About Last Night: Oilers 3, Hawks 1

                                           At this point we don't know.

While I had certainly hoped for better I had expected worse. Worse than a loss?  Sure - a loss in which The Hawks were utterly incompetent and made no effort whatsoever.  That was not the case, last night.
On paper, this game wasn't even close, as The Hawks trounced Edmonton in every category...except the one that matters most - the score.  For the most part, The Hawks didn't look nearly as rusty as I had expected they would. They had great legs which, against the speedy Oilers, is saying something, they won a stupid amount of face offs and demolished EDM in possession.  Yet they lost.
Well, there were a few problems. Just little things that added up to the result we got.

- Benning's goal was dumb luck and there's nothing you can do about that.
- Crawford shoulda coulda stopped Lucic's five-hole-goal.  The WGN guys tried to implicate Kempny in that but you could tell from Crawford's expression, afterward, he knew he should have had that one, too.
- Timing: not everyone was out of sync, but several key guys were just slightly...off.  Anisimov was always a step ahead....or behind where he needed to be.  Panarin didn't make a clean pass all night.  A few of the others had moments in which they hesitated or were too quick entering the zone, getting rid of the puck...whatever.  They just didn't always click like they're expected to.
- Cam Talbot had a much more representative outing than he had a week ago.

So, no joy in the standings, but last night wasn't a disaster, either.  Apart from those couple of small yet critical issues I was pretty impressed with the effort The Hawks put forth.  On to Buffalo.

About Last Night: St. Lewis 3, Hawks 2

Rarely am I compelled to type stuff after a loss, but here we are.
- The Hawks will occasionally squander points by letting the opposition back into the game after batting them around like a cat toy. It's unfortunate but it happens.  It just bugs me all the more when it happens against The Missourah Morons.  I feel like they had this one and, by various means, let it slip away.
- There are probably several teams around the NHL in which TVR could legitimately be playing 18 minutes/game, but The Hawks are not one of those teams.  Seriously, when he has his best game he's barely acceptable and even an average game for TVR is one in which he's routinely out of position, missing his assignment and paralyzed with indecision. I don't see this nightmare ending anytime soon, so I'll just shut the hell up.
- Brandon Mashinter over Richard Panik? Yeah, that makes sense. What does Mashinter do, exactly?  He doesn't fight, despite his rep, and when he does he's not even that good at it.  He records the occasional hit...against stationary opponents.  He's easily the worst skater I've observed...possibly ever, cannot make or receive a pass and is as guilty as TVR is of just milling around, waiting for something to happen so he can respond incorrectly to it.  Ugh.
- I used to find Pierre McGuire cheerfully amusing but, now that he feels it necessary to weigh in on every damn thing he thinks he sees, he's just tiresome.
- Okay, maybe Ryan Reaves is a worse hockey player than Brandon Mashinter.  He's certainly more stupid.

About Last Night: It's All to Do Now

It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't good enough and, frustratingly, not nearly as good as it can be.

• On that tack, it was gratifying to see Toews recover from a so-so effort earlier in the game to give The Hawks a chance at OT.  I guess that's what we need and expect from him, though, isn't it?
• Bickell needs to be removed from the second line, possibly from the roster.  Whatever mythical playoff mojo he's possessed in the past deserted him sometime during the MN series.  His bungled shoot-in, basically the hockey equivalent of a lay up, is inexcusable.  It doesn't end with Bickell, though, 'cos Quenneville continues to trot him out on a line that has, lately, been compromised by Bickell's secret injury/ lack of concern / whatever and Richards' inconsistency.  If Q insists on continuing with Bickell in the lineup I wonder if swapping Kane and Saad might be worth a try.
• Seabrook looked awful on the winning goal but, to be fair to him, he was alone, trying to turn around in the face of two Ducks entering the zone with speed and was probably unsure who would have the puck when he stopped spinning.  Yeah, it would have been better if he took away the passing lane rather than chase the puck carrier, but it was a lost coin-flip as much as anything, I think.
• Another positive; at least we can expect Teravainen and Vermette to remain in the lineup.  Vermette's touch pass on TT's goal gave me chills.
• The Ducks are still very beatable but only if The Hawks refrain from the lazy, thoughtless stuff that so often lead to a puck behind Crawford.  They can do it, let's see if they will do it.

About Last Night

A brief word:
On Wednesday, David Rundblad played 14 pretty decent minutes, was +1 and The Hawks defeated the top team in The East.
Tonight, Rozsival plays 17 minutes, stands around looking confused, is a team-worst -2 and The Hawks lose to a non-playoff team.

Not to put this all on Rozsy but COME ON.  How good does Rundblad have to be or, more alarming, how bad does Rozsival have to be for this to end?

About Last Night

Missed the last two games due to dealing with important stuff, but here's what I've gleaned from selective highlights and HARD DATA.

- Despite just squeaking past The Oilers and falling short vs. The Rangers a big bright spot was Corey Crawford stopping 81 of 83 shots.
- Yeah, there's the matter of 83 shots against over a weekend, and one of those teams was The Oilers.  
- I still feel that Coach Quenneville is struggling with asset management and I feel even more confident in this assertion anytime that Daniel Carcillo suits up in favour of anyone not injured or dead.  Also, Rozsival played 22 minutes in each of these weekend games.
- With two lines in constant flux The Hawks will struggle to get consistent results from those lines.  Pick your combos and stick with them for longer than two periods.  Give them a chance to succeed.  One way to avoid this line juggling chaos is to STOP dressing players that cannot be entrusted with a regular shift; Dan Carcillo, 7:29.
- Last night marked the 5th straight game that The Hawks have failed to score on the power play.  This also has to change.  Even without Patrick Kane they have the resources to excel in this department but, for whatever reason, they remain awful. 

Phoenix on Thursday and San Jose on Saturday: failing to win both of these games will not set a positive tone for next week's matches against both NY teams.  It's time to get straightened out.