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3rd & 7 37yd

I don't think the Blues need a major overhaul to be competitive against the Avs. Colorado has a few players that will be earning a nice raise after their great season. And you can't keep them all. The salary cap does a good job of keeping a competitive balance. The fact that Tampa is dominant for 3 years, is really quite rare, in professional sports, these days.

by Joe 6/22/2022 7:47:17 PM
Colorado should still be a good team next season; after that, it's a little less clear, though they have some very good guys to build around. It's been pretty impressive what Tampa has been able to do. The playoffs showed this season the Blues aren't that far away from Colorado, but they're still a notch or two below them talent wise.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 7:49:56 PM
Tom, regarding last week's projection that the Avs had a 65-35 chance of winning, had not Kadri hurt Binnington: The Blues won 2 games as it was. At the time of the injury, the Blues were adjusting defensively very effectively, I thought, like they did in every series in 2019--in which they had early tough times in every series. I think if Kadri. their #2 center, is injured instead of our goalie, the Blues chances are in the 40s. Your thoughts, please.

by Easy Ed since 1967 6/22/2022 7:50:03 PM
The Blues were significantly outplayed in four of the six games: 1, 4, 5 and 6. Taking Game 1 to overtime was a minor miracle in itself. They could easily have won Game 3. Yes, take out Kadri instead of Binnington -- and not give Kadri a reason to play out of his mind in Game 4 -- and things could play out differently. If the Blues won the series, it would have been because their goalie whoever it was, stole it for them. And that happens sometimes.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:01:50 PM
Play GM for a moment and you can only do one of the following: 1) resign Perron, 2) resign Leddy or 3) acquire another defenseman who can play with Parayko.

by Steve 6/22/2022 8:01:59 PM
I re-sign Perron. Re-signing Leddy would be low on my to-do list, barring some other move to open up space.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:02:30 PM
I don't understand why Army doesn't sign Husso. Pay him 3 years at whatever 4 million per year but sign him. So now you can trade him or Binner and get a return. Edmonton will take him in a heartbeat. Possibly Toronto or Colorado. Army lets players walk for nothing. Backes, Petro, Hoffman probably Vladi is next. I realize he signs UFAs like Krug and Saad for nothing as well. It's not a bad play gives us stellar goaltending if we keep both guys for another year. Goalies are everything. Colorado is the better team but not in net and that could lose it for them for example.

by Roy Hobbs 6/22/2022 8:03:41 PM
Why wouldn't Husso want to wait to sign so he could pick the team he goes to, rather than being traded somewhere he might now want to go? The Blues can't make Husso sign. And the only way to encourage him to sign is to pay way more than he's worth or way more than the Blues want to. I think the Blues would be well-served to have Husso return in goal, but not if they're paying him $1 or $2 million more than they need to.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:07:10 PM
Now, time for some coaching comments:

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:08:22 PM
A coach can guide the players, but he isn’t generally the reason you win a Cup… I don’t think Philly has the personnel on the ice to win anything right now.

by Kerry 6/22/2022 8:08:24 PM
I say Torts gets fired in 2 years.
He has proven nothing.

by JRBlue 6/22/2022 8:08:29 PM
No way Mike Yeo ever gets another NHL head coaching job. He got worse the more head coaching jobs he got. I think the players respect coaches who were players, like Chief. Berube is also an intimidating figure that makes players want to please him by doing what he wants.

by Barry - Blues Fan in Orlando 6/22/2022 8:08:44 PM
Over at the Athletic today, they had an article ranking the playoff series so far. They have the Blues Avalanche at #2 saying "In fact, if the Blues get the overtime win in Game 1, or if Jordan Binnington doesn’t get run over by Nazem Kadri, this series might flip the other way. We’ll never know, although the latter scenario at least gave us the remarkably rare postgame TV interview worth remembering." At least the Blues got noticed.

by Liz 6/22/2022 8:08:58 PM
The Blues-Avalanche series was entertaining, which you can't say about a lot of the others. And that series did have the feel of being the Western Conference final.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:09:58 PM
I read somewhere that Perron was offended by the Blue's opening offer. Do you have any news on the Blue's attempts to resign Perron? Any odds on a deal getting done?

by miniblind 6/22/2022 8:10:06 PM
I don't but I think that deal gets done. It seems to me the issue is more likely years than dollars. Armstrong has been reluctant to give that extra year on a lot of deals, and there's a lot of analytics that would say a three-year deal for Perron would be risky for that third year.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:11:33 PM
This Russian player for Colorado Valerie Nichuchskin is really good. He was a top ten pick for Dallas and they released him. One year with Dallas he didn't even score a goal. Colorado got him for nothing. Now they are goi g to sign him long term he's a UFA. This could happen to Kostin you know. Some Russian players don't adjust so quickly. Kostin was in San Antonio off the boat from Russia can you imagine the degree of culture shock? I would not give up on him strong and skilled.

by Roy Hobbs 6/22/2022 8:11:48 PM
The Blues were always willing to take it slow with Kostin because of the culture shock of coming to America and his youth when he came over. He's been in North American five seasons now -- maybe only four if you figure he spend much of last season in Russia. But the parade may have passed him by. It's like with MacEachern; there are other younger players who can do the same thing.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:16:44 PM
Just say no on Mike Yeo.

by Sofa Kingdom 6/22/2022 8:16:56 PM
Mike's a very nice guy and I enjoyed working with him, but it will be a risky move for some team to hire him. Don't know if he would have to go to the AHL and prove himself or just be a long-term assistant coach. Though if he's an assistant somewhere and the head coach gets fired, he's going to be first in line to be an interim head coach again.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:18:36 PM
I vote FOR E. Johnson. He was a good kid who had a lot of bad luck. Me, regardless of Kronke, I'm rooting for the best team to win, to see good hockey. I'm only glad Kadri can't play so far.

