MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The Blues wanted to make one thing clear one night after the surprising, strong and direct comments that 23-year-old Alexey Toropchenko made following a 3-2 overtime loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
This wasn't a us against him moment.
Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko (13), battling for a puck with Colorado's ALex Newhook on Feb. 18, was a frustrated player on Thursday and aired out those frustrations in a 3-2 overtime loss against the Vancouver Canucks."Obviously with the translation, the way he said it, I think it didn't come across to call out the team," Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. "It was more so he was just hoping guys played hard and felt like he had a good game but didn't feel that good when you lose the way we did.
Center Robert Thomas added, "Yeah, I talked to him early this morning. His message was a little broken English. I don't think he meant the way it came out. Yeah, he's a guy that lays everything on the line every night and he's someone that's been playing really well lately. Yeah, it's frustrating, but it's on us leaders to step up and lead the way. Like I said, I don't think he really meant it the way it came out, but he throws it all on the line every night and we've all got to do that."
In other words, comments that would normally come from someone like the veteran Schenn, or any other veteran/experienced player following what was another poor performance, the fourth straight loss (0-3-1) since trading Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari to Toronto a week ago Friday, didn't overstep any boundaries.
"I want a guy who feels that passion and emotion on my team any day of the week," goalie Jordan Binnington said. "It's on us to come together and respond and just accept this challenge and just build, be excited for what we can do.
"Yeah, 'Torps' is great. Really nice guy, easy to talk to. He's passionate and we like that."
Toropchenko, who scored a first period shorthanded goal, said that the Blues, "need to show something. You need to show heart, character and to be strong everywhere. Just play from your heart."
His comments coincided with coach Craig Berube saying that the Blues' best players, "(are) not doing the job," and that the coach didn't know why. "You have to ask them. I guess they don't care about the team."
General manager Doug Armstrong met with players and the team to difuse the situation from escalating into a firestorm in a season that's gone awry on so many different levels, one year after a 109-point season.
"I think the raw emotion after a game like that was evident from everyone involved. From a managerial perspective, it's understandable. We've made some radical changes to this group over the last couple of weeks. Emotions are raw right now. What we need to do is come to grips with what we have on our team right now and start build.
"I've talked to the players, we talked about our last decade and it was a good decade, some ups and downs, but that decade is now behind us, and today is the first day of the next decade. I was honest with them that likely maybe one or two of the 40 people in the room, or 35 people, won't be anywhere near us when that decade ends, but it has to start today. The reality is if you break it down into management, coaches and players, we're all at 33.3 percent responsible, so I have my job to do, the coaches have their job to do, and the players have their job to do, and doing it not in unison collectively, we'll never get there. We won't get there at all."
As for Toropchenko's comments, Armstrong also understands the comments were not Toropchenko against the team.
"I don't want to get into everything 'Torp' said," Armstrong said. "I think some of the things that he said were bang-on, and I think some of the things that he said, if he was speaking in Russian, wouldn't have come out that way. I really do think that some of the things that were ... if he was speaking in Russian, it would have been more 'we' than 'I' for sure. That's the guy's character.
"This isn't 'Torp' against the team by any stretch. He's a quality young man that's frustrated, and I'm happy that he's frustrated, but now it's taking those frustrations and moving them in a direction that's going to be positive to where he wants to get to and where we want to get to."
Toropchenko continued his trend of pouring his heart and soul into making lasting impressions on his teammates, coaching staff, management and most importantly, the fan vase. He finished with 14:17 of ice time and four blocked shots, including three during a third-period penalty kill in a shift that lasted 1:39 and felt he left it all on the line for the team to win, and in the end, was frustrated by a lack of effort and energy by many that ultimately contributed to losing a 2-0 third-period lead.
"Everyone is going to feel something different, right? I think if you look at his game last night, he played hard," Schenn said. "He blocked shots, he scored a goal, skated hard ... we're relying on our goalie a lot and giving up chances, and kind of showing a lack of pride. That's a team we played last night that's in the exact same situation we're in, and they took it to us. Now it's time for us, really, I know we've been talking about this, but just turn the page and show something and dig in and fight. Fight for yourself and play for one another these last 25 games."
That seemed to be the message a very young, wise-beyond-his-years player was trying to convey in his well-spoken Russian accent.
"Listen, he's a young kid. He's working as hard as he can," Berube said. "He's just trying to keep playing and getting better here. All he's really saying is we just need to be a team and play as a team. That's basically what I got out of it, to be honest with you. He's a young kid trying to word things correctly, and it's difficult at times. But for me, what he said, he's not really calling out his teammates. He's just trying to (say), 'We need to be better.' Bottom line, and he includes himself in that.
"He's got good character. He's a hard-working kid that ... he's got one of the best personalities I've been around in the game. Loves hockey, loves coming to the rink and gives you a great effort every game and every practice."