Quick Hits: JT on the Blues

JT: Well, it was more than just Binnington. He was good. Very good against Colorado. But it wasn't like his Game 7 performance against Boston or anything. Even in getting those 16 shots on goal in the first period, it's not like the Avs sent a ton of high-danger chances at him. But the back end does look good.

Hard to tell on Tarasenko. Nine months away from the game is a long time. These 3 round-robin games _ a non-elimination setting _ is a godsend for him to shake off some rust.

As for the Blues' depth, I'm not sure it's as big of a factor in this setting, because all the teams entering are fresh from the long layoff. It'll be tougher for the Blues to wear them down.

JT: You know, I'm still getting my hockey eyes back after the long pandemic pause. I need the exhibition games and round-robin to knock off the rust, too. But I would say Robert Thomas would be one. Binnington would be another, although he was pretty good against Chicago. But he looked really locked in against the Avs. That's about all I got on that.

JT: Actually, we're a little lower than press box level. And that's a good thing, since the Rogers Place press box is one of the higher ones in the league. I don't want to say it's in the club seat area; it may be just an area where they've set up temporary tables behind the last row of seats in this part of the stadium. For Blues games here in the regular season, I'm usually near center ice. I'm down at one end here in the bubble. On Sunday, I was down in the end where the Blues and Binnnington were on defense twice.

Yeah, that would be fun if the extras were down banging on the glass. But the extras are up at press box level. Each team has its own suite or lounge area if you will.

JT: That's a good question.. Obviously, you're going to sink or swim with Tarasenko. Rusty or not, you play him. Berube almost always avoids the kneejerk reaction when it comes to changing lines, and just as importantly, the players respect him for that. So I don't think you change lines just yet (although maybe Berube wants to use some guys that have been healthy scratches so far in round-robin). You need to let these lines marinate a little. But once you get into elimination play, you can't be too patient, or you'll be heading home.

And speaking of McDavid, there have been some tremendous individual performances. Sebastian Aho _ as Dick Enberg would say, Oh my!

JT: Yes, I do feel they're at a disadvantage. The only reason the round-robin was put in was to give the top seeds something to do _ some way to knock off rust _ while the best-of-5 series were being played. I think one of the reasons the Blues won the Cup last year was because the team literally had a playoff intensity from the aftermath of the all-star break on. They had to have a playoff like intensity for all that time or they wouldn't have even made the playoffs. So we'll see how this shakes out once the Round of 16 gets here. Then again, it would be hard to match what happened last year when there was of course a traditional playoff format: All 4 division champs got knocked out in the first round.

JT: Yeah, I think they will. The way they're officiating these games now reminds me of the preseason or start of the regular season. Which maybe isn't all that surprising given the fact they've been off for basically an entire offseason.

FOLLOW-UP: What would you have thought if someone had come up to you at yet another blistering hot Rams training camp in 2015 and told you, "Sir, this sounds crazy, but five years to the day, you will be covering the NHL playoffs inside an isolated bubble in Edmonton?" Crazy to think about, isn't it?

JT: I'm sure many of us would agree, from all walks of life, that you never know what's behind the next door. Sometimes after disappointment in one job or job assignment comes surprise in another.

Thirty years ago, I was disappointed when my time covering Mizzou and college sports came to an end. But then I ended up covering this NFL group called the "Greatest Show on Turf" with future Hall of Famers sprinkled all over the lineup. (OK, that was followed shortly thereafter by 10 years without a winning season. But you get the point.)

Hockey has been a tremendous late-career surprise for me.