2014-2015 Blues (Hockey) Season

[TheoSqua]

Even if you use traditional stats Stastny isn't doing bad.

Let's ignore Oct-Dec. He was hurt, admitted later that he returned from injury too quickly, and had to adjust to muiltiple linemates and an entire new team. So I'm gonna give him a mulligan.

Paul Stastny's PPG the 4 seasons prior to joining the Blues: 0.73
Paul Stastny's PPG the months of Jan through March: 0.70

So since he's gotten himself established and healthy he's performed almost exactly like he has the four years prior.

The problem with Stastny isn't his performance, but fan's expectations. They heard #1 Center and 7M a year and expected the dude to come in and dominate other teams and be all over the ice. But the only reason he was worth 7m a season is because of the short term and the lack of alternatives in the free agent market. He's not a Sidney Crosby type that transforms a team just by being on the ice, and he doesn't need to be.

Stastny is a huge win for this team. He (combined with Lehtera) gives us great depth down the middle on the offensive side. He drives possession, makes his line-mates better, wins faceoffs, is a solid backchecker, and doesn't turn over the puck very often when transitioning out of his zone.

Those are all qualities the Blues severely lacked on the 2nd and 3rd lines last year. Sobotka has this overhyped repuatation in some areas, but he does almost none of the above better than Stastny. Part of the reason that the Tarasenko/Lehtera/Schawrtz line has done so well is because they're able to take better offensive shifts. If the Jaskin/Stastny/Berglund line wasn't driving posession like they do then you'd see the 2nd line have much less opportunity to score.

[MrCrowesGarden]

We got hosed today. Abdelkader's game winner was played with a broken stick.

If I had more than my iPad, I'd share the overhead gif. Perhaps someone else can pick me up?

[JCShutout]

The Blues have lost a few games. I'm waiting for the panic.

[MrCrowesGarden]

The Blues have lost a few games. I'm waiting for the panic.

Panic? No. Frustrated. Yup. Seen this before? Absolutely.

[JCShutout]

At this point, as long as they are right in game one of the playoffs, I'm good. 2011 makes me scoff at "momentum."

[longhornbaseball]

At this point, as long as they are right in game one of the playoffs, I'm good. 2011 makes me scoff at "momentum."

I need them to be alright in game 3...

[JackofDiamonds]

We got hosed today. Abdelkader's game winner was played with a broken stick.

If I had more than my iPad, I'd share the overhead gif. Perhaps someone else can pick me up?

It's [expletive], he clearly broke the stick on Elliott's left pad, but he did a good job of holding it together until after the play. Bad luck, but another road point.

https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/CAuSFVGUkAAmseO.mp4

[Hoot45]

Nice to get points at Pittsburgh at the conclusion of that road trip. Now down to the last 8 games, 6 of which are at home. Three of those 8 are against Chicago and Minnesota. Should be a fun finish to the season, hope the Blues finish strong.

[cardinalkarp]

We got hosed today. Abdelkader's game winner was played with a broken stick.

If I had more than my iPad, I'd share the overhead gif. Perhaps someone else can pick me up?

It's [expletive], he clearly broke the stick on Elliott's left pad, but he did a good job of holding it together until after the play. Bad luck, but another road point.

https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/CAuSFVGUkAAmseO.mp4

I know they had said that it wasn't a "reviewable" play, but I thought all goals scored were reviewed?

[JackofDiamonds]

We got hosed today. Abdelkader's game winner was played with a broken stick.

If I had more than my iPad, I'd share the overhead gif. Perhaps someone else can pick me up?

It's [expletive], he clearly broke the stick on Elliott's left pad, but he did a good job of holding it together until after the play. Bad luck, but another road point.

https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/CAuSFVGUkAAmseO.mp4

I know they had said that it wasn't a "reviewable" play, but I thought all goals scored were reviewed?

The stick breaking isn't reviewable; they can review whether the puck crossed the line, if there was high-sticking, a "distinct" kicking motion, time of the goal, whether the net was off it moorings... but not if a broken stick was used?