This just in:
"The Arizona Coyotes have traded centre Antoine Vermette to the Chicago
Blackhawks in exchange for a first-round pick and prospect defenceman
Klas Dahlbeck."
Okay, then, I guess we're done here.
Sorry to see Dahlbeck go and a first-rounder seems a steep price to pay for what will likely be a rental, but a tip o' the toque to Stan Bowman for successfully nabbing the best center that was currently (and realistically) available.
Oh, boy, is Q gonna have a time figuring out lines two-three-and-four.
You're Here by Accident. Make the Best of It.
A Mostly But Not Entirely Chicago Blackhawks Thing.
Saturday 28 February 2015
Kimmo
"The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that they have acquired
defenseman Kimmo Timonen from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a
second-round choice in the 2015 National Hockey League Draft and a
conditional fourth-round choice in the 2016 NHL Draft."
It's hard to say if this is much of an upgrade, or not. If Timonen plays instead of Rozsival then, yes, even with a year's rust anyone can expect more assurance with the puck and, even with Timonen's defensive faults and his age (39) more foot-speed than any of The Hawks' bottom three. Timonen was cleared to play on Saturday by The Flyers so, presumably, he's healthy enough to play but he will need some games to get his timing sorted out.
GM Stan Bowman might not be done, yet, but even if this is The Hawks' big splash in terms of defensive help, they could do a lot worse. Rundblad and Erixon were okay the last two games but I don't know about going to war in the playoffs with that combo. When and if Oduya and Van Riemsdyk are ready to return The Hawks will certainly have a lot of options, ones that, hopefully, won't require leaning on Rozsival and Cumiskey. That said, I half expect Quenneville to trot out one or both of those guys.
Brad Richards would appear to have plateaued, at best, and is possibly even declining as we reach the last quarter of the regular season, so we have to figure that Bowman will be looking to shore up at center. Of course, this was the expectation each of the last few seasons, too, and look where we are. Antoine Vermette would appear to be the only real upgrade available and how serious The Hawks are about overspending on a rental, that may or not be much of improvement over what they already have, will determine whether or not Stan is done dealing. With 20 games remaining it's conceivable that Teravainen could slot in at the 2C position, but with the coach's reluctance to even try him in that role, I doubt that he'll get a fair crack at that.
About Last Night
Versteeg has been far better than last season and better than most would have predicted, but taking two interference penalties in the third period of a game that The Hawks were still very much in, underlines how his brain can just shut off from time to time. It's easy to forgive him overhandling the puck as long as he's still creating chances but last night's performance was just lunkheadedness. With all the penalties last night the second line ended up playing less than many of the third and fourth liners which is definitely not a recipe for success. Penalties happen, but Versteeg's indiscretions last night were selfish, poorly timed and put he and his linemates squarely behind the eight-ball. This is just the sort of thing that causes Quenneville to resume tinkering with his lines. Shaw at 2C? Genius!
It's hard to say if this is much of an upgrade, or not. If Timonen plays instead of Rozsival then, yes, even with a year's rust anyone can expect more assurance with the puck and, even with Timonen's defensive faults and his age (39) more foot-speed than any of The Hawks' bottom three. Timonen was cleared to play on Saturday by The Flyers so, presumably, he's healthy enough to play but he will need some games to get his timing sorted out.
GM Stan Bowman might not be done, yet, but even if this is The Hawks' big splash in terms of defensive help, they could do a lot worse. Rundblad and Erixon were okay the last two games but I don't know about going to war in the playoffs with that combo. When and if Oduya and Van Riemsdyk are ready to return The Hawks will certainly have a lot of options, ones that, hopefully, won't require leaning on Rozsival and Cumiskey. That said, I half expect Quenneville to trot out one or both of those guys.
Brad Richards would appear to have plateaued, at best, and is possibly even declining as we reach the last quarter of the regular season, so we have to figure that Bowman will be looking to shore up at center. Of course, this was the expectation each of the last few seasons, too, and look where we are. Antoine Vermette would appear to be the only real upgrade available and how serious The Hawks are about overspending on a rental, that may or not be much of improvement over what they already have, will determine whether or not Stan is done dealing. With 20 games remaining it's conceivable that Teravainen could slot in at the 2C position, but with the coach's reluctance to even try him in that role, I doubt that he'll get a fair crack at that.
