Coming off the All Star Break and the Big Daddy Vladi trade the Blues looked like they might finally find a rhythm and *somehow* sneak into a playoff spot. Fast forward a week into the post-ROR era and reality has hit: this team STINKS. OUT LOUD. I think we knew once the captain got traded things might get bad, but I don’t think any of us thought it would look this ugly. The 4-1 loss to Colorado on Mardi Gras may as well have been 10-1, the next day we get sandpaper finished by a non-playoff Ottawa team 7-2, and then last night we choke a lead away on home ice with 30 seconds left so we could let Peterson walk coast to coast to crush us with 20 seconds left in OT.
To top it all off in the post game presser Berube went at the players harder than I think I’ve ever seen a coach go at them, followed by Torpchenko (who had a monster game) the RUSSIAN ROOKIE calling out how he doesn’t think the team is in it at all mentally.
Anyone who thinks either guy is out of line with what they said please go chew on a puck for an hour or something more useful. Toropchenko plays like a mad Russian bear out there, plus when you A) score a beauty of a shorthanded goal and B) play a 2 minute PK shift as a forward while blocking THREE one timers from Petterson in the process you can say whatever you damn please. And for anyone who thinks Berube should be gone this summer thinking this Fyre Fest of a season is his fault please revert back to my puck chewing suggestion. In any other workplace when employees (aka players) are underperforming with a college try effort, the employees get the blame. Hockey should start following suit instead of firing the coach anytime their team has a bad season.
Doug Armstrong had some words to say about the post-game mic drops from Berube and Toropchenko, but this quote here is what stood out to me really.
Army is essentially getting the point across that the era of the core we had that won us a cup and took us on playoff run after playoff run after playoff run, has come to an end. The only thing I might disagree with is labelling it as a decade. It really started when we drafted Petro 4th overall in 2008. Since then we’ve been on a ride with a core that consisted of Petro, Vladi, Schwartzy, Steen, Perron, Bouwmeester, Backes, Stastny, and of course O’reilly. Notice a trend? They’re all fuckin gone. However depressing that sounds, I take that quote from Army as somewhat of a light at the end of the tunnel. The Blues were eventually going to have to adapt to this new era of the NHL where speed and skill is what wins, not physicality like it did in 2019. Moving on from that core however bittersweet it is, is what is needed. We have Kyrou and Thomas locked up for 7 more years, Toropchenko is showing more potential every game, prospect Zachary Bolduc has 38 goals and 91 points in just 49 games in junior this year, and we have 3 first round draft picks (and counting) going into the most stacked NHL draft in years. My prediction? This year is obviously dead, next season might suck your grandma’s tit too, but come soon the Blues are going to be a COMPLETELY different team that is built on being faster and more skilled than anyone else. The bright side of us being the Fyre Fest of the NHL now? The worse we do, the better chance we have at getting this guy.
The Morning Skate 