Blues Mid-Summer Stance: Stand Still
St. Louis Blues President, John Davidson, addresses the media at a mid-summer press conference regarding moves this summer.
By Stephen Holley
St. Louis Post Disgrace
After beginning the offseason with a bang while landing last seasons most dominant 'pressure situation' goaltender Jaroslav Halak for next to nothing (Blues traded 7 games of NHL experience), the Blues seem to have come to a halt with regards to addressing the teams scoring issues.
"Well during the first half of the season we really struggled. After Davis Payne took over we averaged 2.89 goals per game, up from 2.45 under Murray. We'd like to think that with the roster we knew we had, the 2.89 is closer to what we were expecting,"said Davidson. J.D. neglected to mention that the Blues lost over 30 goals and 75 points after the retirement of Keith Tkachuk and refusing to offer Paul Kariya a contract after a dismal performance over the duration of his 3 years in St. Louis.
Davis Payne led the Blues to a 23-15-4 mark after taking over Andy Murray's job on January 2nd, 2009.
With a younger and seemingly more approachable coach the Blues would gel while players who seemed to struggle under coach Andy Murray (most noticeably Patrick Berglund) played with more confidence and purpose under Davis Payne.
The Blues, at this point, are headed toward the 2010-2011 season with the attitude that improvement must come from within.
Brad Boyes scored 14 goals last season after registering 33 and 43 the previous two seasons. If Boyes plans to stick around St. Louis after Christmas this trend must stop.
After putting up 80 points in his first 95 games as a Blue, Andy McDonald registered just 57 points in 79 games last season. He needs to find the 70 point mark 2010-2011.
David Perron, assuming he and the Blues come to terms, needs to work his way from 20 goals in his 3rd year to around 30 in 2010-2011. We need to see a breakout season from the kid with the magic hands.
TJ Oshie played well in 2009-2010 putting up 18 goals and 48 points in just his 2nd season, however he is no longer playing in a group of forwards with hall of fame careers to compete with. He finds himself at the head of the line and in position to step it up along with the aforementioned forwards.
Where's the 'C', already? David Backes is the choice of most Blues fans for the Captaincy in St. Louis if a change were to be made.
If the Blues should ever listen to their fans on anything, it should be to the overwhelming desire of many fans to personally steal David Backes' jersey only to return it with a big 'C' sewn to it's breast.
A leadership change, even if we all know leadership is more than a letter on a jersey, is still a symbolism of a 'changing of the guard'. Backes has consistently shown himself to be of not only high charachter and commitment, but also very personable and articulate. Backes is a far cry from the more reserved Eric Brewer, the Blues current Captain which many fans bemoan his spot on the roster at all, not to mention his captaincy. It's a laughable situation, really.
Someone needs to tell Patrick Berglund that if he wants to stay near his good buddy TJ Oshie, he needs to 'man up' and begin to be the player many think he can be after registering just 26 points after 21 goals and 47 points his rookie season.
At the end of the day here in mid-July, the Blues have gone from putting their eggs in a bunch of 20-year old baskets in 2009-2010 to putting their eggs in a bunch of 21-year old baskets with the help of what may be an amazing goaltender in 2010-2011.
Everything is a question waiting to be answered here in St. Louis. But with 92 and 90 points over the last two seasons, at least a winning attitude has been established.
Go Blues.
St. Louis Blues President, John Davidson, addresses the media at a mid-summer press conference regarding moves this summer.
By Stephen Holley
St. Louis Post Disgrace
After beginning the offseason with a bang while landing last seasons most dominant 'pressure situation' goaltender Jaroslav Halak for next to nothing (Blues traded 7 games of NHL experience), the Blues seem to have come to a halt with regards to addressing the teams scoring issues.
"Well during the first half of the season we really struggled. After Davis Payne took over we averaged 2.89 goals per game, up from 2.45 under Murray. We'd like to think that with the roster we knew we had, the 2.89 is closer to what we were expecting,"said Davidson. J.D. neglected to mention that the Blues lost over 30 goals and 75 points after the retirement of Keith Tkachuk and refusing to offer Paul Kariya a contract after a dismal performance over the duration of his 3 years in St. Louis.
Davis Payne led the Blues to a 23-15-4 mark after taking over Andy Murray's job on January 2nd, 2009.
With a younger and seemingly more approachable coach the Blues would gel while players who seemed to struggle under coach Andy Murray (most noticeably Patrick Berglund) played with more confidence and purpose under Davis Payne.
The Blues, at this point, are headed toward the 2010-2011 season with the attitude that improvement must come from within.
Brad Boyes scored 14 goals last season after registering 33 and 43 the previous two seasons. If Boyes plans to stick around St. Louis after Christmas this trend must stop.
After putting up 80 points in his first 95 games as a Blue, Andy McDonald registered just 57 points in 79 games last season. He needs to find the 70 point mark 2010-2011.
David Perron, assuming he and the Blues come to terms, needs to work his way from 20 goals in his 3rd year to around 30 in 2010-2011. We need to see a breakout season from the kid with the magic hands.
TJ Oshie played well in 2009-2010 putting up 18 goals and 48 points in just his 2nd season, however he is no longer playing in a group of forwards with hall of fame careers to compete with. He finds himself at the head of the line and in position to step it up along with the aforementioned forwards.
Where's the 'C', already? David Backes is the choice of most Blues fans for the Captaincy in St. Louis if a change were to be made.
If the Blues should ever listen to their fans on anything, it should be to the overwhelming desire of many fans to personally steal David Backes' jersey only to return it with a big 'C' sewn to it's breast.
A leadership change, even if we all know leadership is more than a letter on a jersey, is still a symbolism of a 'changing of the guard'. Backes has consistently shown himself to be of not only high charachter and commitment, but also very personable and articulate. Backes is a far cry from the more reserved Eric Brewer, the Blues current Captain which many fans bemoan his spot on the roster at all, not to mention his captaincy. It's a laughable situation, really.
Someone needs to tell Patrick Berglund that if he wants to stay near his good buddy TJ Oshie, he needs to 'man up' and begin to be the player many think he can be after registering just 26 points after 21 goals and 47 points his rookie season.
At the end of the day here in mid-July, the Blues have gone from putting their eggs in a bunch of 20-year old baskets in 2009-2010 to putting their eggs in a bunch of 21-year old baskets with the help of what may be an amazing goaltender in 2010-2011.
Everything is a question waiting to be answered here in St. Louis. But with 92 and 90 points over the last two seasons, at least a winning attitude has been established.
Go Blues.
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