| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Guest4306 |
Posted - 01/17/2012 : 19:41:55
The St. Louis Blues must be a big surprise on how well they're doing this season!
They currently sit atop the Western Conference (albeit, in a very close conference), and they are 2nd overall in the NHL standings!
They have the best home record right now, with a record of 19-3-3!
They have persevered through adversity, including injuries to Andy McDonald (who's only played 3 games), Alex Steen, David Perron, Kent Huskins, etc. Sure, a lot of teams have injury woes, but do they have the same record as the Blues?
A big reason for their success is their goaltending tandem of Halak and Elliott. But it must be more than that. Thoughts?
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| 39 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Guest4178 |
Posted - 03/14/2012 : 09:15:16
Stepping away from the odds for a moment, the Blues came very close to breaking a longstanding record for a team's success on the penalty kill.
The record for most consecutive penalty kills is 53, a record held by the Washington Capitals, which they set during the 1999-2000 season.
St. Louis entered last night's game with 47 consecutive kills, and after killing their first four penalties against the Hawks last night, they finally allowed a power play goal after going 51 penalty kills in a row without allowing a goal.
The Blues were terrible at penalty killing at the beginning of the season, where they sat in last place in this category after the first 15 games of the season. It's another area of improvement for the Blues, who appear to be getting stronger and stronger as the season winds down. (Despite last night's shoot-out loss to the Hawks last night.) |
| nuxfan |
Posted - 03/14/2012 : 08:40:46
quote:
Originally posted by slozo
This is getting off track a bit from this thread,
But from those odds, I REALLY like the 26-1 for the Devils. That's a team that to me has a real chance to win, and they have the longest odds of any team I'd put in that group.
I am not surprised that the odds are as long as they are for St.Louis . . . in the end, how much playoff experience do they have on their roster? Not much. Are they in tough against other top teams with loads of playoff experience? Yep.
So I get it, and think the odds are probably about right.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug
Yeah, I agree about STL - they'd be a team I would not want to face in round 1, but I think their lack of experience will catch up with them sooner after that. I see them getting to the conference finals at best - which would be a significant achievement for a team that didn't even make the playoffs last year.
slozo - 26-1 are tempting, but they're 26-1 for a reason. Do you really see NJD getting by 2 of 3 of PIT, NYR, and BOS? I don't. Their saving grace right now is they're in the 6 seed, meaning they'll play the worst of the division leaders in FLA, but after that it gets hard. And if Brodeur stumbles even a bit, they're done. |
| n/a |
Posted - 03/14/2012 : 05:43:07
This is getting off track a bit from this thread,
But from those odds, I REALLY like the 26-1 for the Devils. That's a team that to me has a real chance to win, and they have the longest odds of any team I'd put in that group.
I am not surprised that the odds are as long as they are for St.Louis . . . in the end, how much playoff experience do they have on their roster? Not much. Are they in tough against other top teams with loads of playoff experience? Yep.
So I get it, and think the odds are probably about right.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 03/13/2012 : 20:09:49
nuxfan.....i certainly wouldn't pile on anyone for not backing their own team! First off, ALWAYS bet with your wallet, not your heart. Secondly, the West is so tough to get out of that picking a team in the east, especially one with "nice" odds like Philly at 10-1, is not a bad idea. I almost rolled the dice at the deadline on Detroit. I really thought they'd have made a bold move / trade with their cap space the way it is / was and they were sitting around 6 or 7-1. I chickened out in the end.
I agree that Pittsburgh looks pretty tempting, especially with the defending champs looking so human for so long. |
| nuxfan |
Posted - 03/13/2012 : 15:42:59
quote:
Originally posted by Alex116
Here are the current odds for the Stanley Cup Outright (from Sportsinteraction.com) St. Louis is currently at 9-1. I was surprised to see Montreal last at 250-1 until i noticed that both Edmonton and Columbus were not even listed! 
