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St. Louis Blues Jaden Schwartz Injured, Fans Meltdown

ByTodd Panula|
May 23, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz (17) skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
May 23, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz (17) skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Blues announced Jaden Schwartz will be injured for four weeks. As if the injury was not bad enough, Blues Nation did it’s usual meltdown.

The St. Louis Blues came out with some disappointing news on the last day of September. Jaden Schwartz will miss at least four weeks due to an elbow injury and then be reevaluated when that time frame is up.

The news is bad enough in and of itself. However, Blues fans always feel the need to make a mountain of a molehill and use any bit of information to confirm their already foolishly held beliefs.

Those that dislike the coach, blame Ken Hitchcock. Those that don’t like the general manager and think they could do it so much better blame Doug Armstrong.

Forgive me for viewing this in the context of an injury, but how exactly is this the fault of the coach or management? Are they evilly wringing their hands together as they plot against their own players?

Is there photographic evidence of Hitchcock going Tonya Harding on Schwartz? Is there Nixon-esque tapes showing this is all part of Armstrong’s plan to bring the Blues down from the inside?

Seriously. What am I not understanding about all of this?

It is an injury, plain and simple. It sucks to lose a player the Blues were depending on so early, but it’s a physical sport and these things happen.

But, apparently, though it made good business sense, Armstrong should have looked into his crystal ball. He should have seen this coming and thrown piles of cash the Blues did not have at David Backes.

Armstrong should have known the KHL was going to force a player to stay where he does not want to be. Army should have been able to disregard the salary cap and made video game type trades and signed big name free agents when there was not money available to do so.

Blame management for all our woes. What does the general manager of Team Canada know? We can all do better than a coach with the second most wins in team history and a Stanley Cup on his resume.

Most Blues fans aren’t in this category. The majority hear the news, deal with it in their own manner and go on with their lives.

It is just frustrating to see the constant meltdown in the online space. There always has to be someone to blame.

Think about this injury rationally. Actually listen to the words of Hitchcock instead of just going all tomato-faced and yelling obscenities whenever you see him.

There are two weeks of training camp left. That means only two weeks of regular season action missed.

Yes, there are important games in that stretch. The Blues play Chicago and New York. Depending on when the four-week evaluation is, they might also see the Kings and the Flames twice.

There is no need to downplay the injury itself. It’s not a good thing. The Blues should not have to keep overcoming adversity.

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However, it is maddening seeing something like an injury as evidence for fans’ dislike of management. Oh me, oh my, the GM didn’t make the moves I suggested so therefore they are terrible.

Backes was a notoriously slow starter, so it remains unclear how anything that could have happened during the summer changes much.

The contradictions of the faithful are so deliciously ridiculous, it makes one chuckle. Surely, there will be responses like “a good GM expects injury so he keeps more depth” etc and so on.

Yet, on the flip side, you get the people constantly chattering that Hitchcock and Armstrong are holding guys like Ty Rattie back. Well, if the prospects are that good, they will use this as an opportunity to grab a spot and not let go of it.

Ok, that last one is pretty funny, but let’s all just calm it down a notch. Schwartz is going to be skating the entire time, so he’ll be in good shape when the time comes to return.

If you want to argue about contracts, that’s fine. There are deals on the team that prevented the Blues from potentially doing more in the offseason. Outside of that, the Blues – players and management alike – are all doing everything in their power to win.

Next: Ville Husso Sent To AHL, Creating Goaltending Log Jam

I’m not asking anyone to like Armstrong or Hitchcock. Those seeds have long grown into redwoods.

Just view this news in the proper context. The Blues will be without one player. A very important player, but only one man still.

It won’t be for very long, in terms of the regular season. There was nothing to be done in the offseason, short of putting this team in cap hell, that could have alleviated this either.

It’s part of the game. Injuries happen.

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