He is a good player, but he's a 3rd liner at best. He's likely not going to be the difference in having playoff success or going home. Sobotka bolted to Russia with one year left on his contract. He abandoned this team and is essentially demanding a trade. The Blues hold all of the cards here. They could just sit on his contract, never trade him and make him come back with his tail between his legs and to play out his last year of his contract if he wants to play somewhere else.

What we need is CONFIDENT players who can provide dynamic timely scoring depth in the playoffs and we also need a bit of a defensive overhaul. Getting all worked up over Sobotka seems like a waste of good internet space, especially when there are other more pressing issues to address that more directly relate to the success of this team in the playoffs.

^^^^
This.

[STLADOGG]

Why was Hitchcock even there...completely useless press conference.

[Kerfuffle]

Why was Hitchcock even there...completely useless press conference.

It shows a unified front and if he was absent it would send the signal he's been let go. The whole 'leaving it up to him to decide what he wants to do' is weak IMO.

[cprice12]

Why was Hitchcock even there...completely useless press conference.

It shows a unified front and if he was absent it would send the signal he's been let go. The whole 'leaving it up to him to decide what he wants to do' is weak IMO.

We discusses this on the podcast last night.
It could very well be that he has been told he will not be offered a new contract and this is the team's way of letting him retire on his own terms so he saves some face publicly.

I fully expect him to announce he is taking another position within the organization, after he has "thought about it".

But we'll see.