About Last Night
Versteeg has been far better than last season and better than most would have predicted, but taking two interference penalties in the third period of a game that The Hawks were still very much in, underlines how his brain can just shut off from time to time. It's easy to forgive him overhandling the puck as long as he's still creating chances but last night's performance was just lunkheadedness. With all the penalties last night the second line ended up playing less than many of the third and fourth liners which is definitely not a recipe for success. Penalties happen, but Versteeg's indiscretions last night were selfish, poorly timed and put he and his linemates squarely behind the eight-ball. This is just the sort of thing that causes Quenneville to resume tinkering with his lines. Shaw at 2C? Genius!
Friday 27 February 2015
More, Please: Hawks 3, Panthers 0 and Thursday's Big Boy
Okay, let's not get too excited...it was just The Panthers again. But, hey, this time The Hawks kept the pressure on and didn't let the 'Cats get back into it during the third period. If this was a television news program tonight's lead story would have to be...
ROZSIVAL SCRATCHED - HAWKS DEFENCE NOT TERRIBLE.
- Sorry to dump on the old boy but his ship has sailed. Even with Cumiskey, Rundblad and Erixon (!) in the lineup things looked (mostly) under control. Cumiskey had one or two adventure time moments but managed to skate his way out of trouble, Erixon had a couple of nervous shifts but was otherwise fine and Rundy found himself chasing a faster guy driving toward the net...and got his stick in there to break the play. There is nothing wrong with any of that.
- Teuvo's goal made me feel, just for a few seconds, that Ghost of Patrick Kane had smiled down upon him and It Was Good. Then I remembered that Kane isn't dead and resumed marveling over Teuvo's no-look shot to open the scoring.
- Speaking of, that Teravainen - Bickell - Shaw line wasn't terrible. Their best stuff was in the first period but even their "poor" shifts were hardly disastrous, just ineffective, really. See what happens when Shaw gets to play on the wing - 8 hits, for what that's worth, and more chaos than his caused at center in any game this season.
- I was certain that Smith and/or Nordstrom would pot one tonight. Both wingers had several excellent shifts with Nordstrom, particularly, getting some creative passes done. Sadly, his linemates lacked the finish to do much with these gems, but that's life on the checking line, mate.
- Hossa was a bull tonight and it pleased me to no end that he picked a couple of helpies. Hoss seemed to be fighting the puck a little bit but, holy smokes, he was determined.
So, yeah, More of All This, please.
Yeah, Crow got the shutout and those first-liners each had two points, but this kid's goal earned him the right to eschew suspenders forever. Being a Finn, you just know he owns suspenders.
ROZSIVAL SCRATCHED - HAWKS DEFENCE NOT TERRIBLE.
- Sorry to dump on the old boy but his ship has sailed. Even with Cumiskey, Rundblad and Erixon (!) in the lineup things looked (mostly) under control. Cumiskey had one or two adventure time moments but managed to skate his way out of trouble, Erixon had a couple of nervous shifts but was otherwise fine and Rundy found himself chasing a faster guy driving toward the net...and got his stick in there to break the play. There is nothing wrong with any of that.
- Teuvo's goal made me feel, just for a few seconds, that Ghost of Patrick Kane had smiled down upon him and It Was Good. Then I remembered that Kane isn't dead and resumed marveling over Teuvo's no-look shot to open the scoring.
- Speaking of, that Teravainen - Bickell - Shaw line wasn't terrible. Their best stuff was in the first period but even their "poor" shifts were hardly disastrous, just ineffective, really. See what happens when Shaw gets to play on the wing - 8 hits, for what that's worth, and more chaos than his caused at center in any game this season.
- I was certain that Smith and/or Nordstrom would pot one tonight. Both wingers had several excellent shifts with Nordstrom, particularly, getting some creative passes done. Sadly, his linemates lacked the finish to do much with these gems, but that's life on the checking line, mate.
- Hossa was a bull tonight and it pleased me to no end that he picked a couple of helpies. Hoss seemed to be fighting the puck a little bit but, holy smokes, he was determined.
So, yeah, More of All This, please.
Sillä housuni, you know...?
Wednesday 25 February 2015
Time to Seperate the Men From the Boys: Hawks 3, Panthers 2 and Tuesday's Big Boy
Obviously, THE story from last evening's game is Patrick Kane's apparent shoulder injury. How long he will be unavailable and how The Hawks' braintrust (ha!) adjust to this will be critical to the team's shot-term future. First, though, to the game itself.
