GDT:Blues@Canucks Oct 26, 2011, 7:00pm, SnetV, 1040

[mathonwy]

This game felt like two years ago (or was it three) when the Blues had our # all season.

The good:

- Great energy in the first and one particularly dominating shift that unfortunately resulted in bupkus.
- Sulzer playing 19:19 and making one particularly amazing stretch pass to Kes who got stoned
- Booth looked good. He's a Mason Raymond with 30 more pounds on him and he uses those 30 more pounds very effectively. The Amex line looked very good in the first crashing and banging in the offensive zone.

The bad:

- We just could not get through the neutral zone and we had no defensemen that was able to skate it up.
- Manny is a one trick pony right now. 10 games in with only 3 assists to show. The closest comparison player is David Steckel and he has 3 goals so far. Manny is costing us 2.5. Steckel is costing the Laughs 1.1.

The ugly:

- Oh Bieksa... what's going on man.
- We took ourselves off the powerplay TWICE with dumb penalties.
- We got shut out at home... sigh. No good.

This game sucked ass. November can't come fast enough.

[Meds]

Schneider was good in the loss.....again. He's free and clear on the third goal, the second goal looked to me like it was tipped right in front of him, though I'm not sure and haven't seen a clear replay of it, but it was about 2 feet off the ice coming in and then suddenly went over his right shoulder, if not tipped he's on the hook for it. First goal was a good save, then he moved to get in front of the St. Louis player who was whacking at the puck, the guy whiffed on it and the original shooter got a second chance.....not much he's going to do about that one.

Valk is right, Bieksa needs a fight. Seriously needs one. He starts every season wound right up and doesn't really relax until he's taken it out on someone. He tried tonight, but the officials got in the way.....I feel sorry for whoever ends up obliging him, because all that pent up angst is going to boil over in a big way. Until he does this though, he's really hurting the team.

What a pass by Sulzer to Kesler! Too bad Kes didn't realize he had another 3.5 seconds when he let that shot go. Elliot had the angle, but an extra second and a bit more to the right and Kesler was looking at a much better shot.

Malhotra is useless outside of the faceoff circle. He got the puck coming across their blueline after we forced a turnover, Ballard jumps up on the left wing and is wide open, Malhotra doesn't see him and a golden opportunity is missed.

I thought Hodgson was a bit stronger on the boards tonight than in previous games, a few plays where he had nothing and just let it go from the blueline were a bit annoying to watch, but the reality was he had nobody to go to and the Blue's do clog up the middle nicely.

Edler can't shoot worth shit. He's like a .50 cal that needs to have it's barrel rifled properly.

Who were those guys wearing the Sedin's numbers? They suck and didn't deserve to sport them.

Whenever the puck gets passed to Hansen near the net I just roll my eyes. Better off letting Schneider or Luongo take the shot from our blueline and hope the other goalie whiffs on it.....

Total lack of discipline out there on the PP too, and both were just starting to give me the feeling like they might put something up on the board when.....yeah.....you know the rest.

Does the term cohesiveness mean anything to this group right now? You could have Gretzky, Lemieux, Sakic, Yzerman, Jagr, Selanne, Bure, Sittler, both Hulls, Crosby, Lidstrom, Scotties Stevens and Niedermayer, Robinson, Leetch, Orr, and Roy all dressing for this team right now and they wouldn't win shit if they played with the level of chemistry we are seeing from this team of late. Hell, Roy would probably demand a trade and go win the Cup in Washington.

Luongo looked stellar tonight on the bench. Awesome performance.

[ODB]

I suggested firing Alain Vigneault after the team totally fell apart in the SCF. People crapped themselves... You can't fire a coach that got your team to game 7 of the SCF.

Everyone shits on LOU for losing the cup! I don't... if not for Lou's sick play in three of the 7 games we don't make it too game 7. Vigneault seems to have lost the team. Let’s hope GMMG pulls the trigger before things get too out of hand.

Hey hey, Ho ho, Alain Vigneault has got too go!

[LotusBlossom]

I suggested firing Alain Vigneault after the team totally fell apart in the SCF. People crapped themselves... You can't fire a coach that got your team to game 7 of the SCF.

Everyone shits on LOU for losing the cup! I don't... if not for Lou's sick play in three of the 7 games we don't make it too game 7. Vigneault seems to have lost the team. Let’s hope GMMG pulls the trigger before things get too out of hand.

Hey hey, Ho ho, Alain Vigneault has got too go!

When you see the talent on the ice and they aren't responding to anything the coach has to say, perhaps a coaching change is in order.

I have a weird feeling that AV will get a pass unless this keeps up for the next 10 games.

Yes you can fire a coach that took you to Game 7 of the SCF, especially if everything that comes out of his mouth means nothing to the guys on the ice

[Listercat]

This is a group of individuals without a purpose at the moment. There is no "team" concept, there is no "taking care of business". I see a lot of bad habits and lazy play and poor reads especially from the forwards.

The Blues first goal is a classic example. People are quick to hang KB3 out but we know the D has been given the green light to go on the rush. When he joined the rush the winger on that side is supposed to drop back to cover. Didn't happen ..

Daniel and Henrik have killed numerous PP's with the lazy check from behind penalties. Always check and support on the defensive side of the puck.

Jannick Hansen was one of the most consistent players in the playoffs last year. For the most part he has been invisible and he was one of the few who didn't contend with an injury to rehab during the break.

