I hope we hear Ray Bennet is gone too

Start fresh

Bring in Guy Carbeneau or Oates for coach in waiting

What about Jeff Brown?

unless they have a guy in mind that is off the radar
- sycsam

Army likes his guys. It'll be interesting to scour through the names of guys that played in Dallas under Hitch and Army that are in the coaching ranks.

I agree for the most part. I think first and foremost all your D need to be able to skate, make a good first pass, and be able to defend well when needed. The latter is why I have always had Shatty pegged a bit lower than most people. Then you ideally have at least two guys who are above average offensively and one or two guys who are physical.

Looking at the Blues, we have Bortuzzo and Edmundson as the bruisers, and Parayko and Petro as the offensive guys. Gunnarson and J bo are not flashy but they can play in the system effectively for the most part. I would love to see Edmundson eventually play his way onto the top pair.
- fattyboubatty

Bortuzzo and Edmundson both are physical and capable of standing up pn the lines well. They also have some untapped offensive potential. Both have shown the ability to move the puck quickly in transaction and good shots.

One of the more difficult things for young okayers is understanding a system and being in the right position. I think both struggled with that. Hopefullynit improves.

This is probably old news by now, but:

Muller is gonzo.

http://nhl.nbcsports.com/...ler-is-leaving-the-blues/
- eggsegan

Last I heard was he was mulling over his options.

Something tells me maybe Hitch was supposed to be done by now.

Rather tell Hitch to hit the pavement than lose a coach like Muller. k he would have been a good one.

Bringing Hitch back for more season appears to be costly.

The assistants were not dealt with the right way. The big thing that Shaw said was he wanted job security. So maybe offering only one year deals was not the best route, especially when you make a statement that Muller could be the next coach.

Yeo and or Berube are the rumors

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF

Huh?

Yes. Besides I see the fourth pic being Pierre-Luc Dubois.
- BluemanGuruu

Mathews, Laine Puljajarvi, Tkachuk...Dubois is 5 at best imho.

Organization wide coaching changes

Chris Kuc ‏@ChrisKuc · 8m8 minutes ago
AHL's Chicago Wolves and head coach John Anderson mutually have agreed to part ways.

Chris Kuc ‏@ChrisKuc · 7m7 minutes ago
Also, Mark Hardy and Brad Tapper, who served as the Chicago Wolves' assistant coaches for the last two years, will not return.

Organization wide coaching changes

Chris Kuc ‏@ChrisKuc · 8m8 minutes ago
AHL's Chicago Wolves and head coach John Anderson mutually have agreed to part ways.

Chris Kuc ‏@ChrisKuc · 7m7 minutes ago
Also, Mark Hardy and Brad Tapper, who served as the Chicago Wolves' assistant coaches for the last two years, will not return.
- Jason Millen

Not sad at all about Anderson, they should have replaced him a long time ago.

Didn't want to see Muller leave. It seemed like he had a really good bond with the players which surely helped Hitch get his message across.

Yeo would not be a good fit. Hopefully someone will offer him a head coaching position somewhere else.

The off season gets more interesting every day. We should still be playing dammit!!!!

With what i read about Muller helping out the young guys like Fabbri, is it possible the only reason we saw Fabbri was because of Muller? We all know Hitch's past with young guys not named Tarasenko, and him not wanting to give them a true shot. Hitch likes his vets. Guaranteed Ott is on Hitch's mind right now and he is urging Army to resign him cause he can move up and down the lineup. Now its back to Hitch and Army running the show. This worries me.

I think Muller had a bigger impact than people realized (definitely me)

The off season gets more interesting every day. We should still be playing dammit!!!!

With what i read about Muller helping out the young guys like Fabbri, is it possible the only reason we saw Fabbri was because of Muller? We all know Hitch's past with young guys not named Tarasenko, and him not wanting to give them a true shot. Hitch likes his vets. Guaranteed Ott is on Hitch's mind right now and he is urging Army to resign him cause he can move up and down the lineup. Now its back to Hitch and Army running the show. This worries me.

I think Muller had a bigger impact than people realized (definitely me)
- BluesDroogie

Can I borrow some tin foil? You seem to have a lot.

Can I borrow some tin foil? You seem to have a lot.


- carcus

huh? i dont comprehend. i don't know much about the assistant coaches at all except Muller was one of the guys i liked while playing. I don't read much about the associate or assistant coaches, i have never met any of them personally. I am an outsider fan that only sees The coach(Hitchcock) and GM (Army) sorry if i don't meet your qualifications.

Can I borrow some tin foil? You seem to have a lot.


- carcus

go knaw on some tin foil

huh? i dont comprehend. i don't know much about the assistant coaches at all except Muller was one of the guys i liked while playing. I don't read much about the associate or assistant coaches, i have never met any of them personally. I am an outsider fan that only sees The coach(Hitchcock) and GM (Army) sorry if i don't meet your qualifications.
- BluesDroogie

I think he's trying to say you're a little nuts dude.

If Logan Brown is still available mid first round, the Blues should try to move up and snag him. They need to start thinking about finding a center to eventually replace Stastny in a few years. The kid is already 6'6" 220.

The off season gets more interesting every day. We should still be playing dammit!!!!

With what i read about Muller helping out the young guys like Fabbri, is it possible the only reason we saw Fabbri was because of Muller? We all know Hitch's past with young guys not named Tarasenko, and him not wanting to give them a true shot. Hitch likes his vets. Guaranteed Ott is on Hitch's mind right now and he is urging Army to resign him cause he can move up and down the lineup. Now its back to Hitch and Army running the show. This worries me.

