Full disclosure - my broadcast was interrupted many, many times, so I missed large chunks of this one, so all I'll do is note a few observations.
Track Meet Trick. As they did vs. CAL The Hawks were lured into playing a bit more wide open than they should or can do. Witness Arvidsson's frequent bolts from the NASH zone one of which was executed perfectly, not only resulting in a goal but, coming mere seconds after The Hawks had tied the affair at ones, set back our momentum for a spell. He got a bit greedy, though, and was caught well out of position on the sequence leading up to Large Arthur's late goal. Nevertheless, The Hawks might have been wiser to play it more cautiously and hope for a bounce, as they spent far too much time chasing down Arvidsson & Forsberg et al.
Better Off Without Seabrook? Scratched due to illness, Seabrook was replaced by Davidson, who had another decent outing, his last shift being his best as he made things very tough on The Preds forwards. I'd hoped we'd see the second PP unit a little more just to get a sense of what that would look like without Mr. Ponderous slowing things down to a crawl but it was not to be. I'd love to see Jokiharju get a crack at that gig, a low-risk proposition given Seab's zero contribution in that role, lately.
Newish Line Combos were trotted out and I mostly approved. DeBrincat moving up the order makes perfect sense, since all of his recent points have been gleaned on the PP and I was pleasantly surprised by the Saad - Kampf - Caggiula trio. I'm not sure that line has the hands to really shine but they were the only Hawks line entirely at or above 50% Corsi and, at the very least, The Preds failed to generate much against those three.
Duncan Keith had his best game in a month or more.
Dylan Strome, meanwhile, remains frustrating. For all the offense that he eventually provides the missed opportunities due to gacked passes that should be easy is pissing me off. With just a little more care he could be doubling his and his linemates' opportunities.
Next: At home vs. Vegas on Saturday and a shot at some redemption after being comprehensively roughed up when they last met.
Hanoi Rocks - A Day Late & A Dollar Short
Another catch-up post as I only sort of watched Sunday's game, otherwise occupied with snow removal and related bullshit, and racked out seconds after Monday's non-result.
Hawks 5, Penguins 3
A Close Game, but for weird reasons. The Hawks gifted PITT all three goals, with Toews trancing out instead of taking out Hornqvist, everybody being non-committal on Guentzel's tally (but especially Anisimov, who was simply terrible in this game) and Cam Ward, who was otherwise okay, getting leaky on Brassard's one-timer. Even Kane was a bit topsy-turvy inasmuch as his three helpies erased some defensive laziness and a heart-in-mouth drop pass to no one.
Meanwhile, The Pens suffered stretches in which they couldn't seem to find their legs, their defence were occasionally bewildered and their keeper, Casey DeSmith, struggled with some long shots eluding him. The Penguins' general sluggishness was compounded by them trying but failing to skate with The Hawks rather than plug up the middle and slow things down. If either team had their shit only slightly more together they could have run off with this one.
The Hawks' Special Teams were looking good, the PP just missing out on going 3-for-3 by mere seconds. The PK was perfect on the night with Seabrook and Dahlstrom pulling the most minutes there. Notably, Gustafsson was left OFF the PK entirely which was wise, I think. He can do a lot of things but straight-up defence...not so much.
Drake Caggiula finally debuted and I liked what I saw. We'd seen him when he was with EDM, of course, and all I could recall is his speed and hustle, which is pretty much what he brought in this game. The fourth line, along with Kruger and Kunitz, was energetic all night, laying hits and being nuisances.
Goals From Unlikely Sources sure helped as Keith and Kunitz scored their first goals of the season, both on long shots that probably should have been stopped (see DeSmith, Casey, above) but nevermind...
Flames 4, Hawks 3
In a bizarre reverso of the previous night it was The Hawks who were lured into a wide-open affair with similar results as, on the second of a back-to-back, they simply hadn't the necessary jump to pull it off. They came close and, but for a cocktail of dumb stuff in the final minute, very nearly got away with it.
Collin Delia was again impressive, and this is with him still figuring out positioning, rebound control and puck handling. His reflexes and athleticism are incredible so, if/when he comes to grips with the other details of netminding, he's going to be tough to beat. He did allow his first bad goal of the season when he let Gaudreau's second goal trickle through him but, hey, just one of those in five starts....I'll take that.
