Blues Like Playing For Hitchcock; Shutout Blackhawks 3-0

Jackman played his best game in a season and a half, physically and mentally.

Hawks goalie Corey Crawford looked like bad Jaro most of the game. We could have scored a shit ton of goals if we’d taken more shots. He wasn’t seeing the puck well at all. As much as Oshie’s goal may have reminded Hullie of him, it was from far out and Crawford had the angle.

Halak got better as the game went on.

At what point did Daniel Carcillo think, “This is NOT a good idea…” when he yapped at Reaves and then dropped his gloves? Also, how many kidney punches to the linesman does it take to get suspended?

Stewie needs to work on his conditioning if Hitch is gonna have him killing penalties. Love the long arms though.

The team didn’t take any shifts off from what I saw. We’ll see how long that lasts.

The second power play demonstrated almost everything that is wrong with the Blues PP. Hitchcock’s gonna stay awake all night trying to figure out how to keep them from doing it again. Probably wear out the DVD and go through a half-case of Oreos while he’s at it.

Did you notice?

John Scott needs to pick on somebody his own size. Sobotka put Lurch on his ass with a reverse hit.

When was the last time the Blues had all five players circling the wagons around their netminder after a shot?

Towes got freight trained by Backes, then retaliated by chopping 42’s skates out from under him as he trailed on a ’Hawks PP. No penalty.

The line of Reaves-Berglund-Stewart?

How much he mixed the D pairs through the game?

This is only one game—we’ll see how this team looks in a month—but, so far so good.

I understand that a lot of people were pissed about the Payne firiing/Hitchcock hiring, comparing Hitch to the last Blues coach, Andy Murray. In my opinion, though, the difference is that Ken Hitchcock is a much better coach than Andy Murray.

Hitchcock might be a d-bag, or out of touch, or Keenan part II, but he’s the best Blues coach since at least Joel Q.

what a lovely result to wake up to. Especially Jaro getting a shutout – can’t wait to watch the game tonight

Didn’t do a whole lot offensively, but he did rip off some slapshots…just gotta get em on goal. He made smart, quick passes and was good defensively. You can tell he was ready to impress the new coach

Toronto is currently on a downward spiral, but they have (cue Matt Damon from Team America voice) Phil Kessel. Phil is disturbingly good this year at getting goals no one was expecting. He’s like Monty Python’s version of the Spanish Inquisition with amazing focus and more social awkwardness. Jonas Gustavsson is playing like Bad Jaro and Ben Scrivens is playing like Worse Jaro.

Beating the Blues would help the Leafs get their groove back like Stella. This must not happen in the Blues’ house. They’ve got to take the lessons from last night’s game on the power play and penalty kill and use that to wreak havoc on the Leafs’ defenders. Last night’s penalty kill 2-on-1 from Backes and Oshie is a good foundation for setting up shorthanded goals. I hope they’re seeing that same foundation.

Poor fella asshat almost got smoked by Sobotka. One second more on the boards and he would’ve been crumpled. Hot damn I loved Sobe’s play last night, hope he can keep it up for the rest of the season.

A good start to the Hitchcock era.A solid , team effort, Oshie and Stewart scored. Halak posted a Shutout.

 I like this hiring. What’s wrong with a Dull Old school defensive minded coach? Absolutly nothing. Do the Blues like the Bruins have a game changer in Kane, Malkin, etc on the top two lines? Did Boston win the Cup last june?

No the Blues are not quite in Boston’s class. Not yet.However, with new ownership one of these days arriving a tweaking of the roster is next for the underachiving youngsters.

Was the speed through the neutral zone and actually skating the puck INTO the offensive zone.
(IE, not dumping and chasing).
Almost EVERY single time they skated into the zone, they at least got a shot towards the goal at even numbers.
(IE 2 on 2).
Yeah, I know all those chances weren’t great quality, but it kept the other team on their heals and forced a few extra seconds/minutes trying to get the puck back.

The forecheck was great, the backcheck was even better, and the puck possession was awesome.

Now, three of four more games like that, and I’ll believe.

And how happy the Fat Man was afterwards.

Did anyone see the look on Armstrong’s face right after the final buzzer in a cutaway shot from the on-ice celebration?
No hint of a smile.

I’d love a screen grab of it.