I think Muller had a bigger impact than people realized (definitely me)
- BluesDroogie

I see where Muller wasn't unemployed long, he's already on board with Montreal and speculation is the same as it was here - He's there to step in if (when) Thierrien goes off the rails.

If you're low on tin foil, I can send some to Carcus. I have a warehouse full.

I see where Muller wasn't unemployed long, he's already on board with Montreal and speculation is the same as it was here - He's there to step in if (when) Thierrien goes off the rails.

If you're low on tin foil, I can send some to Carcus. I have a warehouse full.
- bcallaway

Gotta think Muller sees the Canadiens as a big challenge/ dream job. It may have nothing to do with the Blues. Given the choice of being head coach of the Blues or the Canadiens, he's just making the same choice Scotty Bowman did back in the day.

What do you guys think is a realistic deal for Backes? If he is demanding Kesler type money i just cannot see a deal getting done.

I think he's trying to say you're a little nuts dude.

If Logan Brown is still available mid first round, the Blues should try to move up and snag him. They need to start thinking about finding a center to eventually replace Stastny in a few years. The kid is already 6'6" 220.
- fattyboubatty

Only a little?? I'm full fledged MAD!!!

What do you guys think is a realistic deal for Backes? If he is demanding Kesler type money i just cannot see a deal getting done.
- Yeah Boyes

I think they offered 3 at 5.5 during the season and he turned it down. I don't think he should get more than that and honestly thats a steep price for him

Mathews, Laine Puljajarvi, Tkachuk...Dubois is 5 at best imho.
- Jason Millen

Dubois has gone dramatically up. Many have it at four ahead of Tkachuk mostly due to his position.

I have to say though I think Tkachuk is a great talent. I would say he rivals the Finnish wingers. But wingers.

Even if Dubois is say number five, pretend the Blues got the fourth pick who do you take? Do you pass up on need? Fabbri is technically a center but do you want him playing center?

A lot of tough questions but good ones.

I think he's trying to say you're a little nuts dude.

If Logan Brown is still available mid first round, the Blues should try to move up and snag him. They need to start thinking about finding a center to eventually replace Stastny in a few years. The kid is already 6'6" 220.
- fattyboubatty

There's talks of some teams taking him a bit higher because pf his position. Dubois is in the same boat.

I personally prefer Dubois.

Gotta think Muller sees the Canadiens as a big challenge/ dream job. It may have nothing to do with the Blues. Given the choice of being head coach of the Blues or the Canadiens, he's just making the same choice Scotty Bowman did back in the day.
- eggsegan

I think it is because he got more than a year and probably a direct you will become coach if Therrien fails talk. Plus he is closer to his daugter and has big ties to that organization.

Armstrong failed here. He should have signed him to a head coach's contract, annointed him etc.

Yeo is not bad. I do not know why people dislike Yeo. His team had lots of issues and I am highly doubtful it was all on coaching.

He does however have some similar traits to Hitch that are alarming, such as heavily leaning on Suter and wearing him down.

I think they offered 3 at 5.5 during the season and he turned it down. I don't think he should get more than that and honestly thats a steep price for him
- BluesDroogie

That is no where near his market value.

There's talks of some teams taking him a bit higher because pf his position. Dubois is in the same boat.

I personally prefer Dubois.
- BluemanGuruu

Yeah but it will be very costly and maybe not even possible to get the 4 or 5 pick. It'd be awesome if they could but I think it's much more doable to move up to around the 13-16 range where you can still get a guy who can be a core player. The Blues have shown an ability to do this recently with guys like Fabbri, Schwartz, and Tarasenko.

All, I may be MIA for a bit as I am not sure how the internet service will be where i am heading or how much time I will have.

On a much sadder not, Ali's death has put a big damper on the weekend. When I was a young kid, I had the pleasure of meeting him by chance in a hotel lobby. Even though his handlers were annoyed, he stopped and took the time to interact with us 3 boys. We got to shadowbox with Ali which was amazing.

It was sad to see how much his Parkinson's was affecting certain things but you could easily see the fire in the eyes and brain were all there. Of course the motor skills were failing and frustrating him. It was a family memory that I will always cherish.

Yeah but it will be very costly and maybe not even possible to get the 4 or 5 pick. It'd be awesome if they could but I think it's much more doable to move up to around the 13-16 range where you can still get a guy who can be a core player. The Blues have shown an ability to do this recently with guys like Fabbri, Schwartz, and Tarasenko.
- fattyboubatty

This is a good point. But maybe a top shelf guy is more necessary. Tarasenko fell because at that time the Russian factor was still in play. It was said if not for that he would have been one of the top picks that year. So that was more of a safe gamble.

Here is the strange thing though. There are some really good players all over the place. For some reason some never get the right chance to shine at the right time and never make the NHL or if they do they are buried from success. It is a matter of good scouting and finding some of those players.

I think we have plenty of wingers right now. Lost in this season was what appears to be the long awaited emergence of Rattie. MPS grew a lot especially in his short stint in the play offs. He was using his size more and has the wheels and you can see if he simplifies his game his thinking is right. I still recall his one shot catching Jones way off guard and almost snuck one in.

Jaskin aopears to have got his confidence back.

I think it means you do not need Brouwer back. If you want him and the price is right then you have to move Berglund, Shattenkirk and Lehtera. I do not know how you move Lehtera without more center depth. Is Fabbri that guy?

The cap is going to crunch a number of teams this season. This ought to push down the value of UFAs and if it does not then that should surely force some player movement one would think.