This WILL NOT be Taken Lightly…

This WILL NOT be Taken Lightly…

This will not be taken lightly as the Blues get absolutely shelled in their season opener. Jim Montgomery has called out the entire Blues team. We’re going to break down his comments as well as a few players in particular that need to step up if the Blues are going to find success this season. We’re going to break it all down in this episode of Blues Digest. It’s going to be a jam-packed one. But before we get into everything, a quick reminder to hit that subscribe button. and want to give a shout out to the 32.5% of you who are subscribed to the channel. But for the 6767% of you that are not subscribed to the channel, well, go down below, hit that free subscribe button because this is the place to be for all your daily St. Louis Blues content. But let’s jump right into it. It’s no surprise, right? I mean, the Blues got absolutely shelled with this lineup intact. A lineup that we thought was going to start the season off with a bang. And we were asking some questions, Mark and I, on our live stream yesterday. Who do you think will score the first goal for the Blues? Well, I posed that question to you still. Who will score the first goal for the Blues this season? Because we have yet to find out. Five nothing loss for the St. Louis Blues. And one thing that was kind of lost in the shuffle in that game is the 12-game regular season home streak. 15 including the playoffs, ends with that loss. I almost completely forgot about that heading into this season. I was so excited. I forgot that there was still a streak that was uh you know still intact heading into this year. But I do want to get into this. Jim Montgomery had some interesting quotes after the game last night. Jump right into them. He said, “I think our habits, special teams, our battle level on one-on-one battles wasn’t at the level that we expect.” And I mean, look at the roster heading into this year. They added some good pieces, but for the most part, this team is still almost the same. I mean, when you’re looking at the heavy lifters, the the first the top six, right, the first pairing, these are guys that were here last year, the goalending, right? And for him to come out and say that the special teams, the battle level, one-on-one battles wasn’t at a level that he expected, that loss is not going to be taken lightly by Jim Montgomery. And yes, it’s only game one of the season, but we got to get off on a good foot here. We got to get off, you know, starting strong this season, not like last season, right? We don’t want to have to go on a 12-game winning streak. It would be nice, but you don’t want to have to do that to make the playoffs. They want to start off on the right foot here, and that loss is not going to be taken lightly. He went on to say then, uh, I think the biggest difference was the battle at the net front. We’re going to get into some stuff that really shows what he’s talking about here later in the episode, so stay tuned for that. But there’s a process that we believe in, and a lot of those details and habits within our process cost us tonight. So, definitely calling out his team. he wasn’t happy with the the battle, the compete level, all of those things, etc., and their play in front of the net. And as we move along here, you know, Braden Shen, and again, stay tuned for some uh breakdowns on what happened specifically in front of the net. Some of it is actually kind of shocking if you look at what Minnesota was doing versus the Blues in yesterday’s game and what the Blues MO is. But Braden Shen said, “We’re trying to build for a full season and we have work to do and there’s some new pieces in the lineup, right? like we know like suitor in Buchad’s couple new guys that defense pairing which we’re going to touch on as well not great last night uh that third defense pairing they’re young they’re inexperienced that is to be expected to a degree but this team has to get it together pretty quickly here they have only a few games in my eyes to really start to you know gel so uh they got to get going here quickly if you head into you know Thanksgiving and you’re in a a spot where you’re like man we’re on the outside looking in it’s hard to get back in we’ve seen it it’s possible Well, of course, the Blues have done it twice in recent memory, right? But it does make life a little bit more difficult. So, uh, let’s get away from that. Some things to look forward to, as Leia is putting here, uh, you know, don’t want to alarm you guys, but this is what happened in the home opener this season. They won the cup, a 51 loss to the Winnipeg Jets back in 2018. So, you know, if you want to look at things that way, then it’s some good news to a degree, right, in that case. But um you know, some people are saying they can’t wait for the Blues first game against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. The first goal is certainly going to come in that one. Calgary already off to an interesting start themselves. And some Blues fans losing it already uh on uh Twitter with Bulld. And I’m not saying Blues Buzz is losing it, but I do see a lot of tweets out there that Buluke already has three goals in his first five periods and his first two games of the season. and Mayu of course not looking so hot and that defense pairing not looking so hot for the Blues uh last night. But let’s get into what the difference was in that game specifically. And obviously to a degree it was goalending. I still believe in Jordan Bennington. We’ll touch on that in a second. Uh but the biggest talking point in the St. Louis room uh St. Louis Blues locker room was the difference in net front play. The Blues players were talking about it. Jim Montgomery, I just showed you the quote. Everyone was talking about it of how this team was playing in front of Jordan Bennington. And obviously Jordan Bennington always shows up