Reality Bites – the Blues’ youth are all angsty.

We’re in a familiar place this season, aren’t we?  Still unsure why our offense is under-producing.  Still wondering what is going on with the young kids.  Trying to figure out Andy Murray’s line combos on the fly.

Yep.  This season’s chugging along at the same pace.  Unfortunately, so are our youngsters.  Yes, Erik Johnson is still leading the team in points with 21, and Perron isn’t far behind in 3rd with 18.  TJ Oshie, whose play has been improving noticeably of late has 6 goals, 10 assists, and is amazingly even.  And, well, Patrik Berglund played Wednesday night, so there’s that.

Berglund is now apparently the primary occupant of the doghouse, though Perron still squeezes in there once in a while.  These two are playing scared, and it shows.  The St. Louis Game Time Prospect Department takes a look at how Berglund’s lack of ice time is hurting more than helping, and makes an argument that it would be better for him to try to get his head on straight in the AHL for a little bit than it is in the NHL riding the bench.  Berglund makes mistakes – this is only his second year in the league.  He’s already playing reserved hockey because he doesn’t want to tick off Murray.  How much of this, though, is Murray trying to force Berglund to play a different way?  He’s offensive – encourage that.  He’s not rough and tumble, and he doesn’t fight along the boards well – when he actually does play, putting him on a line with Winchester and Crombeen probably isn’t the best place for him.  Boyes is an offensive power (when he can find the net), and is a huge defensive liability… but Murray doesn’t force the vet to change his game.

It seems that Murray has a different set of standards for the seasoned players over the younger kids, and the Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford caught it.  Why bench the kids when they have a bad game and not let them work through it?  Playing through your mistakes, with some guidance from the coach, leads to better hockey players and a stronger team.  Benching them for 2 games because something isn’t to your liking turns them into Patrik Berglund.  The slumping vets, however, have been allowed to play in all games (except Walt and Sydor, who apparently will throw their hips out if not rested).  Kariya, Boyes, Backes, and McDonald have all had or are currently stuck in a scoring drought.  No outwardly obvious punitive measures have been taken.

Murray crows about consistancy:

“We’re striving to do that … to me, it’s a no-choice game, we’ve got to find that consistency,” Murray said. “We need our best players to be our best players every night. When that happens, you’re usually consistent. (But) we need them to play. We need them to play good.”

The team is obviously not getting the point.  Chicago ran roughshod over the team Wednesday night, but Tuesday night we played a strong game against Calgary.  Consistency for the team will come when there is consistency from the coach in expectations, motivation, and punishment.  Not benching older players when they don’t play well – and then turning around and sitting kids – makes the young Blues wonder if someone isn’t playing favorites.  If they feel that way, they might be less prone to actually try.

Having different standards for vets and the youth is a problem, and one that Murray needs to fix.  Other coaches, such as Bob Hartley, who had a reputation for being hard on young teams find success at first, and then it dwindles.  Murray is a less French Canadian version of Hartley, and if he’s not careful, he’ll be following in his footsteps.

Some Other Articles That You May Enjoy:
St Louis Blues
The Blues need to shape up, or someone’s shipping out.
St. Louis Gives Andy Murray the Axe.
Quick Introduction…
The Real Home Opener is Here.
Blues are pushing for a turn-around.

We hope you enjoyed this post. As always, leaving a comment below is both appreciated and encouraged. Thanks!