Another strange one is the Leafs at 56-1, while 3 teams currently ahead of them in the east (Winnipeg, Buffalo and Tampa) are at 67-1? I'm surprised the Rangers aren't the favorite but i'm guessing last years experience is counted for something as far as the Canucks are concerned.
Vancouver Canucks 5.50
Detroit Red Wings 7.00
New York Rangers 7.00
Boston Bruins 8.00
Pittsburgh Penguins 8.00
St Louis Blues 9.00
Philadelphia Flyers 13.00
Nashville Predators 15.00
Chicago Blackhawks 17.00
San Jose Sharks 19.00
New Jersey Devils 26.00
Washington Capitals 34.00
Los Angeles Kings 34.00
Phoenix Coyotes 34.00
Dallas Stars 34.00
Ottawa Senators 41.00
Florida Panthers 41.00
Toronto Maple Leafs 56.00
Tampa Bay Lightning 67.00
Buffalo Sabres 67.00
Calgary Flames 67.00
Winnipeg Jets 67.00
Colorado Avalanche 67.00
Anaheim Ducks 81.00
Minnesota Wild 151.00
Carolina Hurricanes 201.00
New York Islanders 201.00
Montreal Canadiens 251.00
Interesting. In August, I placed a bet in Vegas for PHI to win the cup. Before you all pile on about not supporting my own team, I made the bet because they had (what I felt) were the worst odds out of a group of 8 teams that I thought might win the cup, at 10-1 - compared to the 8-5 odds that VAN had. Its good to see that the odds on PHI haven't changed all that much since then.
Of that group, I think PIT at 8-1 odds looks pretty tempting, esp with Crosby and Letang almost back...
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| Alex116 |
Posted - 03/13/2012 : 14:22:37
Here are the current odds for the Stanley Cup Outright (from Sportsinteraction.com) St. Louis is currently at 9-1. I was surprised to see Montreal last at 250-1 until i noticed that both Edmonton and Columbus were not even listed!
Another strange one is the Leafs at 56-1, while 3 teams currently ahead of them in the east (Winnipeg, Buffalo and Tampa) are at 67-1? I'm surprised the Rangers aren't the favorite but i'm guessing last years experience is counted for something as far as the Canucks are concerned.
Vancouver Canucks 5.50
Detroit Red Wings 7.00
New York Rangers 7.00
Boston Bruins 8.00
Pittsburgh Penguins 8.00
St Louis Blues 9.00
Philadelphia Flyers 13.00
Nashville Predators 15.00
Chicago Blackhawks 17.00
San Jose Sharks 19.00
New Jersey Devils 26.00
Washington Capitals 34.00
Los Angeles Kings 34.00
Phoenix Coyotes 34.00
Dallas Stars 34.00
Ottawa Senators 41.00
Florida Panthers 41.00
Toronto Maple Leafs 56.00
Tampa Bay Lightning 67.00
Buffalo Sabres 67.00
Calgary Flames 67.00
Winnipeg Jets 67.00
Colorado Avalanche 67.00
Anaheim Ducks 81.00
Minnesota Wild 151.00
Carolina Hurricanes 201.00
New York Islanders 201.00
Montreal Canadiens 251.00
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| OILINONTARIO |
Posted - 03/13/2012 : 12:39:00
quote:
Originally posted by mandree888
this team has impressed me completely. since my team aint making it this year. this would have to be my fav to win the cup this year. or at the least the conference finals.
If you actually pick the Blues to win the cup, good on ya. You will get fantastic odds. There will be 15 other very good teams in the mix as well. Can't imagine too many are picking St. Loo to take it home. I know I will not.
The Oil WILL make the playoffs in 2013. |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 03/13/2012 : 12:16:49
Yup, i was def a year early on my bet with Beans and the Blues making the post season!!  |
| mandree888 |
Posted - 03/13/2012 : 07:36:46
this team has impressed me completely. since my team aint making it this year. this would have to be my fav to win the cup this year. or at the least the conference finals. |
| Guest4377 |
Posted - 03/11/2012 : 19:15:20
The Blues can't get over losing out in three Stanley Cup Finals? You're kidding - right? Does this really enter their psyche?
