Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2023 5:27 pm It’s related to Army once again signing a dumbass contract, he’s really good at doing that. We all saw how silly of a deal it was when it was signed.

Whatever, on the positive at least it frees up the lineup spot for Neighbours. Let’s hope he does something with it,

That's the rub. Isn't it? MacEachern is a minor league call up who inexplicably is with us for two years on a one way contract and as a result of that contract we may not be able to to keep a player who fills a need elsewhere.

Bitten, Washkurak, Loof and Ellis sent down to Springfield. 38 players remaining on the training camp roster.

Will Bitten, , Wyatt Kalynuk, , Hugh McGing, , Matt Peca all on waivers

Bitten, McGing, Peca and Kalynuk sent down. Roster is now 34 players.

The only real dark horse left in the roster is Mathias Laferriere. Is he injured?

No easy decisions in roster movement now.

Edit: Kessel still up too.

Seems about right. Wonder if one of the kids can grab that last spot, but unlikely given the role that would be available.

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 11:39 am

Seems about right. Wonder if one of the kids can grab that last spot, but unlikely given the role that would be available.

If you focus on the 12 forwards that's not a bad looking team at all right there.

Calle Rosen isn't making it through waivers is my guess.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 1:53 pm

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 11:39 am

Seems about right. Wonder if one of the kids can grab that last spot, but unlikely given the role that would be available.

If you focus on the 12 forwards that's not a bad looking team at all right there.

Calle Rosen isn't making it through waivers is my guess.

Maybe not, but the waiver wire is always very crowded as camps break. Hard to believe they Armstrong wasn't able to make ANY changes to the back end despite it being the glaring issue with the team. I knew the market was terrible but I actually expected him to just take an L on a deal just to change the mix. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. They're still in first place!

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 3:50 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 1:53 pm

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 11:39 am

Seems about right. Wonder if one of the kids can grab that last spot, but unlikely given the role that would be available.

If you focus on the 12 forwards that's not a bad looking team at all right there.

Calle Rosen isn't making it through waivers is my guess.

Maybe not, but the waiver wire is always very crowded as camps break. Hard to believe they Armstrong wasn't able to make ANY changes to the back end despite it being the glaring issue with the team. I knew the market was terrible but I actually expected him to just take an L on a deal just to change the mix. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. They're still in first place!

Meet the new era, same as the old era.

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 3:50 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 1:53 pm

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 11:39 am

Seems about right. Wonder if one of the kids can grab that last spot, but unlikely given the role that would be available.

If you focus on the 12 forwards that's not a bad looking team at all right there.

Calle Rosen isn't making it through waivers is my guess.

Maybe not, but the waiver wire is always very crowded as camps break. Hard to believe they Armstrong wasn't able to make ANY changes to the back end despite it being the glaring issue with the team. I knew the market was terrible but I actually expected him to just take an L on a deal just to change the mix. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. They're still in first place!

I suspect, after Krug put the nix on the deal involving him (Which he had every right to do; I can't blame him), the next strategy is to give some of the defensemen a chance to prove themselves in the first part of the season (face it, in most cases trading any of them now would be 'selling low'), and see who the 'legit' contenders are, and whether they'd waive NTCs/NMCs to go to teams with REAL Cup aspirations.

RAFritchey wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 8:14 pm

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 3:50 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 1:53 pm

If you focus on the 12 forwards that's not a bad looking team at all right there.

Calle Rosen isn't making it through waivers is my guess.

Maybe not, but the waiver wire is always very crowded as camps break. Hard to believe they Armstrong wasn't able to make ANY changes to the back end despite it being the glaring issue with the team. I knew the market was terrible but I actually expected him to just take an L on a deal just to change the mix. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. They're still in first place!

I suspect, after Krug put the nix on the deal involving him (Which he had every right to do; I can't blame him), the next strategy is to give some of the defensemen a chance to prove themselves in the first part of the season (face it, in most cases trading any of them now would be 'selling low'), and see who the 'legit' contenders are, and whether they'd waive NTCs/NMCs to go to teams with REAL Cup aspirations.

Unless, we look decent, and become a cup contender, and were stuck with a "good problem"

(Fat chance but devil's advocate)

RAFritchey wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 8:14 pm

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 3:50 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 1:53 pm

If you focus on the 12 forwards that's not a bad looking team at all right there.

Calle Rosen isn't making it through waivers is my guess.

Maybe not, but the waiver wire is always very crowded as camps break. Hard to believe they Armstrong wasn't able to make ANY changes to the back end despite it being the glaring issue with the team. I knew the market was terrible but I actually expected him to just take an L on a deal just to change the mix. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. They're still in first place!

I suspect, after Krug put the nix on the deal involving him (Which he had every right to do; I can't blame him), the next strategy is to give some of the defensemen a chance to prove themselves in the first part of the season (face it, in most cases trading any of them now would be 'selling low'), and see who the 'legit' contenders are, and whether they'd waive NTCs/NMCs to go to teams with REAL Cup aspirations.

Best case scenario for the Blues is Torey Krug shows he is what he is defensively but proves he can be a top PP QB this year. Teams will be in the market for that, they always are, and with the cap going up they'll have a much better chance of moving him and not in a strictly salary dump kind of move but get actual value back.

What a headline for the Blues to be listed in

Finding hope for the NHL’s 10 most hopeless teams in 2023-24


St. Louis Blues
The projections say: 80 points and an 8 percent chance at the playoffs.

