Jim Montgomery Sends a MESSAGE: Blues Effort “Embarrassing” in Latest Loss

Jim Montgomery Sends a MESSAGE: Blues Effort “Embarrassing” in Latest Loss

Blues look a little slow to me. Yeah. Yeah. And and and to their coach. And to their coach. And we’re going to play some Monty sound. The big though thing I I want to get out in front of though is just the reason they look slow. Um has to be that even in that third period, they’re tired because they’re they’re no one they’re not running a third pairing on defense on defense. They’re barely running a a fourth line because at this point Snuggy’s not Snuggy’s barely playing for some reason. Texier didn’t see any of the third period. So, they’re barely running a four lines deep at all. No wonder they’re looking slow. They’re tired because the guys actually out there are running crazy amounts of shifts. It was a weird night last night, but they actually were better in the third than they were, which is insane. the fir first and I don’t use the word embarrassing very often for pro sports players or teams but I thought that the first period for the first five minutes of the first period for the Blues it’s kind of embarrassing for them the the way that they just absolutely got dominated and you you have to feel bad if you are a Blues player and you’re getting booed early in the season fourth home game and it really did look to me like they had no interest in being out there. And I I think that’s the way Jim Montgomery felt after the game when he talked about how his team had performed. Um it’s disappointing that we don’t start on time. Um we didn’t come close to executing the game plan, you know. Um, we’re going to have to change things up and do things different, you know, because we’re not like the intensity we started a game with just it it wasn’t there. It was lacking and we need to find more consistency with how we play. It’s the same thing as last year. We’re going through the exact same thing as last January and we’re going to have to get it changed and we’re going to have to go to work all together. That’s how you gain consistency is through communication. It’s by players holding players accountable, coaches holding players accountable, players holding coaches accountable. We’re not getting the job done right now with our consistency, with effort and execution, and we have to demand more of each other. All right, coach. And and to your point about the minutes played, and he talked about holding people accountable, Texier 6 minutes and 55 seconds. Snuggy 948, Matthew Kessle 855, uh Matthew Joseph 1253, uh 9:43 for Tyler Tucker, uh 1013 for Bugstad. So, he is giving players less ice time. The problem is is that the players that they really need to be great, their their best guys, any team in hockey, the coaches always tell you our best players need to be our best players. They aren’t pulling that off. The the Blues best players now, and I’m I’m not going to go I’m just going to go by number. Okay. Uh Braden Shen doesn’t show up on the score sheet and he’s a minus one. Had three shots on goal. Robert Thomas uh does have an assist, 21 minutes, had one shot on goal. Uh we already talked about Snugarude. Jordan Kyu also has an assist in 20 minutes. He had one shot on goal. Jordan Kyu had one shot on goal. Uh Pareco doesn’t show up on the score sheet. Colton Pereco one shot on goal. Uh Neighbors one shot on goal. Yeah, you just have to be better and your better players. Uh Dylan Holloway a minus one doesn’t show up in the score sheet minus one shot on goal. Your best players have to be better than that. But Navic no shots on goal and took the bad penalty in overtime. So uh they they their best players and it seems like the the lesser players are getting punished or maybe he’s just thinking well at some point these guys have to step up but the best players aren’t the best players right now. When you hear him compare this to January, what what what does that tell you is is the big problem? What does that tell you is the solution? Well, last year, they really didn’t turn it on until after Four Nations. Yeah. And I I think that he had a chance to get them together and he was new and his message was new and fresh and I I think they bought in. But maybe you are when you when we talk about and I mentioned this before the season started. When you lose people like Lety and Sudter and Foxa, those are institutional players that know how to win. Letty’s won a Stanley Cup. Foxa has been deep into the playoffs. Ryan Sudter has been in the finals, I believe, uh, if I’m not mistaken. But it it’s players that have been around to know how to win. That’s a lot of knowledge that walked out the door and you replace him with Sudter who’s a good player but hasn’t played to that level and hasn’t had to show uh had the opportunity to show that level of consistency. He that’s another word that ar that Monty used. Uh consistency to be good all the time. Uh obviously Stugarude hasn’t had that opportunity. Tucker hasn’t had that opportunity. uh Kessle the yarn playing Mayu. These guys are noviceses in terms of playing NHL hockey and there’s just not enough there yet. I do think losing the veterans has something to do with it. I I said it on the first day of the season that I thought that the Blues were a better team in game seven against Winnipeg last year than they were on opening day this year. But I do believe they’re going to get better and ascend this year. but they’re learning how to win. It’s a young team that hasn’t really the the bottom half of the roster uh in terms of age hasn’t done anything yet and they need to learn how to win and they need to take a cue from the consistent effort of a guy like Braden Chen. I think that he he means a lot. And by the way, I want to go back to the last guy we mentioned there. Pavle Buch is just an abject disappointment. Yes. this