The Blues made the Stanley Cup finals in their first three NHL seasons, a result of them being in a division with the other five expansion teams. The NHL wanted to give the new teams a hope of being in the Stanley Cup, but the end result was that when St. Louis played in the cup finals in 1968, 1969 and 1970, it was no contest, and without a doubt, a matchup without the NHL's two best teams in these finals.
In each of these three finals, the Blues were swept 4-0, the first two by Montreal, and the memorable 1970 finals when Bobby Orr scored his dramatic cup winning goal!
Except as a history lesson, this has no relevance whatsoever to today's team, and how well they will do this year! |
| Guest7961 |
Posted - 03/11/2012 : 18:48:50
The Saint Louis Blues have never quite gotten over losing three Stanley Cup finals in row. Pity. |
| sahis34 |
Posted - 03/10/2012 : 09:30:03
quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
No Sashis, clear you do not remember. Simple probability is not math that applies to any sport, including hockey.
But I do recall something about a hit to the neck at one point. What was that all about????
I retracted my stupid statement, you should too. |
| nuxfan |
Posted - 03/10/2012 : 09:17:47
One interesting tidbit... should they go on to win the Presidents Trophy, they could be the first team (AFAICT) to win with 200 or less GF in the post-six team era. They're at 177 now, and with 14 games to go have to score 23 in those games to hit it. Given that they'll probably lose a few of them, its not out of the realm of possibility for this team...
Winning 50-ish games when you average just over 2.5 GF per game makes a pretty strong statement about your defensive abilities. That would be impressive. |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 10:42:31
No Sashis, clear you do not remember. Simple probability is not math that applies to any sport, including hockey.
But I do recall something about a hit to the neck at one point. What was that all about???? |
| sahis34 |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 10:23:56
quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
Alex, I think we might be looking at different information. I am looking at the correct information, you are not.
Check it out:
http://tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/gamelog/?id=3768
According to this information, his first game over .900 save % was Dec 2 against COL which was an OT loss.
Here are his stats by date. Although this site doesn't format this information very well, this tells me pretty clearly that his first 15 games were garbage. He has been better the last 10 games and lights out the last 3 games.
Say what you will about this 'loss in regulation' stuff, but a loss is a loss regardless of when it happens.
Date Wins Loss OTL Goals Shots Save %
8-Oct-11 0 - 1 - 0 - 3 - 15 - 0.800
10-Oct-11 1 - 1 - 0 - 5 - 32 - 0.844
13-Oct-11 1 - 2 - 0 - 8 - 56 - 0.857
16-Oct-11 1 - 3 - 0 - 12 - 79 - 0.848
18-Oct-11 1 - 4 - 0 - 16 - 97 - 0.835
30-Oct-11 1 - 5 - 0 - 20 - 127 - 0.843
5-Nov-11 1 - 6 - 0 - 22 - 153 - 0.856
8-Nov-11 2 - 6 - 0 - 22 - 182 - 0.879
10-Nov-11 2 - 6 - 1 - 24 - 204 - 0.882
17-Nov-11 3 - 6 - 1 - 25 - 225 - 0.889
19-Nov-11 3 - 6 - 2 - 27 - 257 - 0.895
22-Nov-11 3 - 7 - 2 - 30 - 285 - 0.895
29-Nov-11 4 - 7 - 2 - 31 - 304 - 0.898
2-Dec-11 4 - 7 - 3 - 33 - 339 - 0.903
8-Dec-11 5 - 7 - 3 - 35 - 362 - 0.903
17-Dec-11 5 - 7 - 4 - 36 - 382 - 0.906
18-Dec-11 6 - 7 - 4 - 40 - 414 - 0.903
26-Dec-11 7 - 7 - 4 - 43 - 437 - 0.902
30-Dec-11 7 - 7 - 5 - 44 - 471 - 0.907
3-Jan-12 8 - 7 - 5 - 45 - 506 - 0.911
5-Jan-12 9 - 7 - 5 - 48 - 538 - 0.911
10-Jan-12 10 - 7 - 5 - 48 - 557 - 0.914
14-Jan-12 11 - 7 - 5 - 50 - 588 - 0.915
16-Jan-12 12 - 7 - 5 - 50 - 610 - 0.918
sorry beans you dont believe in math when it comes to hockey remember |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 08:03:07
They scare the *&$# outta me as a Canucks fan. Sure, we beat them recently, but as someone mentioned, they're a big solid team which looks built for the playoff grind!
