Cut the touchy-feely crap, Nancy. It's the playoffs.......

He deserves to be dumped on. As I said, if he were working on the other parts of his game, I wouldn't be trashing him, but he was easily the worst player on the ice on the other night.

the Blues have never played this far into May. They haven't been to this point in the playoffs in thirty years. They may not get this close again in the near future. If your best player can't be your best player now, that's on him.

And if you want to rip on someone whose calling him out, you can start with his coach who's done so twice now publicly in so many words.
- bcallaway

I get it, he has to play better.

I don't buy that he is 100% like Hitch has said. But even putting that aside, he has been the only guy that we have been able to count on for the last few years. (up until this year, several have stepped up)

He has one series that isn't going well for him (for whatever reason) and I see Blues fans killing him. I think it is pathetic. On the stltoday forum, a lot are talking about trading him, talking about not being able to because of his bloated contract/etc. It is ridiculous. He goes 5 games without a point and doesn't look good and people all of a sudden forget that he has been our rock in the playoffs until this series.

Something is wrong. Physical/mental, I don't know. But to throw him under the bus and calling for him to be traded/he is fat/all the other junk being said about him.........those Blues fans need to take a look in the mirror and that is an ugly reflection.

We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him against Chicago.

I get it, he has to play better.

I don't buy that he is 100% like Hitch has said. But even putting that aside, he has been the only guy that we have been able to count on for the last few years. (up until this year, several have stepped up)

He has one series that isn't going well for him (for whatever reason) and I see Blues fans killing him. I think it is pathetic. On the stltoday forum, a lot are talking about trading him, talking about not being able to because of his bloated contract/etc. It is ridiculous. He goes 5 games without a point and doesn't look good and people all of a sudden forget that he has been our rock in the playoffs until this series.

Something is wrong. Physical/mental, I don't know. But to throw him under the bus and calling for him to be traded/he is fat/all the other junk being said about him.........those Blues fans need to take a look in the mirror and that is an ugly reflection.

We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him against Chicago.
- carcus

Trading him is lunacy. His contract is already one of the best bargains in the league and will likely only get even more valuable for years to come.

I get it, he has to play better.

I don't buy that he is 100% like Hitch has said. But even putting that aside, he has been the only guy that we have been able to count on for the last few years. (up until this year, several have stepped up)

He has one series that isn't going well for him (for whatever reason) and I see Blues fans killing him. I think it is pathetic. On the stltoday forum, a lot are talking about trading him, talking about not being able to because of his bloated contract/etc. It is ridiculous. He goes 5 games without a point and doesn't look good and people all of a sudden forget that he has been our rock in the playoffs until this series.

Something is wrong. Physical/mental, I don't know. But to throw him under the bus and calling for him to be traded/he is fat/all the other junk being said about him.........those Blues fans need to take a look in the mirror and that is an ugly reflection.

We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him against Chicago.
- carcus

Hence why I avoid that forum

YOu cant trade him

He isn't fat

Something is wrong like you said

It could be Vlasic it could be something else

We wont know until the season is over

I hope that isn't for three more weeks

The nhl is moving towards a more skill game

Hence why Ott and Reaves are out and Jaskin and Paajarvi are in

Sharks have nonone that can play hence Wingels is in the game

I hate Steve Ott and think he is a waste of salary but Hitch loves him for some reason

Go ahead and defend Wingels but he is nothing more than a glorified goon

Shattenkirk should have leveled him

Refs missed the Wingels hit and it burnt the blues when Shattenkirk retaliated.

The NHL is a joke with discipline and the refs are jokes when they don't throw guys out for hits like Wingels puts on and the jumping of Jaskin by Polak. There are four officials on the ice? THey miss more calls now than they did when there was only one ref

Polak should have been kicked out too

Why is it so hard for you to admit Wingels is beyond the line of what is ok?
- sycsam

I think the Sharks have proved their depth at this point. So they do have people who can play, like they did in round 2 when Wingels was out. So what is your definition of a "glorified goon"? Would that be a gritty 4th liner who can contribute on the scoresheet? That's a 4th liner, dude. You're really trying to categorize him with the Torres', Barnabys, Averys of the league & that's not at all accurate based upon one playoff series.

I totally agree with you about the inconsistencies in the discipline & the refereeing.

& I don't think they'll be tossing around ejections so freely like you want them to (this is the WCFs), & so far, you've only pointed the finger at Sharks players without taking any ownership of what the Blues players (Brower/Shattenkirk) have also done.

As far as Wingels goes, he's not on the same level as a Raffi Torres, and again, can still score goals...some of which are very timely. So you're saying you wouldn't want him on your team if he can impact a game in their favor with a hit or a goal (yes...he does score them from time to time...& moreso than John Scott did)? That's ok. I'm fine with him being on SJ's 4th line for the time being, but we also have Nieto to fill a spot when he comes back, which may push Wingels to the press box. I'm ok with that too...each player has their merits & their intangibles they bring.

