St. Louis Blues: There Is A Disconnect Between Talk And Action That Must End

The St. Louis Blues continue to have a problem that has been with them for years. One thing is said to the media and the actions on the ice don’t mesh

The most recent entry into this category for the St. Louis Blues was their third period performance in an eventual 4-3 overtime win in Game 2 of the second round series with the Dallas Stars. The Blues action was to continually dump the puck, not chase it and immediately go off for a change while holding a 3-2 lead.

Clearly, given the final score, the Stars were able to push enough to get the equalizing goal. While it did come on a fortunate bounce right to Jamie Benn, the combination of the Stars’ relentless offense with the seeming uninterested nature of the Blues to apply any attack was the cause.

Now it boils down to who or what you believe. While it may be overstating it to say a vast majority, a good sized portion of Blues Nation believes the fault for the play rests on the shoulders of Ken Hitchcock.

They are of the opinion that he told the players to play that way and is thus to blame for the game not being seen out in regulation. Hard to argue, given the visual evidence.

Then we get to the postgame comments. “It’s not anything that’s instructed, we gotta do this or we gotta do that,” said Hitchcock. “That’s not how we want to play and that’s not the way we should play, but it’s natural tendency for any team.”

So, if his comments are to be believed, then the players are at fault for collapsing into their turtle shell and just trying to absorb everything Dallas sent their way.

Many people, Hitchcock detractors in particular, will brush aside these comments or say he’s throwing players under the bus for his faults. The truth of the matter is likely somewhere in between.

The Blues have long faltered in their own heads and faults. Fans spent years listening to postseason exit interviews or postgame comments after failed playoff games (or even regular season) where the comments echoed everything even the most novice fan could notice and yet the players didn’t change anything.

For years, there was talk about buy-in. The players have to buy into Hitchcock’s way of play for them to be successful while he is there. He’s not the only coach to ever say that, but people that follow this team know more about it for the Blues because they hang on that more than they do information about any other team.

We’ve seen this season that when the Blues play exactly the way Hitchcock has wanted, they win. When they stray and do their own thing, they waver.

Could this not also be true of the third period situation in Game 2? Could there not have been some sort of, perhaps not panic by the players, but disconnect with what was being relayed to them by the bench and how they were putting it into action?

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This is likely the case. So much was made of the short shifts and keeping everyone fresh that likely the Blues just over emphasized the actual instructions and misconstrued what they needed to do in order to keep players fresh.

Again, this topic ultimately comes down to what each individual believes. Someone who is hellbent against Hitchcock and calls for his job every time some player turns the puck over and thinks he’s probably the one who shot JFK to go along with it won’t be convinced of anything else.

I say that he’s one of the big reasons this club has done so well. He has many faults and one of them might be irritating his players at some times. Perhaps he does focus too much on defending for many’s tastes.

I admit that there are things he does that even drive me crazy. Tinkering with lines is one thing, but doing it when players are flourishing with a certain combination never made sense. Sometimes he is a little too coy about team issues or playing time.

However, for a coach that has been around as long as he has, I do find it difficult to believe he actually instructed his team to dump the puck in at every opportunity and attempt no offensive zone possession. Even the most defensive of coaches, whether in the NHL or other sports, has to know that you cannot defend that long. A prevent defense only prevents winning.

May 1, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) scores the game tying goal against St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) during the third period in game two of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Hitchcock has been around too long to think otherwise. He is not without blame though. The focus on short shifts seems to affect the team negatively. They have played poorly to terribly in every second period except two or three in this playoffs and it is likely because they are too focused on the long change.

The same kind of thinking likely got into their heads in that third period. When your focus is on energy and keeping things tight, that might be their only focus. They lose sight of the need to keep attacking in addition to their defensive duties.

Some credit does go to Dallas as well. As Hitchcock said, “they got everybody behind us. So, you have a choice. You go forward and attack, but you’re forechecking one guy because they’ve got four guys behind us.”

For whatever reason, the Blues don’t seem to be able to alter their gameplan on the fly. Some of that could be blamed on coaching, if you choose to, and some is at the players’ feet.

The bottom line is, regardless of who you blame or what you believe, there is a clear disconnect between talk and action and has been for quite some time. It’s got to stop.

If Hitchcock really is to blame for the stall tactics, he should own up to it and say it did not work and he’ll learn from it. If he is telling the truth, then the players need to have the good sense to know they can keep the shifts short as anyone asks for but they still have to put the effort in to get some possession.

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On the flip side, the players have shown they don’t have a problem attempting their own thing every once in awhile either. If that’s the case, then it begs the question of why they don’t always want to buy into Hitch’s system but would be perfectly fine with just dumping the puck in every time they got to the red line simply because their coach told them to.

The Blues made a mistake and had better not make it again if they find themselves in a lead in future games. The team and its coach are good at pointing out the issues to the media. Now’s not the time for that though. Show the learning has happened by having a connection between the talk and the action.

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