Martin Brodeur lost in his debut with the St. Louis Blues, but the big story doesn’t involve the veteran goaltender’s play in net. For the most part, Brodeur was solid, but the same can’t be said about the team’s defense and special teams.
Just one season ago, goaltending was believed to be the major issue for the Blues. The club made a transaction and it didn’t work out too well. Skipping back to the present day, the Blues called on Brodeur to assist while Brian Elliott recovers from a lower-body injury. Instantly, the attention shifts to the crease and away from the actual problems plaguing the roster.
On defense, the Blues have developed some extremely alarming habits. Blind passes in the middle of the ice to no one have burnt this team on several occasions. Forwards aren’t staying with their marks and it’s leading to open opportunities for the opponent. No one is tracking back and following the opposing forwards. Mistakes abound in the defensive zone. Jay Bouwmeester missing time has hurt, but that excuse doesn’t cover the horrible passes and turnovers.
On offense, you don’t need to use many fingers to rattle off the legitimate offensive threats on this team. At this time, it’s all Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz. Other skaters have picked up goals and assists, but for the most part the rest of the roster has been silent. Paul Stastny isn’t doing much aside from collecting his $7 million and other notables names (T.J. Oshie, for instance) have been woefully absent.
On the power play, there isn’t much which needs to be said. The approach is awful. The end result is awful. It’s time to abandon the broken strategy (as it was last year) and try something else. Shooting wildly from the point isn’t working.
These are the issues which need to be addressed and discussed. Fans and analysts can talk about goaltending until their blue in the face. Meanwhile, Jaroslav Halak is thriving with the Islanders and the Blues will continue to spin their wheels until they finally do something about these lingering problems.
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