Rocky Mountain High: Hawks 3, Avalanche 2 (OT)

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

That's The Way I Like It: Hawks 6, Penguins 3

For a few hours all was right in the world.
It wasn't an especially pretty win and, if I'm honest, it was maybe a bit fortunate 'cos how often do we get two goals from the fourth line, but it's two points, The Hawks showed some commitment and maybe it's something they can build on.  Let's go.
The Hawks Went Wildly Off Script by not sucking in the first period.  In fact, they were very good, breaking out with precision and moving the puck briskly in the offensive zone.  The defense were shockingly responsible up until late in the frame when they started running around a bit.
Order Was Restored however, in the second period when, all of a sudden, The Hawks couldn't clear their zone for love nor money.  Apart from DeBrincat's goal-scorer's-goal the second period was a complete mess.
The Third Period was better.  Still not great, as The Hawks gave up a lot of chances, but Crawford was outstanding when he needed to be at his best.  They've been in this situation a few times lately, up a goal late in the game, and the fact that they didn't collapse or commit the unfortunately common fatal error should be a big confidence builder.
Fourth Line Represents.  While the Kruger - Hayden - Martinsen trio didn't blow the doors off during all of their shifts they had a handful of crazy-dominant turns, cashing in one goal that was, while a little lucky, made possible by a relentless effort by Kruger in which he kept a play alive by kicking the puck to Hank Jokiharju, hit the crossbar and only then made the pass to Dahlstrom, whose shot would deflect in off Martinsen.  And later, a perfect pass by Marty to Kruger cashed in the game winner.  
The Defence Were A Mixed Bag, the strongest games coming from unlikely sources.  Dahlstrom was very good, keeping things simple and, holy shit, THAT's what it looks like when a d-man pays attention to opposing forwards in front of The Hawks' net.  Murphy and Manning played it quiet and steady,  not giving up much.  Keith and Jokiharju were so-so, with Duncs too often choosing to just launch the puck up the boards without any apparent thought and Hank was yippy a lot of the time.  Seabrook, despite scoring a goal, was garbage, too often out of position and serving up yet another unforced giveaway that ended up in The Hawks' net.

Next: Winnipeg again, in a game that may well be decided in the first ten minutes. If The Hawks come out like they did vs. PIT, like they've promised they'd do for weeks, they could be in it.

KC And The Sunshine Band - That's The Way I Like It

Why You Make It So Hard?: Hawks 5, Panthers 4 (OT)

Nevermind that The Hawks once again failed to log a complete game tonight.
Nevermind that a couple of their goals were pretty lucky.
And Nevermind that The Panthers have a ton of holes in their lineup and it's no wonder that they're dead last in The East.
It's more than just the two points, 'cos The Hawks finally, FINALLY showed some resolve, some will to win, and managed to execute.  To it, then.

Things Looked Irritatingly Familiar Right Off The Trot.  The Hawks had a hard-charging first shift only for FLA gather themselves and then utterly dominate the first period.  I won't say that Manning's penalty was the sole cause of the momentum shift, as The Hawks had already begun to fold, but it was certainly inopportune.  Worse, though, was the all-too-familiar defensive obliviousness that we've become sadly accustomed to, epitomized by three Hawks players chasing after one Panthers forward, leaving J. McCann to go mano-a-mano with Cam Ward.  Just like that and we were down 2-0, like some cruel Groundhog Day sequel.
The Hawks Showed Some Signs of Life early in the second when, first, David Kampf executed a textbook power move through no less a man than Aaron Ekblad and then around James Reimer to bring The Hawks within one.  Minutes later, in a role reversal, Kane redirected a Saad pass to tie the score.  Then the wheels fell off again.
For The Second Night In A Row Kane missed a defensive assignment, failing to pick up Ekblad who one-timed a crisp pass past Ward.  Minutes later, after a power play in which The Hawks held the puck for virtually the entire two minutes yet generated zero legit scoring chances, The Panthers pounced (because that's what panthers do) on a tired group of Hawks who had been unable to change and put the home side up 4-2.  FLA managed to spend most of the remainder of the second period in the CHI zone and it was starting to look like the sun had gone down for The Hawks, yet again.
Then Two Things Happened.  First, The Hawks finally got the bit in their teeth, outshooting the suddenly passive Panthers 9-0 in the first half of the period, which is nothing new, really, as we've seen these guys wait until it was too late to get their motors running.  HOWEVER, fortune smiled upon The Hawks on this night.  Sometimes you make your own luck through hard work, etc, and sometimes you just fall ass-backwards into it, and I think Fortin's shorty was a little bit of both and I am 100% okay with that.  On the game-tying goal.....well, anytime you tie a game in the final second it kind of smacks of dumb-ass luck but, again, Saad's pass to DeBrincat was pretty special.  We won't overstate that James Reimer was soft as hell on that goal....
Overtime.  What I've become used to is The Hawks getting one or two good looks, changing all three skaters and getting scored on immediately.  Tonight it took 4 or 5 shifts to settle matters, providing not only a much needed victory for The Hawks, but also some redemption for a couple of guys.
Erik Gustafsson has been bad, lately, his play going from sublime in October to terrible in November. Prior to this fall the expectation with Gus had been that he'd be an okay puck-lugger but, when it came to being defensively aware, he was nowhere to be seen.  The last month we were treated to Gus being defensively ambivalent AND he couldn't make a breakout pass no way, no how.  His OT goal tonight was nothing special, just a well-placed shot but, if we're lucky, it might be the confidence booster Gus desperately needs.
David Kampf had his first taste of NHL Overtime about two weeks ago vs. Carolina, and that didn't go super well.  Tonight, though, he dominated at the dot, winning 70% of his faceoffs including the final draw of the night.  That and his impressive goal to start the second period highlight Baby Huey's best NHL game thus far.
Other Good Stuff: Gustav Forsling has been given a lot of icetime and a lot of responsibility for a lad who kinda curled up & died last winter.  Quite right though, on this night anyway, as he was the best Hawks D-man in this match.  John Hayden finally got to play more than five shifts and, while nothing came of his efforts, he was creating opportunities.  
Meanwhile, this is what I suspect goes through Brandon Manning's head when he's out on the ice, doing whatever the hell he thinks he's doing.