that that’s that’s the big one and and saying he’s a whipping boy and saying all the fans need to blame him. I don’t want to take it to that point in high definition. But I I do want to highlight that that one because bottom line he’s one of the highest paid players on the team. He is the most veteran forward on the team or the highest on the top six. You know the most skilled guy on the team. I know I know Shen’s there but most veteran of the of the talented guys that you have to lean on for the offense. Holloway Kyro Robert Thomas. you know who I’m you know who I’m talking about here. Um he has been consistently at 19 minutes per game uh on the ice. He’s he’s just over 17 this season right now for the Blues. He has no goals through six games. Uh he hasn’t been effective on the power play. Uh it’s just none nothing about what he’s doing is is is dynamic or what a firstline topline player has to do for a team, especially a team like this. You we talk about the Dodgers and things like this. I know it’s less so in in in hockey in the cap leagues, but still when you’re a mid-market team, you your big number players, if they don’t show up, you never you don’t succeed all you so rarely. And and he’s your big number player. He he’s got to step up. He’s got to be a firstline level player. Bottom line. We’re not seeing enough compete level from him. Yeah, that’s fair. That’s code, by the way. When NHL coaches say we’re not seeing enough compete level from him, that’s saying he’s not trying hard enough. Oh, okay. Uh, I want to throw one other one other thing in here. U, after the Stanley Cup, before the 2019 season, there was a uh, a kid reporter during training camp at Blues practice and he got a chance to ask a question and he asked Craig Barubie who his favorite player was. Ruby kind of danced around it for a bit and then he said, “You know what? It’s Oscar Sunquist because Oscar Sunquist is the engine of our team. He might be a fourthline guy, but he is the guy that makes things go. He is the engine. And the Blues will get Oscar Sunquist back for their Thursday night game. And he is still that guy from an emotional standpoint. Now, he is diminished because of injury. He’s not the same player that he was in in talking of of Oscar Sunquist in 201819 or 1920. physically not the same guy, but in terms of bringing it every single night, and we haven’t had him yet this year. We haven’t seen Oscar Sunquist, but he’s still that guy that brings it every night. There’s a great old line that Ken Hitchcock used to use all the time about dragging people into the fight. And that’s one thing that Oscar Sunquist will do. He’ll drag people into the fight. And I hope Matthew that if other players see that he’s out there even with his bad knee and what’s his current injury? What what did he just knee? Another knee. So I if he is out there doing everything he can to win a hockey game. I hope that people like Pavle Buchavic and Jimmy Snugarude and Jordan Kyu and whomever they say, “Man, that guy’s giving his all. I better do that, too.” I hope we get that sort of response from the return of Oscar Sunquist because uh if it doesn’t work then and Jim Montgomery still has to wonder about the team’s communication and consistency and effort then you do have problems. You have to after what has happened so far this home season with the eight uh 8-3 loss with the 5 nothing loss in the opener and with last night when you’re doing what the Blues are doing on home ice there should be alarm bells ringing all over Enterprise Center. This is a major red flag. I know it’s still early in the season, but you can tell when Jim Montgomery is that concerned about the way they performed on home ice that there are problems that he’s trying to solve. Remember in the game against Chicago, it was national TV uh and Panger was doing it right and the interview with uh with Montgomery on TV, he said, “Slowly but surely, we’re going to take over this game because we’re he didn’t have to say this, but he said we’re going to take over this game with the inference that we’re just a better team.” Well, Chicago took over the game. And when you’re losing to lesser teams, not that LA is a lesser team, but they didn’t even really compete even though they went to overtime. When you’re losing to lesser teams, and when you aren’t competing at a high level with lesser teams, then you have real problems. And I think the way Montgomery referred to last night’s game, I would say that uh they’ve got some real problems. Hey, Missouri, get ready. The wait is almost over. DraftKings Sportsbook, America’s top rated sportsbook app, is coming soon to the Show Me State, and you can sign up today. New Missouri customers get $300 in bonus bets when DraftKings launches on December 1st. Download the app now and place a $5 bet when DraftKings goes live. And DraftKings Sportsbook will bring everything you need to elevate your game day, including live in-game betting, lightning fast payouts, and endless ways to get in on the action, all right from your phone. And when DraftKings officially goes live in Missouri, you’ll be betting with a sportsbook app trusted by millions. It’s safe, it’s secure, and has fast money withdrawals. 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The St. Louis Blues are showing worrying signs early in the season: tired legs, short bench rotations, and a lack of compete level from their top players.

Jim Montgomery didn’t hold back after another rough home performance, calling out the team’s effort and consistency.

We break down why the Blues look so slow, why stars like Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou haven’t delivered, and how much missing veterans like Letty and Suter is hurting the group. Plus, could Oskar Sundqvist’s return help reignite the Blues’ fight?

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