Was scrolling fb this morning and a teaser came up for a pay-walled article in the Post, saying that Blues viewership is down 18%. Anybody read it?? Down 18% from what ???… The overwhelming complaint in the comments, is about how fucked-up it is to try to watch them… too many different providers that only broadcast some of the games… blackouts… etc. I have ESPN+ / Hulu and get a game once in a while, 90% of the time they’re blacked out, even West coast games. It seems that they are doing everything that they can to drive fans away from the game… they only want the fans with deep pockets that can afford to buy a half-dozen subscriptions. Fuck everyone else. I’m about done with them.

You combine the inane obstacles with the lack of quality/future promise on the ice (sorry Jake) and it makes sense. Plus Bally let the little person with gumption walk.

If every time I tried to go to a restaurant their doors were closed and the few times I could get in the food quality was poor, I’d eventually lose interest in that restaurant.

Stillman needs to get tough with Army because he’s about to lose a fan base and a lot of money.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:41 pm If every time I tried to go to a restaurant their doors were closed and the few times I could get in the food quality was poor, I’d eventually lose interest in that restaurant.

Stillman needs to get tough with Army because he’s about to lose a fan base and a lot of money.

Not having a stable way for fans to view games locally isn't Armstrong's fault. That's a League issue.

It's going to be about three years of pain and a lot of that blame falls on Armstrong but fans need an affordable way to keep engaged with the team while we go through this stupid ass "retool". So Stillman needs to figure that out.

BluesSK wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 11:31 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:41 pm If every time I tried to go to a restaurant their doors were closed and the few times I could get in the food quality was poor, I’d eventually lose interest in that restaurant.

Stillman needs to get tough with Army because he’s about to lose a fan base and a lot of money.

Not having a stable way for fans to view games locally isn't Armstrong's fault. That's a League issue.

It's going to be about three years of pain and a lot of that blame falls on Armstrong but fans need an affordable way to keep engaged with the team while we go through this stupid ass "retool". So Stillman needs to figure that out.

I didn't blame Army for that Bally's bankruptcy and blackouts. But if the product was worth viewing, fans would view it. Who wants to pay a subscription fee to watch their team give no effort and waste a vezina goalie? That part is on Army.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 9:19 am

BluesSK wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 11:31 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:41 pm If every time I tried to go to a restaurant their doors were closed and the few times I could get in the food quality was poor, I’d eventually lose interest in that restaurant.

Stillman needs to get tough with Army because he’s about to lose a fan base and a lot of money.

Not having a stable way for fans to view games locally isn't Armstrong's fault. That's a League issue.

It's going to be about three years of pain and a lot of that blame falls on Armstrong but fans need an affordable way to keep engaged with the team while we go through this stupid ass "retool". So Stillman needs to figure that out.

I didn't blame Army for that Bally's bankruptcy and blackouts. But if the product was worth viewing, fans would view it. Who wants to pay a subscription fee to watch their team give no effort and waste a vezina goalie? That part is on Army.

If there was no Covid years who knows what would have happened. We could have had some great playoff runs and right now we would be looking at our "retooling" in a different perspective.

I think it all boils down to when we lost Petro and people can blame Armstrong or say he did the right thing but that was the pivotal point which led to where we are at now.

The problem right now for Blues fans is that they live in St. Louis. The local TV and streaming choices are awful. They need a stable affordable package to keep their interest up over the next few seasons. Stillman, Armstrong and the Blues need to recognize this

I had an opportunity as an out of market fan to get the total NHL package for $150 CAD this season. I didn't take it because I'm not in North America for most of the season but that isn't an unreasonable cost.

BluesSK wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 6:28 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 9:19 am

BluesSK wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 11:31 pm

Not having a stable way for fans to view games locally isn't Armstrong's fault. That's a League issue.

It's going to be about three years of pain and a lot of that blame falls on Armstrong but fans need an affordable way to keep engaged with the team while we go through this stupid ass "retool". So Stillman needs to figure that out.

I didn't blame Army for that Bally's bankruptcy and blackouts. But if the product was worth viewing, fans would view it. Who wants to pay a subscription fee to watch their team give no effort and waste a vezina goalie? That part is on Army.

If there was no Covid years who knows what would have happened. We could have had some great playoff runs and right now we would be looking at our "retooling" in a different perspective.

I think it all boils down to when we lost Petro and people can blame Armstrong or say he did the right thing but that was the pivotal point which led to where we are at now.

The problem right now for Blues fans is that they live in St. Louis. The local TV and streaming choices are awful. They need a stable affordable package to keep their interest up over the next few seasons. Stillman, Armstrong and the Blues need to recognize this

I had an opportunity as an out of market fan to get the total NHL package for $150 CAD this season. I didn't take it because I'm not in North America for most of the season but that isn't an unreasonable cost.

I actually think the decline started when we lost Bouwmeester, and then signed Scandella as a 'panic' move. Still, even with that, we went into the initial lockdown as the #1 team in the West.

In addition, Tarasenko was on the shelf for pretty much the next two years.

I mean, Zach Sanford was in our top-6 for crying out loud (and had 30 points in 58 games)! He's been on six teams in the last 4 seasons now.

How much better off would we have been if we'd kept Pietrangelo and not signed Krug/Scandella? We lost Dunn in the expansion draft, and Schwartz to FA. As much as I would have liked to keep them, would Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron still be top-line players on a Stanley Cup caliber team? How much longer are they signed for?

It's a lot easier for Piertrangelo to be a difference maker on a team with Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Jonathan Marchessault, Shea Theodore, etc. than he would have been here.

IMHO, we could have been 'better' for a couple of years there, but still not cup-caliber and we'd be just entering our 'rebuild/retool' NOW, with even more long-term contracts to over-30 YO players, instead of having a jump start on it with some really good-looking prospects we picked up last year with multiple 1st round picks in a deep draft.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:41 pm If every time I tried to go to a restaurant their doors were closed and the few times I could get in the food quality was poor, I’d eventually lose interest in that restaurant.

Stillman needs to get tough with Army because he’s about to lose a fan base and a lot of money.

Stillman can't have it both ways though. He wants a competitive team, but he can't/won't sign off on a full rebuild. Army has absolutely made some mistakes with this roster, but all in the name of keeping this team in the playoff hunt. Last deadline they sold the UFAs because the playoffs were out of the question and re-signing those UFAs was unlikely. They didn't cut any deeper though, and I think that's what you would've seen from the owners with deeper pockets. I just think that's a reality of the situation with STL based ownership. This team is likely destined to be a middle 10 team for the foreseeable future, and that jives pretty well with the team's history. Since the cap came in, spending hasn't been the limiting factor for Blues ownership, it's been the ability to survive a few losing seasons, either by design or otherwise. The Hitch era and Cup team had some top of the League finishes, but those were built on the back of the draft picks acquired by missing the playoffs in 5 out of 6 seasons before Stillman took over. If this lean era results in missing the playoffs in 5 out of 6 seasons, Stillman isn't going to be around to watch those draft picks bear fruit.