***Official 2013/2014 NHL Regular Season Thread*** (2 Viewers)

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Are you gonna tell me he has played well lately? Enough with the passive-aggressiveness. Do you think he has played well?

he's in a slump like the rest of the team. they look out of sorts as a group.

I still expect him and them to turn things around. Chicago will be a tough matchup to start with though.

 

[Brady Marino]

Is it too much to ask for Ryan Miller to live up to his reputation and steal a game for the Blues? Apparently.

In order to steal a game, your team has to be capable of scoring a goal.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I agree, but a great goalie can get hot and make a team not playing well look a whole lot better. Not only has Miller not done that, but he has played poorly. There is no other way to spin it. If you look at the numbers of Halak, Elliot and Miller this year when playing goal for the Blues, Miller has added nothing. In fact, he's been by far their worst of the three this year. When Brian Elliot has outplayed the hell out of you, it is a problem.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Blues "offense" lately:

2 goals at home vs DAL

0 goals at home vs PHI

2 goals at home vs BUF

0 goals at home vs COL

2 goals on road at CHI

1 goal at home vs WAS

2 goals on road vs MIN

0 goals on road vs DAL

9 goals scored in 8 games! Yet Miller is the only reason they are slumping. Power Play is 2 for their last 22.

come on! It's the same crap we heard from you guys in the past when you trashed Elliott anytime they lost a game.

 

[Brady Marino]

Blues "offense" lately:

2 goals at home vs DAL

0 goals at home vs PHI

2 goals at home vs BUF

0 goals at home vs COL

2 goals on road at CHI

1 goal at home vs WAS

2 goals on road vs MIN

0 goals on road vs DAL

9 goals scored in 8 games! Yet Miller is the main reason they are slumping.

come on!

It is possible to have a bad goalie and bad offense at the same time.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

It is possible to have a bad goalie and bad offense at the same time.

not according to Ghost Rider or most Blues fans around here.

Good luck winning games when your team is averaging a goal/game.

Miller is proven. Can you say the same about the rest of the squad?

If they had Jake Allen or Elliott or Halak in net, do you really think the team would be coming into the playoffs feeling great about themselves?

 

[Brady Marino]

Good luck winning games when your team is averaging a goal/game.

...and when you allow nearly 4 goals a game of late.

Like I said, it's possible for a team to have more than one problem.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

It is possible to have a bad goalie and bad offense at the same time.

not according to Ghost Rider or most Blues fans around here.

Good luck winning games when your team is averaging a goal/game.

Miller is proven. Can you say the same about the rest of the squad?

If they had Jake Allen or Elliott or Halak in net, do you really think the team would be coming into the playoffs feeling great about themselves?

There are 3 Blues fans here. I haven't said anything overly negative about Miller. I know he's not the problem here. Certainly not proving to be any sort of solution, but that will be properly assessed in the playoffs when it matters.

 

[Zegras11]

It's playoff time. Suck it up people.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Blues "offense" lately:

2 goals at home vs DAL

0 goals at home vs PHI

2 goals at home vs BUF

0 goals at home vs COL

2 goals on road at CHI

1 goal at home vs WAS

2 goals on road vs MIN

0 goals on road vs DAL

9 goals scored in 8 games! Yet Miller is the only reason they are slumping. Power Play is 2 for their last 22.

come on! It's the same crap we heard from you guys in the past when you trashed Elliott anytime they lost a game.

Nice try putting words in my mouth, but I NEVER said Miller is the only reason they are slumping. The whole team is playing poorly, INCLUDING Miller. Injuries have killed them.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

In December and January I said in here a couple of times that I thought the Blues were the best team in the league. I know they've had some injuries, but all teams have injuries and have to get through it. The last three or four times I've watched them they just look disjointed, just not the same team from earlier in the season. Goalies can only do so much.

Still time to turn it around but I certainly would not want to play Chicago in the first round. Like with other great teams in the conference over the years, I always hope someone else takes a team like Chicago out.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

I bet Detroit is enjoying abusing Colaiacovo today. I sure hope Hitchcock benches him come playoff time. Getting way too much playing time lately.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Even though the Blues have scored a lot this year, their lack of true playmaking scorers has worried me all year, as you can't expect 10-20 goal scorers to score regularly in the playoffs when play gets tighter and whatnot. Tarasenko's injury was rough. Sure, all teams have injuries, but literally half of their forwards are hurt right now. It is tough to overcome that at all, much less when your goaltending is supbar.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

There are 3 Blues fans here. I haven't said anything overly negative about Miller. I know he's not the problem here. Certainly not proving to be any sort of solution, but that will be properly assessed in the playoffs when it matters.

