St. Louis Blues' General Manager shares humbling quote on how much of this season he got to enjoy
The St. Louis Blues failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2018 after making some big changes to their roster leading up to the NHL's trade deadline in early March.
Among the moves made by General Manager Doug Armstrong was trading Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers and captain Ryan O'Reilly to the Toronto Maple Leafs, both of whom are set to become unrestricted free agent on July 1st.
During his final media availability of the 2022-23 season, Armstrong told reporters that there was 15 minutes, 66% of the year that he enjoyed, while coming home from the airport or arena, but next season he wants that feeling to go back up to 100%.
Armstrong also added that he feels like he didn't do enough to make the team competitive and that he let the fanbase down this season.
"There was about 15 minutes a night, 66 percent of the year that I loved, and that was driving home from the plane or driving home from the arena with a smile on my face knowing that tomorrow morning, I was either going to get a call from an agent who was going to yell at me that his player didn't get enough ice time, or I was going to have a player in my office telling me that the coach screwed him, but for that 15 minutes a night, 66 percent of the time, it was a great ride home. I didn't have nearly enough good rides home, and I want to get back to at least 15 minutes a night next year. It might not come in wins and losses, but there's too many nights I went home feeling like I let our fanbase down by not creating a team that was competitive enough, and that's on me." Armstrong said.
While Armstrong may feel that he didn't do enough to make the team competitive, it's hard for them to be competitive by trading away their two best players before the deadline. The Blues finished 14 points back of the Winnipeg Jets for the second and final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference and some big changes will be needed this summer in order to have a quick turnaround and potentially return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024.
POLL |
AVRIL 16 | 83 ANSWERS St. Louis Blues' General Manager shares humbling quote on how much of this season he got to enjoy Will the Blues make the playoffs next season? |
Yes | 29 | 34.9 % |
No | 49 | 59 % |
See Results | 5 | 6 % |
List of polls |
|
4 hours ago | By Tom Banks J.T. Miller Opens Up On The Tough Situation He's In With The Vancouver Canucks |
|
5 hours ago | By Tom Banks Elliotte Friedman: Penguins Personnel had Doubts on Dubas over Tristan Jarry's Abysmal Contract |
|
7 hours ago | By Tom Banks Chicago Blackhawks Defenseman Seth Jones Reportedly Drawing interest Around the League |
|
8 hours ago | By Graham Montgomery NHL DoPS Lays the Hammer on Islanders Forward Maxim Tsyplakov for Questionable Hit |
|
10 hours ago | By Graham Montgomery NHL Analyst Drops a Massive Update On JT Miller Sweepstakes; New Team Gaining Traction to Acquire Star Player |
|
10 hours ago | By Tom Banks John Klingberg Finds New NHL Home With Canadian Contender |
|
11 hours ago | By Julien Trekker Embarrassing Footage Emerges of JT Miller Giving up on the Play in Last Night's Game |
|
12 hours ago | By Julien Trekker Insider Reveals That the Colorado Avalanche Rejected Three Different Offers for Star Forward |
Previously on Bladeofsteel