Happy Wednesday,
Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson here. This week's questions will be answered below. Thanks, and please don't be shy about sending in any questions or comments you want to see tackled. Have a great rest of your week!Â
Got a question? Email me here (bfrederickson@post-dispatch.com) or find me on X (formerly known as Twitter) at and hashtag your question with #BF5.
Happy Wednesday, folks. Before diving into your questions, here are my latest columns, in case you missed them . . .Â
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This week's spotlight goes to . . . Dennis, via email.
Q: How do the Blues fix what appears to be a lack of effort? They are up against the salary cap. Moves could be limited. What do they do? Lots of season left.
µþ¹ó:ÌýIs it an effort issue, or is it an issue of a team that needed everything to go right to look like a playoff team instead dealing with the biggest thing that could have gone wrong? A team has to be bigger than one guy, sure, but Jordan Binnington and Robert Thomas are, without a doubt, the most important individuals on the ice for the Blues, and Thomas is off the ice for the foreseeable future. With Binnington, it's because he can almost singlehandedly win you a game. With Thomas, it's because he touches so many parts of the Blues' game. They are missing him in all capacities, and it really shows. The initial burst after his injury was admirable but it was hard to imagine it holding and it hasn't. Morale seems to have been affected.
Some of the bigger name players who are healthy have to do even more. Like Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich. The on-ice chemistry between new additions and returners has to get better and hopefully will with time. Some improved injury luck would help; it's been rough.
Inconsistency isn't always due to lack of effort. It's also harder to fix. A fired-up Blues team can still lose in this condition. The only fair and realistic hope is that the Blues don't play themselves out of the playoff picture before Thomas comes back. If they can white-knuckle it to that point and have a shot when he is cleared, that will have been a job well done. More good news: You don't get penalized extra in the standings for losing by seven goals compared to one or two.
In a way-too-early check of MoneyPuck's postseason projections, the Blues have a 6.6 percent shot right now. That's fifth-lowest in the league. If they don't find a way to climb without Thomas the games he plays in upon his return won't carry much meaning.