Then again, with the way the Canucks are playing lately, i'm scared of anyone.  |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 05:59:52
Slozo, you might be right. I see the Blues as a team that could make noise in the playoffs but I don't see them beating Vancouver of Detroit over 7 games. I think Chicago or Nashville vs St Louis would be an absolute dog fight and I see STL beating any other team in the West.
But they are built for the playoffs and have a coach who has been there before. |
| n/a |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 05:56:14
Myself, I think this might be one of the toughest outs in the playoffs that no one is really picking to move on. I mean, look at them . . . they are BUILT for the playoffs. Big gritty players; tough defensive style; have very evenly distibuted scoring lines; have a goalie (2 maybe) that can steal games and play very solid.
But it's a bit of a coin toss in the West really . . . I think their top teams are all quite closely matched, and it might just come down to who the hottest goalie is, and favourable match-ups.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
| Guest4793 |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 00:04:00
I will say that the Blues remind me of the Bruins.... minus Chara.
They seem to roll 4 good lines, but with no superstars. And I do agree that they are well coached.
I also have to say that while no team would want to play them in the first round, I cant reallly see them making the finals. I think of the Sens in the late 90s who were a great well coached regular season team that could really get it done in the playoffs (admitted a finals appearance vs Ana was pretty good).
Time will tell, but the playoffs are a different kettle of fish and teams that cant elevate their game tend not to fair so well...eg the blues of 2000, the Sharks etc.
hey I like this team, but not quite yet. Having said that I have been wrong before |
| Guest4377 |
Posted - 03/06/2012 : 21:40:53
With their 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks tonight, the Blues are now tied for first overall in the NHL!
Who would have predicted this at the beginning of the season, or even two months ago?
At what point will hockey fans put St. Louis in the category of the top teams in the NHL? |
| Guest5744 |
Posted - 02/14/2012 : 11:16:08
the blues are not a top team. they are a young team still that will get much better but i predict a slight collapse either late in the season or early in the playoffs. they are going to struggle to score goals and the netminders have both been playing above their capabilities. |
| Guest4005 |
Posted - 02/14/2012 : 06:03:26
The Blues played the trap and I'm last in my pool.
I choose Chris Stewart and he makes nothing or barely with Hitchcock.
Alex Steen has a great start but he miss some times with a commotion.
Keven Shattenkirk don't make points under The Hitch |
| Guest7116 |
Posted - 02/12/2012 : 21:22:10
It's called the trap .... BORING! |
| ryan93 |
Posted - 02/12/2012 : 20:45:25
quote:
Originally posted by Guest4306
Goaltending (and team defense) continues to be their strong point, but they got some good news on the offensive side of their game. Andy McDonald is back from a lengthy absence due to a concussion he suffered early in the season, and he didn't take long to make his impact. He picked up an assist in his first period back in action. He should help the Blues down the stretch, and into the playoffs too!
Glad to hear that, hopefully he can stay healthy! I've always liked McDonald, he's a heck of a hockey player! |
| Guest4306 |
Posted - 02/12/2012 : 17:02:52
The Blues continue to roll along, and yet they seem to garner less attention than all the other top teams.
