1) The goalies played well enough.
2) Some of the D looked promising. Roszie was Rozsie and Goose was a bit yippy, but I hardly noticed TVR which is a compliment, I guess. Kempny appears serviceable; not-fast-but-not-slow, no sign of panic, makes a decent zone exit. Forsling looks like he knows what he's doing but I fear he lacks the size or speed to avoid being laid out regularly.
3) The forward corps was uninspiring. Motte had a few looks but insisted on doing it all himself. Schmaltz showed good patience with the puck but always seemed to lack people to pass to. Fortin sure tried hard but failed to accomplish anything and fell down a lot. The rest...ehhhh.
It's tough to judge where the maybe-good guys will figure into the Hawks' plan until they get a look with some proper linemates. As it is, though, after seeing a bunch of guys underwhelm me completely, I'm little worried about The Hawks' forward depth.
In my couple of preseason spitballin' posts I neglected to mention or even think of a player that may well shape The Hawks' defense this season. And not in a good way, oh my, no. How could I have forgotten this?
Yup, I somehow blanked on Viktor Svedberg, but was cheerfully reminded of he of the lanky frame when I read the boxscore from last night's preseason match vs. Pittsburgh (0-2 loss, BTW). Three penalties and little else to show, for the record.
We can only hope that the apparent depth that The Hawks possess on D will keep Ichabod Svedberg elsewhere this season, but I fear that The Braintrust have not quite given up on his 6-foot-8ishness.
Rockford is too close, Sweden not far enough away...
Obligatory photo credit: Bill Smith, Getty Images
Trouba Requests Trade From Jets
(http://www.tsn.ca/agent-trouba-requests-trade-from-jets-1.573171)
Okay, here's where Stan Bowman has a chance to make up for some things by doing one simple thing that would satisfy many needs:
Van Riemsdyk for Trouba. Or, at least, a deal that involves those two players and possibly some "guys".
The Hawks get Trouba, a young, actually versatile D-man. Win.
The Hawks jettison the not-at-all-versatile TVR. Win!
Stan puts one over on The Jets' "braintrust" (I had to pause while typing that because I was laughing so hard my laptop fell on the floor) which isn't so much a win as just amusing as hell.
Not that The Hawks could pay Trouba but, y'know, a girl can dream.
TSN is Nearly Devoid of Ideas or Talent
This is not news. Expect this to persevere as TSN will continue to broadcast only regional games for teams that don't matter, and the gents who shoulda woulda been working game broadcasts will instead attempt to write about hockey, hockey related stuff...and things.
There are a couple of writers/presenters at TSN who craft a good article and another fella or two who produce informative but not insightful reports. And then there's Maude.
Jeff O'Neill is described as an "analyst". Okay. Has there been an analysis of how it is that Mr. O'Neill appears to be dumber, fatter and somehow less interesting each time he appears on-air?
Gary Lawless, banished to WPG to cover The Jets, so the low man on the TSN totem pole, we must presume. Mr. Lawless reliably points out the obvious in long-winded articles that state and then re-state stuff we already know, which makes me wonder if he won his job in a raffle, or something along those lines. Almost makes me wish I had purchased a ticket for that draw but, let's face it, if I had to live in Winnipeg I'd never stop vomiting.
Anyway, big G.L. did write a couple of interesting paragraphs this week. Here's a taste:
If Russia fails to win the World Cup, marking an 11th straight best-on-best (or almost best-on-best) tournament without a championship, Russia has to do something bold – hire a Canadian to coach the team.
Hey, now that's actually a topic worthy of discussion, but maybe not on a day when said Russian team had an opportunity to eliminate Canada from the World Cup of Hockey. Of course they didn't but, sweet jeebus, that's the kind of piece you run after the team in question loses.
Bob McKenzie: A-hah-hah-hah-hah-haaaaah. This dude has been around so long that one must expect that he has myriad reliable contacts and sources throughout the NHL...yet he continues to talk almost exclusively out of his ass. How is this even possible?
Finally, a general wish / request: until The Maple Leafs are relevant again, if that ever occurs, ease up on the relentless barrage of worthless articles concerning said garbage fire of a franchise. Where else does a last-place team attract so much attention? Today's gem was a bit discussing Brandon Prust's desire to prove he's "still got it." Still got what, no business being in The NHL? If so, yes, he's still got that. Not to pick on B. Prust (but yes, totally picking on Prust), is it just not entirely ridiculous to spend so much effort covering something that does not matter one iota?
Hey, if The Leafs ever recover from being The Leafs, go nuts...write about 'em all day. Until then, though, I wish TSN would aim higher.
World Cup of Hockey Update
I still don't care.
Hawks Training Cup Update
I know only three things:
1) Lots of Hawks are at The World Cup.
2) Duncan Keith has been skating, so that's good.
3) Luke Johnson was impressive at the rookie tournament, apparently. Is he a Real Thing or this year's Roy Radke (who, oddly, failed to be this year's Roy Radke despite, y'know, being Roy Radke)? Is there any reason to be optimistic about Johnson or is he merely part of another cruel trick, such as the Kyle Baun prank of last season? Remember, Kyle Baun, who unexpectedly made The Hawks to start the season, played a whole two games and then managed to score a goal in Rockford? Yes, that.
The 2017 models are in!