- Patrick Sharp finally played some significant minutes but one cannot help but assume that this would not have been the case had Kane not gone down. I'm shocked that it wasn't Shaw that benefited from the extra ice time.
- I'm tired of hearing it, I'm tired of saying it but I'm most tired of seeing it, game after game; Rozsival is horrible. What, exactly, Quenneville is clinging to by tossing Rozsy out there so willingly is completely beyond me, as he has been partly or wholly responsible for five of the last eight goals The Hawks have allowed. Complaining accomplishes nothing so maybe I'll just stop. How bad must Q believe his other options to be when he persists with this nonsense?
- Letting their opponents back into games that The Hawks have been in near-full control of must stop now. The Hawks owned The Panthers for two periods and, once again, let up in the third (and overtime) sufficiently to very nearly screw up what should absolutely have been an easy two points.
I don't really feel too invested in this exercise but what the heck. He had a goal in regulation and one of the two deciders in shoot out, so tonight it's Toews.
The best of a bad lot.
Like I mentioned, what happens next will likely be one of the most important adjustments of the entire season. Best case - Teravainen returns and plays alongside Richards and Sharp but, in my heart of hearts, I don't expect to see this happen. IF Teravainen even gets the call-up he's destined to the bottom six, isn't he, even though Q publicly asserted that he doesn't belong there. More likely, I believe, is for Carcillo to draw in or, worse, Hartman to return or, EVEN WORSE BUT TOTALLY BELIEVABLE, Brandon Mashinter arrives to save the day.
We'll know more, later, apparently.
- Patrick Sharp finally played some significant minutes but one cannot help but assume that this would not have been the case had Kane not gone down. I'm shocked that it wasn't Shaw that benefited from the extra ice time.
- I'm tired of hearing it, I'm tired of saying it but I'm most tired of seeing it, game after game; Rozsival is horrible. What, exactly, Quenneville is clinging to by tossing Rozsy out there so willingly is completely beyond me, as he has been partly or wholly responsible for five of the last eight goals The Hawks have allowed. Complaining accomplishes nothing so maybe I'll just stop. How bad must Q believe his other options to be when he persists with this nonsense?
- Letting their opponents back into games that The Hawks have been in near-full control of must stop now. The Hawks owned The Panthers for two periods and, once again, let up in the third (and overtime) sufficiently to very nearly screw up what should absolutely have been an easy two points.
Like I mentioned, what happens next will likely be one of the most important adjustments of the entire season. Best case - Teravainen returns and plays alongside Richards and Sharp but, in my heart of hearts, I don't expect to see this happen. IF Teravainen even gets the call-up he's destined to the bottom six, isn't he, even though Q publicly asserted that he doesn't belong there. More likely, I believe, is for Carcillo to draw in or, worse, Hartman to return or, EVEN WORSE BUT TOTALLY BELIEVABLE, Brandon Mashinter arrives to save the day.
We'll know more, later, apparently.
Sunday 22 February 2015
Yes, By All Means!
Having been decidedly unspectacular for the last week and inconsistent at best since December, The Hawks find themselves in need of a jolt, a spark, something...anything to shake them into consciousness. During the current home stand they've managed to get by, which is far less than they need to do if they give a crap about catching either STL or NASH. Okay, we all know they won't catch those teams, not at this rate, but an effort might be nice. I'm not sure any of The Hawks played well today. Some guys weren't awful, but a good many of them sure were. The usual problems were still problems today, and Hossa, Saad and Keith kinda jumped on that underachiever's bandwagon. It was just a bad, bad effort against a Bruins team that wasn't even that good, themselves.
But By All Means, scratch Ben Smith in favour of Carcillo, because he accomplished so much in his six minutes today. We've already learned how well the bottom six gel when they have to play in different combos ALL DAY because Car Bomb can only be trusted to 6 minutes of "work". Remember last week when that happened? It was awesome!
But By All Means, persevere with Rozsival, who was simply terrific today, -3 and caught standing still, waving his stick at Bruins players about to score.
By All Means banish Sharp to the bottom six, as well. I cannot even say "third line" or "fourth line" or even any particular center because he was alongside different guys for almost every shift. To succeed, Sharp needs to play with certain types of players; when he is matched with those players he excels and to do anything but that is a waste of a valuable asset. Is Coach Q trying to punish Sharp for being a highly effective if slightly one-dimensional player? I fully expect Sharpie to be traded in the next week - if Q won't use him properly GM Stan Bowman may as well trade him, because it's clear that Bowman has no control over any decisions Quenneville makes. In fact, Q's roster choices make me wonder if he's being purposefully defiant.