Most hockey fans I talk to mention the Bruins, Rangers, Wings, Canucks, Hawks as the top teams in the NHL, but St. Louis should be up there too!
With a win tonight (they're leading 1-0 in their game against the Sharks right now), they will be 2 points out of first place overall in the NHL.
Goaltending (and team defense) continues to be their strong point, but they got some good news on the offensive side of their game. Andy McDonald is back from a lengthy absence due to a concussion he suffered early in the season, and he didn't take long to make his impact. He picked up an assist in his first period back in action. He should help the Blues down the stretch, and into the playoffs too! |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/19/2012 : 19:04:26
Well Beans, the stats were in fact correct, but it was your interpretation of them that was, well, let's just call it "off". 
For a while there, i thought you were joking actually as i had pointed out the shutout. lol.
Either way, i agree that Hitch has had a huge impact on that club! Where was he last year for our bet?  |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 01/19/2012 : 18:50:34
Wow, you learn something new every day!! TSN has been my trusted website for years and they are totally wrong!! Well, not wrong, different. I checked NHL.com and it matches Yahoo. TSN does their save % and GAA cumulatively, and when I posted the stats above I did it cumulatively as well. So it's the cumulative on the cumulative??
Alex, you were right. I would like to say in my defense that I was not wrong, the stats were wrong. 
It is interesting that Halak's improvements happened at the same time as Hitch getting the head coaching job. Just another sign that shows it has been exclusively the coach who turned this team around. |
| nuxfan |
Posted - 01/19/2012 : 14:30:04
Ha, Alex is right - go figure, the TSN stats a cumulative stat for SV%, not individual game stats. In Bean's defense, thats a pretty dumb way to present game-by-game stats...
I usually use yahoo for game log stats, and for Halak: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3734/gamelog;_ylt=Am7Ra8xn8YgrY3OACUhrOcnCfgM6
Alex is correct, his first good game came Nov 5, and then a SO on Nov 8. In fact, Halak has been pretty rock solid since that Nov 5 game, only a few sub-900 starts since that time.
However - I truly believe that STL success in goal is because the tandem is working - both goalies are pushing each other to play better, and they are. When a tandem works out, it really does work out well, and STL (along with BOS and VAN) is a great example. |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/19/2012 : 14:22:38
quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
Alex, I think we might be looking at different information. I am looking at the correct information, you are not.
Umm, NO, not even close in fact. You Beans, are the one who's looking at it incorrectly. Your info may be accurate, but you're obviously interpretting it incorrectly! I thought by mentioning his shutout from earlier in the season( Nov 8), you'd see you were in fact incorrect to say...
quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
Before Dec 3rd he was 4-10 and didn't have a single game with a save % better than .900.
Unless of course he got the shutout without a shot against?
The save% stats you present, is his cumulative save% as the season progresses, as noted by the fact it has gotten much better since his slow start!!! Judging by your #'s, it wasn't until Dec 2 that his season long save% rose above .900, not his single game save %!
Have a look here http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3734/gamelog;_ylt=Av9z80dbw59cIPHgFAw5jpbCfgM6 and you'll get a game log showing his performance (inc save%) for each game!
I'm not sure if you were being facetious with this or not, but the way you worded your original claim seems that you weren't. Either way, i wasn't focussing so much on that as i was the point that Slozo was trying to make, being that Halak has in fact been a big part of the recent surge the Blues have made. When you look at his numbers from mid Nov till now, he's been as good or better than Elliott. That was what i was getting at.
|
| Beans15 |
Posted - 01/19/2012 : 13:39:56
Alex, I think we might be looking at different information. I am looking at the correct information, you are not.
Check it out:
http://tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/gamelog/?id=3768
According to this information, his first game over .900 save % was Dec 2 against COL which was an OT loss.
Here are his stats by date. Although this site doesn't format this information very well, this tells me pretty clearly that his first 15 games were garbage. He has been better the last 10 games and lights out the last 3 games.
