St. Louis Blues Questions: Who Will Center Tarasenko?
Writer Sean Jeffries at The Hockey Writers took a good look at the St. Louis Blues training camps coming up and focused in on the issues St. Louis would have to solve going into the season. Among the questions he asked was one that is on everyone’s mind: who will center right wing dynamo Vladimir Tarasenko?
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Paul Stastny should be the front-runner for taking that first-line center spot, which could lead to career years for both he and Tarasenko should the chemistry develop. St. Louis also has big bodies who can slide into the face-off circle in David Backes and Patrik Berglund. With three scoring lines to fill out, Hitchcock and the Blues have plenty of depth to work with yet again.
Stastny is going to be an important piece to the puzzle this season, with members of the Blues organization making noises about David Backes, who has traditionally captained in St. Louis from the 1C spot, being moved to right wing to help deal with the glut of centers available this season. He could take the 1C spot, or he could replace Lehtera alongside Tarasenko.
However, Jeffries also put the spotlight on young players like Dmitrij Jaskin and Ty Rattie, both of whom continued to develop into stronger versions of themselves over the past season. I would say that Robby Fabbri merits a mention as well, but he’s still young and needs a bit more development (and muscle) before being ready to slide into the Blues’ top six. You can read the rest here: [The Hockey Writers]
Good advice for all hockey players, no matter your level. [Twitter]
Assistant Coach Ray Bennett: "Time and space...take it away. Don’t give good players either one." #stlblues pic.twitter.com/1vTDOGIpqU
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) August 29, 2015
Once again, St. Louis goaltending is called into question. This time, the question is: should we go younger? [RantSports]
On the plus side, we have a LOT of good goaltenders lined up behind Elliott/Allen/whoever the starter is. [Today’s Slapshot]
This is a beautiful, funny tribute to former Blues player and coach, Al Arbour. [The Hockey News]
Don Cherry also had some kind words to say about Arbour, which we have linked for you below.
1) Al “Radar” Arbour, Sudbury boy, and my Rochester American teammate died today. My condolences to Claire and the family.
— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerDC) August 28, 2015
2) Claire was a good friend of Rose’s. Al won 4 Stanley Cups as a player with Detroit, Chicago and Toronto. Al and I played for 3 years
— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerDC) August 28, 2015
3) together in the AHL where we won 2 Calder cups. Al left Rochester to go back to the glories of the NHL with the St. Louis Blues.
— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerDC) August 28, 2015
4) He also won 4 Stanley Cups as coach of the NY Islanders. When you talk to his players, like Kelly Hrudey, they all say the same thing
— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerDC) August 28, 2015
5) He was tough but he was fair. And everyone to a man say they loved him. I can honestly say, even though he won 8 Stanley Cups
— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerDC) August 28, 2015
6) he never changed. Honest. He was always the same good guy I played with in the minors.
— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerDC) August 28, 2015
Next: PTO Previews: Who's Coming To St. Louis?
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