And By All Means do this:
Blackhawks Make Roster Changes
Because, yeah, Raanta and Hartman are the problems. First:
"Quenneville said the demotions of Hartman and Raanta were related to performance, along with giving Darling another look."
And:
"Raanta went 7-4-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in 14 games for the Blackhawks, including a relief appearance Sunday in which he allowed two goals on 16 shots."
Sure, let's give Darling another go - not much harm in that, but to suggest that Raanta is being demoted because of performance is ridiculous. By that token Rozsival and Shaw should be playing for a team on the moon, or something.
But what the hell has Nordstrom accomplished in the 20 or so games he's played? Has he outplayed Teravainen? Is he a better choice than Regin, even? This is not rhetoric...I really want to know.
Can a team send their coach to the minors? I'm asking for a friend...
But By All Means, scratch Ben Smith in favour of Carcillo, because he accomplished so much in his six minutes today. We've already learned how well the bottom six gel when they have to play in different combos ALL DAY because Car Bomb can only be trusted to 6 minutes of "work". Remember last week when that happened? It was awesome!
But By All Means, persevere with Rozsival, who was simply terrific today, -3 and caught standing still, waving his stick at Bruins players about to score.
By All Means banish Sharp to the bottom six, as well. I cannot even say "third line" or "fourth line" or even any particular center because he was alongside different guys for almost every shift. To succeed, Sharp needs to play with certain types of players; when he is matched with those players he excels and to do anything but that is a waste of a valuable asset. Is Coach Q trying to punish Sharp for being a highly effective if slightly one-dimensional player? I fully expect Sharpie to be traded in the next week - if Q won't use him properly GM Stan Bowman may as well trade him, because it's clear that Bowman has no control over any decisions Quenneville makes. In fact, Q's roster choices make me wonder if he's being purposefully defiant.
And By All Means do this:
Blackhawks Make Roster Changes
Because, yeah, Raanta and Hartman are the problems. First:
"Quenneville said the demotions of Hartman and Raanta were related to performance, along with giving Darling another look."
And:
"Raanta went 7-4-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in 14 games for the Blackhawks, including a relief appearance Sunday in which he allowed two goals on 16 shots."
Sure, let's give Darling another go - not much harm in that, but to suggest that Raanta is being demoted because of performance is ridiculous. By that token Rozsival and Shaw should be playing for a team on the moon, or something.
But what the hell has Nordstrom accomplished in the 20 or so games he's played? Has he outplayed Teravainen? Is he a better choice than Regin, even? This is not rhetoric...I really want to know.
Can a team send their coach to the minors? I'm asking for a friend...
Wednesday 18 February 2015
Sunday 15 February 2015
Friday 13 February 2015
File Under "Incomplete": Hawks 3, Devils 1 and Friday's Big Boy
Straight away, any compliments or encouraging things I might type tonight must be tempered by the fact that The Hawks were playing the dismal Devils. Anything less than a win tonight would have been unacceptable yet, for two periods, The Hawks took their chances with losing to these oldtimers.
Good
- Ryan Hartman was not terrible. I expect that his first-shift crushing check on Zubrus may well define whatever career he makes for himself, but he clearly has a good motor and the behind-the-net pass to Bickell was as good a set up as any tonight. If Hartman shows any indication that he has NHL-quality hands AND he refrains from taking dumb penalties I think we may assume that Andrew Shaw will be dispatched in due time.
- Corey Crawford was solid again and, thankfully, was rewarded with a win.
- Lighter minutes for Duncan Keith for a second straight game. It's impossible to tell if this is an effort to go easy on the lad or if Quenneville has a beef with Keith.
Bad
- Playing Carcillo in lieu of Smith. What did Carcillo accomplish in his 4:03 ice time? What did Q think Carcillo would accomplish? By all means "send a message" if you feel you must, but it's unclear what message this maneuver conveys.
- Only 13 minutes for Sharp, partly because of, I think, the bottom six being reduced to five for most of the game. Some of those line combos were probably pulled out of a hat.
- Marcus Kruger didn't look good at all, wandering, hesitant and not moving his feet like he usually does.