Say what you will about this 'loss in regulation' stuff, but a loss is a loss regardless of when it happens.
Date Wins Loss OTL Goals Shots Save %
8-Oct-11 0 - 1 - 0 - 3 - 15 - 0.800
10-Oct-11 1 - 1 - 0 - 5 - 32 - 0.844
13-Oct-11 1 - 2 - 0 - 8 - 56 - 0.857
16-Oct-11 1 - 3 - 0 - 12 - 79 - 0.848
18-Oct-11 1 - 4 - 0 - 16 - 97 - 0.835
30-Oct-11 1 - 5 - 0 - 20 - 127 - 0.843
5-Nov-11 1 - 6 - 0 - 22 - 153 - 0.856
8-Nov-11 2 - 6 - 0 - 22 - 182 - 0.879
10-Nov-11 2 - 6 - 1 - 24 - 204 - 0.882
17-Nov-11 3 - 6 - 1 - 25 - 225 - 0.889
19-Nov-11 3 - 6 - 2 - 27 - 257 - 0.895
22-Nov-11 3 - 7 - 2 - 30 - 285 - 0.895
29-Nov-11 4 - 7 - 2 - 31 - 304 - 0.898
2-Dec-11 4 - 7 - 3 - 33 - 339 - 0.903
8-Dec-11 5 - 7 - 3 - 35 - 362 - 0.903
17-Dec-11 5 - 7 - 4 - 36 - 382 - 0.906
18-Dec-11 6 - 7 - 4 - 40 - 414 - 0.903
26-Dec-11 7 - 7 - 4 - 43 - 437 - 0.902
30-Dec-11 7 - 7 - 5 - 44 - 471 - 0.907
3-Jan-12 8 - 7 - 5 - 45 - 506 - 0.911
5-Jan-12 9 - 7 - 5 - 48 - 538 - 0.911
10-Jan-12 10 - 7 - 5 - 48 - 557 - 0.914
14-Jan-12 11 - 7 - 5 - 50 - 588 - 0.915
16-Jan-12 12 - 7 - 5 - 50 - 610 - 0.918 |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/19/2012 : 09:40:12
quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
Who has been outstanding?? Halak?? Really?? He's playing .500 hockey with a .918 save % and 2.08 GAA. Halak also has 3 straight wins and has really only been decent in the past month. Before Dec 3rd he was 4-10 and didn't have a single game with a save % better than .900.
Halak has been hot as of late but not great all season. Not at all! Brian Elliot went 5-1 in his first 6 starts and is 10-4-1 in his last 15 starts. Of every goalie in the NHL that has played as 20 or more games, Elliot has the best GAA in the NHL and only Lundqvist has a better save %.
Remember all those last season who said that Anderson was such an upgrade on Elliot??? Remember those guys??
Brian Elliot is the beast that is rockin the pipes in STL.
Beans....
I have to disagree here. Halak is 9-0-3 in his past 12 starts dating back to the end of Nov! That's 0 regulation losses in over almost 2 months!
As for him playing .500 hockey, you're obviously using the OTL/SO loss in your math, but at 12-7-5, i think St. Louis is pretty happy (especially lately). Since Hitchcock's been around, he's 11-1-5 which is better than the 10-4-1 record that Elliott got in that same period.
Also, FWIW, he did have games before Dec 3 with save %'s over .900, 7 to be exact. He did have a shut out in Nov so obviously that was one of them.
I get it, Elliott has played extremely well, i'm not about to try to take that away from him as he's been a big part of St Louis' surge. BUT, there's no way you can deny Halak's part in this. After a slow start, he's playing the kind of hockey he is capable of and is looking like the guy that the Blues figured they'd rec'd when they aquired him!
