Yep.

Single game tickets will probably suffer, but they always do at the beginning of the year.

As long as they are playing well, I don't think you will see much of a difference as past seasons. Weak attendance the first couple of months, pretty much selling out after Christmas.
- carcus

Team also tries to circumvent this issue as well. Typically the (insert #) Game Packs are heavily weighted to the first half of the year. Say you have a 10 game pack, its not uncommon to have 6 games by christmas. Then they hope the team is hot and they can makeup single sales later on.

Same issue with those folks as well. Usually get them to commit for following year as well. When you see a big drop is when team misses and they don't have the playoffs as leverage.

i think the d depth is just fine. benoit on a two way, butler who was good dspite the criticism, and a bunch of young kids chomping at the bit.

i agree about forward though. would have liked to see berglund moved for a pick or something then look at some fa options or in house.
- BluemanGuruu

So let's look at the D depth for a minute.....

Let's assume Petro, Shatty and Jaybo are all quality tier NHL d-men.
I'd argue that Gunnar is shaky for certain and overpaid but still should be in the NHL d-man category.
Lindbohm has solid 4/5 potential but is far from a consistent lock during a full season.
Bortuzzo has is a third pairing potential but you could argue really is a 6/7 role (played @ 50 games a year over the last two seasons).
Butler, Harold, and Benoit are 6/7.

So you have 3 quality, 1 shaky, 1 inexperienced and a bunch of 6/7. I don't consider that good depth. Just my 2 cents.

Ryan O'Reilly got busted for drinking and driving and leaving the scene of an accident on foot. Troubled individual.

Ryan O'Reilly got busted for drinking and driving and leaving the scene of an accident on foot. Troubled individual.
- Goblues86

Sounds like he hit a Tim Horton's.... Yes. He ran his truck into a commercial establishment. oops

Ryan O'Reilly got busted for drinking and driving and leaving the scene of an accident on foot. Troubled individual.
- Goblues86

I wonder how Garth will twist that into something special about him.

Got to wonder about Tim Murray movgn around lots of great assets for players with highly questionable values and attitudes.

i just signed a massive contract and i am drunk, oh well better pay someone to drive me.

freaking joke. NHL ought to suspend him.

The offseason in pictures so far...

I wish I was feeling like this:



but I feel more like this:

Any more reports on how the development camp went? atmosphere? stuff the team did for the fans in attendance?

On the plus side, it did force the rink to drop the a/c temp which makes our skates there better

Randall?

Randall?
- sycsam

Any more reports on how the development camp went? atmosphere? stuff the team did for the fans in attendance?

On the plus side, it did force the rink to drop the a/c temp which makes our skates there better
- stljam

So it has been a while since I skated on the ice there. Is it any better?

I remember it just being bad because of so many deep ruts/etc from the Blues skating on it.

They sent out an email to season ticket holders about a snack and drink area for season ticket holders. I got there and there was a small table with a big bag of popcorn, some cookies, and bottled water. It looked pretty pathetic and I didn't even bother going over there.

It was packed the day I went, and by the looks of some pics I have seen of other days, it was packed then as well. All seats completely taken up and several rows of people standing around the glass on the end that doesn't have seating. Good turnouts.

Where has our blogger gone? Did Randall kidnap him?

Gents,

Is it worth doing a report card grade blog for last season?

So it has been a while since I skated on the ice there. Is it any better?

I remember it just being bad because of so many deep ruts/etc from the Blues skating on it.

They sent out an email to season ticket holders about a snack and drink area for season ticket holders. I got there and there was a small table with a big bag of popcorn, some cookies, and bottled water. It looked pretty pathetic and I didn't even bother going over there.

It was packed the day I went, and by the looks of some pics I have seen of other days, it was packed then as well. All seats completely taken up and several rows of people standing around the glass on the end that doesn't have seating. Good turnouts.
- carcus

ice there is really inconsistent. It can be terrible. It was better last week because they dropped the a/c temp. It can be a slush fest in the summer and a rut fest in the winter. Definitely not high quality ice.

Where has our blogger gone? Did Randall kidnap him?
- Goblues86

Conspiracy theory:

Randall really is Corey. He was pretending to be another guy so that we wouldn't get on his case as much. But he has slipped back into his old habits and his cover has been blown.

Conspiracy theory:

Randall really is Corey. He was pretending to be another guy so that we wouldn't get on his case as much. But he has slipped back into his old habits and his cover has been blown.


- carcus

Plus you can get paid for writing on two sites?

Gents,

Is it worth doing a report card grade blog for last season?
- stljam

Sure.

Epic Fail.

End of blog.

Plus you can get paid for writing on two sites?
- stljam

That would have been perfect.