I'm just relying on previous history I guess. Blame Eliott has been a theme of these threads for the past few years.

Miller was great early on and terrible lately, but I think his struggles go along with the struggles of the team in front of him. They are giving up way more high quality chances than a Hitchcock team typically does.

A series against Chicago will certainly wake them up, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Miller get hot again.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

This collapse is on him as much as anyone. I'll be happy to say good riddance to him when this season is over.

Maybe I mistook this, but I thought you were putting it all on him.

So, if he leaves in the offseason, you'll be thrilled? Even if they win a Cup this year or at least go on a nice run? I guess we can regroup next year around this time and talk about what a mess Jake Allen is too.

FWIW, the Blues are 5:1 to win the Cup right now. And you guys are already acting like the season is over.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Even though the Blues have scored a lot this year, their lack of true playmaking scorers has worried me all year, as you can't expect 10-20 goal scorers to score regularly in the playoffs when play gets tighter and whatnot. Tarasenko's injury was rough. Sure, all teams have injuries, but literally half of their forwards are hurt right now. It is tough to overcome that at all, much less when your goaltending is supbar.

Detroit is second in man games lost this year, St Louis is 24th. Other top five teams include Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and Columbus.

It's a part of the game and you have to weather the storm if you are an elite team like St Louis.

 

[Zegras11]

LOL at 3 on 1

 

[Brady Marino]

3 on 1, Blues can do whatever they want, and they don't score.

This team is colder than they ice they skate on.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

Even though the Blues have scored a lot this year, their lack of true playmaking scorers has worried me all year, as you can't expect 10-20 goal scorers to score regularly in the playoffs when play gets tighter and whatnot. Tarasenko's injury was rough. Sure, all teams have injuries, but literally half of their forwards are hurt right now. It is tough to overcome that at all, much less when your goaltending is supbar.

Detroit is second in man games lost this year, St Louis is 24th. Other top five teams include Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and Columbus.

It's a part of the game and you have to weather the storm if you are an elite team like St Louis.

Which is troubling to me. I think their play fell off when Tarasenko got hurt. He's talented, but one loss on the wing messes with the entire team?

 

[Bill Brasky]

Lapierre, stick to cheap shots and running your mouth

 

[Ghost Rider]

This collapse is on him as much as anyone. I'll be happy to say good riddance to him when this season is over.

Maybe I mistook this, but I thought you were putting it all on him.

So, if he leaves in the offseason, you'll be thrilled? Even if they win a Cup this year or at least go on a nice run? I guess we can regroup next year around this time and talk about what a mess Jake Allen is too.

FWIW, the Blues are 5:1 to win the Cup right now. And you guys are already acting like the season is over.

I don't care about odds. Unless something drastically changes, they are going out fast against the Blackhawks. Too many key players are hurt, and the team that is playing looks like a mess right now.

I'll admit that this is my frustration talking, but we simply expected more out of Ryan Miller. If he was still playing well during this losing streak, I guarantee that I wouldn't be ragging on him.

Even though the Blues have scored a lot this year, their lack of true playmaking scorers has worried me all year, as you can't expect 10-20 goal scorers to score regularly in the playoffs when play gets tighter and whatnot. Tarasenko's injury was rough. Sure, all teams have injuries, but literally half of their forwards are hurt right now. It is tough to overcome that at all, much less when your goaltending is supbar.

Detroit is second in man games lost this year, St Louis is 24th. Other top five teams include Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and Columbus.

It's a part of the game and you have to weather the storm if you are an elite team like St Louis.

Okay, but the Blues injuries have all seemingly happened at once, to many key players, and in the last few weeks of the season. Just bad timing.

 

[Zegras11]

Even though the Blues have scored a lot this year, their lack of true playmaking scorers has worried me all year, as you can't expect 10-20 goal scorers to score regularly in the playoffs when play gets tighter and whatnot. Tarasenko's injury was rough. Sure, all teams have injuries, but literally half of their forwards are hurt right now. It is tough to overcome that at all, much less when your goaltending is supbar.

Detroit is second in man games lost this year, St Louis is 24th. Other top five teams include Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and Columbus.

It's a part of the game and you have to weather the storm if you are an elite team like St Louis.

Which is troubling to me. I think their play fell off when Tarasenko got hurt. He's talented, but one loss on the wing messes with the entire team?

Ducks were 4th in man games lost.

Suck it up people.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

Even though the Blues have scored a lot this year, their lack of true playmaking scorers has worried me all year, as you can't expect 10-20 goal scorers to score regularly in the playoffs when play gets tighter and whatnot. Tarasenko's injury was rough. Sure, all teams have injuries, but literally half of their forwards are hurt right now. It is tough to overcome that at all, much less when your goaltending is supbar.