Next: The strangely erratic Golden Knights who seem to either win big or lose big.  Here's hoping they've shot their bolt with their 6-0 drubbing of The Sharks tonight.

(Be sure to listen to the song.  The horns really complement the emotional release....)

Boz Scaggs - Why You Make It So Hard?

How It Ends

It was arguably a fortunate win but, after more than two weeks between wins, ya take it when you can get it, right?  Beyond the two points and the bonus of earning them vs. the Missouri Jackholes there were things to like about this game.
The Defense Was Solid.  Mostly, anyway.  Despite being raked over the coals possession-wise, having played the vast majority of their shifts vs. The Blues incredibly dangerous top line, Seabrook & Keith were good.  STL had some looks against The Hawks' top pair but no second chances as rebounds were either gobbled up or the nearest Blue was pinched out of the play.  Gustafsson and Jokiharju were outstanding, playing a safe, smart game while generating a lot of push from the back end. The only time either of these fellas put a foot wrong was Jokiharju panicking a bit in the last minute, blindly firing the puck up the boards.  Manning and Forsling were okay - I'm still not sold on Goose's defensive acumen, as he's tentative when challenging opposing forwards and, if he fails, kinda gives up on the play.  We've seen this film before and, if that's how Forsling is going to go about business, he'll be back to Rockford soon enough.  Manning started well but, in the final moments of the first period made an awkward outlet pass and then joined the rush that never happened, getting caught out of position and making a weak poke check attempt.  He followed that up by ending a full-court press in the third period by just flinging the puck away, as he does, when he could easily have skated it back a little and maybe hit Kane or Schmaltz as they cleared The Blues zone.  
Corey Crawford, behind a solid D tonight, was obviously excellent.  He had only a handful of really tough saves to make but he was there every time.  Crow's puck handling was outstanding, too, getting breakouts off to the best possible start.
Andreas Martinsen is a marginal player, at best, but he's been executing his directive to the letter, credited with seven hits tonight.  Not to overstate the importance of the physical element of the game but this is something The Hawks have lacked for a long time and, if it gives opposing defensemen something to think about, I guess that's a good thing.  Marty on the PK, though....I'm less convinced of that being a good idea.
John Hayden, similarly, had a strong game.  He's a puzzle, though: he can rag and drag and otherwise maintain the puck for a long time, but rarely does anything useful with it after all that effort.  Hopefully, sometime soon, he can connect the dots there and start creating some chances but, until then, he's not setting The Hawks' efforts back, anyway.
Each Of The Forward Lines had their moments.  The Toews line played opposite O'Reilly's line for much of the night and spent a lot of time in their own end, but someone's got to pull that duty.  Saad stormed back into the lineup and, while his line often looked like three guys operating independently of each other, he drove The STL net hard all night.  I'm not convinced that David Kampf between DeBrincat and Kahun constitutes a viable 2nd line.  I like Kampf, generally, but I just don't know if his offensive instincts are up to the task of centering a couple of guys who move the puck quickly, often unpredictably, as he's rarely where you wish he'd be when his wingers have the puck.  Maybe that's something he'll grasp with more experience, maybe not.  That said, I think Anisimov would struggle to keep up with those two guys and Johnson is nowhere near ready for that responsibility, so Kampf it is, for now anyway.
So We Get a Win on an Own Goal but, hey, if Bouwmeester hadn't kicked that one in Schmaltz would have tapped it in, himself.  The goal was hard-earned, with a determined effort by Kane to get the puck to Toews, followed by a dandy pass by the captain to Seabrook.

Next: At Home vs. The Kings and an opportunity to rough up a team that's scored only two goals in their last three games.  Keep the foot on the gas, boys.

DeVotchKa - How It Ends

It's Late: Hawks 4, Blues 3 (OT)

After the game Steve Konroyd stated "they seem to find ways to win".   Sure, I guess, but they're also finding ways to lose or, in this case, almost lose.  I mean, they chucked 50 shots at STL tonight and absolutely pantsed them in Corsi, yet it took until OT to seal the deal.
Nevermind that The Blues took almost half the game to find their gear because, once they got rolling, they largely outplayed The Hawks and, yet again, that determined effort was helped by The Hawks easing off the pressure. As in the last game, though, that wouldn't be such a sin if it weren't coupled with defensive gaffes and sloppiness.  This team can and should be killing it, yet they're just getting by.