I don't think Randall was smart enough to devise such a plan.

I miss him.

Sure.

Epic Fail.

End of blog.
- bcallaway

I never liked the school grading system for sports. I think a better judge would be a scale of exceeded expectations, met expectations and failed to meet expectations.

I never liked the school grading system for sports. I think a better judge would be a scale of exceeded expectations, met expectations and failed to meet expectations.
- stljam

Jam if you take the time to write a blog I am sure we would read it and enjoy it

I like most of us here was very disappointed in the end of the season but it was not all doom

Tarasenko broke out

Lehtera had a strong yet inconsistent first year in the NHL

Jam if you take the time to write a blog I am sure we would read it and enjoy it

I like most of us here was very disappointed in the end of the season but it was not all doom

Tarasenko broke out

Lehtera had a strong yet inconsistent first year in the NHL
- sycsam

Lehtera is a curious case....I sure hope he doesn't go the way of Brunnstrom. I don't think he will but it's not impossible to imagine. Brunnstrom had 17 goals his first year with Dallas after signing as an older free agent (23 or so I think). The next year his total points were not even 2/3 of his prior year goals (11 pts). By year 4 he was back overseas.

ETA - Lehtera is a much more complete player and a better player overall. I just hope we continue to see positive adjustments rather than last year being his ceiling.

Lehtera is a curious case....I sure hope he doesn't go the way of Brunnstrom. I don't think he will but it's not impossible to imagine. Brunnstrom had 17 goals his first year with Dallas after signing as an older free agent (23 or so I think). The next year his total points were not even 2/3 of his prior year goals (11 pts). By year 4 he was back overseas.

ETA - Lehtera is a much more complete player and a better player overall. I just hope we continue to see positive adjustments rather than last year being his ceiling.
- stljam

Uh-oh.

Prepare to face the wrath of Carcus. He's not going to take kindly you talking bad
about Lehetera. He already has his sweater.


That's an interesting comparison. I'm not sure what to think about him yet. I think, and I hope that his decline in productivity over the second half of the season had to do with the concussion he sustained.

Based on his age and his size, I would think he's heading into his prime over the next five years or so. I certainly hope so. I like what I saw of him.

Uh-oh.

Prepare to face the wrath of Carcus. He's not going to take kindly you talking bad
about Lehetera. He already has his sweater.


That's an interesting comparison. I'm not sure what to think about him yet. I think, and I hope that his decline in productivity over the second half of the season had to do with the concussion he sustained.

Based on his age and his size, I would think he's heading into his prime over the next five years or so. I certainly hope so. I like what I saw of him.
- bcallaway

I do have his sweater, and it is great.

Lehtera has something that most don't..............Tarasenko.

Honestly, I will be surprised if he doesn't have a full year close to what him and Tarasenko were doing in the first couple of months last year. I don't think he will get less than 60 points this year if healthy and playing a full season.

Uh-oh.

Prepare to face the wrath of Carcus. He's not going to take kindly you talking bad
about Lehetera. He already has his sweater.


That's an interesting comparison. I'm not sure what to think about him yet. I think, and I hope that his decline in productivity over the second half of the season had to do with the concussion he sustained.

Based on his age and his size, I would think he's heading into his prime over the next five years or so. I certainly hope so. I like what I saw of him.
- bcallaway

No wrath needed. I love Lehtera's game in most respects. He's defensively responsible, good in the dot, and very competent in the O-zone. I don't expect him to regress but I don't think many thought Brunnstrom would regress as much as he did.

I think Lehtera's fall off was partially due to the NHL grind and partially due to injury. It's a much harder schedule than pretty much every other league in the world. I hope he learns from that an improves (much like Tank).

No wrath needed. I love Lehtera's game in most respects. He's defensively responsible, good in the dot, and very competent in the O-zone. I don't expect him to regress but I don't think many thought Brunnstrom would regress as much as he did.

I think Lehtera's fall off was partially due to the NHL grind and partially due to injury. It's a much harder schedule than pretty much every other league in the world. I hope he learns from that an improves (much like Tank).
- stljam

ETA - as far as current Blues go, he and Tank would be the two sweaters we would get. My wife doesn't like taking the biggest name players so Lehtera is her current thought on the next sweater.

I do have his sweater, and it is great.

Lehtera has something that most don't..............Tarasenko.

Honestly, I will be surprised if he doesn't have a full year close to what him and Tarasenko were doing in the first couple of months last year. I don't think he will get less than 60 points this year if healthy and playing a full season.
- carcus

When Eller came up, it was clear that he wasn't a typical European player. Lehtera was the same way. It was clear early on that he would be a good, productive NHLer. He played a north American style game from day one.