Western Conference Playoffs - Round 1: Blues vs Wild (MIN wins in 6)

[Caged Great]

I don't want any part of teams that have losers on them. Oshie and Backes were just as invisible as guys like J-bo/Jokinen in the playoffs. I would avoid them at all costs.

[killer_carlson]

have to think that when Hitchcock gets canned that Chiarelli has a long look at him.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

Who would have thought when we traded Bouwmeester that Brodie would become twice as good as him within two seasons? Unbelievable.

I wouldnt have bet on it, but it doesnt surprise me either. He showed a ton of talent really early on. I actually dont think it was Gio that made Brodie look good, they are both elite D but I actually think Brodie is a little better and deserves a Norris ballot himself.

[thefoss1957]

The Blues kept giving Hitch all that he wanted to try to get deeper in the playoffs at a high cost, like getting Miller for last year's playoffs...but the fact remains that, Hitch's team lacks discipline and adaptability to play the kind of hockey that works both for regular season, and post season success, and he doesn't manage minutes of his big guns well...he seems to wear his guys out, especially his #1 goaltender.

The Blues weren't patient with Davis Payne, who, I felt, had the team trending in the right direction...I expect that multiple playoff failures, after regular season successes, will mean Hitch will be done in St. Loo...Some Blues fans have voiced that "we can't change more players, it's time to change coaches" to me.

[UKflames]

Funny how everyone blamed Miller for the Blues loss last season and yet here we are with the same result, me thinks the problem is a lot more than the goalie, as some have said.

I think Hitch will be gone but he is another one of those coaches that will have options afterwards.

[AcGold]

The biggest challenge for us is gone. The Blues are our kryptonite, glad they are out.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by UKflames

Funny how everyone blamed Miller for the Blues loss last season and yet here we are with the same result, me thinks the problem is a lot more than the goalie, as some have said.

I think Hitch will be gone but he is another one of those coaches that will have options afterwards.

Miller got blamed for not playing as well as the guy on the other side of the ice against the Hawks but Allen was worse against the Wild. I do believe that Hitchock has past his expiry in St.Louis but Elliot and Allen are a brutal tandem (yeah stats look okay but behind that team any average goaltender will put up solid regular season stats) as if the Flames had those guys in net this season they miss the playoffs.

[Resolute 14]

Goaltending was their biggest problem. That problem being a refusal to play Elliott.

[burn_this_city]

What a bunch of chokers. Like others have said, you can't win with players that don't elevate their game come playoffs.

[SuperMatt18]

Their issue is their core players (outside of Tarasenko and Shattenkirk) can't score come playoff time.

Steen: 14 points in 31 career playoff games
Backes: 13 points in 29 career playoff games
Oshie: 9 points in 30 career playoff games
Schwartz: 7 points in 18 career playoff games
Berglund: 13 points in 29 career playoff games
Bouwmeester: 2 points in 18 career playoff games

Not winning anything with a core that disappears like that.

[direwolf]

The Blues are the new Sharks. Great regular seasons followed by complete failure in the playoffs.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Their issue is their core players (outside of Tarasenko and Shattenkirk) can't score come playoff time.

Steen: 14 points in 31 career playoff games
Backes: 13 points in 29 career playoff games
Oshie: 9 points in 30 career playoff games
Schwartz: 7 points in 18 career playoff games
Berglund: 13 points in 29 career playoff games
Bouwmeester: 2 points in 18 career playoff games

Not winning anything with a core that disappears like that.

A possible symptom is never having faith in your starting goaltender to just go out and play their offensive game. Mediocre goaltending really can sink an otherwise talented team as the Wild actually have a lot of talent and they were heading towards a top 10 draft pick until they got a goaltender they could depend on. That said they really do have to evaluate their forward group and why none of them have shown an extra gear in the playoffs.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

A possible symptom is never having faith in your starting goaltender to just go out and play their offensive game. Mediocre goaltending really can sink an otherwise talented team as the Wild actually have a lot of talent and they were heading towards a top 10 draft pick until they got a goaltender they could depend on. That said they really do have to evaluate their forward group and why none of them have shown an extra gear in the playoffs.

They have had 4 different goalies though.

Halak who looked fine in Montreal and now for the NYI.
Miller had success in Buffalo but didn't look great for Van.
Elliott who wasn't terrible in his two appearances.
Allen looked terrible all series this year.

issue is at some point the coaches need to have faith in a starter and run with him. In the last 4 years they have had good goalies come through that organization and they all seem to lose all confidence down the stretch.

[Table 5]

St. Louis has such a weird history with the playoffs.

Their best years were their first 3 in existence. They made Stanley Cup finals 3 years in a row...and were swept all 3 years.

And that's about as good as it got.

And yet, they've consistently been a really solid team, as they've failed to qualify for the playoffs only 8 times since they joined the league in 67-68 (thats almost half a century!). At one point, they had a 25 year streak of making the playoffs...and only made the Conference Finals twice in that span (and haven't been back since).

They are great at getting in...and then not doing anything.

[ricardodw]

The Blues went and adjusted and got softer on Defense. They lost of Polak. Their only tough d-man left was Jackman who got 13 minutes a game.

last year Sobotka was a 20 minute/game forward who played a hard game

[troutman]

Originally Posted by nmhen

that was fun. See you in the next Wild playoff series thread!

If we meet in the semis, I'm coming to Twin Cities, and you are taking me to First Avenue.