Alex DeBrincat is not the best Hawks forward, but he will be, someday.
Cam Ward was okay.  Well, maybe a little better than okay but he did not help his cause with a poor pass to Manning, which I'll return to shortly.
Alexandre Fortin might be okay, as well.  He's decently quick and has enough size & reach to protect the puck somewhat, but he's kinda stepping on the puck a lot and not getting it from his feet to his stick a lot of the time.  It's early days though and, if he's meant to be part of the team, he'll figure it out.
Eric Gustafsson made his first nasty turnover of the season, which amazes me.
Kruger & Kampf were barely acknowledged yet led all players in possession stats, which is an utterly perfect night for a couple of 4th line guys.
John Hayden played the least of all Hawks tonight despite having no truly bad shifts.  Meanwhile, Kunitz huffed and puffed, a half-step behind whoever he was vainly chasing....
Brandon Manning, it would appear, is just dumb as hell.  Am I offside with this?  Yes, Ward's exchange to him was poor, but why'd Manning lift his foot?  Play the puck, man.  Manning remains the sole Blackhawk d-man who routinely messes up his breakouts, often making a bad first pass or, even more often, simply sending the puck downrange as fast as he can with no discernable purpose nor plan.
Kane didn't have his best night, his timing looking a little off and he fumbled the puck a few times, but the patience he displayed leading to his goal  was certainly admirable.  100% of the other Hawks would just have shot the puck ASAP 90% of the time.
The Power Play is backsliding already, with too much standing around and not enough net presence + shooting.  The first couple of PPs weren't bad but beyond that, and I hesitate to repeat myself, it was all so predictable.  I mean, I could anticipate all of The Hawks' actions on the PP and I'm an idiot, so even mayonnaise-slurping morons like The Blues could figure them out, too.  But it's not far off, 'cos we've seen some wonderful PP efforts already this season, they've just got to bring that more often than they've been doing.



Queen - It's Late

Sixes And Sevens: Leafs 7, Hawks 6 (OT)

That was sure interesting.
Despite the result and despite signaling some legit issues, there are several positive takeaways from this match.
1) The Hawks are scoring
2) Henri Jokiharju looks to be the Real Deal
3) The Hawks battled back in each of their first three games.  One could view that as less than good, but I'm choosing to believe that The Hawks have somewhat more resolve than they've displayed the last couple of seasons.  They're battling hard, for now, anyway.
Let's get to The Bits

The first ten minutes of the game was perhaps the best game The Hawks have played in a year.  Sure, it's a pity that they failed to maintain that relentless pressure but, even with the lulls and lapses, The Hawks' offensive game has been surprisingly good.
Cam Ward, on the other hand, was confounding.  While he made a handful of excellent stops half of the goals he allowed looked quite saveable.  John Tavares is undeniably great but even he shouldn't be scoring on the short side from that angle and 4.62 / 0.843 is not a stat line I'm at all comfortable with.  It feels weird to type this and even to think this, but I'm looking forward to Bergie getting a start, soon.

Come at me, bro'.

Kane & Toews continue to be the straws stirring The Hawks' drink right now.  Maybe not on every shift, but they'll be along, they'll be along soon enough....
Erik Gustafsson defied all logic & predictions by logging a third consecutive solid effort.  No significant errors, unforseen poise in all aspects of his game and the best Hawks d-man where breakouts were concerned.  Proceed, Gus.
Dominik Kahun took a step forward tonight with two helpies and a great chance in the second period.  The only thing better than his pass to DeBrincat was the look on his face after the goal.

John Hayden - goal or no goal, played well enough that I don't expect to see Martinsen back in his spot for awhile.  Johnson's spot, maybe, but not Hayden's.
Henri Jokiharju appears to have shaken off all of the apprehension he was carrying during the preseason.  He made only one serious error and notched three primary assists.  The only thing keeping Hank off the PP unit is Q's loyalty/comfort where Keith & Seabrook are concerned, and that could change really fast.
Alex DeBrincat suffered through an uncharacteristically weak game.  Yes, he scored, a tap-in that was far more about Kahun's sweet pass, but DBC was yippy off and on throughout the contest.
A topsy-turvy game for Brandon Manning.  He had three good looks, one of which resulted in a goal, but was wildly inconsistent in his own end.  Edzo likes that Manning brings a little snarl to the backline and that's fair enough, but tonight it took him all of 20 seconds to give the puck away with a mindless, no-look evacuation play.  A little later he attempted another clearing play, straight up the middle (which is bad enough) that instead struck Saad in the head or upper body (which is definitely bad).  He completed the trifecta on Matthews' second goal, caught standing alone at the edge of The Hawks' net, too slow and too far away to take away Matthews' chance, there.
Duncan Keith, too, had an up-and-down game, turning in some not-great shifts in which it took a few tries to clear his zone (or The Leafs scored) but, on the flip, he's actually getting shots through to the net!  Last season that was as rare as Pope shit.
The Power Play took a step backwards tonight.  While they've still yet to score any PP goals both units were moving the puck extremely well and getting good chances in the first two games.  Tonight, though, looked a lot like the PP we've endured for the last two or three seasons: too static, too rigid in their positioning and taking predictable shots from predictable locations.  Despite failing to cash in either the OTT or STL game, I loved the puck movement and that they were just kind of freestyling out there.  It sure looked tougher to defend against than what they got up to tonight.

