Wednesday Morning Dump

“I think you go through these phases particularly when you’re a young guy,” Murray said. “Both guys (Berglund and Perron) are still top four on our team in scoring, and they just need to play better. They need to be accepting of a role redefinement for a few games and play within that. If they don’t want to do that, as I indicated to Perron today, there’s another guy we can put in that spot.”

Sorry, but I’m not buyin’ it, Goblin.

Why do you have to single out Perron every blasted time in these interviews?

Without fail, it’s Perron who gets singled out for criticism and “correction” from Murray.

Do you tell the press — and by extension, the paying fans of the Blues — that you “indicated” to Berglund that “there’s another guy we can put in (his) spot” if he doesn’t change everything that got him to the NHL in the first place?

Why you insist on taking a potential Guy Lafleur, and trying to turn him into another Guy Carbonneau, is completely beyond me. Some guys are simply meant to be scorers. Period. Not every player is going to grind and backcheck well enough or often enough to suit you; you have to look past that sometimes and see the player for what he is, instead of what you want him to be in order to fit into your “system.”

Coaches and “systems” come and go, but a player is going to be the kind of player he is, regardless of who his coach is today, or tomorrow.

B.

If the Blues aren’t gonna be sellers, might they be buyers? Given the prospects we got in the system I wouldn’t mind seeing a 1st or 2nd round pick going out to bring in some scoring help now.

A harder question would be is there any of the young kids you would move for a rent-a-player if that gave us a better playoff shot?

JD always says “we can’t keep all the prospects.” As I said… a thought.

We can’t get anything past you guys.

Yesterday SB Nation launched a new partnership with Yahoo! Sports to get our sports blogs featured on team pages and stuff on their site. So our links will be on some of the Y! SPorts pages. We’ve seen a few hits from their sites, but not a lot yet. Basically it’s more exposure for the site and we don’t have to do much more.

We weren’t going to make a big deal about it. But thanks for noticing.

Brian,

I respect your opinion, and your knowledge of hockey is tremendous. But I’d be willing to wager a good deal of money that the Blues know how to handle Perron a little bit better than anybody on this website does.

However, David Perron played a terrible first period last night.

Murray is trying to get the best out of Perron, and he’s choosing to motivate him via the media. We don’t see what goes on behind the scenes. How many 1 on 1 meetings has Murray had with Perron? How many times has Murray told Perron the same things about what he needs to do to become a more complete player before lashing out in the press at him?

Had he not scored the goal, and had he not shown his normal spunk that he brings on most nights during the third period, Perron’s performance would have been greatly below average last night.

How many people, regardless of profession, at age 20 are perfect in what they do? How many hockey players, regardless of age, are never criticized by their coaches?

Would you feel the same way about Perron if he’d been returned to the QMJHL last season, or hadn’t made the team at all last season and this was his rookie season?

Kind of off the subject, but, when I see Berglund and Perron playing with Jannsen, I see it more as Cam playing with the kid line instead of Berglund and Perron being demoted to the fourth line.

Is this site making it big time? (Scroll down to see what I’m talking about.)

Yahoo!

What? Does he have a yeast infection?

TSN thinks the Blues have some good prospects. Does the Game Time Prospect Department agree with this list?

For the most part, yes, your GTPD does indeed agree with that list.

1. Alex Pietrangelo – Defence, 19 (1st round 4th overall 2008), currently with Niagara (OHL).
2. Patrik Berglund – Centre, 20 (1st round, 25th overall 2006), currently with St. Louis (NHL).
3. T.J. Oshie – Centre, 22 (1st round, 24th overall 2005), currently with St. Louis (NHL).
4. Ian Cole – Defence, 20 (1st round 18th overall 2007), currently with Notre Dame (NCAA).
5. Lars Eller – Centre, 19 (1st round 13th overall 2007), currently with Frolunda (SWE).
6. Jake Allen – Goalie, 18 (2nd round 34th overall 2008), currently with Montreal (QMJHL).
7. Ben Bishop – Goalie, 22 (3rd round, 85th overall 2005), currently with Peoria (AHL).
8. Aaron Palushaj – Right Wing, 19 (2nd round 44th overall 2007), currently with Michigan (NCAA).
9. Simon Hjalmarsson – Right Wing, 20 (2nd round 39th overall 2007), currently with Frolunda (SWE).
10. Brett Sonne – Centre, 19 (3rd round 85th overall 2007), currently with Calgary (WHL).
11. Jonas Junland – Defence, 21 (3rd round 64th overall 2006), currently with Peoria (AHL).
12. Cade Fairchild – Defence, 20 (4th round 96th overall 2007), currently with Minnesota (NCAA).

I’d flip-flop Eller and Cole, push Bishop down to # 11, pull Palushaj, Hjalmarsson, Sonne and Junland up one space each, drop Fairchild (an excellent offensive prospect, but his defense still needs some refinement), and add Philip McRae in his place.

Bishop still has all the potential in the world, and I have every confidence that he’ll work out just fine, but head-to-head this year against Chris Holt, Holt has been the better goalie.

Not only are Holt’s numbers far better, but I’ve personally seen both play, and Holt’s mechanics are better. Holt, like Bishop, is a big goalie, and Bishop is more athletic, but Holt is far more economical in his movements, plays the angles a little better, and has better rebound control. Holt is about a year older than Bishop, which may explain some of this, but Holt is still only 23, which means he’s still at least 3-5 years away from his prime as a goaltender.

The 2007 draft will go down as the single most significant draft in Blues’ history; fully half of this list of top prospects (six or 12) were added to the Blues’ organization in the 2007 draft.

Really, it’s the second part of that article — the Draft Analysis from 1997-2003 — that interests me most.

You’ll note, first of all, that those are the years immediately preceding the arrival of one Jarmo Kekalainen in the Blues’ organ-I-zation. Kekalainen did conduct the 2003 Draft, his first with the Blues, and (arguably) the best NHL player from the 1997-2003 listing — David "Chuck Norris" Backes — came from that draft.

Jackman and McClement are the only pre-Kekalainen picks from that listing who are still making an impact with the Blues, and another of Kekalainen’s first picks with the Blues in 2003 (Stempniak) was turned into two impact NHL players (Steen and Colaiacovo) in a trade that looks more and more every day like an absolute steal for Larry Pleau.

Finally, how deep is this organization now that a guy with 44 goals, and on pace for a 100-point season in what may well be the best junior league in the world, can just barely crack the top ten in a prospects list? The future is very bright here in the Mound City.

B.