The St. Louis Blues base of fans has been suffering for over 50 years without a championship. However, in their drive to that holy ground they have basically stated they want to be the Florida Marlins of the NHL.
Before we get into the meat of all this, let me say that most people cannot completely agree with their significant other about the best methods for the prosperity of their family. So, if two people find it hard to agree on something truly important, it will be almost impossible for all St. Louis Blues fans to be lumped together regarding the best outcome for their team.
It is always dangerous to make blanket statements regarding what “fans want”. Nevertheless, there has been a growing sentiment among those that voice their opinions online.
Over the holidays, i.e. Christmas and New Years, etc., I tend to pull back from online activity. I hate checking emails and the negativity of social media is too much to deal with in a happy time.
Even so, I check up on things and read comments for articles. Responses run the gambit, but the main thing that occurred to me is that Blues fans want to be the Florida Marlins.
Before you start writing that they’re the Miami Marlins, I’ve made a purposeful and direct distinction by saying Florida Marlins. The Miami Marlins are a mess. The Florida Marlins were a franchise that ran their business model in a way that did not care about the loyal fans but rewarded those that wanted to jump on board every few years.
Most fans would never admit to this. They would say they would find it hard to root for a team that managed to win one title and then sold every good player off immediately.
But, there is what people will admit and what they say. If you pay close attention, they are saying they want the Blues to follow that model exactly.
There has been a growing sentiment that the Blues need to blow it up. Get rid of everyone and start over.
Again, there are varying degrees of how far people are willing to go in stripping this team down, but they want blood. Fingers are being pointed at this 2018-19 team and it’s time for heads to roll.
The funny thing is the exact same reaction happened after the 2014-15 season. The Blues were eliminated in the first round again and fans were tomato faced and wanted it all blown up.
Thankfully, the team did not listen. They made some important tweaks and proceeded to go to the Western Conference Finals the following year.
This current group is good enough for them to do something similar. Remove the right pieces (easier said than done, apparently) and bring in some veteran leadership with playoff experience.
But that’s not the way fans are thinking right now. They claim to be fine with ripping out every fiber of this team and starting over.
Forget the fact that has no guarantee of winning. These people are convinced that tanking is a good idea, a 17 year old that has been said to not be a generational player will solve all our woes and new general managers will automatically be better than the last.
Apparently nobody learns from history these days. Ken Hitchcock was one of the best coaches this team had in almost 20 years. Everyone was convinced it was time to move on from Hitch and things would just keep progressing. That has not worked out too well, has it?
Then there are those fans that think trading your best players away when they are having their worst seasons is a grand idea. Apparently there is a large amount of support for trading Vladimir Tarasenko these days.
Count me out of that one. There is no equal value for giving up a 30 goal scorer. Even if you end up with a first round draft pick, the odds are against you finding someone to replace that kind of goal production.
I am not going to sit here and say he could not be more assertive or consistent. But, there was honestly a person that argued he is not in the top 100 players in the game. When nobody has more goals over the last few years other than Alex Ovechkin, you would be hard pressed to find any analyst worth their salt that would say he is not even in the top 50 players.
So, with all this talk of blowing it up and selling off your top guys, fans are saying they want to be the Marlins. They want to get rid of whoever is good at the time in an attempt to find someone better in the future.
Nobody can say it never worked. The Florida Marlins won two World Series.
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Those two championships were also the only time that franchise ever made the playoffs. So, while you get the jubilation of winning it all, there was a lot to hate about every other year.
While we are all aching to win a Stanley Cup, is that really what we want? Do you really want to try and start over every few years the moment some hardship comes around? Do you really want the Blues to sell off a hockey equivalent of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcel Ozuna and Christian Yelich all the time?
Do you really want to deal away Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn or anyone making a decent salary just so you can attempt to restock through the draft? People overstate how important the NHL draft is. It can make or break some teams, but it does not automatically change every franchise like it can in the NFL.
Yes, the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins built themselves through the draft. But, Edmonton has been trying to build through the draft for almost a decade. Winnipeg and Toronto are in similar situations where it has taken quite awhile to build up their teams to the point they are even contenders, let alone champions.
So, is that what you truly want for your franchise?
Some will say yes. They would be willing to give up any future success just to win that one.
I can’t say I am in that boat. I don’t want to give up the hope that every season brings knowing my team will have to labor through years, if not a decade of futility before you can even dream again.
I don’t want to get rid of guys like Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Klim Kostin or anyone else that might prove to be good just because they can’t find the right mix and have to start over again.
The Blues may never be able to assemble a team that is a perennial powerhouse like Pittsburgh, but they’ve been one of the most consistent franchises over the last few years.
Every playoff loss is always heartbreaking, but at least they took us on the ride. If we truly become like the Marlins, then it’s last place every year until they get it right.
Frankly, I don’t want that. I’ll take my chances trying to reshape and add to instead of selling off every other year as soon as someone emerges.
We’re all disappointed in how 2018-19 has gone, but a total rebuild is not the answer and not how a team in this kind of market can operate. Fans have already shown they are not willing to support a losing team