And so, we'll reconvene on Thursday (or more likely Friday 'cos I have a late game on Thurs), with a trip to Minny to reacquaint with the annoying Wild.  Over & out.

Sixes and Sevens

Forty Minutes Well Spent: Bruins 7, Hawks 3

For much of this game The Hawks managed to stay with The Bruins, a vastly superior team by most measure, but could not muster up a full 60-minute effort.  Again.
Yet they hung in there, leading until early in the third period, when an untimely double-minor to Kane helped to open the floodgates.
To be honest, The Hawks defense struggled throughout the game; apart from Gustafsson's offensive contribution we got next-to-nothing from that bunch.  Keith has oscillated from mediocre to outright awful the past week, today being closer to awful than average, while Seabrook and Murphy simply flailed today.  Five of The Bruins' goals were scored in-close with one or more Hawks defenders looking on helplessly.
That the two best Hawks today were guys that a) returned from the minors today and b) was recalled only weeks ago might shine a light on who's motivated and who's not.  John Hayden said the correct, nice things about the team's compete level, but he's not kidding anyone.

There's not a lot more to say about this one; The Hawks got schooled, eventually, by the better team.
We'll try again tomorrow.

We're All Tired: Kings 3, Hawks 1

And thus endeth the dark ages in which The Hawks played five games in seven nights, earning a mere four points for their trouble.  It was a grind, for sure, and there were a couple of games that, while I struggle with saying that The Hawks deserved to win them, they could have won 'em just the same.  Tonight's match was arguably the toughest of the bunch, with the puck dropping only about 19 hours after the conclusion of last evening's coin toss/shootout loss, against the LA Kings who had just torn off four straight wins.  It was never gonna be easy.
The Hawks actually looked decent for the middle portion of the game, eventually outshooting The Kings and winning the possession/chances game but, as is often the case, it was a few isolated events that did them in.  Those events will comprise tonight's Bits.

* Anton Forsberg was fine.  If I'm being honest he was actually pretty good, as he made a clutch of saves more difficult than any that Jonathan Quick was asked to make down at the other end of the rink.  But, as it always seems to be, he was beaten by an innocuous looking shot, a floater, that any NHL goaltender should probably have.  Yeah, he was at least partly screened but so's everybody, most of the time.  As athletic as Forsberg is, he seems to always let in one of those floaters.
* Small errors, likely borne out of fatigue, set back The Hawks' cause.  Forsling, paralyzed with indecision and stationary in front of Forsberg.  Numerous drop passes to no one.  Sloppy clearing attempts.  Even if they didn't all result in a goal against these little setbacks still prevent The Hawks from mounting their offense.
* Hayden to the top line.  Sure, Panik is having a terrible time, lately, but if Coach Q is determined to shake things up why in god's name doesn't he slot DeBrincat into that spot?
* No Rest 'til The UC.  Q iced the exact same lineup for every one of those five games in the last week.  Wouldn't that be the time to grant someone a break?  I know we've only got Kero as a spare forward and, really, swapping him in won't have much impact at all, but couldn't Kempny have drawn in for someone?  I guess not.  Why would Q want to mess with what's been working so well *cough* one win in the last week *cough*.
* The power play sucks.  It's stale and it's predictable.
* Finally, to tie those last two points together, lemme point out that, when the power play was clicking not-too-badly, Cody Franson was QBing the first unit.  Now he's not and the PP is garbage again.  Also, if Franson is not being used on the power play....he probably doesn't need to be in the lineup at all.

Better When I'm Not There: Hawks 4, Panthers 1

So, I got home with about three minutes remaining in the first period and immediately hear Steve Konroyd remark "this is probably the best period The Hawks have played all season." Well, I missed it, and the rest was....okay, I guess.  But that's the way it goes, isn't it?  I hesitate to say that The Hawks let up when they have a lead, but rather that they don't always continue to press the point once they're ahead.
Not that it mattered tonight; The Hawks did what they had to do and not much more, which is entirely appropriate given the busy week ahead of them.  I have a few Bits for yis.

* The Toews line kinda ran wild with The Panthers' brain trust choosing to pit their best all-around line and top D-pairing against the Anisimov trio.  As I said, I dunno what went on for most of the first period but, once they were behind by a couple of goals, the Trocheck - Bjugstad - Haapala line weren't checking a whole lot as they tried to mount some offense.  How did that go, you ask?  How about a goal and a pair of helpies for Toews, a couple of points for Saad and, while he failed to make it to the scoresheet, Panik crushed a whopping 86% Corsi.  The cherry on top was Toews' goal - maybe not the prettiest but certainly one of the most fun goals I've seen in awhile, with the captain backhand swatting a puck out of the air past Roberto Luongo.  

* Despite the high shots against The Hawks' defense were decent enough, with Keith, Rutta and Murphy putting forth solid efforts.  Forsling and Franson each had a few not-so-good moments, but nothing ruinous.  Hardly noticed Seabrook, which I'll chalk up as a positive.
* The Hawks' fourth line had an...interesting night, consistently generating chances (or almost chances?) and somehow capitalizing on their effort only once.  What am I saying - Bouma and Wingels, for all their hard work, will only score the odd opportunistic goal.  Hayden has okay hands and is very determined in front of the net but often struggles to keep up with his speedy if unfocused linemates.  Konny quipped that this trio have been playing more or less third line minutes lately and, if that's the way it's going to be, one hopes that they could cash in a little more often.  That said, these guys were +1 and all three sported Corsi numbers north of 60% so, ultimately, I have nothing to complain about.

