Join Blues beat writer Matthew DeFranks for his live chat at 1 p.m. Wednesday
Get your questions ready and join in at 1 p.m. Wednesday for our weekly Blues chat.
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I see you spent time in South Florida covering the Panthers. I have never attended a game in Sunrise because prior to last season it seemed the attendance would be half full at best, it didn't look like a game would be fun. How did the franchise survive with such miserable attendance?
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Gary Bettman is the simple answer. The longer answer is that South Florida does not support any team that doesn't win. The Dolphins and Hurricanes don't draw when they're bad. Obviously, the Marlins and Panthers have attendance issues. The Heat have been good for about a decade and a half, so they've built a fanbase through sheer winning.You could say that South Florida hockey fans existed, they just wouldn't support a losing team that hadn't won a playoff series since 1996. The other issue is the arena in Sunrise is so far from everything else, including population centers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. But they drew last season when they had a good team. I haven't looked at this year's attendance figures.
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I did them in Dallas, but not South Florida. I also did mailbags in Dallas, which is something that allows a bit more informal writing, and a lot more of an in-depth dive than chats do. Might be something to consider for the future, but we'll see.I will say this: One Blues chat in, and the fans are much more active than in Dallas.
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The Blues have some very good pieces on their current roster going forward. They have two big trade chips on expiring contracts in O'Reilly and Tarasenko. With an obvious need for more top 6 talent and top pairing talent on defense the Blues are in a prime position for reloading this team. I don't understand the hand wringing about moving both O'Reilly and Tarasenko. By moving those two players the Blues avoid a dreaded tear down, they have the perfect captain in waiting with Schenn. In my opinion the future looks bright. It's time to turn the page on the core of the Cup team. We will be thankful for their contributions to a magical season but the current reality is this team is back sliding towards mediocrity.
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Even if the Blues move both Tarasenko and O'Reilly, the possibility of a teardown still exists. But you're right, the potential trade returns could lessen the timeline back to contention. March 3 is an inflection point for the Blues, and Doug Armstrong has shown pragmatism in the past to sell when he needs to sell.The Blues did much better than many other teams do with their core in winning a Cup. It's about building around Thomas, Kyrou and Buchnevich, hoping Neighbours, Bolduc and Snuggerud can contribute in coming seasons, and filling gaps in between, even if they are large ones.
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Kyrou wasn't on the 2019 cup winner. If Army consulted the oracle's like I do he would have traded Kyrou instead of Tage Lemeuix. And in that scenario we still win the cup and keep Tage. Many world leaders use psychics. I'm gobsmacked that Army doesn't consult the oracles. Sad really.
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You mention the lack of a true number 1 as a concern and looking at the blues contracts Army appears to realize he doesn’t have a number 1, both Faulk and Parrayko are paid below #1 status. They are not realistically going to get a #1 by trade or FA, can you be in the mix to win a cup without one?
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The risk that the Blues made in signing Parayko to the eight-year contract was that he would be worth more than $6.5 million. They were hoping to lock up a homegrown asset before he hit the market in order to find value. A No. 1 defensemen goes for at least $8 million, and that $1.5 million could have been a surplus for the Blues if Parayko turned into a top-end guy.I think there are paths to a No. 1 defenseman outside of the draft (think Hamilton in New Jersey and, to an extent, Burns in Carolina), but it's harder and costlier to do in free agency and through trades, yes.
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Welcome to StL and the home of the Pulitzer Prize, the St. Louis Post Dispatch. This is likely more of a comment than a question (and it comes with being a Blues fan since 1967 and reading the PD even longer.
Doug Armstrong assembled a Cup winning team in 2018/19. Before the Covid shut down in 2019/20, the Blues had the best record in the Western Conference and the 2nd best record in the NHL.
No one knew the cap was going to get screwed up nor that the Blues wouldn’t have very realistic opportunity to win another Cup back to back.
We the saw a dynamic team last year in the playoffs and to have them get Kadried (it’s a word) by the Avs.
The point of these comments is:
1) Enjoy the wonderful and almost magical Cup run of 2019 (thanks Gloria and Larry Robinson)
2) The rest of what has happened or is happening is in the Blues tradition of bad luck, and breaking our hearts every spring (except one)
There are 32 fan bases that want a Cup. I for one, am thrilled we won one in my lifetime.
Sorry for the TLDR comment. -
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Teams will go through good and bad cycles throughout the years. That doesn't matter to me. This is about wanting to be in St. Louis, where my wife is from and where we got married, and wanting to be at the Post-Dispatch, which continues to have a strong and deep sports section.
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Worst move Army made was signing Krug ... he's not a defensive defenseman. We essentially traded Petro for Krug, and lost JayBo to the heart issue ... huge defensive losses without practical replacement. I would put that as the nutshell wherein our problems reside. Down two of the top defensemen in the league ... tough to recover from.
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