(2-6-21) Coyotes-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Mike Hoffman's ascension in the Blues lineup will take affect beginning with a third straight game against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.

The winger had his best game as a Blue on Thursday in a 4-3 loss to the Coyotes with two goals, nine shots (13 attempts) in a season-high 19:13 of ice time.

Hoffman, who has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 10 games this season, has a four-game point streak (three goals, two assists) and will be elevated to a line with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron on Saturday when the Blues (7-3-1) and Coyotes (4-5-1) play a pair of games that were rescheduled for Saturday and Monday, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. The two games were originally scheduled for March 29 and 31.

"It's been 10 games. We definitely have a different team compared to the two other teams he's been on in his career," Perron said of Hoffman. "It will take some time for certain stuff and it's great when you have a couple bounces. I think it started with Anaheim, went of his skate and I think (Sammy Blais) scored and I said it was something to build off here for him and ever since, he's been playing good and scoring every game. Sometimes goal scorers, that's what you need, you need to get those bounces going the right way for you. I think certainly getting more familiar how we want to play, how coaches expect guys to play on this team. We have a chance to play with him tomorrow, so it's going to be exciting."

Thirteen of Hoffman's 28 shots on goal this season have come in the past two games and he's a plus-5.

"It takes time, a little bit of time," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "He's played over in the East for quite some time and it's his first time over in the West and it's different hockey over here and different systems for sure, but he's starting to really play well I think. I know he got a couple goals late in the game last game, but he's shooting the puck, which is good. He's getting his looks. I think he's playing our system pretty well."

O'Reilly will take a six-game point streak (three goals, five assists) into the game, and Perron has 10 points (four goals, six assists) his past seven games, so that line should be ready to roll.

- - -

Forwards Zach Sanford and Sammy Blais, as well as Tyler Bozak (upper body injury), along with defensemen Colton Parayko and Marco Scandella (upper body) did not practice on Friday with the full group and Berube shed some light on their absences.

Parayko will play today, but Sanford is out with the flu, and a decision on Blais will be made after the warmup.

Scandella remains out and is day-to-day and the Blues put Bozak on injured reserve today and called up forward Mackenzie MacEachern and defenseman Jake Walman from the taxi squad, and a decision on Blais will be made after the pregame warmup.

- - -

As the Blues embark on an ever-changing schedule, they just go about things day by day.
They were supposed to host the Colorado Avalanche in back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday but those were postponed due to Colorado's COVID-19 outbreak, and then the Blues were to begin a four-game road trip to Minnesota Tuesday and Thursday before going to Arizona for games Feb. 13 and 15.

But the first Minnesota game has already been postponed because of the Wild's Covid outbreak and should Thursday's game also get postponed, it will be six straight games against the Coyotes for the Blues.

It will be six straight games for Arizona against St. Louis because the the Coyotes were to play at Colorado Tuesday and Thursday, but those have already been postponed to a later date.
"I think with the situation around the league, we're just happy to be playing at this point," Perron said. "You want to keep playing, you want to keep taking care of yourself, as a group away from the rink, and hoping that this virus stays out of our locker room and other teams' locker room. There's coaches and staff around you and everyone's got to help out. We have done a good job here so far and we've had some luck as well and we hope it keeps going."

"As of right now, six of our (next) seven are going to be against the 'Yotes," Blues center Brayden Schenn said. "We've got to find a way to be more consistent, harder to play against and establish the identity of our team. You have to when you're playing them in back-to-back situations or in this case, four games straight."

- - -

Oh, those bad starts.

It was a sore spot for the Blues once again Thursday, as it was Tuesday, but they got away with it in a 4-3 win over Arizona but not this time.

They fell behind 2-0 in the first period, 3-0 after two before making it interesting in the waning seconds with three sixth-attacker goals in the final four minutes.

"It's being ready to play and simplifying your game, build your game," Schenn said. "I don't think you have to be fancy early on. Maybe if the opportunity's there, you take it, but I think if you look at the game from last night, we turned the puck over numerous amounts of times in the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game. That's not winning hockey. It gives teams opportunities and with opportunities, players can establish confidence that maybe it's going to be a little bit easier night than expected. For us, we've got to worry about taking care of the puck, being hard to play against and that's kind of the identity of this organization and Blues hockey and we've got to get back to that.

"I don't think concern's the word. I think we're well aware of it. As us players, we have to go out and find a way to change that. This isn't winning hockey if you think you can put it together for a period or two or a game or two and then let your foot off the gas and become a completely different hockey team the next game. We have to get back to the basics. We know what winning hockey is around here and that's a defense-first mentality and hard to play against, competing at both ends of the ice. Until we get that in the back of our minds and establish that's how you win hockey games, I think that's what we have to focus on."

What the Blues haven't managed to do is get to their forechecking style often enough. 

"We do have more speed in certain guys," Perron said. "Let's say like Jordan (Kyrou) in particular. He wasn't there last year. He's done a great job at providing speed and working, scoring on those 2-on-1 plays, plays that you don't expect, and that's going to keep coming because he's reading the play well. But it's going to have to be a mentality of we can't lose our team identity and I think we just grab way better control of the game that way when we play the other way more, and I think it shows in the result yesterday. We ended up putting a lot of pucks on net, scoring some goals, but you can't just expect to score those easier goals. It's not Jordan at all, it's a team mentality and Jordan's played some great hockey."

- - -

The Blues could really benefit from Robert Thomas getting going.