Slozo's point was that Halak has played extremely well during this hot streak that the Blues find themselves on, and it's pretty easy to see that he has. His save % is above .940 since the end of Nov (Elliott's is approx an excellent .933 during that same period) and his play since Hitchcock's arrival has rebounded him from what now looks like simply a sluggish start to the year. I'm guessing that they'll continue to roll both goalies but if either struggles at any point, they'll begin to play the other more. |
| n/a |
Posted - 01/19/2012 : 05:06:03
quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
Who has been outstanding?? Halak?? Really?? He's playing .500 hockey with a .918 save % and 2.08 GAA. Halak also has 3 straight wins and has really only been decent in the past month. Before Dec 3rd he was 4-10 and didn't have a single game with a save % better than .900.
Halak has been hot as of late but not great all season. Not at all! Brian Elliot went 5-1 in his first 6 starts and is 10-4-1 in his last 15 starts. Of every goalie in the NHL that has played as 20 or more games, Elliot has the best GAA in the NHL and only Lundqvist has a better save %.
Remember all those last season who said that Anderson was such an upgrade on Elliot??? Remember those guys??
Brian Elliot is the beast that is rockin the pipes in STL.
That's a fair point, Beans - didn't realise that Elliot had such a fantastic record.
Must have missed that while I was sipping cold beers on the beach in Thailand the last couple of weeks 
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 01/18/2012 : 18:29:31
Who has been outstanding?? Halak?? Really?? He's playing .500 hockey with a .918 save % and 2.08 GAA. Halak also has 3 straight wins and has really only been decent in the past month. Before Dec 3rd he was 4-10 and didn't have a single game with a save % better than .900.
Halak has been hot as of late but not great all season. Not at all! Brian Elliot went 5-1 in his first 6 starts and is 10-4-1 in his last 15 starts. Of every goalie in the NHL that has played as 20 or more games, Elliot has the best GAA in the NHL and only Lundqvist has a better save %.
Remember all those last season who said that Anderson was such an upgrade on Elliot??? Remember those guys??
Brian Elliot is the beast that is rockin the pipes in STL. |
| foolpittier |
Posted - 01/18/2012 : 12:30:15
quote:
Originally posted by Guest7961
no final series d*** irvin since orr flew through the air
richard irvin |
| Guest7961 |
Posted - 01/18/2012 : 11:11:58
no final series d*** irvin since orr flew through the air |
| n/a |
Posted - 01/18/2012 : 10:57:40
Agree with Beans on this one.
I always thought that the Blues should have been a playoff team, last year included - but clearly, they had terrible coaching. Now, with a very good coach, we see what kind of team it is.
All that said, they are hot right now and won't remain so forever. Halak has played outstanding, and the the team is bound to go through some ups and downs. With Chicago and Detroit there, tough to say that they will be division leaders still at the end of the season (I am sure they won't be). Certainly looks like a playoff berth is there for them though at this point.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 01/18/2012 : 06:04:06
I don't believe that injuries had as much to do with St Louis' poor performance last year. Reason being is they were under .500 as on Nov 7th.
There is one and only on reason why STL is where they are: Ken Hitchcock. The are virtually the identical team who missed the playoffs last season. Sure, they had injuires. So did every other team in the NHL. The only really impactful injury that I recall was Perron.
STL is winning with solid goaltending, very sound defense(3rd i the NHL), and mistake free hockey. They don't have a single player at a PPG pace but have 9 players better than plus 10.
That, at least to me, is a very disciplined and well coached team. A good team without a great coach is simply average. A good team with a great coach is a great team. STL is a great example of a good team with a great coach. |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/17/2012 : 23:14:58
Yeah Beans! I think i was just a year early. Those darn injuries killed my chances last year! |
| nuxfan |
Posted - 01/17/2012 : 21:56:45
while I didn't think they'd be leading the conference anytime soon, I did think that STL would do a lot better than last season. All those injuries last year cost them dearly, and I figured if they could get them all healthy they'd be good to go. A couple of great acquisitions in Arnott and Langenbrunner have been good for them, and some quality goaltending - and voila, you have a serious team.
We'll see if it lasts, but they look good right now to challenge CHI and DET for the central division crown |
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