Winning the Stanley Cup isn't all finesse & skill, right? Ask the Kings...

It actually surprises me that Reaves has sat so much this series. At the very least he can be a presence on the ice where some Sharks would be looking over their shoulders.

& Come on w/Polak....you guys loved him a couple of years ago when he beat the Bejeezus out of Braun. That was painful to watch.

Think it was me that said Wingels is the new Ott. Also, notice that Ott hasn't been on the ice much. 2 games each of the last 2 series, averaging less than 7 minutes of ice time per game.

Lehtera had a suprising non-call at the end of the game with a pretty big chop in the defensive zone.
- Jason Millen

I did notice Ott's press box time has been increased.

I think his agitation cost the Blues too much early in the series & since SJ's PP is clicking, Hitchcock didn't want to pour gasoline on that fire & I totally get it.

I think the Sharks have proved their depth at this point. So they do have people who can play, like they did in round 2 when Wingels was out. So what is your definition of a "glorified goon"? Would that be a gritty 4th liner who can contribute on the scoresheet? That's a 4th liner, dude. You're really trying to categorize him with the Torres', Barnabys, Averys of the league & that's not at all accurate based upon one playoff series.

I totally agree with you about the inconsistencies in the discipline & the refereeing.

& I don't think they'll be tossing around ejections so freely like you want them to (this is the WCFs), & so far, you've only pointed the finger at Sharks players without taking any ownership of what the Blues players (Brower/Shattenkirk) have also done.

As far as Wingels goes, he's not on the same level as a Raffi Torres, and again, can still score goals...some of which are very timely. So you're saying you wouldn't want him on your team if he can impact a game in their favor with a hit or a goal (yes...he does score them from time to time...& moreso than John Scott did)? That's ok. I'm fine with him being on SJ's 4th line for the time being, but we also have Nieto to fill a spot when he comes back, which may push Wingels to the press box. I'm ok with that too...each player has their merits & their intangibles they bring.

Winning the Stanley Cup isn't all finesse & skill, right? Ask the Kings...

It actually surprises me that Reaves has sat so much this series. At the very least he can be a presence on the ice where some Shark
s would be looking over their shoulders.
- Team_Teal

Brouwer and Shattenkirk are no angels

and no I don't want Wingels on the blues

I agree Reaves probably stops Wingels from doing what he did to Shattenkirk and than Shattenkirk doesn't retaliate and take a bad penalty.

I did notice Ott's press box time has been increased.

I think his agitation cost the Blues too much early in the series & since SJ's PP is clicking, Hitchcock didn't want to pour gasoline on that fire & I totally get it.
- Team_Teal

It could also mean Ott was out for 5 months and just isn't fit

we wont know until the series is over

I did notice Ott's press box time has been increased.

I think his agitation cost the Blues too much early in the series & since SJ's PP is clicking, Hitchcock didn't want to pour gasoline on that fire & I totally get it.
- Team_Teal

Hitch loves Steve Ott so if he was able to play my guess is he would be playing

I agree with this.

They need to update the rule, because linesmen can't get the calls correct with the speed of the game.

They could also take that call away from the linesman and have them primarily do icing and face-offs, plus police after whistles/etc. And have an off ice official that is either watching on monitors with several angles and has control to whistle the play dead/maybe a light that comes on so that the on ice officials blow the play dead.

The hardest part is keeping up and staying in a good position to make the call. And even then, it is still hard to tell a lot of the time. So a linesman skating around all game trying to keep up is going to blow more calls than one sitting there only focused on that call.
- carcus

The linesmen do a very good job with offside calls. They skate blueline to blueline, they don't have far to go to keep up.
Jason's idea of a plane based blueline is the way to go. Drouin's body was straddling the blueline on that call last night.

It could also mean Ott was out for 5 months and just isn't fit

we wont know until the series is over
- sycsam

He may be the one who's fat, not Tarasenko, eh?


But it didn't look like he was sucking that much wind when he was out there...

Hitch loves Steve Ott so if he was able to play my guess is he would be playing
- sycsam

He had him in Dallas too, no?

He may be the one who's fat, not Tarasenko, eh?


But it didn't look like he was sucking that much wind when he was out there...
- Team_Teal

could be his groin isn't quite healed

he tore both and had surgery to repair both

He had him in Dallas too, no?
- Team_Teal

I don't think so

if he did it was only for a year or two

I could be wrong

I don't think so

if he did it was only for a year or two

I could be wrong
- sycsam

Ott was not there when Hitch was there.

Upshall in, Paajarvi looks out

Upshall in, Paajarvi looks out
- Jason Millen

That's a positive.

Jammer the first goal on frame by frame replay shows the puck tick up near the traffic. So it deflected off of something or defied physics.

You forgot to mention in the third Backes skating in and launching a wrister from forty feet out and hitting the cross bar. He beats Jones cleanly with a wrister from over forty feet out.