Thomas, who has five assists on the season, has just four shots on goal in 11 games and 12 attempts (seven missing the net).

"He's going to get better boys," Berube said. "He's having a tough stretch right now and he's got to work his way out of it. You've got to control a couple things: how hard you're working and how hard you compete. You can control those things. First and foremost, he's he's got to make sure he's outworking his opponent and outcompeting his opponent and the second thing is get in on the inside a little more to get some more shots. He definitely needs to have a shooting mentality a little bit more than he does. I know he's a passer, but he does have to have a shooting mentality too."

Could his confidence be shaken?

"For sure," Berube said. "Your confidence will go after a while. I think that he's lost some confidence, so he's got to work to get it back."

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup (will be verified after pregame warmups):

Mike Hoffman-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Ivan Barbashev-Robert Thomas-Oskar Sundqvist

Kyle Clifford-Sammy Blais-Mackenzie MacEachern

Torey Krug-Justin Faulk

Vince Dunn-Colton Parayko

Carl Gunnarsson-Niko Mikkola

Ville Husso will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Jake Walman. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Tyler Bozak (upper body), Robert Bortuzzo (upper body) and Marco Scandella (upper body) are out. Zach Sanford (flu) is out.

- - - 

The Coyotes' projected lineup:

Clayton Keller-Nick Schmaltz-Conor Garland

Drake Caggiula-Christian Dvorak-Tyler Pitlick

Derick Brassard-Barrett Hayton-Phil Kessel

Michael Chaput-Johan Larsson-John Hayden

Jakob Chychrun-Ilya Lyubushkin

Alex Goligoski-Niklas Hjalmarsson

Jordan Oesterle-Jason Demers

Darcy Kuemper will start in goal; Antti Raanta will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Adin Hill. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (lower body), Lawson Crouse (undisclosed), Christian Fischer (undisclosed) and Dryden Hunt (lower body) are out.

Another slow start irks Berube in Blues' 4-3 loss to Coyotes

Late comeback comes up short, coach 

looking for more compete from certain individuals

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Craig Berube was about as succinct as one can get after a loss on Thursday to the Arizona Coyotes.

Sure, there was a comeback that glossed over the 4-3 setback, but in the grand scheme of things, it was much the same for the Blues (7-3-1) that was evident on Tuesday, and even going back to Sunday: a poor start with a positive ending.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

The Blues (in red) had another slow start in front of Jordan Binnington

(third from left) and it left them in a hole before falling 4-3 Thursday.

Not this time. Not even the reverse retro jerseys, engulfed in red, would save them on this night.

Players said all the right things following the morning skate Thursday knowing the start had to be better against Arizona (4-5-1) but it was anything but, and Berube wasn't having any of it on Thursday.

"I don't have the answer for you," he said. "You'll have to ask the players that, they're the ones that play."

Ah, hah. 

Well, it's quite evident he's irked at something, or somebody. Plenty of bodies in this case.

The Blues were completely dominated and outshot 11-1 in the opening 10 minutes Tuesday and fell behind 1-0 before Berube chewed some heads off and the players got the message.
This shouldn't have to be the case each time out. Sure it will happen over the course of a long season, and in this case, a 56-game sprint to the finish, but to have to try and repeat the same message as Arizona again owned the puck, owned zone time and owned an 11-2 edge on the shot clock to begin the period and walking away from it leading 2-0.

"It’s not consistent," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "That’s got to be the staple of us. For our depth and our D-corps, how good we are that way. We have to be consistent with how we compete and we’ll have a chance to win pretty much every game. And we’re just not right now. We dig ourselves holes. It’s too frustrating."

"Obviously, I've got to take responsibility for that. I've got to see that and find a way to get more out of guys and such. But yeah, this league’s very tough. There’s a lot of good teams and good players if we’re not consistent with it, teams are going to catch us. We've got to correct it and it’s a good thing we see these guys in a couple (days)."

So ... being  consistent with the compete level is what the captain is saying, and not saying it lightly. Is it one guy, two guys, three? And that has to come from within the player, not coaxed out of the coach, right?

"It does have to come from each individual and I believe there's a bunch of individuals in there that do compete and work and are ready to play, but we have too many that aren't," Berube said. "If that's the case, you're going to have a tough time winning. That's the bottom line."

It's pretty evident who the coach was talking about without naming names. When the Blues made their comeback big, they did so scoring three times in 2:50 and within the game's final 3:15 to do so.

Mike Hoffman, who scored twice and seemingly has found his niche with this team and this system, had a whopping nine shots on goal (13 attempts), played a season-high 19:13 and was a plus-2. David Perron played 23:35, had six shots on goal (11 shot attempts) and was a plus-3 with two assists. O'Reilly played 24:30, was a plus-3 and had a goal on five shots, and Brayden Schenn, even though he would tell you he could have scored a hat trick in the game, had 12 shot attempts (six in goal) and had an assist in 21:00, and Jaden Schwartz had an assist in 21:56 to go with two shots on goal (four attempts). 

These are the veterans who Berube is speaking of that complete, work and are ready to play.
Now on the flip side, there's guys that aren't doing it nearly consistently enough, guys that are expected to and guys that are just not making the grade.

For the fourth time this season, Robert Thomas didn't register a shot on goal and has just four shots on goal in 11 games and just 12 attempts for the season. He was a minus-3 Thursday and simply isn't consistent enough at protecting pucks in the neutral or offensive zone. He's had some dazzling moments and is a terrific player when on his 'A' game, but so far, the consistency just isn't there. It hasn't been there for Ivan Barbashev either, who played just 7:44 Thursday. 