Detroit is second in man games lost this year, St Louis is 24th. Other top five teams include Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and Columbus.

It's a part of the game and you have to weather the storm if you are an elite team like St Louis.

Which is troubling to me. I think their play fell off when Tarasenko got hurt. He's talented, but one loss on the wing messes with the entire team?

Ducks were 4th in man games lost.

Suck it up people.

Yeah, I am saying the team I watch started playing poorly when they lost one guy. And that is troubling to me. I'm not making excuses here.

 

[Brady Marino]

:facepalm:

 

[Brady Marino]

Carlo Colaiacovo is not an NHL-caliber defenseman.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Sheahan!

Elliott looked effing blind on that one.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

0 goals scored for the Blues and the fans take it out on Miller. makes sense.

 

[Ghost Rider]

0 goals scored for the Blues and the fans take it out on Miller. makes sense.

We get it. You're a Sabres fan who still wants to have Ryan Miller's babies.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

it's been mentioned in here before, but maybe the Blues fans should talk more about their GM not adding offense at the deadline. What is Steve Ott doing for this club? They basically gave up a 1st round pick for him as a rental player.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

0 goals scored for the Blues and the fans take it out on Miller. makes sense.

We get it. You're a Sabres fan who still wants to have Ryan Miller's babies.

I want Blues fans to be more objective and rational. Is that too much to ask?

 

[ffldrew]

What a weird feeling - clapping and cheering for a Wings goal

 

[Brady Marino]

it's been mentioned in here before, but maybe the Blues fans should talk more about their GM not adding offense at the deadline. What is Steve Ott doing for this club? They basically gave up a 1st round pick for him as a rental player.

Hated the Ott acquisition then and I hate it now.

 

[Ghost Rider]

0 goals scored for the Blues and the fans take it out on Miller. makes sense.

We get it. You're a Sabres fan who still wants to have Ryan Miller's babies.

I want Blues fans to be more objective and rational. Is that too much to ask?

The fans are frustrated. Most fans, especially ones at the games, are not 100% objective and rational when frustrated and aggravated over this kind of losing streak. This can't be news to you.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

The fans are frustrated. Most fans, especially ones at the games, are not 100% objective and rational when frustrated and aggravated over this kind of losing streak. This can't be news to you.

I get that, but seems misplaced to take it all out on one guy. Miller stood on his head most nights for the Sabres who are the worst team in the league. He can steal games for them, but he's obviously lacking confidence right now with the way things are going of late and the play of the guys in front of him isn't doing him any favors. Every mistake he makes right now is winding up in the back of the net.

It can turn quickly though. He's proven himself over many years to be a big-game goalie, IMO. Injuries of late have been tough for them to deal with. I'm surprised they don't have better depth to handle them.

 

[Brady Marino]

The fans are frustrated. Most fans, especially ones at the games, are not 100% objective and rational when frustrated and aggravated over this kind of losing streak. This can't be news to you.

I get that, but seems misplaced to take it all out on one guy. Miller stood on his head most nights for the Sabres who are the worst team in the league. He can steal games for them, but he's obviously lacking confidence right now with the way things are going of late and the play of the guys in front of him isn't doing him any favors. Every mistake he makes right now is winding up in the back of the net.

It can turn quickly though. He's proven himself over many years to be a big-game goalie, IMO. Injuries of late have been tough for them to deal with. I'm surprised they don't have better depth to handle them.

7 of their top scorers are out. That's tough for just about any team to overcome.

 

[Ghost Rider]

You can't mock cheer an offensive player for taking a shot or whatever; the goalie is always easy pickings in those situations, just like some will boo just the QB when he and the whole team are playing poorly in football. It's just the way it goes.

Besides, nobody here in St. Louis cares what he did in Buffalo. And why should we? That does nothing for us. What matters is how he plays here, and he has not played well.

As for depth, it would be hard for any team to overcome losing 7 of your top 12 forwards at essentially the same time.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

You can't mock cheer an offensive player for taking a shot or whatever; the goalie is always easy pickings in those situations, just like some will boo just the QB when he and the whole team are playing poorly in football. It's just the way it goes.

Besides, nobody here in St. Louis cares what he did in Buffalo. And why should we? That does nothing for us. What matters is how he plays here, and he has not played well.

As for depth, it would be hard for any team to overcome losing 7 of your top 12 forwards at essentially the same time.

the Backes thing isn't long-term is it? That's just for today I thought.

Oshie is a big loss. Berglund and Tarasenko and Sobotka are significant as well. Are all these guys out for the playoffs though? I keep seeing "day to day" so I'm assuming some or most will be able to play later this week. It's not like they were missing all these guys for the past 2 weeks either.

