A Wild Thought: Dissecting The St. Louis Blues-Wild Series With Alex Trembley

By Kate Cimini | Apr 30, 2015

Although the loss to the Minnesota Wild is still raw for the St. Louis Blues, I wanted to look at things from another perspective after the way the series ended. Alex Trembley is editor of FanSided’s Gone Puck Wild, and aside from knowing his hockey, he’s a Wild fan who was eager for the series against the Blues to begin, as the Blues had proved an interesting challenge to the Wild in the regular season.

Below are a series of questions we posed to Trembley, and his answers below.

Bleedin’ Blue: Based on what you saw, what was the most difficult part of playing the St. Louis Blues for the Wild?

Alex Trembley: I think the St. Louis Blues have a great mix of speed, skill and physicality. It’s easy to stop one or two of those (e.g. Winnipeg’s slow, physical, skilled play), but you put in all three and that’s a team that can give anyone fits.

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The thing that the really works the most for the Blues is the early attack. They’ll throw everything they can on net in the first 8-10 minutes of the game and potentially jump out to a two-goal lead that a lot of teams cant recover from. 5 of the 6 games this series, the team that scored first won. The Wild has a delicate psyche in that respect, and the Blues were able to capitalize on it twice.

BB: Where do you think the Blues could improve (on forwards, defense, coaching, or something else)? If you were Doug Armstrong, what would you focus on shoring up?

AT: I’m not convinced that the blue line is strong enough for St. Louis. Carl Gunnarsson, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Alex Pietrangelo all seem like the real deal, but none of them are true #1 defensemen in my mind. Centermen would be a bit lower on the priority list.

BB: If you could pick a player off the Blues to snag for the Minnesota Wild, who would you go for? Please consider salary cap issues.

AT: Who wouldn’t want Valdimir Tarasenko? The kid is likely going to win the Hart and Art Ross someday, but I’m going to look at it a bit differently. The Wild is pretty thin down the middle but would have enough cap space to bring in David Backes as a 2-3c in a trade, probably for two 1sts and a pair of prospects.

Next: Blues Rumors: Four Coaching Prospects

BB: What was the key to winning the series for the Wild?

AT: Patience and perseverance. It was evident in game 4 that the Wild can get extremely frustrated with itself when not scoring. The key for the team was rebounding back to its original game and pushing through. Getting to the outside of checks didn’t hurt either.

BB: If you had to pick a breakout player on the Blues this series, who would it be and why?

AT: I loved Jake Allen’s game, He lost a little confidence in the end, but he’s the real deal. We didn’t see a ton of him during the regular season since Brian Elliott is oddly great against the Wild. He’s got great tracking of the puck and isn’t afraid to keep play moving.

BB: Steve Ott or Ryan Reaves: who do you pick?

AT: Depends on what I’m picking them for. Reaves is responsibly physical and makes pretty smart plays. Ott is an agitator; however, there’s a STACK of NHL players that attest to his personality and captain abilities. This one is difficult, because I don’t think either player is a hot commodity.

Weird manip of Steve Ott as a feral cat the author made when she was dared to on Twitter. Please don’t judge her.

I think I’d go with Ryan Reaves. He’s much more responsible physically and doesn’t take quite as many dumb penalties. He reminds me a ton of Wild forward Ryan Carter. Sure, he’ll pitch in some offense, but that’s not why he’s there.

BB: From a Wild perspective: what was your favorite goal of the series?

AT: Marco Scandella’s point blast in Game 5. Awesome set-up, awesome shot. There’s something oddly satisfying about the sound of the puck hitting Allen’s glove, too.

BB: From a Blues perspective: favorite goal of the series?

AT: Am I allowed to say “none of them?” No, but seriously, I loved Tarasenko’s one-handed maneuver in Game 4. There’s not many players in the NHL that can control the puck that well.

BB: How much can we get Devan Dubnyk for? Please say a handshake and a stick of gum.

AT: I’d settle for all of the barbecue in St. Louis. Given that he’s a UFA this year, he has the choice to go wherever he wants.

Here’s what I think happens: the Wild buy out the contract of Niklas Backstrom to free a roster spot. He’s over 35, so there’s no cap relief, but the Wild is pretty good with the cap. There’s a couple players in Iowa that can move in to NHL roles so the rest of our UFAs may just walk (we’d like to keep Stewart) and Dubnyk stays on a 3-year, $15 million contract.

A guy can hope.

BB: Who was the most valuable Wild player of the season for you?

AT: Of the entire season, Zach Parise. We can talk about Dubnyk until I’m blue in the face; however, Parise was everything to this team. The Wild had a down stretch and Parise never missed a beat. He never gives up on the ice, he’s always moving his feet, and he’s always saying the right things in interviews.

Apr 11, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) skates with the puck during the second period against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center. The Blues won the game 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports

If you look at Parise’s scoring during the regular season, he sat at an AWESOME 2.13 points/60. That’s not the best stat, but it shows that he’s probably going to contribute. He’s also got a great Corsi-For (SATF%rel) relative of +4.05

When the Wild was really struggling, it was easy to see this team as a defeated entity. Fans walked around like kicked puppies and talked about the draft lottery. The players looked dejected. Parise was never one of those guys and it made the season seem more liveable.

BB: Devan Dubnyk is down and you have no backup goalie. You must take either Allen or Elliott. Who do you pick and why?

AT: I’d take Jake Allen. He’s younger, so that means he’s got more game left in him. Both are smart with the puck, but I love how Allen handles himself. They’re both about the same size, although Allen is a little leaner, which I don’t like.

Look for our corresponding article at Gone Puck Wild over the next few days!

Next: Blues Stats: Where Was The Fire?

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