Just look at the players on the ice when Christian Dvorak scored the dagger empty-net goal to make it 4-1 at 17:46 of the third period. It was Thomas, Oskar Sundqvist, Zach Sanford, Jordan Kyrou, Vince Dunn and Justin Faulk on the ice.

Sammy Blais played just 9:22, Kyle Clifford (4:21) and even Sundqvist (11:05) didn't warrant the ice time they normally get, although Clifford is part of the fourth line and won't play much when the Blues are chasing the game.

It's doubtful Berube would be calling out Faulk or even perhaps Kyrou, but the others, well ... 

"Again, we've got a number of guys that are willing to compete and work and they went out there and did that and scored some goals and got us back in the game and we have other guys go out there and it's just lackadaisical and get scored on an empty net," Berube said. "I just don't get it, but whatever. That's the bottom line."

When asked about competition for ice time, Berube scoffed with a smile and said, "I'm not talking about that stuff."

Yes, the Blues have banked 15 of a possible 22 points, which is a nice clip. But the way they've lost their games in regulation this season is reason to have some concerns, and when you see who was on the ice late in the game and those that weren't is a pretty good indicator of who needs to pick his respective game up.

The comeback is great and all, but all it did was cover up what was the glaring focal point.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Mike Hoffman (right) scored two goals and had nine shots on goal (13

attempts) in the loss against Jordan Oesterle and Arizona Thursday.

"It seemed like they wanted it more than us right from the drop of the puck in the first period," Hoffman said. "They came out hungry, they were better with the puck, they worked harder than us and at the end of the day they deserved the game more than we did.

"(The comeback was) probably just a learning lesson. Not too many times you're going to come back from three goals against any team in this league. You've got to respect your opponent every single night; teams are too good if you're not coming ready to play from the drop of the puck to the end. Teams are going to bury you like they did to us tonight."

* NOTES -- The Blues and Coyotes will get to know one another even better than they have because the league announced that the teams will play each other here in St. Louis on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Monday at 7 p.m.

The Blues were scheduled to face Colorado Saturday and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. both days, but the Avalanche had their season put on pause at least through Feb. 11 with a Covid outbreak, and the Coyotes were supposed to face Minnesota Saturday and Sunday but those games were also postponed due to the Wild's Covid outbreak.

The Blues were originally scheduled to host Arizona again March 29 and 31 and now those games will be moved up. The teams will meet again in Arizona Feb. 13 and 15.

The Blues were supposed to play at Minnesota Tuesday and Thursday, Feb. 11 but at least Tuesday has been postponed, with Thursday questionable.

"It is what it is," Berube said. "You're going to see a lot of that this year probably with the things that go on."

"It's out of our control, so we adapt and deal with whatever is set in place for us," Hoffman said. "We'll practice tomorrow and get ourselves back and start getting ready for the next game."

(2-4-21) Coyotes-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- With a recent outbreak of positive cases among teams regarding COVID-19, the NHL is implementing four changes to its in-arena protocols in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The NHL hasn't formally released any of the details, but Sportsnet is reporting that among the new changes, the glass behind team benches will be removed in time for tonight's games, including the Blues (7-2-1) hosting the Arizona Coyotes (3-5-1) at 7 p.m. (FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

This after an outbreak among the Minnesota Wild that has forced the postponement of the Blues' game in St. Paul, Minn. on Tuesday, and possibly next Thursday.

Also according to Sportsnet, the NHL is considering asking teams to deploy portable air cleaners behind the benches, "in order to improve indoor air quality and mitigate airborne viral transmission." These cleaners would use HEPA filters, which Consumers Reports magazine states "results in reductions of 50 percent or higher in particulate matter." Also, players and coaches are no longer permitted to arrive at the arena more than one hour and 45 minutes before puck drop with the exception for receiving necessary treatment of injuries. All meetings, game day or off days, should be virtually conducted, and teams are being asked to utilize/create additional locker room space for themselves and their opponents, with the league looking to have at least six feet between players at each of their stalls. Teams have one week to communicate their plans for accomplishing this. If necessary, portable stalls can be provided to teams.

The Blues are one of a handful of teams to not have a player yet reach the NHL's COVID Protocol list.

"We've talked about them," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said of the changes. "Obviously there's some concerns from the league and we have to be smart. One of the things is we can come early to the rink, but it's got to be for treatment, which is part of it. With all this hockey, a lot of guys are coming in early to get this work done. It's different, but it is what it is. We've got to be safe, we've got to take precautions. It's new challenges, but we've talked about them. We have to do our best to have the kind of same routines but within the confines of the protocol.

"I don't think it's a big concern. Both teams have to go through it. We know throughout this season there were going to be challenges and things will be adjusted. I think compared to a normal season, we're expecting things to happen, things to be adjusted. At the end of the day when the puck drops, we have to be ready and the main thing is mentally, we have to be sharp. We know these things are happening and it's just being ready to make the right decisions at the right times. It is what it is and I don't think it will affect us at all."

Players are wearing masks on up until game time, they stay distanced from each other and in meetings spreading it out, in a big room, no one's close to each other, all the necessities to keep everyone safe.