Dylan Strome's Timing isn't great. I was actually going to type some stuff about Strome's passing being just a tad off a lot of he time, either slightly late or slightly early, but in light of his taking three dumbass penalties last night I'd say the timing of that rubbish is somewhat worse. They were all needless, lazy, selfish acts.
Quietly Excellent: I thought Perlini (!) and Kahun each had strong games despite having nothing to show for it and Brandon Davidson has surprised me these last two games. Every stride he takes looks as if it's a massive effort but, unlike his smooth-skating colleague Forsling, he's getting the job done. He didn't commit any turnovers, was even for the two games and was quick to defend his teammates without being stupid about it. If you can get that from a depth Guy that's a win, every time.
That Final Minute: A shambles. The first and worst sin was Anisimov shooting from where he did because he's not Patrick Kane and of course he missed the net and when you miss the net from that angle it is always coming back your way in a hurry. Empty net, there, Artie...
And Gustafsson's seemingly half-hearted attempt to track down Hathaway bearing down on the empty net was disappointing, getting turned inside-out and settling for a final desperate swipe with his stick rather than skating. Caggiula came from a lot farther back and had a better go than Gus did. Maybe dead legs, maybe overconfidence, maybe just a poor decision, but not at all good.
Next: At home Wednesday vs. NSH who shut out TOR on Monday.
Roster Stuff: Sikura and Martinsen were quietly dispatched to Rockford while Hank Jokiharju was activated after his gold-medal winning stint on the Finnish Junior team.
Well, it was mostly fun to watch and a game that could have gone either way, but The Hawks never really looked willing to take control of this one. We know from experience that when The Hawks are the least bit noncommittal things generally end badly.
Stuff I Liked
Cam Ward was mostly great, a little lucky on a couple of saves, a little unlucky on Bergeron's goal, but also outsmarted comprehensively by Pastrnak.
David Kampf played a near-perfect game....for David Kampf, of course. His takeaway and subsequent pass to Perlini was Baby Huey at his best. It's just a shame he didn't have the legs to outrace Bergeron on his breakaway.
Eric Gustafsson was very good offensively and good enough defensively, and that's a win any day.
Brendan Perlini had his best game as a Hawk and all in a mere 7:26. Sure, his goal was kind of a gimme but HE PASSED THE PUCK....TWICE. That's real growth.
Stuff I Liked Less
DeBrincat was a no-show, looked distracted or something, failing to generate anything.
Strome's "Touch Pass" in the last 30 sec. Really? In what reality is that play a good idea? I know he had his back to the two Bruins that bum rushed the subsequent loose puck that Strome directed to no one, but he knows they're coming....they always will.
Stuff I Hated
Patrick Kane was either sick or hungover or heartbroken or some damn thing that prevented him from doing his job. 23 minutes TOI and not one good look, no sweet set ups and dragging his arse reluctantly back to The Hawks' zone after his playmaking fell short. A blip, I expect, but one that underlines Kane's impact - when he's bad it's like The Hawks are playing one one foot in a bucket.
Gustav Forsling was dogshit that garbage scrapes off it's shoe. Couldn't make a pass while a Bruin was within 20 feet and was outmuscled/outhustled countless times behind our net and along the half-wall. And then there was Goose turning his back on Kuraly who, of course, scored the game winner. Not at all a good game for him and the sooner Hank Jokiharju returns, the better.
What Else?
No debut for Drake Caggiula due to his US Visa not yet being squared away. I'm not expecting much but we currently have a few forwards accomplishing far less than "much" and he should be able to exceed that, at least. If we're lucky Caggiula could perhaps evolve into an Andrew Shaw-type Guy who isn't an asshole (I hope). As much as anything I'm just happy to see Brandon Manning somewhere else, doesn't matter where...
The South Bend Shovel Slayer
First off, I completely missed the Thursday match between The Hawks and The Wild. Between guests and a pain in the ass snowstorm I couldn't get it done.
Alright then, to the matter currently at hand.
The Hawks are finally starting to look like the team I thought they could be. Not everything was perfectly executed tonight but, refreshingly, there were no catastrophic unforced errors that cost them. Their puck movement was more swift and crisp than it's been in ages, forwards are getting back more regularly and passes were on the mark for the most part.
