The Answer For Doug Weight

Perron is the answer. The kid hasn’t been playing everyday and has had no chance to get a rythmn going. and saying he played two games in a row is being honest about it. Perron is strong enough to play in the NHL now. Look everyone in the Blues cautioned about expecting erik johnson to be this pronger from the first moment on and that’s honesty. he played well his first two games but still made errors. So you have to give some slack to perron. he’s got the goods. boy does it beg the question of why the team so easily let cajanek go. cause if perron is not the anser that’d be my next choice but oops. so i’d go for linglet or glumac. both guys are big and have good hands and decent speed. so they can help create room for weight.
i really like martin kariya and stasny as well but neither is big.

Where is Cajanek? When we need him? They clicked..

Martin Kariya is an interesting name. He was one of the last guys to get the axe in training camp. But his size is obviously an issue. He’s never been given a genuine shot to play in the league.

By the way, it’s nice to see the Blues for the second time trying to cut their losses by putting a player on waivers this year. Granted Mike Johnson makes a lot less than Petr Cajanek, but it’s still more money on the payroll of a team supposedly on a budget. Money that can’t be used for someone else.

While it’s nice that this is the biggest question or one of them (long term health/durability of the defensive corps being another), the struggle of Weight and his line could prove to be a huge detriment to this team moving forward.

How do Weight usually start seasons? Is his slow start so bad that it absolutely has to be a huge slump — or could it be coincidence? I mean, comparing Weight’s line with the Killer Line is not fair. Tkachuk, Kariya and Boyes gets all the “right” icetime (as they should — they’re studs!) while Weight and Co gets what’s left.

Here’s what I’d do: Move weight to the LW and have Rucinsky play RW. Put Perron in the box and M Johnson in Peoria. Bring up Talbot or some other hard working/fast skating youngster to play C.

Marcus, the problem is that both Weight and Rucinsky are carry-the-puck and dish it off type players. The Blues don’t need someone who can create his own shot on this line (BTW, Perron might be miscast here, too. The kid has got some serious puck skillz…) They need a shooter – now would be a good time to see if you could clone Brett Hull from DNA in the dried sweat in that game-worn jersey :)

Besides, a good trigger man would open up the ice a little more for them. Weight can still make pretty passes.

if andy had some, he might consider weight and boyes together. it would certianly drop the top line, but realistically, while boyes has been a great finisher, the other two members of that line are playing hard and well (and it almost hurts me to say that about kt). that line might survive with a different third party, and boyes’s hot streak and finishing is exactly what dougie and rucinski need.

gt did a martin thing (and properly so) but it is weight who is having the bigger issues. martin is on a solid penalty kill, has more points, etc. dougie has almost nothing and is ineffective on his special team— the power play.

if i was going down to peoria i’d like to see statsny, kariya, or porter up. i’m not sure any of those are instant plug and play into the second line, but we have this mcclemment guy or something who might be able to step up. backes can net crash on a top line.

i think the current pressing need for this team to make the playoffs is getting two scoring lines going.

You cannot break up the BTK line not at this point anyway. Putting Weight with King and Johnson etc is just a waste. The only thing I see to do is break up the kid line and maybe let McClement play with Rucinsky. BTW Ruckinsky is not worth the money we gave him.

SC

Bring up Kato. I wanna hear it now KAY-TOE, KAY-TOE, KAY-TOE

By the way, I’m referring to Martin Kariya.

Sing with me GT Nation! Rise Up! KAY-TOE, KAY-TOE, KAY-TOE

AM does have all the answers. Bring up Martin Kariya.

Any live blog tonight?

I’m in a bit of agreement about boyes. he’s wicked good. better than a lot of people give him credit. in the preseason boyes weight and perron were sick. they all can acrry the puck and all have some speed. and they can read off of eachother. kariya’s pretty much good with anyone who has any offensive instincts and especially good with walt so far. so maybe marty moves on a line with them or perron. seriously, i know it sounds strange and all but we have three good scoring lines once the chemistry clicks. the problem for the kid line is they haven’t been really used as a second line per say as much as a shut down line. they’ve created chances and chances only usually it’s mcclement with the chance and he’s wiffed a bit and been robbed. but give it a little time. this lack of a second line thing hasn’t been for ten games, it’s really been around for six games really. it’s still early yet. now that the blues are getting more than two games a week i think we’ll otice a bigger change.

they haven’t btw cut their ties to mike johnson just yet. they have nine more games to make to decide what they want to do with him. he’s actually a pretty good player. it’s just he hasn’t found a niche or a place to play.

also what would a line like weight backes and boyes be like? could be the best yet. then maybe rock perron on with walt and paul and marty taking backes’s spot. and oh yeah, instead of weight centering the line have either backes or boyes who are both natural centers center the line.

now that might work. we have the talent up and down. they just all need to click.

The flaw with the whole plan is in relying on Rucinsky. IMO, Rucinsky is the anchor that’s dragging the whole forward corps down right now. He needs to be gone, bought out if necessary, but Martin Rucinsky is just not going to be the impact player that the Blues need… not for the short term, and absolutely not for the long term.

Mike Johnson was a mistake, and a waste of good salary, from the get-go.

Perron needs to play more than once a month if he’s going to have any chance of making an impact at this level. Far be it from me to question Murray’s coaching abilities, but I’m really starting to become baffled as to why he insists on babying Perron this much. LET THE KID PLAY, a couple of games in a row at least, for Christ’s sake…

I agree that Oshie would have been a great fit on the Weight line, and I think it would have energized Weight like nobody’s business if he had been given Oshie and Perron as his linemates from the start of the year and been told, “these are your kids. Move ’em into your house, do whatever it takes, but your assignment is to make NHL players out of ’em.”

Once the Blues knew that Oshie was going to go back to UND, they could have switched gears, put Weight on the LW, and kept Berglund as the center for Weight and Perron, and I think that would have worked equally well… but I can see Murray, and many members of the fanbase, cringing at the thought of two 19-year-old pure rookies being asked to play such prominent roles, and a European and a Quebecois at that…

There’s really no one in Peoria who’s stepping up as a legitimate go-to guy as a goal scorer right now; they’re really spreading the offense out, and their schedule is funky as hell. They last played on Sunday, and don’t have another game until next Tuesday…

Anyway, the point is, I don’t think there’s anyone there right now who they could call up even for a cup of coffee, and expect to make any kind of impact as a shooter and goal-scorer. MAYBE Marty Kariya, MAYBE Mike Glumac, or MAYBE Michal Birner. Lemtyugov has all the tools, but is still putting the toolbox together. Linglet might work, but he’s been more a set-up man than a scorer this year.

The Blues have organizational depth on defense and in goal, if they want to try and make a deal for a sniper, but they’d probably have to seriously overpay for anyone worth two hoots in Hell.

If it were me, I’d probably go down to Peoria and scoop up Glumac, and play him and Perron with Weight for at least three-four games in succession. Glumac can open up some space for Weight and Perron to operate, and Glumac is a shooter. He’ll do the dirty work in front of the net, and can collect the rebounds on the shots Perron takes after Weight’s picture-perfect setups.

It’s not the ideal situation, but IMO, it’s the best option they’ve got right now.

B.