Ehhhhh
- Yeah, Seabrook had two assists (both secondary, mind) but it seemed to me that after a lot of Devils' chances I saw 7 drifting into view, not in position or being useful in any way.
- Saad was driving hard enough tonight but, boy, he and the puck were not on good terms.
- Nothing apropos of this game, but if Q isn't going to play Teuvo Teravainen the best place for him is Rockford, where he'll at least get minutes on a top line and in all situations.
- Kyle Cumiskey was not great but not a nightmare, either.
Oh, come on, who else could it be?
53% the last four games, bitches.
Good
- Ryan Hartman was not terrible. I expect that his first-shift crushing check on Zubrus may well define whatever career he makes for himself, but he clearly has a good motor and the behind-the-net pass to Bickell was as good a set up as any tonight. If Hartman shows any indication that he has NHL-quality hands AND he refrains from taking dumb penalties I think we may assume that Andrew Shaw will be dispatched in due time.
- Corey Crawford was solid again and, thankfully, was rewarded with a win.
- Lighter minutes for Duncan Keith for a second straight game. It's impossible to tell if this is an effort to go easy on the lad or if Quenneville has a beef with Keith.
Bad
- Playing Carcillo in lieu of Smith. What did Carcillo accomplish in his 4:03 ice time? What did Q think Carcillo would accomplish? By all means "send a message" if you feel you must, but it's unclear what message this maneuver conveys.
- Only 13 minutes for Sharp, partly because of, I think, the bottom six being reduced to five for most of the game. Some of those line combos were probably pulled out of a hat.
- Marcus Kruger didn't look good at all, wandering, hesitant and not moving his feet like he usually does.
Ehhhhh
- Yeah, Seabrook had two assists (both secondary, mind) but it seemed to me that after a lot of Devils' chances I saw 7 drifting into view, not in position or being useful in any way.
- Saad was driving hard enough tonight but, boy, he and the puck were not on good terms.
- Nothing apropos of this game, but if Q isn't going to play Teuvo Teravainen the best place for him is Rockford, where he'll at least get minutes on a top line and in all situations.
- Kyle Cumiskey was not great but not a nightmare, either.
Crystal Ball Time
I foresee a long, angry post full of condemnation and disappointment, after all the deeply strange Black Hawks news last night and today, but let's just wait and see what happens.
Thursday 12 February 2015
Not Worth Talking About
In the Good Decisions Column:
1) Teravainen sits out so that Carcillo can play ~5 minutes against the Canucks' weakest line. Bravo.
2) Versteeg on the PP point.
3) Q started mixing his lines up before I even remembered the game was on.
4) EVERYONE bolting the zone before Sharp has obtained possession of the puck. That's swell that they all have so much confidence in Sharpie but, y'know, give the guy a hand, maybe?
Regrettable:
1) Rundblad finally gets some serious minutes in but it's on a night when the entire team was kinda doing their own thing. Most certainly Q will point to this as evidence that Rundy is not up to the job.
Encouraging:
1) Hossa - 6 goals from his last 9 shots. His shooting percentage rose 2.2% over a three-game span. HE can do whatever the hell he wants when he does it this well.
2) Crawford actually wasn't bad. It may seem strange to read that after 5 goals against but the lad was left swinging in the breeze much of the night.
Steely.
1) Teravainen sits out so that Carcillo can play ~5 minutes against the Canucks' weakest line. Bravo.
2) Versteeg on the PP point.
3) Q started mixing his lines up before I even remembered the game was on.
4) EVERYONE bolting the zone before Sharp has obtained possession of the puck. That's swell that they all have so much confidence in Sharpie but, y'know, give the guy a hand, maybe?
Regrettable:
1) Rundblad finally gets some serious minutes in but it's on a night when the entire team was kinda doing their own thing. Most certainly Q will point to this as evidence that Rundy is not up to the job.
Encouraging:
1) Hossa - 6 goals from his last 9 shots. His shooting percentage rose 2.2% over a three-game span. HE can do whatever the hell he wants when he does it this well.
2) Crawford actually wasn't bad. It may seem strange to read that after 5 goals against but the lad was left swinging in the breeze much of the night.
Tuesday 10 February 2015
Ok, still...
No one should ever be okay with biffing an easy two points against the Coyotes, but four goals on his last five shots.
He's coming, he's coming, he's coming...