But great teams seem to find a way. Blackhawks have done pretty well without Toews and Kane. Penguins have lost more man games to injury than anyone this year and you don't hear their fans complaining about it. Detroit made the playoffs without Datsyuk and Zetterberg for quite a few games.

the whole point of having an AHL team is to give your team a steady pipeline of players when they get hurt by injuries. Is Hitchcock's system too difficult for these guys to pick up? The Wolves are 20 games over .500 so I'm sure they have guys who can fill in.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

You can't mock cheer an offensive player for taking a shot or whatever; the goalie is always easy pickings in those situations, just like some will boo just the QB when he and the whole team are playing poorly in football. It's just the way it goes.

Besides, nobody here in St. Louis cares what he did in Buffalo. And why should we? That does nothing for us. What matters is how he plays here, and he has not played well.

As for depth, it would be hard for any team to overcome losing 7 of your top 12 forwards at essentially the same time.

Again, so what?

Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Alfredsson, Weiss, and Helm are six of the Wings top eight forwards. They have missed 212 games between them. Pittsburgh has played without Malkin, Neal, and Letang for large portions of the season.

You can't go eight or ten games averaging less than two goals a game. Plus the Blues aren't even that hurt, almost all these guys are expected back for the playoffs. Backes is just missing his third game, Berglund has missed one, Oshie two. What was the excuse last week? Or the week before? Or the week before that?

 

[Brady Marino]

What was the excuse last week? Or the week before?

This was really all you needed. Team was playing pretty well right after the Miller trade. Then poof.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

The Blues have been very quiet on the injury front. It sounds like Berglund is the only one that is possibly long term and Tarasenko wasn't expected until the second round.

 

[Lutherman2112]

Flyers are gonna beat the Pens if they meet in the playoffs. Pens played good today. Most of them kept their cool, but right now it's the Flyers series to take if they play.

They won't see each other so no worries there.Pens and Flyers both headed for a first round exit.

And this is from a Pens fan.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

the team put 45 shots on John freaking Curry and came up with 2 goals.

Ty Rattie put up 29 goals in 69 games for the Wolves. He has about as much ice time tonight as Ryan Reaves. I don't think Hitchcock cares that much about helping out the offense. He's sticking with his formula.

Paarjavi has 6 minutes of ice time, btw. David Perron put up a pretty nice season for the Oilers. Weren't some Blues fans happy with that move at the time?

 

[Doctor Detroit]

The Blues have been very quiet on the injury front. It sounds like Berglund is the only one that is possibly long term and Tarasenko wasn't expected until the second round.

Maybe they should stop running into each other.

 

[ffldrew]

Blues are killing each other out there

 

[Brady Marino]

Oh noes, another Blues forward is hurt!

Oh, it's just Derek Roy. Carry on.

 

[Brady Marino]

The Blues have been very quiet on the injury front. It sounds like Berglund is the only one that is possibly long term and Tarasenko wasn't expected until the second round.

Maybe they should stop running into each other.

Derek Roy has been so bad, that may have been a mercy killing.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

The Blues have been very quiet on the injury front. It sounds like Berglund is the only one that is possibly long term and Tarasenko wasn't expected until the second round.

Maybe they should stop running into each other.

Derek Roy has been so bad, that may have been a mercy killing.

Have him run into Bertuzzi next time.

 

[Brady Marino]

The Blues have been very quiet on the injury front. It sounds like Berglund is the only one that is possibly long term and Tarasenko wasn't expected until the second round.

Maybe they should stop running into each other.

Derek Roy has been so bad, that may have been a mercy killing.

Have him run into Bertuzzi next time.

Where's Marty McSorley when you need him?

 

[Billy Bats]

Flyers are gonna beat the Pens if they meet in the playoffs. Pens played good today. Most of them kept their cool, but right now it's the Flyers series to take if they play.

They won't see each other so no worries there.Pens and Flyers both headed for a first round exit.

And this is from a Pens fan.

You guys have that little confidence in your squad? I hate the Pens more than anyone but they're not losing to the Jackets.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

the team put 45 shots on John freaking Curry and came up with 2 goals.

Ty Rattie put up 29 goals in 69 games for the Wolves. He has about as much ice time tonight as Ryan Reaves. I don't think Hitchcock cares that much about helping out the offense. He's sticking with his formula.

Paarjavi has 6 minutes of ice time, btw. David Perron put up a pretty nice season for the Oilers. Weren't some Blues fans happy with that move at the time?

Rattie is also small and playing in his second career game. Pajaarvi just isn't that good. Not a fan of that trade at all. I wasn't really for or against it at the time because I assumed Roy and Pajaarvi might make up for Perron. I was wrong.