He's quite valuable, and rather underrated around the league IMO
He doesn't have enough raw talent to ever be considered a true "first liner", but his game is so well rounded that he can play any style of game, on any line, in any situation, and be successful. Oh,and he's blessed with a motor that doesn't quit...real blue-collar type that brings it every shift.
He's either our first or second best defensive forward (with Backes being the other) depending on who you talk to. High hockey IQ and motor, with good vision. Great shot and release that he use often, but his accuracy is only average. Good puck skills that he'll flash on occassion, but he prefers a simple north-south style of game. Excels at board-work and getting to the dirty areas of the ice. Is a very strong forechecker and backchecker, and physical when battling for pucks/possession, but not much of a "hitter." Smart with the puck, and a very sound team/system player. Rarely makes bad turnovers. Can play the PK, point on the PP, and can comfortably match up against any team's top line. Can play any forward position, but is most comfortable at LW. I'd say he's a pretty good bet for 20-25 goals and 50-55 points moving forward, with maybe 30 goals/60 points in his best one or two years.
He's quite valuable, and rather underrated around the league IMO
He doesn't have enough raw talent to ever be considered a true "first liner", but his game is so well rounded that he can play any style of game, on any line, in any situation, and be successful. Oh,and he's blessed with a motor that doesn't quit...real blue-collar type that brings it every shift.
He's either our first or second best defensive forward (with Backes being the other) depending on who you talk to. High hockey IQ and motor, with good vision. Great shot and release that he use often, but his accuracy is only average. Good puck skills that he'll flash on occasion, but he prefers a simple north-south style of game. Excels at board-work and getting to the dirty areas of the ice. Is a very strong forechecker and backchecker, and physical when battling for pucks/possession, but not much of a "hitter." Smart with the puck, and a very sound team/system player. Rarely makes bad turnovers. Can play the PK, point on the PP, and can comfortably match up against any team's top line. Can play any forward position, but is most comfortable at LW. I'd say he's a pretty good bet for 20-25 goals and 50-55 points moving forward, with maybe 30 goals/60 points in his best one or two years.
Not sure I agree with this, after seeing Jamie Langenbrunner shadow his man. But, all 3 are VERY good.
When someone is struggling, they tend to pick up their game when put on a line with Steen. Steen's versatility and ability to mesh well with seemingly any combination of linemates is extremely valuable to the team.
Ideally with a healthy roster, I see him on the 3rd line with Oshie and Arnott. Not sure if we're going to see that this season, but it would be a great line. (That's with Perron and McDonald in the line-up.)
Most consistent Blues player on the team in my opinion. Very underrated. Steen's work ethic is also one of the best on the team. Always gives all he has and leaves it on the ice every night.
He's an amazing player. Seriously. And it's time the rest of the league realizes it. He's got to be one of the most underrated players in the league.
Steen is fast, our BEST defensive forward, and skilled offensively - good at passing and shooting. Can score 20+ goals and 50+ points a season while playing in any situation...1st line, 2nd line, 3rd line, PK, powerplay, and can match up against any line.
He's gritty, doesn't back down, and best of all is he's a great leader (wears an 'A' for us) and is obviously so versatile.
You win with guys like Steen. He shows up every night, is one of the most visible players on the ice, and gives 100% every shift. I'm a huge fan of his and he's been a steal for us.
He's an amazing player. Seriously. And it's time the rest of the league realizes it. He's got to be one of the most underrated players in the league.
Steen is fast, our BEST defensive forward, and skilled offensively - good at passing and shooting. Can score 20+ goals and 50+ points a season while playing in any situation...1st line, 2nd line, 3rd line, PK, powerplay, and can match up against any line.
He's gritty, doesn't back down, and best of all is he's a great leader (wears an 'A' for us) and is obviously so versatile.
You win with guys like Steen. He shows up every night, is one of the most visible players on the ice, and gives 100% every shift. I'm a huge fan of his and he's been a steal for us.
You summed it up perfectly, last year he became one of my favorite players and he continues to impress.
I can't remember seeing a game with him in a Blues jersey and thought "we lost because of Steen", he's just never blown a game or given up on the ice. He tries harder than anyone to be an impact player and this year it shows on the stat sheet. If he had the offensive impact of Eriksson, he'd be a notch below someone like Zetterberg and get way more recognition for his effort in every game. He always battles, for the puck, for open ice, on the boards, in front of the net, he's always trying to assert his presence on the ice in any way he can. It's that level of determination that makes his linemates better, it's something they can depend on and build off of. His versatility is just a representation of his commit level on the ice, he won't let anything hold back his effort level or keep him from finding a way to make his team better.
Last edited by SteenMachine: 10-27-2011 at 02:14 PM.
He's quite valuable, and rather underrated around the league IMO
He doesn't have enough raw talent to ever be considered a true "first liner", but his game is so well rounded that he can play any style of game, on any line, in any situation, and be successful. Oh,and he's blessed with a motor that doesn't quit...real blue-collar type that brings it every shift.