Why they’re probably right: The Blues fell off a cliff last year, going from quasi-contender to quasi-trainwreck. That led to them selling some big names at the deadline, so in theory, they’ll be even worse this year.

But hear me out: Like the Caps, we can play the “recent Cup winner” card, although we’re kind of stretching the “recent” part, especially given the key pieces that have departed since then. Still, there’s talent here, and some of it is young enough that progress is possible. If we see a leap from Robert Thomas or Jordan Kyrou — or preferably both — then a decent forward group could be something more than that. You’d still need the blue line to get it together, and Jordan Binnington to rebound, so finding optimism is getting tricky here.

But Blues fans know where to start: Dom’s model doesn’t love this team and has underrated it before. That’s not about him not liking the team or some grand conspiracy against them, but it could be possible that Craig Berube has his team playing a style that the numbers don’t appreciate properly. Dom acknowledges that in the preview, and that the oddsmakers like the Blues a bit better.

Of course, a bit needs to turn into a lot for the Blues to get into the playoffs. That probably means bigger-than-expected years from Thomas and Kyrou, along with a surprise from somebody like Jakub Vrana. Mix in a big year from Binnington and some excellent work from Berube and/or whoever replaces him midway through the year, and the Blues are in play. Put it this way — we’ve seen a miracle turnaround story from these guys before.

https://theathletic.com/4922472/2023/10 ... es-flyers/

The simplest path back to a better season is improving the special teams. I belive both the PP and PK were bottom 3-5 last year. There's more to improve of course, but the PK not making every damn opponent look like the 85 Oliers would be extremely beneficial.

Who tf thinks Berube is the problem!?

Those are drugs that should stay illegal.

Ozzies09tc wrote: Fri Oct 06, 2023 1:24 pm Who tf thinks Berube is the problem!?

Those are drugs that should stay illegal.

I don't think Berube is the problem at all, but the REAL question is whether he's part of the solution.

There are several other potential changes I'd look into before declaring him on the 'hot seat.' We made some of those changes already (trading off pending UFAs; new assistant coaching staff). More changes are surely coming (SOMETHING with our defensive corps; Binnington figures out his game or gets replaced). But Berube, like any coach, bears final responsibility for the on-ice performance, his "fault" or not.

If we come out flat and just plain non-competitive for the first 20 games or so, Berube may very well be on the way out. If we're competitive in every game, though, playing solid hockey as a team effort whether we win or lose, I think he's safe. I think that's the expectation.

There are two aspects of his coaching style that I don't like. The first is trying to play a puck possession game at the expense of more shots and the second is his eagerness to pull the goalie early without giving the five man unit time to press for a goal. Otherwise, I have no problem with his methods.

One more thing that I don't really fault him on is his competitiveness but if this team is a lottery team I don't want to see him pushing for useless points like last season.

W's and strong efforts are nice. Loser points aren't.

BluesSK wrote: Fri Oct 06, 2023 5:20 pm There are two aspects of his coaching style that I don't like. The first is trying to play a puck possession game at the expense of more shots and the second is his eagerness to pull the goalie early without giving the five man unit time to press for a goal. Otherwise, I have no problem with his methods.

One more thing that I don't really fault him on is his competitiveness but if this team is a lottery team I don't want to see him pushing for useless points like last season.

W's and strong efforts are nice. Loser points aren't.

I'm honestly torn on the 'loser point' things.

Unless you're after one of the first few picks in a draft, even this past year (arguably one of the strongest overall drafts in recent memory), there's still a lot of play in the picks and a lot of unknowns that could happen. I'm also a big fan of a team's 'culture.' While hard to quantify, I think anything that instills the idea of “it's OK to lose” is a cancer that's hard to root out in a franchise, even from season to season.

If you're the coach of a team that drops 20+ points in the standings with basically the same roster you're going to find yourself on the hot seat.

I don't think Berube is the problem, I don't think anyone believes that. He's obviously proven he's a capable coach, but I don't know of any NHL coach that's never been fired. He's already been once before.

I think what he is going to be measured most by this season, even more so than the win/loss record is the development of Thomas and Kyrou. If he is able to coach them up to that next level in their career, into superstars then he'll be fine. He's got to prove he's the guy that can squeeze the most out of the talent he's given. Especially because this team is in somewhat of a transition and will have a lot of highly skilled youth coming through. Is he the guy for that task? If they don't take that next step this year AND the team misses the playoffs again, then yeah, I could see him being the fall guy. The coach is always the first to go. Again, doesn't mean he's a bad coach.

Great news! Glad they stuck with the kid. He earned it

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sun Oct 08, 2023 3:19 pm Great news! Glad they stuck with the kid. He earned it

No surprises at all and that's a good thing.

It's not a G'day at the Walker household.

CaptSMRT wrote: Sun Oct 08, 2023 8:36 pm It's not a G'day at the Walker household.

I guess they aren't gonna throw a shrimp on the barbie?

BluesSK wrote: Sun Oct 08, 2023 9:11 pm

CaptSMRT wrote: Sun Oct 08, 2023 8:36 pm It's not a G'day at the Walker household.

I guess they aren't gonna throw a shrimp on the barbie?

No shrimps will be thrown

Rough start to the season for Dvorsky as he takes the step up to the SHL.

Pointless in 8 games getting around 12 minutes a game on the worst team in the league.

In better news, third rounder Pekarcik came over to play in the USHL and is putting up a PPG pace through his first 6.

As well as Stenberg having as many goals through his first 5 in the SHL(1) this year that he had in 23 last season.