Fresh off a surprising trip to the postseason a year ago and boasting a roster that, on paper, is loaded with a strong mix of veterans and talented youngsters, the St. Louis Blues entered the 2009-10 season with high expectations.
Unfortunately, through their first 12 games, they've have struggled, winning just five games, and only three of their past 10. To help figure out what's ailing the Blues after one month, we've recruited the services of Sean Gallagher from the fantastic, must-read Blues blog, St. Louis Game Time.
Adam Gretz: A year ago, the Blues suffered through every injury imaginable (golf carts and Sarah Palin's red carpet to go along with the more traditional hockey injuries) and not only exceeded expectations by qualifying for the playoffs, but did so by finishing as a top-six seed. So far this year the Blues are near the bottom of the conference.
I guess the simple question to start off with is: what's gone wrong? Did last year set the bar too high as far as expectations go? Or can we use the Europe hangover as an excuse for the slow start? After all, St. Louis isn't the first team to struggle after opening the season across the pond.
"At the end of last season the Blues were a tenacious, relentless team. They battled for every puck and gave not one opposing player a free pass. ... This year it looks like they may have started to believe a little bit of their own hype."
-- Sean Gallagher on the Blues' StrugglesSean Gallagher: Well, you've managed to touch on a hot-button for all Blues fans; no one wants to say it, but there is a bit of a feeling that this team has a curse hanging around it. And not just in the short term, either, as this is the franchise that went to three Stanley Cup finals in their first three seasons (albeit as the representative from the weaker "Second Six" conference) and didn't win a game in any of them. More recently, they won a President's Trophy and were ousted in the first round of the playoffs. Mike Danton was virtually taken off a team flight and arrested by the FBI for attempting to contract a murder.
And yes, somehow a golf cart beat our franchise defenseman in a match of indian wrestling and took him out for a year. Sarah Palin's carpet not only knocked (Manny Legace) out of the lineup but it also knocked him right out of the NHL as he wound up in Peoria by February and he hasn't been back since.
This year the mantra has been to "stay healthy and we can't help but be better!"
Wrong.
T.J. Oshie's emergency appendectomy, Carlo Colaiacovo's Steve Ott-induced "flu" and Andy McDonald's weird attempt to headbutt the end boards have all added to the fans' misery in the early going, but the real culprit (and believe me, I'd love to blame this whole thing on Sweden) is a lack of intensity as a team. At the end of last season the Blues were a tenacious, relentless team. They battled for every puck and gave not one opposing player a free pass. They played hard, won puck battles and charged to the net for ugly goals.
This year it looks like they may have started to believe a little bit of their own hype. They're trying to play too cute and not doing enough of the difficult things to win games. Teams willing to pay a physical price win more games than those that don't. What the Blues need right now is for the coaching staff to come in and treat them like junkyard dogs. They need to be angry and hungry and ready to fight. Makes you wonder if Michael Vick could come by for a locker room visit.
Gretz: It's no secret that hockey teams change coaches like normal people change their underwear, and usually the first ones to go are teams with high expectations that get off to slow starts.
I was at the Blues game when they were in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago and Andy Murray postgame seemed more disgusted with that loss than any coach I've ever encountered. It wasn't a pretty game by any means, but he seemed to be taking it exceptionally hard for a game in early October, almost as if somebody kicked his dog right in front of him or they just lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Do you think it's possible that if this slow start continues, his seat could get a little toasty, or is it way too soon for that?
Gallagher: Andy Murray was clearly disgusted after that Pittsburgh game, but anyone who plays for, works for or watches this team should have felt the same way. The fact is that Murray is at least angry when they play poorly. His predecessor, Mike Kitchen, used to throw up his hands and basically say, "I told them what to do!"
The easy answer is to fire the coach when a team struggles, but I think management still believes in Willem Dafoe. Last year, when the team was struggling in the early going, they shook the team up not by firing the coach, but by trading the popular Lee Stempniak (for Colaiacovo and Alex Steen). I'd be willing to bet that something like that happens before they fire Murray, who was a Jack Adams finalist last year.
Is it just a case of everybody hitting a slump at the same time (and it just so happening at the start of a season when everybody is paying attention) or is there something more going on?
Gallagher: Here's a quick spin through the Excuse Matrix:
"Backes is a slow starter."
"Teams are preparing for Oshie now."
"Perron hasn't played with consistent linemates."
"Berglund is in the doghouse."
Personally, I think a lot of this can be chalked up to the same problem the team is having as a whole: everyone is paying a little too much attention to the fans and media fawning all over them. It'd be hard to not get a big head when you're a rookie like Oshie and the whole building routinely chants your name and your jersey is outselling everyone else by a three-to-one margin. He needs to crank up his engine and play at the level he did last year when he flattened the much-larger Rick Nash twice in successive games and when he made the moves that became the NHL.com "Goal of the Year" when he went around four Canucks and scored on Roberto Luongo.
Backes seems to believe that he's turned into some sort of sniper after his 31 goals last year. His one goal this year was from 50 feet out. For him to be successful, he needs to go to the angry areas of the ice and arrive there in ill humor. The corners and the blue paint is where he should be earning his living. So far this year he has not.
As for Berglund, he has looked unprepared this season. The knock on him started in training camp when the staff apparently got on him for not playing well. Maybe the Sophomore Slump is real or maybe it's imaginary. Either way, I think it's in his head.
Perron, I think, will be fine. He was one of the few players who didn't underperform in the playoffs last year and his game this season has been full of hustle and opportunities. Until recently he had a hard time scoring, but now his points are coming in waves. This is his third NHL season and while he was considered immature most of the first two, this year looks like he may finally get it.
