Stephen Ground
Stephen Ground is an author with The Hockey Writers and is co-host of the Two Guys No Cup Podcast. He enjoys studying the numbers and providing fresh looks at various stories.
Author's Posts
Revisiting Doug Armstrong's Drafts - 2013
August 11th, 2020 2013 was, simply put, not a good draft year for St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong's resume. They began the evening with no first round pick, having traded it to the Calgary Flames in the trade that brought in Jay Bouwmeester. They ended the evening with just four new players in the organization, none of whom would go on to...
Blues' Barbashev Leaves NHL Playoff Bubble
August 5th, 2020 Even during a global pandemic, there are a few things which supersede the importance of the NHL Playoffs for professional hockey players, and being at the birth of your first child is certainly one. Ivan Barbashev and his wife, Ksenia, are expecting their first child in the coming days, so the St. Louis Blues' utility forward will be...
3 Positives from Blues Exhibition Game
July 31st, 2020 It would be easy to focus on the negatives of the St. Louis Blues' performance in their exhibition game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. The power play struggled, the defense was porous at times, and, well, the offense was held scoreless in a 4-0 defeat. But the negatives are obvious. What positives can Blues fans draw...
Evaluating Blues' 31-Man Playoff Roster
July 26th, 2020 Like every team in the NHL, the St. Louis Blues will bring 31 players to the bubble in the coming days. The Blues depart for Edmonton, the hub city for the 12 Western Conference teams, on Sunday. And while most of the roster was as expected, a few of the peripheral players to make the cut are surprises. In this article, we'll take an...
Blues' Future Needs Both Dunn and Perunovich
July 23rd, 2020 In the National Hockey League, having too many good, young defensemen is rarely a problem. But in a salary-cap strapped league, is it possible to have too much of a good thing? St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong will have to answer that in the coming months as he evaluates the futures of Vince Dunn, a pending restricted free...
Brian Leetch: The Road to the 1994 Conn Smythe Trophy
July 22nd, 2020 Brian Leetch was the Rangers' captain from 1997-2000. (Wikipedia) Brian Leetch holds the distinction of being the first American-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP. The 2009 Hall of Fame inductee was one of the best offensive defensemen in the history of the game, and is arguably the finest player in the New...
