Pimlach

Power and Bryson do not mix well. Neither is capable of helping the other in tough defensive situations.

Ugh. We have three straight high danger chances and Power failed to defend. Easy goal for St Louis.

Clifton made sure he hit the 6’6” guy. Love it.

Good evening Teammates, Big game, last one of the home stand. Blues on a 3 game losing streak. Sabres need to come together tonight. As mentioned, they need players to step up with Tage being out. Keep Levi’s crease clear. MUSCLE WEIGHT

End of year Health Care enrollment.

The Blues are not the team they were a few years ago. Not even close. But yes, they still have a culture of playing heavy and pushing back, but they don't have all of the good clutch players that they had in the past. Their cup winning coach is in Toronto. They give up a lot of goals, their goal diff is terrible. They are in need of a rebuild. We should beat them 5-2 tonight, even without Tage. But that will take a strong game by Levi and some other players to step up and fill the TNT void.

Yes, that is scary. I thought you have the neighbor with the people that race up and down the streets at high speed?

Tage has 28 more goals to go to hit 40, but he is on his way and has been a bright spot so far. I said the FO hopes and dreams are turning false, but the season is far from over. Cozens can still come on and score 25, Quinn can wake up and play better, Byram can get Norris votes, etc., etc. I seriously want to be wrong about this all these key assumptions going awry. I am addressing the FO's major hope and dreams (or assumptions) and it was not meant to be a complete and comprehensive. I picked these 5 because they are the 5 that stood put to me. Thompson returning to form was something I expected to happen if he was healthy. Back to whether Adams should make a key hockey trade - I think he should do something, but the issue is trusting him to not hurt the team more.

Wow. You have some serious neighborhood stuff it seems.

Yes an in-season trade or two is needed to meet the goal of playoffs. Barring a major turnaround in play, it’s the only way to get there. I don’t see a serious wildcard contender with this exact roster, the team is still a fringe playoff contender. They started the season thin at center, lacking enough top 6 firepower, and lacking a steady top 4 defender. All the off season hopes and dreams, or shall I say assumptions, are turning false - (1) Cozens will be a viable 2C; (2) Quinn is a top 6 winger, (3) Samuelsson can be a steady top 4; (4) Byram as a difference maker with 4OA pedigree; and (5) fix the bottom 6 and we will improve overall and be harder to play against. None of it is happening. Cozens is still working hard and would be a fine 3rd line forward. Quinn forgot to get stronger and is clearly not up to a second line role. Muel was given an “A” and a demotion down to the 3rd pair, he played poorly, and then predictably goes to IR. Still don’t know why we have Byram, he has some good moments, but will he even be extended and paid by the Sabres after the season? Fixing the bottom 6 - Did it happen? Well, our 3rd line is now better than the 2nd line, but overall it feels like a net negative despite good contributions from newcomers McLeod and Zucker. The fourth line is a bit better than last year too but not enough to make any significant impact.. Goaltending has a question mark too. UPL was coming on and winning some games for us but is now hurt. Is Levi ready to be a good backup? We will find out. So, do we really want Adams orchestrating major trades of large magnitude during the season, and while in desperation? Looking at his body of work thus far, I say no. Maybe he can do it but my confidence in him went away last off season and is not yet returning.

The Blues are nothing special anymore. They will be as desperate as the Sabres should be. This is a MUST WIN, I know there is a thought that it’s too early for that, but it isn’t. I expect we see Levi tonight.

Well if your best lineup is 7D then it’s worth considering. You look at your bottom D and your bottom F and decide which player brings more. Then you have to be willing to shuffle lines to accommodate the imbalance. It not ideal. I’m not advocating for it.

More than half.

Probably so.

Hadn’t thought of 7D. Joker could come back or Abe-Kubel, Lindy has that option. It will be interesting to see who steps up, if anybody.

Krebs is already elevated to 3C with the injury to Thompson. Ruff ran McLoed on the first line to day at practice. The center spline is weak without Thompson. The spare forward is Abe-Kubel unless they bring Kulich back and make another roster move.

I recall Quinn getting some press box time under Granato in the past and coming back better for it. Abe-Kubel is ready to get some ice, maybe they sit Quinn next game against St Louis?

Plenty of teams are looking to improve. Boston is a team that would like a jump start. Same with Tampa and others.

They were loaded. They never had the FO vision on what to do with all the talent. Eichel and Reinhart are now NHL Super Stars on other teams. Murray quickly built a house of cards and had a toxic group. Under Boterill they had poor coaching and they literally had the inmates running the asylum. The culture got worse. Under Adams they refused to bring in goaltending help and fell in love with prospects instead of really trying to win now. They settle for "players that want to be here" and lack action. It goes back to TP and his choices for GM. None of his hires ever constructed an NHL roster or had any success building a winning organization.

Aha. I saw the Samuelsson injury thread after I replied on Rutta. I now agree that we could use a better vet to help fill that void (over Bryson/Gilbert/Joker) and the clearance bin is one way to get help for the near term. Still prefer a trade that brings in a solid vet in his prime with some term, but yeah, I see your point too.

His Dad is Kjell.

I like McLeod as a 3C. I get why he could get 2C minutes on this team. The center spline is a mess and nowhere near playoff caliber without Thompson. They are a marginal group even with him IMO. We will need to see few lightbulbs going off - Cozens and Krebs need to grow up right now if this team is going to make the playoffs. Bryson in the top 4 is not a good thing. Bryson is a decent 6/7 that has some ability. His play dropped against lowly Montreal when teamed with Power - two non physical players. Bryson can compliment Clifton on the 3rd pair as Bryson has the better wheels and can move the puck quickly, and Clifton can clear the net front and is willing to do it. I hope Joker gets a chance on the 2nd pair as Lindy works through this situation.

If I was his Dad I would not have wanted him to sign with Buffalo either, especially at that time with yet another regime change in process.

Just thinking back to the promise he showed. 6'4" and 227 lbs but just not durable. His availability for the past 2 seasons plus this one is 61%. He was probably playing injured for a lot of those games.