Why pour salt in goalie wounds with Bishop success

[stlbluesfan4ever]

So, recently with all the success of the Lighting and Ben Bishop leading the way, There has been a large rumble with blues fans about trading him now.

 

First of all, I want to say I hated to see Bishop go, especially for a second round pick, but, I understood the situation and still accepted, but for some reason, now, Blues fans and media seem to have a short term memory, remember how we had Halak and Elliott sharing the william Jennings trophy for lowest GAA, and both were signed for at least two more seasons, Bishop was tearing up the AHL, however, in 13 NHL games, Bishop was 4-5 with a 2.83 gaa and .896 save % .

 

In addition we had a 21 yr Jake Allen coming up the pipeline. Also, Bishop was a UFA, and after battling with Elliott for the back up job and losing out, there was a chance Bishop saw the writing on the wall and might have walked with the Blues getting nothing in return.  We got a second round pick, that we used to acquire D man Thomas Vannei, who many hold in regard and fits in the Blues long term plans.

 

After, looking at the Blues Woes, I didn't see Allen as a problem in our playoff failures, So would have Bishop definetly made a difference?   Keep in mind, less than a year after the trade to Ottawa, Bishop was traded again to Tampa for Cory Conacher and 4th rounder.  Cory Conacher was a hot rookie who the lighting sold high on, but hasn't seemed to make it work in Ottawa so far.  

 

Anyone who followed Bishop, would know, he has a little out of wack Hamstring, and with a 6'7 goalie, a bad hamstring when you need to stretch to make tough saves doesn'tt always add up. Bishop also missed last yrs entire playoffs because of a broken thumb. As much as Bishop is a Hero right now, Tampa has a very promising goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy, who actually stole number of starts from Bishop late in the season.   The Lighting waived Nabokov, a proven vet with Playoff experience who was off to a rough start to make Vasilevskiy the full time back up.

 

So, I'm worried about Bishop's Future, He's the big man now, but if Vasilevskiy continues to develop so positively, and Bishop continues to play well, he's going to become kinda of Expensive, and already 28 with only a few successful seasons on his resume, the Lighting might think they can sell high on Bishop and he will need to learn another system for continued success.

 

So, I think Blues did the right thing in the great scheme of things. But right now, everyone just wants to sit and think what could have been with a hometown guy, but what people think could have been might never have materialized anyhow. 

[jammer2]

@stlbluesfan4ever  Nice post....but please....paragraphs...hard to read some much info without a interruption now and then.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Well, guys, in the big picture, Ben Bishop may have been a "miss" for the Blues (and for Ottawa as well), but in each situation, there simply was no room for Big Ben with Elliot and Halak in St. Louis and Anderson and Lehner in Ottawa.

 

And to be fair, its not like the Lightning knew "Oh hey, this guy's gonna be a stud goalie, we can steal him away from Ottawa".

I mean, i am sure the Bolts and their scouts had an idea, but the fact remains, Bishop was still an unknown quantity. There was just as good a chance he would flop as he would do well.

 

But, when the Bolts traded for him, they dealt from a position of strength (fast, skilled forwards) to gain something they needed (gee, this sounds familiar doesn't it?    ), and at the time, the Bolts had just got done with Dwayne Roloson, Matthieu Garon, and Anders Lindback wasn't exactly setting the Bolts' world on fire.

So throwing in Bishop into the mix and seeing what happens was a chance they easily took....and it just so happens it has paid off so far for the team.

 

That said, Bishop is STILL proving himself...particularly in the post season.

 

But back to the point of the St. L fanbase, I honestly think they have much bigger issues to worry about than "Why did we trade Ben Bishop".

Brian Elliot may not be a Vezina candidate on a yearly basis, but he is still pretty good...and on a team that prides itself on overall team defense, lane clogging, and big bodies taking away time and space, Elliot can be average and still put up good numbers...just so happens that he is actually better than average.

 

The big issue I see here is the Blues haven't given Elliot his respect.

First, they couldn't really decide whether he should be put in front of Halak....then Halak gets dealt and Elliot thinks he will be the guy, but then finds himself fighting for ice time with Ryan Miller, Jake Allen AND Marty freakin Brodeur!

 

And NONE of those guys have actually taken the goalie reigns and ran with it. Miller is gone, Allen is still a project, and Brodeur is retired.

Which brings St. Louis BACK to Elliot...the man they keep spurning!

 

It's like the Blues never really have given Elliot their full seal of approval....and that could weigh on the guy.

 

Another area the Blues should focus on over trading away a woulda, coulda, goalie is overall team speed.

Blues can score better now and have a guy here and there with speed, but as a team, I STILL find them plodding...and that is VERY evident when they skate against teams like Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Calgary, Chicago, Edmonton, and Los Angeles.

 

Blues are big, they can score, play good team defense pretty well, have decent goaltending.....but still look like plodding skaters when matched up against the very skilled teams in the league.

And THAT is one of the reasons I think they may never get 'over the hump'.

They continually are trying to fix problems that aren't really problems (like goal) and not really addressing others (like overall team speed and awareness).....and maybe thinking a bit too much that teams will simply be "intimidated" by guys like Oshie, Backes, Jackman, etc, and wilt away.

 

Well, that certainly isn't the case....obviously.

 

Tampa Bay was very lucky to have Ben Bishop work out for them, but really, the Blues fanbase, if it is as you say it is @stlbluesfan4ever , just need to get over it, get past it....what is done is done....and in the big picture, even if Bishop were still on the team, it doesn't address the Blues looking more often than not, like pylons against the faster teams in the league.

 

Oh, and welcome to the forums....as you can see, I like to type. Hahaha.

Enjoy your stay!