Pre-Game Talk: Blues v. Stars. Round II

[2 Minute Minor]

Maybe I'm interpreting this wrong, but does this mean you're picking Dallas to win in 6 games?

Blues winning at home in 6.

 

[TheDizee]

people expecting a short series seem to forget that we are blues fans and we can choke at anytime and anyplace.

 

[LGB51]

people expecting a short series seem to forget that we are blues fans and we can choke at anytime and anyplace.

 

[Bye Felicia]

I might be joining you next year or I might be taking a year off. Either way congrats!

So many law students ITT! I'm a 3LOL at UChicago but I grew up in StL and I still love it 100x more than this miserable, freezing city.

Wash U is great. I did some engineering research there in HS, and a couple of my friends went there for undergrad. I visited the law school when I was an admit. Maybe this is blasphemous, but I wish they would serve something other than A-B products (yeah, I know, it's named AB Hall and all that).

Anyway, I'm super excited for this series. It's so weird seeing the Blues as the favorite. Honestly, it makes me uncomfortable--I've thrived for years off of the Cards and Blues being the underdogs.

 

[jura]

Were like a battered spouse. Even when things are going good, we expect a black eye

cos we are blues fans

 

[Stealth JD]

It's gameday!!!

 

[joshyhockey26]

It's gameday!!!

Is it 7pm yet?!?!?!

 

[Spicy Panger]

 

[jura]

the real question is to halfass or not to?!

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Tonight's going to be interesting. Basically comes down to how Backes/Petro handle the Benn line and how Stastny/Parayko handle the Spezza line.

 

[542365]

It's more important than usual to get pucks deep. If you turn it over at the blue line, guys like Goligoski, Klingberg, Oduya, and Russel will pick you apart with that stretch pass and get their forwards entering the zone with speed against flat-footed Dmen. It sounds so cliche, but it really is crucial against Dallas. You can't be turning pucks over entering or leaving the zone.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Spot on Matty. Dallas' strength is keeping the puck out of their own zone for extended amounts of time. Pin them in and you are going to be successful.

 

[BluesTraveller]

I wonder how many Blues fans will be in Dallas tonight

 

[carter333167]

Tonight's going to be interesting. Basically comes down to how Backes/Petro handle the Benn line and how Stastny/Parayko handle the Spezza line.

Do you think Hitch will aim for these matchups? Considering Shatty's less than stellar D-Zone play this year, I wonder where Hitch will slot his pairing....or will Hitch just rotate with zone match-ups?

Excited....LGB!

 

[carter333167]

PD article on Parayko--interesting quotes from Hitch and Parayko.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_2b4ecf42-725e-57b4-9c79-694c8048a241.html

“We need that thing coming hard and fast and, quite frankly, I don’t really care where it goes, as long as it makes a big noise, because it scares the hell out of people,†Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.

In fact, Hitchcock suggested: “He doesn’t shoot enough – we would like him to shoot twice as much as he does. I think he’s getting better at loading it up and firing it, because sometimes he’s so unselfish that he wants to make a play to help other people. But we need him in this series to be way more selfish.€

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Do you think Hitch will aim for these matchups? Considering Shatty's less than stellar D-Zone play this year, I wonder where Hitch will slot his pairing....or will Hitch just rotate with zone match-ups?

Excited....LGB!

He won't get his preferred match ups as much because we're on the road but I'd bet those are he match ups he wants.

 

[Brian39]

I'm confident that we will win this series without a ton of stress, but I think some people are vastly underrating Dallas. They certainly aren't the weakest team left in the playoffs. Seguin is certainly a big loss, but they aren't terrible without him. People seem to be forgetting that they played very well down the stretch without him. There are still a ton of weapons up front without him.

We should win this series, but we aren't playing a cream puff. This team had the 2nd best record in the NHL and scored the most goals of any team in the league (by a large margin). They scored 17 more goals than the second best offense. For perspective the difference between 2nd place and 10th place was only 19 goals. This is an absolutely insane offense. Without Seguin they are still a top offensive team.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

PD article on Parayko--interesting quotes from Hitch and Parayko.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_2b4ecf42-725e-57b4-9c79-694c8048a241.html

“We need that thing coming hard and fast and, quite frankly, I don’t really care where it goes, as long as it makes a big noise, because it scares the hell out of people,†Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.

In fact, Hitchcock suggested: “He doesn’t shoot enough – we would like him to shoot twice as much as he does. I think he’s getting better at loading it up and firing it, because sometimes he’s so unselfish that he wants to make a play to help other people. But we need him in this series to be way more selfish.â€

I read the transcript of that entire interview. Its been refreshing how open and honest Hitchcock has been both on TV and in print interviews.

Its pretty clear he wants Parayko's shot to intimidate opponents. If they're afraid of that shot, it will open opportunities for the rest of the team. And if he keeps getting it on net, all the better.

 

[bcd051]

So many law students ITT! I'm a 3LOL at UChicago but I grew up in StL and I still love it 100x more than this miserable, freezing city.

Wash U is great. I did some engineering research there in HS, and a couple of my friends went there for undergrad. I visited the law school when I was an admit. Maybe this is blasphemous, but I wish they would serve something other than A-B products (yeah, I know, it's named AB Hall and all that).

Anyway, I'm super excited for this series. It's so weird seeing the Blues as the favorite. Honestly, it makes me uncomfortable--I've thrived for years off of the Cards and Blues being the underdogs.

Any med students?

Thank god for Radiology rotations at the right time.

 

[Brian39]

I'm a 1L at WUSTL. If you have any questions, send me a PM. And Majority, if they still have free beer, I've been missing out. I figured I would have learned of it by now though, haha.

Why go to law school if there isn't free beer?!?!

I just graduated from the University of Colorado Law and free beer after class on Thursdays kept me sane. We were lucky and got good Colorado beer instead of boring AB products...

It might be too late this year, but poke around the building near the end of the day on Fridays (or Thursday if Wash U doesn't have many classes Friday). Most law schools host almost weekly 'networking' events that have free beer and are almost exclusively students hanging around drinking. Ours were always sponsored by one of the student organizations but were extremely informal. One of the biggest perks of law school is free food and beer, so I'm sure Wash U has something similar.