Hitchcock v. Yeo
1This team is night and day better this year, defenseman scoring goals every game makes them very hard to beat. Somewhere Hitchcock is saying under his breath "fuck me".
Shatty would have been absolutely sick in this offense.BlueinNy wrote:This team is night and day better this year, defenseman scoring goals every game makes them very hard to beat. Somewhere Hitchcock is saying under his breath "fuck me".
With Berube signed on as "coach in waiting?"Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:It’s not even night and day this year. It happened the day Yeo took over. Totally different team.
We are lucky to have him. But I’m 3-5 years I’m sure I’ll start a fire Yeo thread.
After he's fired by The Stars, Hitch could have a 2nd career (in TV commercials)as "The Pillsbury Dough Boy". "Have another doughnut!" He also could play The Michelin Man on his days off!Ozzies09tc wrote:One knows his way around a hockey team the other knows his way around a bakery
Agree. Hitch had some good years here. Getting to the WCF, beating the Hawks, that was real fun for this Blues fan.Dave's a mess wrote:Hitch was great for this team at the time of his hiring, but obviously had lost the room. As the roster flushed out size for skill, Hitch's system wasn't a great match anymore. Yeo has been willing to let them just play more, and the results have spoken for themselves. Now just get the special teams straightened out.
Team is night and day better because we had an Expansion draft and Hextall got caught in a brain lapse. Otherwise this team would still have Lehtera & Perron on its roster. Blues had a very fortuitous off season and that's the biggest reason for the improved team this year. That and the emergence of Dunn.BlueinNy wrote:This team is night and day better this year, defenseman scoring goals every game makes them very hard to beat. Somewhere Hitchcock is saying under his breath "fuck me".
Yeah, the Blues got a bit lucky there.BillP wrote:Team is night and day better because we had an Expansion draft and Hextall got caught in a brain lapse. Otherwise this team would still have Lehtera & Perron on its roster. Blues had a very fortuitous off season and that's the biggest reason for the improved team this year. That and the emergence of Dunn.BlueinNy wrote:This team is night and day better this year, defenseman scoring goals every game makes them very hard to beat. Somewhere Hitchcock is saying under his breath "fuck me".
Man, isn't that the truth. After watching Schenn play night in and night out, I have no idea how Hextall would trade a player with that skill set, that contract, at that age. He is the type of player you build around, not trade for picks. Army really hit a home run this offseason.BillP wrote:Team is night and day better because we had an Expansion draft and Hextall got caught in a brain lapse. Otherwise this team would still have Lehtera & Perron on its roster. Blues had a very fortuitous off season and that's the biggest reason for the improved team this year. That and the emergence of Dunn.BlueinNy wrote:This team is night and day better this year, defenseman scoring goals every game makes them very hard to beat. Somewhere Hitchcock is saying under his breath "fuck me".
Hitch liked them to be involved, but it was more about getting shots from the point with traffic in front. I mean, our d-men are so active in the offensive zone that they end up behind the net sometimes! It's a pretty fun brand of hockey to watch.RAFritchey wrote:As much as I don't think you can attribute the Blues' success so far to just one thing, I think the change in coaching philosophies has to be a part of it.
Hitch wasn't as offense-averse as many people think, but I don't think he'd have the entire defense, and every defenseman, this active in the offesive zone. I think every single one of our defensemen, with the possible exception of Parayko, is on a pace to set career highs in goals and/or points.
I love that.MattyIce wrote:Hitch liked them to be involved, but it was more about getting shots from the point with traffic in front. I mean, our d-men are so active in the offensive zone that they end up behind the net sometimes! It's a pretty fun brand of hockey to watch.RAFritchey wrote:As much as I don't think you can attribute the Blues' success so far to just one thing, I think the change in coaching philosophies has to be a part of it.
Hitch wasn't as offense-averse as many people think, but I don't think he'd have the entire defense, and every defenseman, this active in the offesive zone. I think every single one of our defensemen, with the possible exception of Parayko, is on a pace to set career highs in goals and/or points.
With regard to the defense being active, here's a crazy stat.MattyIce wrote:Hitch liked them to be involved, but it was more about getting shots from the point with traffic in front. I mean, our d-men are so active in the offensive zone that they end up behind the net sometimes! It's a pretty fun brand of hockey to watch.RAFritchey wrote:As much as I don't think you can attribute the Blues' success so far to just one thing, I think the change in coaching philosophies has to be a part of it.
Hitch wasn't as offense-averse as many people think, but I don't think he'd have the entire defense, and every defenseman, this active in the offesive zone. I think every single one of our defensemen, with the possible exception of Parayko, is on a pace to set career highs in goals and/or points.
Who needs Shatty when you've got Edmundson?Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:With regard to the defense being active, here's a crazy stat.MattyIce wrote:Hitch liked them to be involved, but it was more about getting shots from the point with traffic in front. I mean, our d-men are so active in the offensive zone that they end up behind the net sometimes! It's a pretty fun brand of hockey to watch.RAFritchey wrote:As much as I don't think you can attribute the Blues' success so far to just one thing, I think the change in coaching philosophies has to be a part of it.
Hitch wasn't as offense-averse as many people think, but I don't think he'd have the entire defense, and every defenseman, this active in the offesive zone. I think every single one of our defensemen, with the possible exception of Parayko, is on a pace to set career highs in goals and/or points.
Last season, the Blues got 35 goals from their defense. This season, they have already gotten 17 from their defense. The Blues are on pace for about 90 goals from their defense.
This being without Shattenkirk this season and hardly any contribution from Parayko.
I never thought I would say this but Gunnarsson has been lights out this season. He's finally earning his paycheck.Dave's a mess wrote:Here's a fun piece of anecdotal evidence of the D being active under Yeo. One of the reasons Pietrangelo was able to score that great goal against the Leafs the other night was that the Toronto D was busy with 2 Blues players camped out in front of the net. One was Tarasenko (great to see a superstar sniper going to the dirty areas by the way), and the other was Gunnarson. Pietrangelo obviously deserves all the credit in the world for the great display of skill, but the space he needed to make that play just isn't there without Gunnar being in front of the net.
I never had a problem with the Gunnarsson contract, but he's certainly been middle of the road at best until this year. The lineup decisions when Bouwmeester comes back will be fascinating, although it sounds like he's still got a ways to go.BluesSK wrote:I never thought I would say this but Gunnarsson has been lights out this season. He's finally earning his paycheck.Dave's a mess wrote:Here's a fun piece of anecdotal evidence of the D being active under Yeo. One of the reasons Pietrangelo was able to score that great goal against the Leafs the other night was that the Toronto D was busy with 2 Blues players camped out in front of the net. One was Tarasenko (great to see a superstar sniper going to the dirty areas by the way), and the other was Gunnarson. Pietrangelo obviously deserves all the credit in the world for the great display of skill, but the space he needed to make that play just isn't there without Gunnar being in front of the net.