"You continue to just try and do your best to stay safe and staying within the protocols and make sure you're doing your part to stay safe," Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. "Obviously around the locker room too. It's a real thing and obviously we've realized that as a world, we've got to make sure that we follow the right protocols and continue to do our thing. That's all we can do at this point. We can't really worry about things that we can't control and that's out of our control, the league-wide thing. A lot of things we have to roll with the punches and a lot of different dynamics being thrown at us this year, different schedule changes and what not. It's on us to make sure we're dialed in for each game that we've got on the calendar and get ready for those games accordingly."

The postponement of the game in Minnesota and possibly both, it will give the Blues some extra days to get in some practice or perhaps rest, something the coaching staff will take into consideration.

"It's early to tell," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We've got tonight and then the weekend back-to-back games (at home against the Colorado Avalanche), there's been a lot of hockey. I think we've got to think about it and see where we're at after the weekend. It could go two ways. You could use it as practice time, but you can also use it as rest. It's been a pretty hectic schedule with travel and three games in four nights. That's twice, back-to-back games and stuff like that. We'll just figure it out after the weekend."

All in all, Berube likes how the Blues, who put a four-game winning streak on the line tonight, have handled the hectic days of late.

"I think pretty good. I think our players are doing a good job of coming to me and coming to the coaches about how they feel and the leaders and things like that, that's important that they're communicating with us about what's going on with their bodies and how they're feeling," Berube said. "We handled practice pretty well, we pushed them when we could and there's days off when we think they need a day off. Keeping practice short I think is important but intense. You've got to get out there, even in morning skates, I'll always tell the guys it's only 15 minutes out there of the skate, you stay out there after and do extra stuff, but within that 15 minutes, the intensity's got to be up. You've got to be moving, you've got to get your body moving. That's important."

The outbreak among teams, including the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres among the teams with the Wild to have their seasons on pause at the moment, it makes one wonder if a 56-game season could actually be pulled off.

"You think the season might have to be extended or the playoffs will be pushed back a bit, but when you keep hearing these cases, we think of our team and what we can control, and it's us being really safe," O'Reilly said. "We have to be smart, wear a mask and do the right things, make sure we're social distancing and all those things, we have to be safe because we have to do our part here. We want to keep playing hockey. It's lucky we haven't had anything yet and we have to keep it that way.

"I think we're lucky to be back playing hockey. We know there's going to be situations like this, but hopefully soon and hopefully this will be the last year where we have these kind of restrictions and can get back to normal, but for the meantime, it's doing our part and staying safe."

- - -

The Blues did what they wanted to do in between the clock against the Coyotes Tuesday in the 4-3 win.

What they didn't like was the start, in which they trailed 1-0 and were being outshot 11-1 to start the first 10 minutes before Berube laid down the law during a TV timeout, and then at the end when the Coyotes pulled the goalie with three-plus minutes to play, the Blues seemed to be chasing the puck a lot and allowed a late goal to get the game within one.

"Towards the end, obviously the last goal we don't want to be giving up," O'Reilly said. "I just kind of made a bad read and got pulled out of position and got exposed, they brought it back to the middle and just couldn't recover quick enough. We talked about it. We have to make it easier on Binner. We have to keep the puck out of the middle and keep it to the outside and have them shoot from there, but as we go on, we have to improve it. We did a good job finding a way to win, but obviously it's something we talked about and want to improve.

"For sure we've been relying on our goaltending to bail us out in these starts, but last game, we had a pretty tough back-to-back, a lot of hockey, we had tl fly across the country back here, we knew we weren't going to have our legs, but still we got out of it decently. It was enough to find our legs and get back going. Tonight I think after being here, being here having played a game, the key for us is just being on our toes. When we're on our toes and we're not thinking the game through, we're just going, we're attacking, being aggressive. Usually when you're playing these teams twice, when you see them both times and you manage to win the first one, we know there's going to be a lot of desperation from them. It's tough because they're going to try to dictate right off the bat, but we have to try to match that intensity. If we can do that and can make some good plays, it'll put us in a good spot and as the game goes on, I feel we get stronger."

- - - 

The Blues will implement the same lineup tonight, albeit one caveat.

Vince Dunn and Marco Scandella, at least at the outset, will flip spots with Dunn being paired with Parayko and Scandella paired up with Niko Mikkola.

The Blues flipped those pairs around during the game Tuesday, keeping Torey Krug and Justin Faulk together.

It marks the third defensive partner for Parayko, who began the season with Krug and has played most recently with his partner of last season, Scandella. Parayko played with Dunn in stretches during the Stanley Cup run in 2019.

"We've played a lot together throughout the years, even the years before  that too," Parayko said. "Leading up to it, we've had a lot of time together. Obviously he's a very good player over there, he makes things happen all the time, he's very smart and very easy to play with. The beauty of it over here is we've got a lot of good players on the back end that we can interchange things and we can try new things throughout the year and still having all of us on the D corps. That's the beauty of it for us. We're going to continue to just work in pairs because this is a different year. You never know what's going to happen. Just nice to have a little bit of chemistry with everybody and make it work.

"At the end of the day, you want to play your own game, but obviously there's a little different tendencies in each player that you're aware of or you understand and know, but for the most part, our systems are there and we rely on each other to be in certain spots in our systems. That's just what we've got to do. Not a ton of differences I guess. Some players have a few different tendencies from others but small things that maybe you wouldn't notice. But other than that, they're very easy and very smart and great to play with."

Scandella's minutes have fallen to 15:20 last game and 13:44 the previous game and his shifts being around 20 instead of the 30-32 he's averaged, but Berube said there's no slippage in play or any injury concerns.