* Crawford had yet another near-perfect outing, with only a kinda soft goal against to detract from a an overall great game.  He actually worked harder than he should have, with FLA mounting several brief but intense attacks in which he was forced to make two or three saves in rapid succession.  

The Hawks now face a week in which they'll play five times over seven days with two back-to-backs, so we're gonna see Anton Forsberg at least once, maybe twice.  Like I said last week, it's felt like it's only a matter of time before the Toews line busts out, and this would be the perfect time to do it.

Power Restored: Hawks 6, Rangers 3

Early in the first period my electricity briefly went off and I had to horse around to get the furnace restarted.  After reviewing the tapes it was apparent that it was a period worth missing, anyway.  However, as the house heated up, so did The Hawks.  I assume this was entirely coincidental.

* Artem Anisimov.  Yeah, he's slow as hell and isn't so good at those faceoffs but, boy, has he been working the front of the net like a champ the last several games.  As long as his big body is allowed to hang out there his strength and his hands will continue to ca$h in the goals.  Also, while he was below 50% on those faceoffs, he always seemed to win the ones that mattered.  That was as perfect a game as one can expect from Large Arthur.
* DeBrincat was good, finally got some significant power play time and continued to surprise me with his aggressive and often effective forechecking.  More, please, and in the top six, if you don't mind; he's being wasted on the third/fourth line.
* Patrick Kane was better, but he still seems not-quite-right.  His passing has not been up to his usual standards, his shooting mediocre and his judgement a bit suspect for about two weeks, now.  He just hasn't always appeared fully invested in what was going on.  Last night saw an improvement in all those areas, even with a couple of ain't-give-a-damn passes and a pair of simply dumb shots, but he can and will be better.

* Nick Schmaltz was, I thought, the second best Hawk in this game.  Thinking back to around this time last year, he had one move, the old Mats Naslund get-the-zone-curl-back-and-look-for-a-pass schtick.  This year, he hardly ever does that, instead usually choosing to barge deep into the offensive zone, trying to set up camp below the goal line and do his passing from there.  He's just so much more confident, isn't shying away from contact like he had been (which might be a mistake, but that's not for now) and has a much wider array of plays he's willing to try.  If it weren't for Anisimov carrying the mail right now I'd campaign for a DeBrincat-Schmaltz-Kane combo.  Yeah, it would be the smallest line in the NHL, but these three all play bigger than they are, and I wanna have a longer look at Schmaltz setting up DBC.
* Brandon Saad.  I hesitate to say he's been bad, but he hasn't been good either.  Having had only one really good game in the last 3½ weeks should be bugging him as much as it's bugging me.
* John Hayden came through with exactly the kind of goal one expects from him given his location in the lineup.  He was well-positioned and did a great job to lift Shatnerkirk's stick, outmuscle him, and get the shot away.  He could shape up into a pretty effective blunt instrument.

* Goose Forsling.  Despite a pretty shaky first period (from what little I saw and, in his defense, everyone in red was pretty poor in the first) he had his best game in ages, breaking up numerous plays with a good, active stick.  His positioning was decent, too.  Could be an anomaly, but one hopes he's being coached in these areas and is applying himself, finally.
* Cody Franson.  Not perfect, and that back-pass in the first would have gotten Murph or Kemps stapled to the bench for the duration, but he's so good along the other guys' blue line I think you've got to keep him in the lineup.  That low, hard shot has led to many primo rebounds.  How is it that he shoots half as often but records a shot-on as often as Keith and Seabrook?  He just does. 
On the topic of Franson v. Seabrook: that's how you execute a last-ditch bellyflop.  Franson kept his eyes on what was happening and used his stick and/or legs, ultimately, to break up the play, while Seabrook's plan appears to be to flop, hope for the best and take the rest of the night off.
* Jan Rutta just had his two worst games, back-to-back.
* Seabrook played a team-low 16:26 on the back end.  I won't get my hopes up that he's blown his cover and that "circumstances" kept him off the ice more than usual, but a girl can dream...
* Corey Crawford.  He did what he had to do and not much else, keeping The Hawks in it during that abysmal first period, but let a few softies in later on.  That's fair enough, as he's stolen more than his share of games in this young season, but I rather hope it's not something we need to worry about.
* Lance Bouma.  I'm unsure of what he does beyond tearing around, laying a few hits and crashing the net.  He has no shot, hands so hard that every pass bounces off of his stick and he's a bad penalty killer.  Sorry, just had to get that out.

The Penguins, then, on Saturday.  It won't be another 10-1 affair (unless The Hawks are really bad... ha ha) since we won't have poor Antti Niemi to slap around. Better be ready, boys.

Yeah, but...: Hawks 5, Blue Jackets 1

Once all of the inevitable Saad / Panarin chatter died down we saw an entertaining hockey game, got a result and perhaps got a little insight into this year's Hawks team.  Let's go.

