St. Louis Blues: Pretty Words Are Not Enough Anymore

The St. Louis Blues have a definite problem. While it is not specific to their team alone, it is something they’ve been doing for years and results don’t change.

For years, St. Louis Blues fans have stuck by their team through thick and thin. We will continue to do so because it is in our DNA to root for this team.

However, the most frustrating thing about this franchise, the coach and definitely the players, is their constant talk. The post game talks are getting nauseating because they seem to be able to immediately identify what they are doing wrong. However, like modern-day politicians, they have absolutely no solutions.

Personally, I’ve had enough. I fully understand that fixing things is not simple or everyone would make the necessary changes right away. This is years of the same thing going on. No matter who the coach was or who the captain is, it’s the same thing over and over.

“Let’s turn this around, let’s win the next one. That’s all we can do…” Mike Yeo said following the disappointing late season loss to Washington. “We can’t just hope we get in. We have to make it happen.”

That’s all well and good. Their performance level does not suggest it will happen and, as much as any of us love individuals or even the collective, they don’t show the necessary mental toughness to think changes will come now or in the future.

That’s harsh to say. I don’t like calling anyone out for things I could not do myself, in terms of performing at a high level in professional sports. This is not a sudden thing though.

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For years, under the leadership of David Backes, the team floundered. For the longest time, they had the excuse of youth or inexperience. Once that dried up, the same discussions were had year after year. If you listened to the captain talk about what went wrong following a bad loss or a playoff loss, you could probably just put the speech on repeat and change the setting.

It was the same discussion about toughness or preparation or playing a full 60. They kept talking about playing for the guy next to you or supporting the goaltenders better. Sounds familiar right?

I suppose it should since Alex Pietrangelo was so close to Backes. Pietrangelo was quite shaken up when the team let Backes go. That’s fine. There is nothing wrong with being upset at the loss of a teammate. For all his faults, Backes represented the blue note as well as any.

However, he was part of the problem. Ken Hitchcock was part of the problem. The entire roster was part of the problem.

None of us should delude ourselves into thinking any team or roster is perfect. They are comprised of human beings, thus perfection is impossible. St. Louis seems to always have a collective of guys that settle, though. They cannot seem to give that extra inch necessary to be a champion.

They realize it too. Whether it is Hitchcock or Yeo, they know what’s wrong with their team. The captains know what’s going on. Scorers know why they aren’t scoring and defenders know why they’re being beaten. The only conundrum, at times, has been the goaltenders. They’re often headcases, though, so that’s another matter.

It is just beyond frustrating at this point. We try to be positive and get slapped in the face. You try to be a realist and still have disappointment, since they do just enough to get your hopes up. Even the most negative among us get fooled into thinking something might be different.

The Blues cannot simply blow up the team. The road back is just too long and you are not guaranteed anything.

There is no more room for this nonsense though. If you know what the problem is, then fix it.

Yeo has to know the power play is dreadful. Don’t keep throwing the same players out there. Stop using the same useless formation. Please stop saying you can see the problems but having no solution to fix them. Repetition is not the problem here. It is a pure lack of anything clicking.

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The same thing is true overall for the Blues. We are tired of hearing the same excuses with little to no change.

Fix it. If that means making changes to the team in the offseason, so be it. If it means making changes to the coaching staff, so be it. We have had enough of the pretty speeches with no results to match it.