Scandella missed a game against San Jose earlier in the season after being checked from behind, then collided with the post in the win at Anaheim Sunday.

"I think just certain teams we play, I think we can mix our d-pairs up just a little bit," Berube said. "I know they probably don't like it as much, but I think there's certain matchups and things like that. We worked Dunn with Parayko last game a little bit and Scandella. You're probably going to see a little of the same tonight.

"I think Dunn's playing well and we're trying to get minutes for a lot of our guys. It's a deep d-corps and we're just trying to find minutes for a lot of d-men, and it's not easy to do every night."

- - -

The Blues will unveil their reverse retro jerseys tonight, one of two dates in which they will wear them, with Feb. 22 against the Los Angeles Kings being the other.

It'll be different that what's been accustomed to seeing, with red being the predominant color with the older Blues logo.

"I like them," O'Reilly said. "It's a nice change, nice to mix it up. It's a lot of red, but I think it'll be cool. I know last year we wore a different kind of version of it and it was awesome, the boys loved it. These ones I think will be cool. I think it's cool to just mix it up once in a while."

"They're pretty cool, they're nifty," Parayko said. "I really like the blue retros. This is obviously just the reverse colors and I think they're cool. Obviously not normal seeing a lot red in our team's uniforms but very unique and I think they're cool."

Berube said he hadn't seen the jerseys as of the morning skate, but the coaching staff wore the new hats and other intricacies given to them.

"They're going to look nice," Berube said. "They're bright. It'll be fine. I think it'll look good. All of these jerseys that I've seen in the league so far, there are a lot of colors involved."

- - -

Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo got in another skate on Thursday but will miss his ninth consecutive game with an upper-body injury sustained Jan. 15 at Colorado.

"He feels good, but I think he needs practice time," Berube said. "He's been out a while. He hasn't played since the second game of the season and he played a minute and something in that game. He's not played a while so he needs more practice time before he's available to play to be honest with you and I think he'd agree with that."

Forward Tyler Bozak (upper body) will miss his fourth straight game after sustaining his injury Jan. 26 at Vegas; he did not skate Thursday.

"He's feeling better and better every day, which is a good thing," Berube said. "He's around here today and I've seen him. He looks better today than he did yesterday and the day before, so I think that's a good sign. We just got to wait it out until he's ready to go out on to the ice and skate."

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Sammy Blais-Robert Thomas-Mike Hoffman

Kyle Clifford-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Torey Krug-Justin Faulk

Vince Dunn-Colton Parayko

Marco Scandella-Niko Mikkola

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Carl Gunnarsson, Jacob de la Rose and Jake Walman. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Tyler Bozak (upper body) and Robert Bortuzzo (upper body) are out.

- - - 

The Coyotes' projected lineup:

Clayton Keller-Nick Schmaltz-Conor Garland

Drake Caggiula-Christian Dvorak-Tyler Pitlick

Derick Brassard-Barrett Hayden-Phil Kessel

Michael Chaput-Johan Larsson-John Hayden

Jakob Chychrun-Alex Goligoski

Niklas Hjalmarsson-Jason Demers

Jordan Oesterle-Ilya Lyubushkin

Antti Raanta will start in goal; Darcy Kuemper will be the backup.

The healthy scratch includes Adin Hill. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (lower body), Lawson Crouse (undisclosed), Christian Fischer (undisclosed) and Dryden Hunt (lower body) are out.

Armstrong named GM of Hockey Canada

Blues GM to guide Canadian national team for first time less than two 

years after guiding Blues to Cup; is pleased with start for Blues in 2021 

By LOU KORAC
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- It's been quite the ride for Blues general manager Doug Armstrong the past couple of years, and not just here in St. Louis but north of the border as well.

Hockey Canada has announced the management group that will build Canada’s men’s Olympic team at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, if NHL players are able to participate, and the Sarnia, Ontario native Armstrong was named the GM of Team Canada on Wednesday.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was named as the GM of Hockey

Canada on Wednesday to guide the men's Winter Olympics team in 2022.

Armstrong, who helped guide the Blues to their first Stanley Cup in team history in 2019, will be joined by associate general manager Ken Holland, the GM of the Edmonton Oilers; assistant general managers Ron Francis, the new GM of the Seattle Kraken, former Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney, and senior vice-president of national teams Scott Salmond.

The announcement was made by Hockey Canada's chief executive officer Tom Renney and Scott Smith, the organization’s president and chief operating officer.

"It is an exciting time to be able to introduce the members of Canada’s management group, who each bring a tremendous amount of international and championship experience that will benefit our team if NHL players are able to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics," Renney said in a statement. "Under Doug’s leadership, as well as that of our entire management group, we’re thrilled to task them to lead us into 2022, with the opportunity to oversee our staff and players as they compete for an Olympic gold medal."

Armstrong served as a member of the management team in 2010 and 2014 when Canada won a pair of gold medals. This will be his first time as the GM of Hockey Canada.

"It's certainly a great honor," Armstrong said. "Any time you're asked to participate for Hockey Canada, it's a great honor and certainly in the Olympics working with the guys I'm going to get to work with is going to be a special thrill. We're hoping that the NHL and the NHLPA can continue to find a way to get us there. We'll work like we're going and excited about the opportunity."

Armstrong previously served as the GM of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey championship, was a special assistant of the gold medal-winning team at the IIHF World Championship in 2007 and in 2016 was a senior advisor, and was the assistant GM in 2008 that won silver and was the GM in 2009. He was also part of the worlds staff in 2002 and 2013. 

