St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Pheonix And The Jets

Good morning Blues fans. Another game down and another loss. This time we at least know there was one position not to blame.

The St. Louis Blues just can’t help themselves. They can play well for shifts, periods and even games. One thing is for sure – it never lasts.

That was the case when they took on the Winnipeg Jets. The Blues opened up with a reasonably strong first period.

However, as is the case a lot this season, effort does not always equal success. The Blues had a decent open period, but could only get four shots on goal.

The opposite was true later in the game. The Blues put 25 shots on goal in the second period alone. They could not figure out that shooting high was the way to beat Ondrej Pavelec and allowed a goal on 11 shots against in that period.

Then the Blues scored two goals in the third period. However, they forgot how to defend and allowed three.

One thing was for certain after the Winnipeg game. Goaltending can no longer be blamed for the problems with the team’s effort.

Pheonix Copley played quite well. If not for him, the scoreline would have been worse.

However, if you only look at his stats, you would think it was just another example of a Blues netminder failing. Copley let in five goals on 29 shots. That’s good enough for a .828 save percentage.

People who know the game know Copley was not to blame. St. Louis is at the point where you could put a Hall of Fame goaltender in net right now and it would not help because they are getting no defensive help.

Shot totals don’t matter any more. The Blues could allow only six shots on goal and they would likely give up four goals because of the opportunities they are giving up.

They need to find something within themselves because a trade won’t help right now. The Blues need help up front, but adding offensive talent won’t cure their defensive woes.

Additionally, you don’t want to trade for a defenseman when the Blues are likely to be letting Kevin Shattenkirk go either via trade or free agency.

So, if anyone has any viable answers, you might want to contact the Scottrade Center. Currently nobody there has any idea.

Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your day started off right.

The St. Louis Blues seem to always find new ways to let you down. They couldn’t win on the road but were dominant at home. Now they can’t win at home. They were one of the best penalty kills in the league and now can’t keep anyone from scoring. Coach Ken Hitchcock can’t seem to figure out why either. (Blues)

The Blues keep trying new line combos and mixtures to get things right. Whether it works or not is up to the individual watching, but the team keeps on trying. Additionally, every time they figure they can keep someone out of the lineup they are forced to keep them in. (STLToday)

It might not be something Blues fans want to ponder right now given the team’s lack of success, however they are all but certain to make Ken Hitchcock the third winningest coach of all time. That might not mean much to some, but Hitchcock is uncharacteristically apprehensive about it. (Post-Dispatch)

Next: The Time To Trade Lehtera Is Now

The Blues inability to string together wins is coming at the worst time possible. The Nashville Predators are beginning to put things together and got a huge piece back from injury to get warmed up before the All-Star break. (ESPN)

We have not heard this much from Wayne Gretzky since his days as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. Even then, it was not usually in a positive light. However, with the league turning 100 it is hard not to have it’s greatest player reflect on the league’s history and his own place in it. (NHL)

Have a great day Blues fans!