by Easy Ed since 1967 edited by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:20:18 PM
The Kracken were able to sign what was considered the top KHL free agent in Kuzmenko. They say signing the Russian free agents is easier when you have Russians on your team. Kracken had none. Do the Blues actively go after KHL players such as Kuzmenko.

by Liz 6/22/2022 8:20:36 PM
You mean Vancouver for Kuzmenko. The Blues weren't really in the running for Kuzmenko, since he figured to get more playing time with Vancouver. The Blues aren't opposed to going after players in the KHL, but it's tough to make it work.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:23:02 PM
Rumors of Husso getting a big contract to be the number 1 goalie in a place like Edmonton abound. If you were a GM have you seen enough of Husso to give him a multi year 1A contract handing your teams cup hopes and your job in his blocker and catcher?

by Sctdog 6/22/2022 8:23:23 PM
If I were a GM, I would never feel comfortable investing heavily in a goalie. There are only a handful guys in a 10-year span who merit that. But a lot of times you have to take that chance. I have seen enough of Husso since he's been in the Blues organization to feel he could do the job as a No. 1 goalie.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:26:30 PM
I see on your last column that the Blues have the highest percentage of Russian players in the league. I look at the upcoming draft and I notice a lot of Europeans. Slovakia, Chechs, Sweden and Finland more each year. Americans are about 25% of the league now. I think Canadaians are down to about 35%. Far cry from 20 years ago. Game gets more international each year. I think it's great. How do you like it? One time leave was 99% Canadian.

by Roy Hobbs 6/22/2022 8:26:37 PM
A lot of times, the most interesting guys to talk to on any hockey team are the Europeans. They've had different life experiences, been exposed to a lot of things and just have a different demeanor. Carl Gunnarsson was a personal favorite. Oskar Sundqvist was great. Barbashev is fun to talk with. Finns like Mikkola and Husso almost seem to enjoy playing to the stereotype of being stoic. And it's always impressive that almost all of them speak passable English.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:29:48 PM
I can see Perunovich elevating his game next season given his experience in the '22 playoffs. Can the Blues be successful with two similar players (Krug and Perunovich)?

Second question: Do you see Chief playing 11-7 during the season and using Perunovich as a PP specialist?

by Jack Hammer 6/22/2022 8:30:28 PM
Perunovich has pretty much only one direction to go, assuming he finally gets to play a full season, which he hasn't done in any of the past three years. And I think the Blues can do just fine with Krug and Perunovich in the lineup.
As for 11-7, no, I don't see that as a staple and I don't see Perunovich being a PP specialist. It just messes up too many other parts of the game and I do not envy what Mike Van Ryn has to go through juggling seven D. I'm sure I've said this before, but I always think of NFL coach Marv Levy when he was asked how he dealt with having a 12th player when he coached in the CFL and he said, he'd tell the guy to lineup wide and then just forget about him. Forwards love getting double shifted; defensemen are less thrilled about being half-shifted. In his limited ice time, Perunovich's defense wasn't that bad, though again, he was pretty sheltered.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:34:12 PM
“I say Torts gets fired in 2 years.
He has proven nothing.”

He’s won a cup. It must (stink) to be so low IQ.

by ROn edited by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:34:36 PM
Yeah, I feared this might get out of hand.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:34:46 PM
While it pains me to say it, the Av's are definitely the most talented team top to bottom in the NHL right now. That doesn't mean that they will win it all, but when they are on, for my money, they rival some of the great Edmonton teams of the Gretzky era. Yes, they are that good. Kadri's cheap shot was significant in that the Blues had more than a punchers chance to beat them in the series if that doesn't happen (they were adjusting quite nicely), but come on - Kadri is a repeat offender and the NHL should do way more to protect goalies in the crease. I don't want to go back to the days where a skate in the crease causes a goal to be disallowed, but running into and knocking over a goalie (especially if the goalie then goes on the IL) has got to stop. Big suspensions, along with big team and individual fines. Do it more than 1 per season and lose a draft pick.

by Sofa Kingdom 6/22/2022 8:35:10 PM
For the sport at large, this is about as good a final as you can ask for. Two quality, exciting teams who play exciting hockey.
Goalie interference is an important but nebulous concept for the league. Can't see the league's governors ever going for a draft pick penalty for a team for something a player does.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:38:16 PM
Last call on questions.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:38:30 PM
Do Chuchrun’s analytics point to a top or second pair defenseman if playing on the Blues. Last year AZ was bad defensively and his numbers look poor, prior years they were solid under Tochett and one would assume a solid backdrop with the Blues.

by Sctdog 6/22/2022 8:38:34 PM
This season was bad for him offensively, but better defensively, which is surprising in a season where offense was up. Depending on who else you had, the Blues could put him with Parayko on the top pairing and see how that looks.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:43:45 PM
Back to coaches… have you heard if any Blues assistants have been interviewed for any of the openings?

by Kerry 6/22/2022 8:43:48 PM
Montgomery's name seems to be the one that has come up, specifically in Winnipeg. He has the advantage of, as noted earlier of already being a head coach. There are still some big names out there on the market, so this may not be the season for up and comers..

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:44:51 PM
OK gang, thanks for the input as always. By next week, we will have a Cup winner, and then it will be on the draft and things like that. I never ceased to be amazed by the offseason interest. Thanks. Until next time.

by ttimmermann 6/22/2022 8:46:37 PM