After a sterling first period there appeared to be a slight letup in the second frame. Much of that was due to COL getting it together, especially their forecheck, and The Hawks took awhile to up their intensity accordingly.
Patrick Kane Had a Big Night, figuring on all three CHI goals and just looked good all night. He's been far more engaged than say, three or four weeks ago, when he was often just going through the motions with no joy, no impetus to excel. Kaner has often connected well with Gustafsson since Gus was called up late last season and, now, Strome is getting in that action. More than any other Hawks, perhaps other than Toews, those two get what Kane is up to and can either get the puck to where he's going to be or get themselves where they know Kane will find them.
DeBrincat Cashed Yet Again and had several other good looks, yet I worry that he's putting all of his chips on the one-timer from the left circle. If and when that gambit fails to work I hope he changes his approach accordingly, lest he fall into the doldrums that befell the previous residents of that patch of ice, Panarin and Sharp.
Collin Delia Was Sublime. My only issue with Delia's play is rebound control as he often pops those straight out into the slot. That, apparently, is the last thing that goalies get right, if they ever get it right, and with a mere five NHL starts under his belt he's barely even started his apprenticeship. That's fair enough.
I Hardly Noticed Seabrook and Dahlstrom tonight and that's just perfect. Big Carl and Murphy played a lot of hard minutes against MacKinnon & Co. and were even on plus/minus which is a big win. As for Seabs, his memorable games in recent months have been riddled with giveaways and other calamities and there was none of that tonight.
Special Teams Were Actually Special again, hitting for two PPG out of five tries and killing two of three PK. The PPG against, scored by Rantanen, was a ridiculously well-placed shot through a screen, so I'm not gonna pin that one on the PK or Delia - some shots are just always going to go in. Puck movement and positioning on the PP started off great but lost momentum as the game progressed, but at least we're getting more zone time, more shots and more goals, generally.
Hilariously, Foley Twice Praised Perlini for not touching the puck and avoiding a too many men penalty, rather than calling him out for jumping the boards way too soon.
John Hayden's Hold on a Roster Spot is precarious right now. His ice time is dwindling and he's one of the few minus players in the last several games. At the moment I'm failing see what he does apart from protect the puck pretty well, but then do nothing productive with it.
Next: The Winter Classic vs. Boston on Tuesday. The Hawks have not fared well in these affairs in recent years but, if they can replicate tonight's first period somewhat they'll be just fine.
John Denver - Rocky Mountain High
I hoped it wouldn't happen but I kinda thought it would - The Hawks lost the focus they'd had the last few games. While they were okay in fits & starts The Panthers were sharper, more alert and better able to pounce on the opportunities that arose. The Hawks seemed tired....not physically, really, but it often looked as if they were acting on the first impulse that occurred to them and not bothering to take a second look to see if a better avenue was available.
Cam Ward didn't have his best tonight, not especially mindful of his positioning and he made a mess of things on Hawryluk's first goal, letting himself get caught in-between.
Carl Dahlstrom wasn't super sharp either, blowing a tire (maybe with some help, hard to tell for sure) on that first FLA goal and apparently unaware that McCann was heading to the net to score the decisive, momentum-killing goal.
Toews' Line Was Out Of Sorts, skating hard enough, trying stuff, but their timing was all messed up, gacking passes, whiffing on shots...
The Only Plus Players For The Hawks were Murphy and Strome which is exactly how it looked to me in real time. Granted, Strome's first assist was a right-place-right-time deal but he was there, right, and his pass to Murph was tremendous. As for Murph, a couple of points and four hits makes for a good day at the office.
Is John Hayden Hurt or did he commit some terrible mischief to be scratched in favour of used-up Chris Kunitz and shoot-first-from-anywhere Brendan Perlini? I've been generally in agreement with Coach Colliton's deployment but these two, buddied up with Nilsson making his NHL debut tonight, made for a rather weak fourth line, even by fourth line standards.
Oh well, we weren't going to win the next 40 games but it is disappointing to see The Hawks backslide so soon, and against some low-hanging fruit like FLA. I guess they just started their holiday-days-off a day early.
Next: At home vs. Minnesota on Thursday, in an attempt to reclaim their recent mastery over Central Division foes. Can't wait to see Seabrook sweating gravy.
