St. Louis Blues: Ken Hitchcock's line combos continue to baffle

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The hysteria surrounding the St. Louis Blues and their recent trade to acquire goalie Ryan Miller and center Steve Ott is near an all-time high.

Many in St. Louis feel like this is the move that solidifies the Blues as one of the favorites to win the franchise's first ever Stanley Cup. It may very well put the Blues over the edge.

But after watching the team get shutout in two consecutive games since NHL play resumed after the Olympic Break, the same old question of "can the team score enough goals?" has reared its ugly head.

Maybe some of the blame should fall on the coach Ken Hitchcock.

Hitchcock's line combinations for most of the year, and his constant juggling, have been curious to say the least.

Now that Ott is in the mix, here is how Hitch will line up on Sunday night against the Phoenix Coyotes.





So, lets get this straight. In this alignment, Hitch has a center (Ott) playing left wing, a left winger (Steen) playing right wing, and his most talented goal scorer (Vladimir Tarasenko) playing with two players (Berglund and Paajarvi) who have tallied a total of 20 assists in a combined 94 games.

Pure genius if you ask me.

And yet, nobody ever asks Hitch about his line combinations and his throught process surrounding their creation and his decisions.

Nobody asks why it feels as though he is holding No. 91 back by not putting him with linemates that would allow him to flourish and create scoring chances.

At first, post-Olympics, it looked like Hitch might be adopting some better habits, by putting likely his best overall center in Alexander Steen, actually at center, and moving the struggling Berglund to left wing.

But that plan was abolished before it ever had a chance to play-out.

This Blues team is an extremely balanced team, but at times, it feels like the team could be even better if some players were matched with others that would take advantage of some unique skill-sets.

Take a look at this offering from Brad Bumpus, former co-host of Fan Interference on CBS Sports 920 AM, a show we hosted when we had enough time to host a bad AM sports radio show.




Now those are three lines with balance.  All three can score it. All three should be solid defensively. Most importantly, it matches skill-sets more effectively.

Watching Oshie and Schwartz control the boards and feed the puck to the front of the net to Backes would put loads of pressure on the oppositions top lines.

Seeing Roy skate and feed feather passes to a goal scorer on each side in Steen and Tarasenko would give defenses fits.

Having three big bodies in Berglund, Ott and Jaskin would wear down the opposition.

Some might accuse me of playing "basement GM." And that is fine.

But it is not that hard to see that there is more that can be maximized from this roster offensively without giving an inch on the defensive end.

At some point, maybe Hitch will figure it out.

Until then we will just have to wonder, when it gets down to the nitty gritt come playoff time, will cycling the puck in the offensive end with three grinders against Jonathan Quick be enough to score enough goals the third time around?

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