Daily Bluenotes: 9-15-10
Traverse City: 1W – 2L
Training Camp: 3 Days
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Blues News & Notes
The Blues announced their Training Camp schedule.While I am very thankful that the Blues open up the first three days to the public, I am disappointed that the next public day is September 26th. I know the Blues have good reasons for keeping the fans out. They need the players focused on getting better and not the fans in the stands. I just don’t want this to become the first step in more doors being closed.
On a positive note, FANFest is back! It will be a pre-game event prior to the final home preseason game on October 2nd.
For those of you on the east side, here is Norm Sanders’ (Belleville News Democrat) blog.
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Ryan Dixon of The Hockey News wonders if it’s inconceivable that St. Louis wins the Central… I say, “no, it is not”.
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The Baby Blues lost a tough one to the Red Wings young-ins Tuesday night 2-1. Jake Allen stopped 28 of 30 shots, but that wasn’t enough. The Blues would only score once. A 5-on-3 power play goal from Alex Pietrangelo. For the third straight game the Blues gave up a first period goal within the first five minutes.
Bob McKenzie of TSN reported via Twitter that Ian Cole looked very good from what he was able to see.
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Speaking of Ian Cole, I had a birdie put an interesting thought in my ear last night.
The Blues know their top two defensive pairings will consist of Erik Johnson, Barrett Jackman, Roman Polak and Eric Brewer. This leaves Carlo Colaiacovo as fifth on the depth chart. In general the team likes to have a defensively capable defenseman paired with a more offensive minded defenseman (like Colaiacovo). This was the norm last year with the Johnson-Brewer and Colaiacovo-Mike Weaver pairings.
If Cole shows a better defensive game than Alex Peitrangelo at Traverse City and in training camp, will he start out in St. Louis?
As I mentioned on Hockey Independent Tuesday, both Pietrangelo and Cole can make big impressions on the Blues brain trust by having a strong Traverse City tournament. I’ve heard more positive things mentioned about Cole than I have Pietrangelo. That doesn’t mean that Alex isn’t playing well. Just means more buzz is going Cole’s way.
The Peoria Rivermen would love to have Pietrangelo around. He would be a great marketing tool to bring fans in to see games.
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Speaking of the Rivermen and Traverse City…
Is it really a forgone conclusion that top goaltending prospect Jake Allen will start the season in Peoria? Ben Bishop is the incumbent starter with more experience than Allen has. A solid Traverse City has helped Allen’s case, but do the Blues want him sitting behind Bishop or playing regularly? The Blues ECHL affiliate, the Alaska Aces, are certainly an option. However, with so many back to back nights for the Rivs, its possible Allen sees 30 starts in Peoria giving Bishop nights off. A pretty solid number for a rookie at the professional level.
If the Blues can bring Allen along slowly like Detroit has done with Jimmy Howard, the Blues could have a very good goalie as insurance at the end of Halak’s contract.
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Blues Play-by-Play voice Chris Kerber wants your ideas for a weekly podcast. Find him on Twitter @chriskerber and tell him what you think. Personally, I’d like to see a round table discussion of players, staff, coaches. Like the two goalies, the starting six defensemen, the penalty killing units, etc. All breaking down and discussing “how and what they do”.
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Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch discusses the Blues new offensive experiment.
The long and the short of it is that the plan is to move Andy McDonald back to center and shift David Backes back to the wing.
Pros
- McDonald will be more free to use his mobility over the whole rink.
- McDonald is a legitimate playmaker to complement scoring wingers like Brad Boyes, David Perron and TJ Oshie (assuming he doesn’t move to Center).
- Backes can go back to using his size and speed to forecheck and work the boards.
Cons
- Backes is a stronger and more defensively reliable option down the middle.
- Could force the Blues to match lines more often to use McClement against elite Centers.
At first review, I don’t like the move on paper. I am a big believer in matching Backes at center against the highly skilled and plus sized Centers of the Western Conference. It allows the Blues to use their checking line and a more skilled line against their opponents top line. However, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Payne. Rutherford quotes both McDonald and Backes as welcoming the change. I will let their play on the ice during the preseason determine if this move pays off.
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Look for the Goaltending Preview Blog later this week as well as fantasy evaluations for Defensemen and Forwards.