The Cruel Sea - The Honeymoon Is Over
Hey, it could have been worse and, depending on what's going on with Corey Crawford, it might well be a lot worse. No news on that front yet, so here are just a few notes on this unremarkable "effort".
If The Hawks Think They "let this one get away" they're kidding themselves, 'cos Martin Jones made them look good. Three goals on four shots flatters to deceive, especially given that The Hawks recorded only one shot on net in the last six minutes of the first period.
Not One Hawk Was Particularly Bad (okay, maybe Martinsen and possibly Seabrook, but stick with me) but only a few Hawks cobbled together more than a handful of shifts in which they played really well. Strome was noticeable and Saad had some looks that were brushed aside but, aside from isolated incidents, The Hawks were just....meh. Beige.
Special Teams Were Garbage. The Sharks move the puck so quickly on the powerplay that The Hawks' PK units were just running around most of the time. Meanwhile, our PP was rotten and I'm going to pin that mainly on Seabrook - he's simply too ponderous and too sloppy to get that job done, missing passes and taking forever to decide whether to shoot, pass or count the stickers on his SubWay Club Card. He makes it dead easy to defend 'cos the bad guys know pretty much what he's going to do and, if I'm honest, he fucks it up half the time, anyway.
To be fair, I guess, that's on Colliton, too - he keeps trotting that goof out there.
Piss-Poor Defensive Coverage. If not for The Hawks' D failing so badly they might have been able to stand on those three opportunistic goals but, after two games in which The Hawks' D had tightened things up considerably, they reverted back to mid-November form tonight. Keith was soft on Sorenson's goal, Murphy and Dahlstrom thereabouts but not covering anyone, really, on E. Kane's tally, Seabrook choosing to help screen Cam Ward instead of clearing Goodrow the hell out of there and Gustafsson standing idly by while Couture tips one in unopposed. That's four of the seven goals against right there.
Anyway, it was a crap attempt at hockey tonight and the worst may yet be coming as we await word on Crow's condition.
Pistol Annies - Beige
So close....
The truth is, though, The Hawks needn't have been on the wrong side of this one. Shots were close, chances were closer, but The Hawks made too many bobbles to seal the deal.
Too Much Meh. Only a few Hawks had truly bad nights (Strome, Martinsen, DeBrincat, maybe) but even fewer had a great night (maybe only Toews and Crawford). There were just a lot of seemingly insignificant things that did or didn't happen that added up to an overall weak effort. Saad was flying all night, made a brilliant pass to Toews to put The Hawks up 2-1, but was awkward around the net. DeBrincat was stepping on the puck and lazy on the backcheck. Murphy wasn't terrible but had his weakest game of his short season. Strome couldn't hit water if he fell out of a fuckin' boat. Perlini took a lot of shots, all indiscriminate without a thought to where his linemates were. None of these shortcomings sunk The Hawks on their own but they added up to enough weak, failed or thoughtless plays that led to goals against or opportunities missed. The small plays matter, and The Hawks blew a lot of these details.
Signs Of Life: I thought we exited our zone and moved north as well we've done all year. They're persisting with that silly push-'em-back stuff but at least they were brisk on on-target tonight, actually hitting Kane with a pass when he was already at speed, allowing him a greater chance of barging into The Jets' zone.
Carl Dahlstrom might be alright.
Could We Try Someone Other Than Keith to start OT? I know Gustafsson has his defensive issues but, good lord, so does Keith these days. We're 4-and-5 in OT games and Duncs has been on the ice in only one of those wins but in 4 of the 5 losses. Change it up.
Next: Sunday at home vs. The Sharks. With a little fine-tuning we'll be alright.
Blood Orange - You're Not Good Enough
At this point I have no real idea of what's going on or what to say about it all.
In three of these six abject failures The Hawks were in the thing, had a chance to win or at least get to the coin-toss round, but managed to find a way to screw it all up.
And after each loss we see this:
Lookit that face, that defeated, bewildered expression. He has no more idea why The Hawks are failing so hard than I do. There's not a lot of pride or will left in this group. They only show urgency in brief spasms of realization that they can and should be winning some hockey games. Then one of them makes an ungodly, unforced error, promptly ending any thoughts that can actually compete.
Sick of seeing & hearing this guy, too.