in the big moments, right? We know that. But in terms of the regular season, he has had his moments where he’s on and off. And last night, I don’t even know if I would pin most of that on him specifically. A lot of people are always going to dump on him. It’s just the nature of things. But he is the starting number one goalender for this team. You got to rally around this guy. and their net front play was soft at times last night. It wasn’t good. And I wanted to bring this up. Look at the Blues scoring chances versus the Wild scoring chances, right? Look where the Blues were shooting from last night. A lot of perimeter shots. There was a lot of net front chances, right? That is for sure. But look at where the Wild were going. Look at the map. All of the Wild’s chances were high danger scoring chances. Even the ones that were just above the hash marks, that’s still it’s not a high danger scoring chance, but there’s a higher probability if you have ch uh you know, traffic in front, very minimal shots from the outside. There were a few. They’re just floating things in, but if you look compared to the Blues, the Blues were shooting at some points from everywhere. Low percentage scoring chances, right? That was the difference, the net front play, allowing them to get there, getting opportunities there. You have to clear the front of the net. It’s the biggest thing. And if you look at the expected goals from individual players in all situations yesterday, yes, we’re getting very analytical with this. I know a lot of people are, you know, just rely on the eye test and all stuff like that. Look at the two worst players on the Blues. It’s Tyler Tucker and it’s Justin Faulk. You can’t have that, right? And somebody’s got to be the worst player if you’re looking at analytics every single night, right? Like somebody’s going to be at the bottom there. But that can’t happen. They got to be a little bit better. You got to clear the front of the net. And of course, they’re not a defensive pairing. Mayu, you know, there’s some special team stuff like that. Uh, you know, Mayu is a little bit higher in this case, but they have to be better. And, uh, the one, you know, saving grace, and of course, they didn’t score, right, is if you look at who was the best line for the Blues and the best players, it’s that second line. I think they’re going to lead the way offensively for the Blues. And, you know, you have some responsible play on that line as well, at least on the defensive side of the puck, which is a really good thing. So really looking forward to that uh you know line going absolutely off. If you look at the impact score chart, Broberg had a great game, right? Obviously nobody broke through, but look who’s at the bottom there. It’s that third defense pairing and we’re really excited for them. You know, Mark and I have been joking the whole time that youth coming in. We’re excited for them to go off. They’re both kind of rats, right? Their their style of play. Uh Tyler Tucker literally called Logan Mayu a rat yesterday. We were, you know, joking about that on live stream and in our video. uh that they kind of have similar styles in that way. They got to get, you know, up to speed at the NHL level. May use played a small sample size. Even, you know, uh Tucker, Tyler Tucker has played a small sample size to a degree at the NHL level. They got to come together. They got to get some more reps and I think they’ll be just fine. I think this team will be just fine. I don’t want to make this all doom and gloom. I think they will bounce back on Saturday and it will be a very fun game to watch in that regard. But let me know in the comments how you feel about everything. I covered today in this video. There’s a lot to like with this St. Louis Blues team on paper. It wasn’t a good start to the season and you have your coach calling you out for not just, you know, the fact that they didn’t score or the it’s really the simple things. It’s the one-on-one battles, it’s that compete level, right? And I think they’re going to get there and I believe in Jim Montgomery as a coach. So, let me know in the comments how you feel about that. But before we wrap up here, we are going to get to comment of the day. This is from Glenn Parks and he says, “If you want to know what Jordan Bennington does,” and again, I don’t want to put the pressure on Jordan Bennington. He is that guy. I think he’s going to lead the way for the team this year. When the pressure is on, watch games seven and uh sorry, games five and seven of the 2019 Cup final. I even say if he doesn’t get hurt against the ABS the year they won the cup, Binner was on his way to carrying the Blues on his back past the ABS. Anyway, thanks for the content and let’s go Blues. And thank you guys for watching. This would not be possible without all of your support. All of your support on this channel has been absolutely unbelievable and it drives us to create more content, keep you up to date with the Blues. And if you want to stay up to date with the St. Louis Blues, go down below and hit that free subscribe button because this is the place to be for all your daily St. Louis Blues News.

Darius Domingues breaks down head coach Jim Montgomery calling out his team after a horrible start to the season and what the Blues need to do to gel as a team.

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Blues Digest is a YouTube channel dedicated to covering all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors about the St. Louis Blues. We provide in-depth coverage of game highlights, player performances, and analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, and Jordan Binnington, along with insights from Head Coach Jim Montgomery and General Manager Doug Armstrong. Stay tuned for all the exciting updates and engaging content on everything Blues!

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