Armstrong is in his 11th season as GM of the Blues where he won the NHL GM of the Year Award in 2011-12. He previously spent 16 years with the Dallas Stars, winning the Stanley Cup as assistant general manager in 1999.

After helping the Blues and the city of St. Louis overcome the hex of winning a Cup for this city, now comes the pressure of trying to help guide a country to a gold medal, where anything else is considered a failure.

"I sort of use the analogy of it's like playing Russian Roulette being the manager of Team Canada," Armstrong said. "It's exhilarating, it's nervousness and it's a lot of fun and you only get to lose once. You know the rules going in, there's great expectations in Canada to put a team on the ice that's productive and fights and wins gold medals, and that's our goal going in. You understand the pressures that go with it, you understand that there's 38 million people that are going to have questions about the team that we pick and you just move on and do the best you can and hope it works out."

Considering the kind of talent that will be at Canada's disposal, it better work out.

"I'm certainly going to rely on Ken Holland, Don Sweeney, Roberto Luongo, Ron Francis as we go forward, but it's an interesting format because we probably do have two teams that could potentially medal if we went that direction in Canada," Armstrong said. "It's a difficult process, but what you're trying to do in my experiences working in the past with Steve Yzerman as he put these teams together is you're looking to get the top skill players, the best skating players, but at the end of the day, you're not picking an all-star team. You're picking a team that has all the elements combined in it from power play to penalty killing to 5-on-5 play so you want to pick the best players that can gel together. It's a difficult task, but it's a task that I assume every other manager of every other country would love to have the resources that we have to choose from."

Blues coach Craig Berube will certainly get a look to be the head coach, if not on the coaching staff considering he's a Stanley Cup-winning coach. That pedigree doesn't come lightly.

"We certainly have a long list that gets whittled down as we go," Armstrong said. "Like the players, you have so many players to choose from. There's a lot of great Canadian coaches to choose from. We're going to take our time and try to build a staff, not just a head coach. Head coaches all have different personalities. Some are just head coaches and some can be a head coach but also support a staff in an assistant role and what we want to do is make sure when we name our entire staff that there's unity and inclusion and the ability to function as one.

"... Certainly you look at the gentlemen that have won Stanley Cups or Presidents' Trophies have to go into the equation. I don't want to name a specific name because that will just lead to speculation, but certainly all the guys that have won Stanley Cups or Presidents' Trophies or have been highly competitive coaches over the last number of years are going to be considered."

On the home front, Armstrong is a happy camper with the Blues off to a fast 7-2-1 start and tied for first in the Honda West Division and on a four-game winning streak.

"We're finding ways to manufacture points, which is always a positive as we're getting to know each other," Armstrong said. "Your depth is a great asset, but it also creates issues as far as ice time and finding their roles. I think Craig and his staff have done a great job sharing that workload. Certainly I think at 7-2-1, we're very happy, we're in the upper echelon of the NHL as far as winning percentage and as we're learning each other, as we're getting into a new season, the points that we bank now can never be taken from us. I'm excited where we're at right now, but I know the heavy lifting is coming up in front of us."

Among the players Armstrong spoke of is forward Jordan Kyrou, who has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 10 games, and Justin Faulk, who is off to a roaring start after a less-than-productive first season in St. Louis after being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes. But the Blues are getting great production in goal from Jordan Binnington (6-1-1, 2.55 goals-against average, .918 save percentage), Brayden Schenn (six goals, four assists in 10 games), David Perron (five goals, four assists in 10 games), Ryan O'Reilly (two goals, six assists, 59.36 face-off percentage in 10 games) and Jaden Schwartz (two goals, six assists in 10 games) to name a few.

"Jordan Kyrou came as advertised in a sense that I think he was the Canadian Hockey Player of the Year, certainly the Ontario Hockey Player of the Year," Armstrong said. "He was a very good player on our World Junior team and that usually is a barometer of how you're going to get to the NHL. This hasn't been the easiest organization to break into when you're competing with the top teams, you usually have a more veteran influence and Jordan had some setbacks injury-wise that seemed to get in his way when he was looking to push forward. He's always had the tools, his skating's dynamic, his hockey sense offensively is dynamic. I think he's done a great job understanding a way the game coaches trust is to be a good 200-foot player, play in his own zone and I think he's embraced that understanding that will only increase his ice time, so we're very happy with where he's at today. Now the hard part for young players is understanding all the work he needed to put in last summer, all the work he needs to put in practice is just the starting point if he wants to be a dominant player and have a 1,000-game career, which I know he does.

"With Justin Faulk, I'm not surprised by the way he's playing right now. That was the player that played a number of years in Carolina. We talked about this last year and it was a difficult situation in the sense that when you bring a player in, you'd like to have a defined role and we had a defined role in our top four, but it wasn't in the right side, it wasn't doing the specific thing. We were trying to create a puzzle instead of using the pieces that were there, and I think this year obviously with Alex leaving, it's created an opening and he's taken full advantage of it. I'm very happy for him, but I'm not surprised that this is the player that we're getting."

With news that Vladimir Tarasenko has started to skate on his own, the clock is ticking when the Blues' top goal scorer might begin the process of returning to the lineup.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

The Blues are encouraged by the progress of Vladimir Tarasenko (right)

but the winger won't be back for several more weeks.

Tarasenko, who had surgery on his left shoulder for the second time in a year in September and third time overall, was injured Oct. 24, 2019 against the Los Angeles Kings and missed all but 10 games of the regular-season before returning for four games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and had to shut it down again.