Nick Schmaltz was out of the game within two minutes, the victim of a greasy Malachi Crunch between two large CMB defenders, and will not travel to Canada for the games vs. TOR and MTL.  Not to pin too much emphasis on Schmaltz's absence but, after that and the line-shuffling chaos that followed, only the Toews line was a consistent offensive threat.

                                Best play of the game and he didn't even touch the puck.

Yeah, but the Toews line was fantastic and, all slumps, funks and potential injuries aside, could well tear The NHL a new one this season.  Interestingly, I hardly noticed Toews out there: he won the draws, disappeared into the weeds and reappeared later to take a pass or pounce on a Saad or Panik rebound. Saad was great and Panik had one of his finest games as a Hawk, forechecking and getting after loose pucks (leading to his third period goal) choosing his shots wisely (no tries from the goal line in this one) and, best of all, perfectly executing a search & destroy mission on Seth Jones to create the Toews goal.

The shots-against and Corsi numbers were not especially flattering, but that often happens when a team has a three goal lead by the halfway point of the game.  Crawford did make a handful of sparkling saves but all credit to The Hawks' D, as there were precious few second attempts available to the Blue Jackets. Let's not forget that Crow was a hair's breadth from a shutout, if not for an unlucky bobble through Hartman, sliding into the crease.

On The Hawks' D, it was a mostly-good effort. Seabrook was swallowed up a couple of times by swifter CMB forwards (I guess that would be all of them, actually...) and Kempny had another one of those basically solid efforts, tarnished slightly by a WTF moment or two.  I thought the best pairing was Rutta and Forsling, which is as unexpected as that pairing even being a thing.  I barely noticed Connor Murphy which, given how much I noticed him flailing a week ago in the preseason, is probably a Good Thing.

The Line Shuffling and what failed to come from that, as mentioned above, could signal something significant....or nothing at all.  Once Schmaltz went down and the revolving door opened, with Sharp, Anisimov, DeBrincat and Hayden all filling in on Line 2, the only offense The Hawks received beyond Toews' line was on the power play and on an audacious 50-foot backhand saucer pass from Kane to Rutta, in which the other players on the ice were irrelevant.  

So, was this an indication of how brittle The Hawks' lineup is, and that the loss of one top-six forward can throw their entire effort into disarray?  Maybe, but I kind of think Coach Q took the opportunity, what with an early lead and all, to try some stuff, specifically to see how DeBrincat and Hayden performed when elevated up the lineup.  With special-teams duties, Kane double-shifting with Bouma and Wingels and the occasional insertion of Sharp & Anisimov, though, I'm not sure if anything concrete was learned there.  Hayden's barge up the middle in the first period was fun but he didn't do much else, and DeBrincat wasn't particularly noticeable, aside from clanging the post late in the game.  Hartman did not have a super game, either, but was inserted at center for much of the game which is still an unfamiliar position for him at this level.

We are thin at center, and being without two of the usual pivots is going to be tough, but I'm confident that if the game was at any time in question Q would have popped Anisimov into 2C and left him there, with the remains of the bottom-six being rearranged as the situation demanded.

Yeah, but The Hawks beat up on a couple of backup goalies to start the season.  True enough, but they also didn't press all that hard after zooming out to early leads, AND they managed these wins with only two actual centers for the majority of both games.  That feels like a push to me.

Toronto is next and it proves to be interesting game, as The Leafs are essentially Hawks 2.0, seven or eight years along (but with even more dire and immediate salary cap problems in their future). Anyway, The Leafs have also potted fifteen goals in their first two games, but did not encounter much resistance from the feckless Jets goaltending nor the ghost of Hank Lundqvist and the imposter known as Ondrej Pavelec.  The Leafs have also allowed seven goals in those two games, and I'm unconvinced that Freddy Andersen is a bona fide NHL starter, but I guess we'll see about that.  

Expect to see Crow start in Toronto and Anton Forsberg to debut vs. the less-scorey Canadiens on Tuesday.

Hawks Preseason PT. XXIG?: Bubble Boys

Last night was always going to be tough with The Hawks trotting out only a handful of players who are sure to make the squad, whilst Boston iced a far more representative lineup.  That said and given the number of grinder-types that Coach Q loaded up on, they acquitted themselves reasonably well, outshooting The Bruins and occasionally looking capable of stealing the game.
Anyway, I am compelled to peck a few words on specific players that are in the hunt for a roster spot.

Cody Franson showed me nothing that a few younger, quicker candidates possess.  Pass.
Laurent Dauphin is better than I expected.  Quicker & shiftier than Kero but lacking Kero's situational awareness and passing skills.  I don't see Dauphin making the cut over Kero but he could be a useful firehose in case of injuries or even as the 13th forward.
Bouma / Tootoo / Wingels were really only visible when they coughed up the puck.  Pass, pass and pass.
Hayden made a case for sticking around.  I still think he's making it up as he goes along a lot of the time but that's stuff he can learn, whereas you can't learn BIG and he does have good hands.  The bottom line is that I'd far rather have Hayden around than any of the three Guys mentioned above.  A Hayden - Kero - Hino fourth line would suit me fine.
Forsling did himself no favours last night.  I still think he has an inside line on a roster spot but, based on his last couple of games, Rutta and Oesterle are equally deserving of the opportunity.
Jordan Oesterle: maybe punching above his weight?  I haven't minded him at all, so far, for what he is; decent wheels and hands, maybe a little wander-y and a bit lightweight, but calm and patient with the puck.  He did well last night, running on fumes at the end of a too-long shift, to get the puck close enough to Kero to set off the Hayden goal.
Rutta was okay, too.  He's poised, for sure, but maybe a little too daring, trying stuff he's been mostly able to get away with but, once the season starts for reals, would likely result in him looking at the numbers on his opposition's back.  Not a lock by any stretch but The Hawks are sure giving him every opportunity to crack the squad.
Alex DeBrincat suffered some, apart from Kane & Schmaltz (already?) but I think The Hawks have to at least try him in the top six to start the season.  And no lower down the order - top six or Rockford, sink or swim, 'cos his destiny is top three, so there's zero point in deploying him with Guys who won't complement his skills.

