I know that (at least on that other board), the Blues have already lost in the first round, packed their bags, and gone home. However, I'd still like to talk hockey if that's ok.

Right now, Petro, Shatty, and ZM are our best defensemen (in my opinion) and need to be in the lineup. J-Bo should be in there too but I agree with a lot of posters....he just doesn't look right. Gunnarsson I don't know what to think. Regardless, I'd really like for Bortuzzo to get a look...the problem is, he's a right D-man as are Petro, Shatty, and ZM. So, can any of those guys slide over to the left? And what should the pairings be? I also think that Jax belongs in the top six.

I'd vote:

Petro-ZM
J Bo/Gunnarsson-Shattenkirk
Jackman-Bortuzzo

I dunno...just thinking out loud. This still doesn't look great to me. Maybe just figure out who is the best match with Shatty and prioritize from there. I think Petro-ZM would be great...Petro has played the left side (I think?) and ZM is steady veteran who's not going to F*** anything up. Maybe J Bo-Bortuzzo would be alright and you could pair Jackman with Shatty as I believe they've played together quite a bit.

At any rate, would love to hear folks' thoughts on their three ideal D pairings. Anything to distract me from last night's debacle. Let's Go Blues. Drop the puck in Game 1 of the playoffs, I'm ready!

Sneptsmoustache wrote:I know that (at least on that other board), the Blues have already lost in the first round, packed their bags, and gone home. However, I'd still like to talk hockey if that's ok.

Right now, Petro, Shatty, and ZM are our best defensemen (in my opinion) and need to be in the lineup. J-Bo should be in there too but I agree with a lot of posters....he just doesn't look right. Gunnarsson I don't know what to think. Regardless, I'd really like for Bortuzzo to get a look...the problem is, he's a right D-man as are Petro, Shatty, and ZM. So, can any of those guys slide over to the left? And what should the pairings be? I also think that Jax belongs in the top six.

I'd vote:

Petro-ZM
J Bo/Gunnarsson-Shattenkirk
Jackman-Bortuzzo

I dunno...just thinking out loud. This still doesn't look great to me. Maybe just figure out who is the best match with Shatty and prioritize from there. I think Petro-ZM would be great...Petro has played the left side (I think?) and ZM is steady veteran who's not going to F*** anything up. Maybe J Bo-Bortuzzo would be alright and you could pair Jackman with Shatty as I believe they've played together quite a bit.

At any rate, would love to hear folks' thoughts on their three ideal D pairings. Anything to distract me from last night's debacle. Let's Go Blues. Drop the puck in Game 1 of the playoffs, I'm ready!

I really like Petro on the left side. He plays great on the pp on the left side and just looks really comfortable over there. That being said, I feel all of our dmen on the right side are seasoned enough to make the switch without problem.

Really wish Lindhohm would have started the season and shown enough progress to pair with Shattenkirk by now but that never happened. Too bad Hitch and Army are obsessed with having three left handed shooters and three right handed shooters because that takes away the ability to really tinker at the start of the season to see what really works.

With that said, they should just stick with what they have now:

Bou/Petro
Gunnar/Shatts
Jackman/ZM

I hear you. Having Bou and Gunnar in the lineup at the same time just drives me nuts however. In my head, all I can see is those two getting manhandled by Hossa down low as he cycles the puck with his buddy Toews.