If the Blues lose this series it is just another let down to me. I don't care about getting this far blah, blah, blah this teams window is closing. And I don't care about participation trophies. This will go down as just another playoff failure. Sorry hate on me if you want. It is cup or bust in my eyes
- Goblues86

Nah man this team's window is opening up. This team is being pushed the new, younger core with very little remaining of the older core.

A lot of people have been giving Tarasenko a hard time. He likely has gone through a lot with the birth if his first son.

Tarasenko has been the heart and soul of the Blues for years now, including the playoffs. He was the only guy we could count on to score for a long time. He has a bad series and people start jumping on him. All players go through bad stretches. Bad timing for us, but still hopeful he can push through it.

Don't throw him under the bus, it only says something about you when you are willing to dump on a player that has been so good for the franchise because of a couple of bad weeks.

Sorry, stepping off my soap box now.
- carcus

Ain't no one throwing him under the bus. He just needs to get it going. If you cannot score it does not mean you coast around in your own end. How many times do you hear how big his legs are, how strong he is and he had one hit last game. It wasa good hit but come on. You want to break coverage change your game up. This is like his rookie season where he used the same move over and over and eventually the other teams caught on.

Birth of child is great but it does not stop one from going to work. Hell if a child be born made you compketely distracted I would have a lot more brothers who died over seas.

I think the Sharks have proved their depth at this point. So they do have people who can play, like they did in round 2 when Wingels was out. So what is your definition of a "glorified goon"? Would that be a gritty 4th liner who can contribute on the scoresheet? That's a 4th liner, dude. You're really trying to categorize him with the Torres', Barnabys, Averys of the league & that's not at all accurate based upon one playoff series.

I totally agree with you about the inconsistencies in the discipline & the refereeing.

& I don't think they'll be tossing around ejections so freely like you want them to (this is the WCFs), & so far, you've only pointed the finger at Sharks players without taking any ownership of what the Blues players (Brower/Shattenkirk) have also done.

As far as Wingels goes, he's not on the same level as a Raffi Torres, and again, can still score goals...some of which are very timely. So you're saying you wouldn't want him on your team if he can impact a game in their favor with a hit or a goal (yes...he does score them from time to time...& moreso than John Scott did)? That's ok. I'm fine with him being on SJ's 4th line for the time being, but we also have Nieto to fill a spot when he comes back, which may push Wingels to the press box. I'm ok with that too...each player has their merits & their intangibles they bring.

Winning the Stanley Cup isn't all finesse & skill, right? Ask the Kings...

It actually surprises me that Reaves has sat so much this series. At the very least he can be a presence on the ice where some Sharks would be looking over their shoulders.

& Come on w/Polak....you guys loved him a couple of years ago when he beat the Bejeezus out of Braun. That was painful to watch.
- Team_Teal

This is is long winded. What are doing writing a Russian novel?

Polak was attacked and egged on and finished it. But there were plenty of times we hated his after the play stupid stuff or his over the top cross checks back when they called penalties that cost games.

But what he and Wingels did the other night crosses the line of okay and outs them in the caregory of a Torres. You forget Torres once could score and was great in the Oilers Cup final run before an injury or illness occurred.

I think the NHL should go to a plane based rule for offsides regarding zone entry and remove the ability to challenge. If any part of your body is over the blue line, you are considered on-side. Much easier for a linesmen to make the call.
- Jason Millen

Makes far more sense. I think it should be challenged either but an automatic oart of the review process for every goal. It is not like the NHL cannot afford to hire more people to do these jobs.

He had him in Dallas too, no?
- Team_Teal

Inwould up the therapists visits to two or three times a week but the VA does not allow for that. But that would be the correct number for about three months to successfully get a grip on combat-related PTSD.

Again I thank you for you concern.

Trading him is lunacy. His contract is already one of the best bargains in the league and will likely only get even more valuable for years to come.
- Jason Millen

This x10000, anybody who calls for Tarasenko to be traded isn't a Blues fan and wants him on their team. LGB!

Ain't no one throwing him under the bus. He just needs to get it going. If you cannot score it does not mean you coast around in your own end. How many times do you hear how big his legs are, how strong he is and he had one hit last game. It wasa good hit but come on. You want to break coverage change your game up. This is like his rookie season where he used the same move over and over and eventually the other teams caught on.

Birth of child is great but it does not stop one from going to work. Hell if a child be born made you compketely distracted I would have a lot more brothers who died over seas.
- BluemanGuruu

Yes, people are. Maybe not here as much as in other places, but plenty of Blues fans are.

Jammer the first goal on frame by frame replay shows the puck tick up near the traffic. So it deflected off of something or defied physics.

You forgot to mention in the third Backes skating in and launching a wrister from forty feet out and hitting the cross bar. He beats Jones cleanly with a wrister from over forty feet out.
- BluemanGuruu

doesn't look like it https://twitter.com/myreg...status/734902704481439745

And yep, couldn't remember exactly when Backes hit the bar so I left it out because I didn't have time to re-watch the game.