Keith's assessments of goings-on are even worse, maybe because it's more frequently him making the back-breaking gaffe. Who does he think he's kidding, jawing about "a full 60-minute effort"? Any team is allowed to have lulls and it's only sometimes been these lulls that have done them in. The greater sin has been crap like Seabrook sending a pass straight onto an opposing player's stick right in the goddamn Danger Zone™, or Rutta not putting any snot on his outlet passes. Or forwards drifting lazily into The Hawks' zone, oblivious to opposing players sneaking in behind them. Or Gus, or Manning or Forsling, standing idly around The Hawks' net, often with their back to the guy who's about to score.
And with every mistake that results in a goal against you can sense the energy leaving these guys, any momentum gained just cast aside.
Kane is losing his desire. Despite playing almost 28 minutes in Vegas he was only occasionally a factor, just kind of going through the motions a lot of the time. Even with his soul half-sucked out of him he's been good enough to notch some helpies but has netted only one goal in the last month. Yeah, he's not "feeling it" as the kids say these days.
Crawford has been so-so. He's made some incredible saves in recent games but he's also allowed one or more goals in each of those games that he simply whiffed on. His reaction to the Engelland goal on Thursday was encouraging, at least. He hasn't given up, yet.
And even leaving out his spectacular giveaway vs. VGK, Seabrook has been garbage in his own end, struggling to even get the puck up the boards reliably. Yeah, five more years of this horror show.
What else?
Connor Murphy is poised to return which will require another D-man make way. It's a three-way tie for last, there, as Forsling, Rutta and Manning should all be in the conversation regarding who is demoted, waived, traded or placed on an ice floe. I like Forsling's offensive side but, going back to a preseason post in which I asserted that there isn't room for Goose AND Gustafsson on the roster, Gus is clearly the one to keep of these two. The decision makers seem to like Manning despite his general lack of any ability, so his long con will likely continue. Henri Jokiharju has not, it seems, endeared himself to coach Colliton, so maybe HE ends up in Rockford, fer gawd's sake.....
Dylan Strome might be a real thing but Brendan Perlini definitely is not.
NEXT: Back to The UC on Sunday against not-terrible Montréal. Someday I hope to refer to The Hawks as "not terrible" but today is not that day.
Nine Inch Nails - The Big Come Down
Toews: "Blah blah blah...embarrassed...blah blah...stay positive....blah blah...small mistakes....blah blah...." Essentially the same post-game interview he gave after the WASH and TB games.
The Hawks should be embarrassed, yet they don't give any indication of that when they're on the ice, 'cos they keep making the same damn, preventable errors, making things ridiculously easy for their opponents.
Pick Up A Guy, Any Guy: Once again, the forwards were situationally oblivious, unaware of what's happening around them. Watch Eakin's goal - Toews makes a failed attempt to check Pacioretty, which is fair enough, but Saad and Kane are just coasting into the zone, never bothering to cover anyone. Again. By the time Eakin made his move and scored Kane was, for some reason, already heading back towards the Vegas end. WTF?
Take a Second, Make The Pass Stick: The Hawks have been way too impatient with their passes, just getting the damn thing off their sticks as quickly as they can. At the start of the second period The Hawks "controlled" the puck for the first four minutes yet only entered the VGK zone briefly, because their passes were flat-out bad and those four minutes were largely spent recovering the puck, regrouping and starting again.
The players claim to be dissatisfied with their performance and the results of same, yet I see zero effort to improve matters. Just a lot of talk, so far.
New Guys: Hardly noticed Perlini, seems quick if haphazard. Strome picked up 1G 1A in his debut and had a couple of good looks that didn't go. First impression is that he's got the speed, some moves and a very good shot, but that he's imprecise. Tough to say after a single game, but Strome scored as many goals tonight as the guy he's ostensibly replacing did in the last five weeks.
And What Of Nick Schmaltz? I was just saying that, if Stan Bowman was going to make a trade to shake things up it was going to be Schmaltz that goes, being as he was the most expendable asset that a) would fetch anything in return and b) didn't have a no-move clause in his contract. The occasional excellent game did not offset the frequency of games that left me saying "what does he do, exactly?"
Next: Winnipeg on Thursday and Nashville on Saturday, the two best teams in The Western Conference, so the guys had better conjure up some give-a-damn. I'm losing interest almost as fast as The Hawks are....
Dwight Yoakum - Things Change
