Perron and Johnson

This season is a disappointment. The tact the team has recently taken is to get behind by two or three goals early by playing piss pour and then dominating the second half of the game only to fall short. It is desappointing but not completely disheartening. The fact that the Blues can play well and at times dominate their opponents is a good sign. They just need to find that consistently for 60 minutes a night. The question is whether they can do that.

The rookie seasons for David Perron and Erik Johnson have been as good as could have been hoped for. Both started out playing well and only got better from then on (even if the numbers aren't there for Perron). There was been much written lately on the handling of the two players (precipitated by David playing less than 6 minutes in Montreal). But if you look at their individual performances at the begining of the year and now (and not necessarily at team performance or the stats), it cannot be argued that they are not better players now. Playing the rookies part time has worked. This might be the solution to next year as TJ Oshie is expected to play in the NHL and Patrik Berglund will come to North America (whether in the NHL or AHL is yet to be determined). If these two players are rotated into the lineup, perhaps with a third player, onto the third line, they would probably play 2/3 of the season. Not far off from what David has played. This might also allow the Blues to keep more forwards (as there is a glut of them) if it is understood that they won't be full time players.

Hockey's Future Top 20 Blues Prospects

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/10234/blues_top20_prospects_spring2008/

I'm cheating a little bit but there is no way I could form an opinion and track all of the Blues top prospects. I like that Drazenovic is ranked but would like to know how Hellstrom compares to the other defensemen on the list.

13 Left

The Blues got smoked last night. The goaltenders looked bad. Though the power play scored, they also gave up two shorties. The team continues to spiral down the standings and are now tied for third worst in the league. If the Blues are within the worst five, they have a shot at the No. 1 overall pick. The concensus is that Steve Stamkos will be the No. 1 overall pick, regardless of who picks there. He is a 6'1" center who wieghs 185 lbs. If the Blues don't pick first, I hope they go for a forward. In that case watch for Jan Kovar who plays in the Czech Republic and is highly rated. (EDIT: He is 5'8" and weighs 136 lbs. Maybe a later round pick but the Blues don't need any more smurfs.)

After starting so fast, it looks like the Blues will finish below their record last year. What does this mean? I think it means the Blues were playing above their late last season and earlier this season. I also think that the Blues are playing below their level right now, though the season long slump of Stempniak (the only player to have a down year all year long) is worrying. The Blues management will have a lot of questions this offseason that will need answering if they are to progress.

The Home-run Pass Doesn't Work

The Blues were shut out again. One 'play' that has really started by confound me is the preponderance of the home-run pass by the defense to a lone forward at the opposing blue line. Often the pass doesn't connect and it serves as a dump in to change lines and lose possession. The times that it does connect, the lone Blues forward is surrounded by four opponents with no shot of reaching the net or a good shooting position and the result is a loss of possession. I would much rather watch the defense sit behind his net and wait for the line change instead of throwing the puck away.

At the begining of the season, I thought the Blues would finish out of the playoffs by 2-4 points. The Blues will have to finish strong to get to that point. They are now 14th in the Western Conference. I view this season as a step back from last year. The team finished strong last year and started this year strong. Then they went into a nose dive. This leads me to believe that the improvement we saw wasn't real or that the Blues are now bad for different reasons. Neither option is appealling. The Blues are now looking at a top five draft pick. I am not excited by this. Eventually, you have to have a good product on the ice. The Blues, by the trade deadline next year, should have been in a position to trade picks/prospects away for developed players. I don't see that happening now and fear that the Blues might fall into a perpetual cycle of rebuilding.