Alex Edler looks like a robot. Is the back still an issue??

The 4th line night after night has been the one that shows the most hustle. They move up ice as a unit and with speed. None of the other lines are doing that consistently.

Sami and Hammer have been reasonably consistent on the back end. KB4 makes some very good breakout passes and from a speed point of view is the fastest D man and a decent puck carrier. Bieksa needs to pound the shit out of someone and get his snarl back.

This group appears to suffering from a lack of confidence in their individual and team abilities. Has the media butchering since the SCF eroded their swagger?? It would seem so.

[Puck]

[quote="Listercat"This group appears to suffering from a lack of confidence in their individual and team abilities. Has the media butchering since the SCF eroded their swagger?? It would seem so.[/quote]
One of the talking heads on SN said something similar last night... could be true. I wonder if the team REALLY believed that they would win it all last year. Really believed. It could explain how they always kept their cool and never panicked - although a little desperation in game seven would have been helpful. That attitude/swagger helped them survive the game seven scare vs. Chicago and the scoring troubles in round 2. It probably also helped them pull out the game 5 win in the final. If said swagger got dismantled by losing game seven ("Holy crap, we didn't win the Cup. Weird.") , they may need to find a way to rebuild it. Goal scoring takes confidence and it seems lacking at the moment.

[Rayxor]

Does the term cohesiveness mean anything to this group right now? You could have Gretzky, Lemieux, Sakic, Yzerman, Jagr, Selanne, Bure, Sittler, both Hulls, Crosby, Lidstrom, Scotties Stevens and Niedermayer, Robinson, Leetch, Orr, and Roy all dressing for this team right now and they wouldn't win shit if they played with the level of chemistry we are seeing from this team of late.

Most of those guys are pretty damn old, and Stevens would spend most of the season suspended.

[Aaronp18]

This team needs a wake-up call, i really think it may be that simple.

The talent is there, hell we are even more talented than where we started last year.

I strongly believe it's going to happen soon. Likely by Saturday, where if we play like we have been we'll get are asses handed to us on a silver platter by Washington.

This happened last year and the team really didn't realize the effort level necessary until we got smoked by Chicago again! They were on cruise control after they rattled off a few wins in a row and then had the wake-up call.

Hopefully they realize that they can get back to the finals but there's a lengthy process involved and a harder working team is required. I know they're going through the "fuck we were so damn close and now we just have start all over", it was inevitable.

Unfortunately, it may take a good shellacking for them to get back to what made them successful. Hopefully not, and they take these couple days off and wake up and start having some fun again. Right now they are going through the motions and playing partial games.

You just can't do that when you've got a bulls-eye on your back. Everyone wants to take down the team that had so much success last year!

[griz]

Luongo looked stellar tonight on the bench. Awesome performance.

Didn't that second goal on Cory actually bounce off Luo first?

Just kidding.

Honestly I was more pissed about the Edmonton game. Last night, the Blues simply were the better team and they had some bounces go their way. 3 posts for example. Regardless the Canucks did not deserve the win and the best team on the ice won. I'm okay with that.

However I did notice how MAD the Canucks were - even the Sedins. If it weren't for that I would be worried. They'll sort it out.

Topper - what did you think of Henrik's dipsy doodling?

I think the Canucks were individually trying to make a difference and they stopped playing as a team.

[Topper]

Topper - what did you think of Henrik's dipsy doodling?

Henrik's (I thought it was Daniel) camel toe drag move through the slot was great. While the defender broke it up, Vancouver did not loose pocession of the puck and generated a scoring chance.

I believe Booth made a similar move later with the same result.

That is the difference between an NHL move and an OHL move.

[Rumsfeld]

I suggested firing Alain Vigneault after the team totally fell apart in the SCF. People crapped themselves... You can't fire a coach that got your team to game 7 of the SCF.

Everyone shits on LOU for losing the cup! I don't... if not for Lou's sick play in three of the 7 games we don't make it too game 7. Vigneault seems to have lost the team. Let’s hope GMMG pulls the trigger before things get too out of hand.

Hey hey, Ho ho, Alain Vigneault has got too go!

I would propose an "occupy Vigneault" movement, but apparently Aaron Rome spends most evenings inside him and won't give up his spot without a fight.

[Rayxor]

Topper - what did you think of Henrik's dipsy doodling?

Henrik's (I thought it was Daniel) camel toe drag move through the slot was great. While the defender broke it up, Vancouver did not loose pocession of the puck and generated a scoring chance.

Besides, Henrik would have to clear waivers.

[Potatoe1]

I believe Booth made a similar move later with the same result.

That is the difference between an NHL move and an OHL move.

Personally I'm having a really hard time distinguishing between the OHL toe drag and the NHL toe drag, is it the velocity that makes the difference, or perhaps the angle at which one drags their toe?

And here I though that when I pulled off some sweet moves few weeks back in beer league, that I was the second coming of Dennie Savard. Turns out I only have beer league moves

[Hank]

Yeah, I think a camel toe drag is a camel toe drag wherever you try to pull it off. If you tried one against this year's Bieksa, you're an NHLer. If you tried one against Bieksa last year when he was actually good, then you're an OHLer?

Frankly, I would want my first rounder to have to skills and balls to try the occasional outlandish move. On the other hand, if Volpatti thinks he can get away with pulling out the junk because he is now a 3rd liner he should be sent to the ECHL immediately.

[Topper]

The Lady goes Gaga over the camel toe drag.