"He's on the ice, he's skating now," Armstrong said of Tarasenko. "The mile post that you go through on this stuff is you get the surgery obviously, you start the rehab, you need to get back to the doctors that performed the surgery to check off on the fence posting in your rehabilitation. All those have been checked off. He's on the ice, he's conditioning. His shoulder's certainly not 100 percent right now, but it's at a point where the safety and the mechanisms are in place that we feel he can skate. He can receive passes, make passes, shoot to a level of his comfort. He's still a ways away. We won't see him for a number of weeks, but he's certainly on the right track."

Dunn leads Blues with goal, assist in 4-3 win over Coyotes

Defenseman playing with a purpose since being made healthy 

scratch three games ago, helped St. Louis to fourth straight win

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Being a younger player, Vince Dunn could have gone in one of two directions after being made a healthy scratch recently.

Dunn could have had his confidence shaken drastically, pout and mope about the temporary demotion, or he could put his best foot forward and be a better player.

The 24-year-old chose the ladder, and even though it's a small sample size, it's evident Dunn has played with a purpose the past three games.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues defenseman Vince Dunn (29) defends a play in a recent game vs.

the Los Angeles Kings. Dunn had a goal, assist on Tuesday.

He contributed a goal and an assist in a 4-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes Tuesday at Enterprise Center.

Dunn, who has two goals and an assist in three games since being scratched against the Vegas Golden Knights Jan. 26, made it a point to put his best foot forward, whether he agreed with the decision or not, and who would agree to get benched in the first place? So instead of making matters worse for himself, Dunn decided to give it his best effort moving forward and he hopes to continue to trend in the right direction.

"It's always a surprise," Dunn said about being scratched. "You're never really walking into the rink and thinking that's going to be happening to you, but obviously coaches make decisions and you obviously have to respect that and put your head down, work even harder."

Blues coach Craig Berube identified some of Dunn's turnovers as a contributing factor for what the player called a reset. But Dunn played 16:00 minutes in the game Tuesday and was a plus-3 with two shots (three attempts) and one hit.
 
"He’s playing pretty hard, I think," Berube said. "He’s involved, physical, moving pucks well. He was a plus-3 tonight. Looks pretty good right?"

That's your call, coach. But with that sort of praise and if this sort of consistency continues, Dunn won't be out of the lineup moving forward.

But it's pretty evident that there's a purpose to his game these past three and one with dogged determination, a chip on his shoulder, if you will.

"I'm just trying not to think so much out there," Dunn said. "By the time you're thinking about something happening on the ice, it's probably too late. I'm just trying to play off my instincts and trust myself and trust myself to put me in good positions and they're doing a great job of that. I just need to keep things simple when I can and jump in holes and make offensive plays when I can. It's all about focusing on me and making sure I'm doing my job."

He did his job well when he pinched into the slot and took in a Jaden Schwartz pass and beat Darcy Kuemper with a wrist shot and a 3-2 Blues lead in the second period.

"It was a close one on the blue line," Dunn said. "'Rouzie' (Jordan Kyrou) chipped it in deep there. I think 'Schwartzy' turned up in the corner and I think there was a hole in the slot there. 
"The forwards are doing a great job finding us on the points and it's just our job to get it through. To be honest, I wasn't really looking to pick corners there. I'm just trying to make sure it's not getting blocked there by that underneath guy."

Dunn has paired up well the past three games with Niko Mikkola and giving the Blues three solid d-pairs. 

"I guess it was just a reset for me," Dunn said. "I didn't think I was playing that bad, but obviously I had a lot more to give. Obviously that's behind me now and just trying to forget about it."

It had to feel good for Dunn to step out and salute the small but vibrant crowd as the game's No. 1 star, a much better feeling that a week ago on this day.

"It was great," Dunn said. "Obviously even when we had the (300) there, it's nice just having a couple people out there watching. There's obviously even more watching on TV and what not, but to have that many more tonight, that's a good feeling for us and a good feeling for the community. Obviously we're taking strides for the battle against Covid. I think it's just a good feeling not only in the rink but in the city."

(2-2-21) Coyotes-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues have a chance to build on their first sustained winning streak of the season and they get to do it in front of a larger crowd.

When the Blues (6-2-1) put a three-game winning streak on the line to begin a four-game homestand against the Arizona Coyotes (3-4-1) at 7 p.m. (FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM), they'll get to do so with 1,100 more people in the stands.

The Blues played their first four home games in front of family and first responders, which totaled 300 in number, announced that they will increase attendance up to 1,400 beginning with tonight's game.

That number begins with season-ticket holders that can attend a game for the first time in 11 months.

Florida, Dallas, Arizona, and most recently, Nashville, are among a handful of teams that have allowed fans to attend games, and this will be a first of sorts for the Blues even though there have been people in the building for home games in January.

"It's exciting for us," Blues defenseman Torey Krug said. "We got the news obviously. The chatter in the locker room was just the excitement of having people back in the building. I know as an opposing player how hard it is to play. We want to continue that excitement and the roll we're on and give them something to cheer about. The guys are really pumped up."

The Blues, who came off a 3-0-0 road trip that was cut short by one because of the postponed game in Vegas last Thursday, play the first of back-to-back home games against the Coyotes, who have had the Blues' number in recent seasons and snapped a pair of seven-game winning streaks by the Blues last season.

