Poll Results: T.J. Oshie a Weak Link

Last week we opened up a reader poll asking you which of the St. Louis Blues vets wasn’t performing to their potential. The players up for consideration were Alexander Steen, T.J. Oshie, David Backes, Patrik Berglund, and Kevin Shattenkirk. The results of the poll are as follows:

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Shattenkirk clearly does not belong on this list. He is currently second in points for the team and has been an assisting machine. Pietrangelo has been performing excellently as well, although it isn’t ideal to have a top-6-in-points player have a +/- of 0. Personally, I expected to see Backes a little higher on the list. While his stats are high compared to most of his teammates he isn’t giving the performance you would expect from a Captain. Plus he frequently leaves mid game due to injury, which makes him a liability.

Alexander Steen

We’ll start with Steen, because he got my vote as well as fellow Staff Writer Arron Street’s. I cannot speak for Arron but I would take this vote back and I suspect so would a lot of the participants. Last season, despite playing about 10 fewer games than the Blues’ other top five, Steen led the team in points as well as goals. At the start of that season he took a run at a record setting goal streak.

Steen’s performance has been slow to start this season. While he averaged 0.91 points per game last season, he is at only 0.7 now. For comparison, Vladimir Tarasenko who currently leads the Blues is earning 1.1 points per game. Steen’s points were much lower at the start of this poll, which is hopefully an indication that he has warmed up and will start dominating the ice again.

Patrik Berglund

Berglund was not a top 10 Blues player last season, but he was in close contention with 32 points over 78 games. This season he is even lower in the team ranks (14) with only an assist to show for his nine appearances. However, his ability to win faceoffs has been helpful. Berglund’s shortcomings could be collateral damage from the success of the Tarasenko, Steen, Lehtera line which has earned them a lot more time on ice. On the other hand, if Berglund’s line had been doing work from the start, perhaps they’d have more of the ice time pie, too.

T.J. Oshie

So, what’s the story here? It is best to start by saying that Oshie had been showing a little bit of progress prior to the concussion that now has him on Injured Reserve. Over the past few seasons we’ve seen great handling and footwork from Oshie prompting Announcer Darren Pang to pull out the, “Ol’ Nine of Hearts.” His play earned him a spot on the U.S. Olympic team where he became the Hero of Sochi after displaying shoot out skills everyone who followed Blues hockey was already familiar with.

Oshie finished last season with 60 points and just second to Steen. However, I think a lot of Blues fans were disappointed with his post season performance and lack of play making moments. Yes, Oshie is out with a concussion but his season so far is only one point in eight games and a fight. It appears that the votes and stats agree.

I hope for a strong and vigorous return for Oshie. Unfortunately, in the world of sports now is what matters most. We’ve seen this once in St. Louis already when the Cardinals traded away 2011 World Series MVP and Game 6 hero David Freese after his contributions waned. Nobody in St. Louis wants to see Oshie go, but with his lack of performance and the breakout of players like Tarasenko and Lehtera, it could be a real possibility for us to face.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with any of these observations? Is there someone who should have been on the list who wasn’t? Leave a comment and let us know. Also, be sure to vote in our current poll posted in our last article. We want to know, how can the Blues continue to improve?

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