He's either our first or second best defensive forward (with Backes being the other) depending on who you talk to. High hockey IQ and motor, with good vision. Great shot and release that he use often, but his accuracy is only average. Good puck skills that he'll flash on occassion, but he prefers a simple north-south style of game. Excels at board-work and getting to the dirty areas of the ice. Is a very strong forechecker and backchecker, and physical when battling for pucks/possession, but not much of a "hitter." Smart with the puck, and a very sound team/system player. Rarely makes bad turnovers. Can play the PK, point on the PP, and can comfortably match up against any team's top line. Can play any forward position, but is most comfortable at LW. I'd say he's a pretty good bet for 20-25 goals and 50-55 points moving forward, with maybe 30 goals/60 points in his best one or two years.
I hear he also likes chocolate and long walks on the beach...
Seriously this is a nice detailed analysis of Steen and I agree with all of it. I like the fact that he kind of flys under the radar. With teams focusing their defensive attention on some of our other forwards, it opens up opportunities for him.
"John Ferguson Jr. thought so highly of Steen that he refused to send Alex, along with Tomas Kaberle, to Edmonton for Chris Pronger. I can't imagine that made Steen's life any easier"
He's quite valuable, and rather underrated around the league IMO
He doesn't have enough raw talent to ever be considered a true "first liner", but his game is so well rounded that he can play any style of game, on any line, in any situation, and be successful. Oh,and he's blessed with a motor that doesn't quit...real blue-collar type that brings it every shift.
He's either our first or second best defensive forward (with Backes being the other) depending on who you talk to. High hockey IQ and motor, with good vision. Great shot and release that he use often, but his accuracy is only average. Good puck skills that he'll flash on occassion, but he prefers a simple north-south style of game. Excels at board-work and getting to the dirty areas of the ice. Is a very strong forechecker and backchecker, and physical when battling for pucks/possession, but not much of a "hitter." Smart with the puck, and a very sound team/system player. Rarely makes bad turnovers. Can play the PK, point on the PP, and can comfortably match up against any team's top line. Can play any forward position, but is most comfortable at LW. I'd say he's a pretty good bet for 20-25 goals and 50-55 points moving forward, with maybe 30 goals/60 points in his best one or two years.
This. Pretty similar player to Jussi Jokinen, can play in every situation, and a hard worker..
He's quite valuable, and rather underrated around the league IMO
He doesn't have enough raw talent to ever be considered a true "first liner", but his game is so well rounded that he can play any style of game, on any line, in any situation, and be successful. Oh,and he's blessed with a motor that doesn't quit...real blue-collar type that brings it every shift.
He's either our first or second best defensive forward (with Backes being the other) depending on who you talk to. High hockey IQ and motor, with good vision. Great shot and release that he use often, but his accuracy is only average. Good puck skills that he'll flash on occassion, but he prefers a simple north-south style of game. Excels at board-work and getting to the dirty areas of the ice. Is a very strong forechecker and backchecker, and physical when battling for pucks/possession, but not much of a "hitter." Smart with the puck, and a very sound team/system player. Rarely makes bad turnovers. Can play the PK, point on the PP, and can comfortably match up against any team's top line. Can play any forward position, but is most comfortable at LW. I'd say he's a pretty good bet for 20-25 goals and 50-55 points moving forward, with maybe 30 goals/60 points in his best one or two years.
For fun I looked it up and he's currently tied for 8th in MsS with 35, but also tied for 26th in total SOG with 74. Also noted that Berglund is tied for 19th with 31 MsS. Huge fan of Steen...guy never takes a night off.
Ups and downs. He's clearly better at wing and is really bad at faceoffs, but he's still been an impact player. Goals in four straight games and leads the Blues in points. Half of those points are on the powerplay, but Tarasenko and Pietrangelo are the only guys on the team for whom that's not true.
I'm not as down on his play at center as most people seem to be, but he's still been fine and I expect it only to improve. It's easy to pick on every little thing when the team is losing, so now that the Blues are over their little implosion, I think we'll get to judge Steen at center a little better without unnecessarily putting everything under a magnifying glass. It'll be a lot easier to answer this more definitively in another ten games.
I don't mind him at center as his two way play is more than up to par but his face offs need some help. If we could find a good 3rd line center I would move him back to the wing but no sense on giving up a lot to do it.
He is resilient enough to play anything on the ice (except goal) but he is naturally at his best on the wing. As stated, if we could pick up a 3rd center (note that I dont use the term 'line' in there) we could slide him over and make the top 3 lines much more effective and much deeper.
The only problem here is who do we knock out of the top 9 with Schwartz playing well?
Hi Blues fans... was wondering if it would be a good idea to pick up Steen in fantasy? He's currently the best free agent available... was thinking about dropping Grabner for him.
Grabner has 5G 2A in 13 games, while Steen has 4G and 11A in 14 games... does it look like he will keep this play up?