"They've got a lot of speed on their team, their goaltending's very strong, they play a good-structured game, they do things right," Blues coach Craig Berube said of Arizona. "You've really got to work to beat that team. They're going to work hard and they're going to play within themselves. You've got to find a way to break that. We've had some good games against them here at home where we really possessed the puck and did a lot of good things, but still, it's a tight game. I expect the same tonight.

"We're going to have to work hard to win this game."

The Blues outscored Vegas and Anaheim by a combined 15-6 on the trip.

"We played three pretty solid games out there and I feel like we're getting closer to the way we want to play," Krug said. "If we just continue to hang onto the puck and overwhelm teams, the way our goalies have played recently, we're going to have a chance to win every game. We've got to keep the momentum and try to continue that."

- - -

Speaking of Krug, Berube made the switch a pair of games ago, going back to his former shutdown pair of Marco Scandella and Colton Parayko and pairing Krug with former World Championship partner Justin Faulk.

"We played together, it was a long time ago," Krug said. "Both of us were younger. We're different players now, probably matured a little bit. I think we've hit the ground running. Faulker has been playing great. At this point for me, it's just trying to keep up with him, get the puck into his hands, the forwards' hands. I think we think the game very similar. Any time one of us has it, we know it's going up to the forwards and the other guy can join the rush and be a part of the attack. Crafty guys on the breakouts and it's been a good pairing so far.

"We play similar for sure. We think the game very similar. We've had conversations on the bench. In the locker room, we talk about each other's tendencies on what we like. It's a pretty good match. We defend similar. He's a heavier body, bigger that probably plays a little more physical than I do, but we're both very competitive and we like to close out plays with our feet and have the puck and go. It's been good so far."

Faulk, who is second in the NHL in plus-minus at plus-11 behind former Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson (plus-12), started the season playing with Scandella and Krug was with Parayko and not that he can't or won't go back to those pairings in the future, but these started working instantaneously.

"I knew that they played together before in the World Championships," Berube said. "I think with the way that Faulk is playing right now, they're both doing a lot of things up the ice offensively, getting involved in the play. Faulk's just doing overall a great job killing plays defensively, which helps creates loose pucks and that helps Krug in my opinion to get up the ice on the offensive side of things and transition and go the other way. He's great at getting up the ice and transitioning the puck. That was kind of the thought process on it."

Krug admits that there is a difference in playing styles between Faulk and Parayko, and not just Parayko's physical stature.

"A little bit, yeah. Both great players obviously," Krug said. "With Parayko, he ends plays so quickly and he's just so big out there and you kind of rely on that a little bit. With Justin, I think we play a little bit quicker in transition instead of hanging onto the puck in the neutral zone and waiting for set breakouts. We're just moving it up and getting going right away. That's probably the biggest difference."

- - -

Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who posted an Instagram photo of his sticks and skates on Saturday indicating he's resumed skating following offseason shoulder surgery, is nearing closer to the five-month reevaluation period the Blues set when he had surgery on his left shoulder for the third time in his career, second in the past year.

Tarasenko hasn't skated with his teammates yet since training camp resumed but he is on the ice.

"He's skating. He's doing a good job," Berube said of Tarasenko, who was injured Oct. 24, 2019 against Los Angeles. "I think he's worked really hard off the ice, kept himself in good shape from what I've seen. Now he's on the ice skating and that's good. He's putting in the work on the ice now, so we'll see how it goes."

Tarasenko came back and skated in four games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season but needed surgery again, and when Berube was asked if it's still a ways away from Tarasenko skating with teammates, he said, "Probably."

- - -

Sammy Blais will get a nod again as the third-line winger with Robert Thomas and Mike Hoffman.

Blais, who scored his first goal Sunday in a 4-1 win at Anaheim, has filled in for the injured Tyler Bozak, who will miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury.

"I played with Tommer last year and Hoffman is a really good player," Blais said. "Both two good players. I'm just trying to bting my physicality and my offensive play to them. I'm just trying to keep it simple and we're just going to try and keep it going tonight.

"For (Hoffman), it's a new system and he's only been playing for eight games with us. But he's a really good player and I really like playing with him and Tommer. We just try to keep things simple and we talk a lot on the ice and when we come on the bench, we try to say some stuff to each other. I think we've been good the two games we've played together and we want to try to keep it that way."

Bozak, who was injured against Vegas, did not skate this morning again, but defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who has missed seven straight games with an upper-body injury, did. 

"It's day to day and see how he feels and right now, he doesn't feel good enough to go on the ice," Berube said of Bozak.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Sammy Blais-Robert Thomas-Mike Hoffman

Kyle Clifford-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Torey Krug-Justin Faulk

Marco Scandella-Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn-Niko Mikkola

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Carl Gunnarsson and Jacob de la Rose. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Tyler Bozak (upper body) and Robert Bortuzzo (upper body) are out.

- - - 

The Coyotes' projected lineup:

Clayton Keller-Nick Schmaltz-Conor Garland

Barrett Hayton-Derick Brassard-Phil Kessel

Drake Caggiula-Christian Dvorak-Tyler Pitlick

Dryden Hunt-Johan Larsson-John Hayden

Jakob Chychrun-Alex Goligoski

Niklas Hjalmarsson-Jason Demers

Jordan Oesterle-Jordan Gross

Darcy Kuemper will start in goal; Antti Raanta will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Ilya Lyubushkin and Adin Hill. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (lower body), Lawson Crouse (undisclosed) and Christian Fischer (undisclosed) are out.