The picture's getting a little clearer.

Preseason III: The Preseasoning

Just a few quick notes to keep things current.

Saturday: The Hawks were goalie'd, pure and simple, and at both ends of the ice, with CMB's Korpisalo turning away 50 shots and The Hawks' JF Berube allowing three softies. That, barring disaster, will likely be the last time we see Berube in a Chicago jersey.

Lines 1-3 each had several excellent shifts, although all three units struggled with consistency.  There was some nice puck movement with Kane-Schmaltz-DeBrincat, but also plenty of occasions in which Schmaltz and DeBrincat skated themselves into trouble and couldn't find their way back out.  Only Kane seemed to have any consistent awareness of where his linemates were.  It's early days yet.

Toews worked hard along the walls but hardly exerted himself otherwise, which is fine.  Richard Panik did his thing - dynamite when it works but kinda silly to watch when it doesn't, and it didn't work a whole lot in this game.  Saad was a sledgehammer.

Sharp and Anisimov are already signaling some significant chemistry which, with Hartman re-inserted, gives The Hawks a damn good third line.  Somebody get Dr. Terry to wrap Sharpie's head in Bubble Wrap™, stat.

As much as I like the idea of John Hayden stepping in and being a versatile big body, I don't think it'll be happening this fall.  Hayden either goes all-out, crashing around with no apparent plan, or he stands around, watching, and there's rarely anything in-between.  A few months in Rockford would do him good, I think.

The fourth line gonna be the fourth line and, with so many Guys still in camp, could "feature" any number of spare parts guys.  I was going to type a few sentences about Alexandre Fortin's obvious skill mitigated by him having no clue how to employ it, but he's been dismissed to Rockford, so maybe another time.  Riddle me this, though: what, exactly does Tomas Jurco do?  He's not especially quick, hasn't much of a shot and all it takes is a stern look to separate him from the puck.  Yeah... I'll pass on that.

As for the defense, it's hard to say much about last night's group of guys, as they really weren't troubled much.  I thought all three of the guys who are competing for a spot played well enough. Rutta is maybe a little quicker than I gave him credit for and Pokka played a simple but effective game.  Either guy could likely step right into the third pairing, maybe higher for Rutta.
The competition is very much ON, too, as I still believe Rozsie will pack it in sooner than later, and it looks as if Cody Franson has been released from his PTO? (I can find no mention of this but he no longer appears on the team roster) The Hawks have options and they aren't all terrible.

Postscript: well, it's Monday and Cody Franson is in The Hawks' lineup, so I dunno why he's not on the active roster.  Of course, tonight's roster insists that Luke Johnson is playing and that Jordan Oestrle is not, so who knows what the hell's going on...

Blackhawks Preseason Notes: Week One

I'll refer to this often, I expect: It's Only The Preseason (IOTP)
As such and as always, it's tough to determine if what you see in one of these games is real or a mirage, what with the uncertainty of the quality of the players assembled on the opposite bench.
Nevertheless, here are a few takeaways after a pair of easy wins over CMB and DET.

1. Brandon Saad is good to go.

2. Patrick Sharp is, as expected, a step slower than I'm used to seeing.  His puck protection on his semi-breakaway tells me that he's aware of this, though, and realizes what he needs to do about it.
3. Alex DeBrincat is awfully small but appears to be equally slippery.

                                      Eddie Munster-lookin' mofo.

4. More PTOs: John Mitchell (told ya), Drew Miller and Mark Fucking Stuart quietly arrived and are attempting to hook onto a team that probably has no space and no use for any of them.  Mitchell is great at the dot but after observing him on Tuesday I've concluded that his faceoff acumen alone won't open the door nearly wide enough.
5. Cody Franson was steady & unspectacular on Tuesday, although he seemed even slower than I recalled him being.  With Stan's latest defense project, Jan Rutta, and Ville Pokka likely having his final shot at making The Hawks, Franson's place on the team is far from assured.  
6. It's still way too early to be talking about line combos, but Sharp + Hartman looked fine. I mention this only because those two do seem destined to start the season together.
7. On that tack, I'm seeing forward pairs emerging but not entire forward lines.  Will this afford The Hawks flexibility or a lack of cohesion?  Given that the missing piece in most cases is the center, I fear that the latter is closer to the truth.
8. I didn't mind Jordan Oesterle at all, but this is a guy who failed to stick with Edmonton and, of course, IOTP.
9. Ugh, Viktor Svedberg again?  Give me a break.
10. Vinnie Hinnie certainly made a case for a longer look with his darty yet focused effort on Tuesday.

