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St. Louis Blues: It’s time for the defensemen to step it up

By Steven McNeil |
Feb 9, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (55) skates with the puck against the Winnipeg Jets during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Winnipeg Jets defeat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 9, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (55) skates with the puck against the Winnipeg Jets during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Winnipeg Jets defeat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

It has been some time since we have seen the St. Louis Blues really play a dominant stretch of hockey, so what’s the big deal? While you can point the finger at the forwards, it’s time to do that to the defense instead.

It seems as if gone are the days when the St. Louis Blues hold their opponents to a low shot count and dominate the possession game. Last night looked like it might be one of those nights, but the unimpressive defense was at it again last night. The one thing we have heard the last few years with Ken Hitchcock is that he preaches defense night in and night out.

However, maybe his defense isn’t as good as most think?

When the lines are buzzing and outshooting their opponents, everything is great. However, we saw the other night against Winnipeg and in the second period last night that when that is not the case, the Blues are rather pedestrian and sometimes downright bad.

So, how can this be remedied? Consistent play from the Blues Defensemen.

You may be thinking, “wait the Blues defensemen are great,” this was what I thought, I thought every thing was on the forwards. However, upon further research this is not the case. In terms of CA (Corsi Against) a stat that measures how many total shots a defensemen allows, the Blues only have two defensemen among the top 25 in the league.

These two shocked me when I found out, as Kevin Shattenkirk sits at 22nd in the league with 684 CA and Carl Gunnarsson sits 16th in the league in CA.

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One would assume that the Blues’ top two defensemen would have to be close. Nope, currently Alex Pietrangelo sits 125th in the league in CA, while Jay Bouwmeester sits 112th. This is pretty bad for two defensemen who are thought of as one of the better defensive pair in the league.

What about on the offensive side? Are they getting shots off and controlling the action at the other end of the ice?

Nope. Currently Colton Parayko has the highest CF% (Corsi For %), a stat measuring the percentage of shots for. According to Hockey-Reference, anything above 50% means that the player is dominating posession more often than not. So, where do the Blues stand?

Currently, Shattenkirk has a 52.8 CF%, slightly 2% less than he had all last season, when he had a 54.6% CF%.  While Pietrangelo isn’t far off from his 50.5 CF% at 50.3, he is barely above 50% this season, and when you throw in his line mate Bouwmeester has a 47.8 CF%, it is not good to see.

Impressively, rookie Colton Paryako is impressively sporting a 53.9% while Joel Edmundson is sporting a 52.4%. While it is likely induced to playing with Shattenkirk, Gunnarsson has an unimpressive 48.9% a bit off from his 50.2% number last season. Yet, Hitch thinks Colton Parayko is the one who needs to shoot more.

Next: The grass isn't always greener on the other side

If the Blues are going to go anywhere, the defensemen have to step it up and be who we know they can be. No more of this passive play that lets the other team back into the game. They have to be aggressive and limit the opponent’s shots better.

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