Sunday 8 February 2015
Finishing Strong: Hawks 4, Bloos 2 and Sunday's Big Boy
Didn't that feel good? It looked pretty good. Not perfect but, it shocks me to say this, I don't have much to complain about today.
Aside from the two points and, obviously, denying STL two points, I'm most encouraged by The Hawks finishing better than they started. While the third period wasn't ALL Hawks they managed to limit the chances against really, really well, what looks The Blues did get were generated off their fierce forecheck in which they forced Seabrook and Hjalmarsson into errors. What else....
- Not a bad effort from Oduya and I hope to hell that Tarasenko's goal won't dissuade J.O. from driving the net like he's been doing. More of that, please.
- Teravainen did make a couple of blunders but he made things right with some tenacious backchecking.
- Hey, Carcillo was actually not too bad today. He made a bit a mess of his tussle with Ott, and the meatheads will chirp about him not taking his helmet off, but his teammates and the coaches will like that he responded quickly to Ott's hit on Kruger.
- 10-91-88 looked a bit like individuals today, with more than a few optimistic passes and some pucks sent nowhere in particular, yet each member of the line generated some quality chances. Richards' breakout and lateral pass to Bickell leading to Hossa's first goal was pretty special, indeed.
- Man, Rundblad can sure shoot the puck. That 15 foot rebound onto Bickell's stick was off a wrist shot, for goodness' sake.
Even with two other forwards notching two points, as well as Crawford and Keith having outstanding games, two primary assists and a determined effort all afternoon ensure Brandon Saad the belt on this day.
Future ruler of Earth.
Aside from the two points and, obviously, denying STL two points, I'm most encouraged by The Hawks finishing better than they started. While the third period wasn't ALL Hawks they managed to limit the chances against really, really well, what looks The Blues did get were generated off their fierce forecheck in which they forced Seabrook and Hjalmarsson into errors. What else....
- Not a bad effort from Oduya and I hope to hell that Tarasenko's goal won't dissuade J.O. from driving the net like he's been doing. More of that, please.
- Teravainen did make a couple of blunders but he made things right with some tenacious backchecking.
- Hey, Carcillo was actually not too bad today. He made a bit a mess of his tussle with Ott, and the meatheads will chirp about him not taking his helmet off, but his teammates and the coaches will like that he responded quickly to Ott's hit on Kruger.
- 10-91-88 looked a bit like individuals today, with more than a few optimistic passes and some pucks sent nowhere in particular, yet each member of the line generated some quality chances. Richards' breakout and lateral pass to Bickell leading to Hossa's first goal was pretty special, indeed.
- Man, Rundblad can sure shoot the puck. That 15 foot rebound onto Bickell's stick was off a wrist shot, for goodness' sake.
Saturday 7 February 2015
Don't Blink: Hawks 2, Jets 1 and Friday's Big Boy
Boy, that was...tentative.
Nonetheless, two more points in the bag. I won't say that The Hawks don't deserve the win but they looked as if they were more interested in not losing than they were in winning. I know it sounds like the same thing but it's totally not. For whatever reason (probably high school style drama) The Jets appeared to have the same mindset tonight.
3:50 icetime for Rundblad and he wasn't as sloppy as Keith was on Saturday. Yeah, he made the turnover leading to The Jets' goal but, in his defence, the pass from Crawford was crap. I guess Stan may as well start shopping the guy 'cos Q isn't going to use him.
In a game in which no one stuck their necks out, particularly, this guy stood out, creating several chances and notching two more points, placing him atop the NHL scoring ladder. I also just realized that he has taken only one penalty all season, y'know, just in case anyone cares about The Lady Byng Trophy.
Lookin' sorta steely, there.
Nonetheless, two more points in the bag. I won't say that The Hawks don't deserve the win but they looked as if they were more interested in not losing than they were in winning. I know it sounds like the same thing but it's totally not. For whatever reason (probably high school style drama) The Jets appeared to have the same mindset tonight.
3:50 icetime for Rundblad and he wasn't as sloppy as Keith was on Saturday. Yeah, he made the turnover leading to The Jets' goal but, in his defence, the pass from Crawford was crap. I guess Stan may as well start shopping the guy 'cos Q isn't going to use him.
In a game in which no one stuck their necks out, particularly, this guy stood out, creating several chances and notching two more points, placing him atop the NHL scoring ladder. I also just realized that he has taken only one penalty all season, y'know, just in case anyone cares about The Lady Byng Trophy.
Wednesday 4 February 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)