11. TOO MANY GUYS. Almost all of the forward roster spots are already nailed down, whether those places are entirely deserved or not.  Quenneville gonna have his Kero and Tootoo in all likelihood, and Stan will probably insist that Jurco be on the roster and, if those three are slam dunks, that's eleven forwards.  That leaves two, possibly three spots remaining for John Hayden, Vinnie Hinostroza, Lance Bouma, Tommy Wingels, Alex DeBrincat and the aforementioned PTOs, Mitchell and Miller. I know which of these fellas I'd prefer to see on opening night, but I fear it'll be Bouma / Wingels / whatever other interchangeable Guy.
And none of these Guys is top-nine center, so Stan's work may not be quite done just yet, as there is still a massive gap at 2C/3C, depending on how ready Nick Schmaltz really is.
IOTP.

Back In The Saddle? : Hawks 5, Penguins 1

That's more like it.
Much was said during the broadcast about the Penguins being undermanned, and that's certainly true when one considers the current state of their defense corps.  Up front, though, there are very few gaps, with even their Guys being pretty darn good.  Regardless of these teams' relative strengths & weaknesses, The Hawks came out of the gate with the kind of fire they've been sorely lacking for a week or more.  More importantly, even when the inevitable let up occurred, it wasn't of the magnitude that we've been blessed to behold for much of the season.  And the two seasons before that, if we're honest.  I'm tired, so let's go:
Some crazy-good passing helped this look pretty easy.  Schmaltz, Hartman and Kane (twice, including a diabolically good redirect to Kruger) paved the way to four of The Hawks' five tallies with excellent set-ups.  Sure, The Penguins D is thin and often struggled to cope when The Hawks gained the zone and started tossing the puck around, but it's an encouraging sign, for sure.
Tanner Kero is not the answer where 2C is concerned but he'll have to do for now.  He managed to keep up with Kane & Panarin for the most part, even if his hands let the group down once or twice, and he even potted a nice breakaway goal.  A good effort from 67.
After being buried alive in Tampa, John Hayden looked much more comfortable on the fourth line tonight.  Away from Toews & Panik, Hayden was nowhere on Monday, but in this match he used his body and his decent hand skills to create some quality chances, leading The Hawks with six shots on goal.
Speaking of shots, The Chicago defense only hit for two SOG all night.  I know TVR shot and missed a couple of times but the usual shooty suspects, Keith & Seabrook were dishing far more often than usual.  This may bear watching in the upcoming games in case this is some new directive or merely a isolated incident.

The surly Swede thought well of Kane's performance, as well as those of Panarin and Kero (he is, despite all reports, a sentimental type who revels in the successes of the largely unsung) but, through the smoke and the flattering boxscore, Stormare sees Corey Crawford as the biggest of the Big Boys tonight.  NOW is as good a time as any to return to form, and Crow was as steady as anything.

Tomorrow's Trip to The Beach is Cancelled: Panthers ALL, Hawks NONE

Blackhawks Postcard Home: 
Went to Florida and spent three hours in The Panthers' litter box.

Oh, so much yapping, pushing & punching and other assorted bullshit, but precious little else.  When the fourth line are the only guys to turn in consistently good shifts you're going to be up against it.
As disinterested and, eventually, distracted as the bulk of the forward corps were, the D were even worse, caught standing still or nearly so on most of the Panthers' goals.  The only exception that springs to mind is the fourth FLA goal, in which Soupy jumped up on the rush, leaving no responsible adults guarding the store and a Panthers two-on-oh. Okay, it was a two-on-one, but the "one" was TVR and his one-man tragic-comedy that I will spoil the ending of: he fucked it up.  Even if TVR knew that he has to take away the pass he hasn't got the tools to pull it off, anyway.  What NHL defenceman allows a gap like that?  Spoiler #2: None.

But it's not on TVR.  The Panther's first three goals were all scored from the same spot, give or take six feet, and all on a sharp pass from the opposite circle whilst The Hawks' D moved only their heads & necks to observe the puck whizzing through the slot.  "Hey, that's our play," they might have said, yet Panarin had only a single chance from his usual shooting area and he topped the puck, anyway.

We also saw all of John Hayden's shortcomings on display and none of his good qualities, as he struggled mightily to keep up, often resorting to a desperate lunge to try to close a gap, only to lose more ground as his speedy prey easily eluded him.

                           Yeah, well, I made that face just watching the game, pal.

Now that we have this mini-meltdown out of the way can we please get serious again? I expect that Coach Q has their full attention now and at the inevitable 0800 hrs skate.

March. Midweek. Meh. : Hawks 3, Stars 2

In a series of games which The Hawks really didn't deserve to win, this one felt like the least deserved.  While there were flashes of competency and brief periods of inspired play, the home side failed to apply themselves any more than absolutely necessary.  Did they need to try harder? Probably not.  Does it matter?  Well, maybe.  I'd hate for them to forget how to do hockey properly just in time for the playoffs.
I'll spend about as much time on this as most Hawks made an effort.
I cannot say that any particular Hawk was terribly bad tonight, but very few were good for more than a few shifts.  Toews played a pretty determined game that was wasted by Hayden & Panik floating too much of the time.  Hoss had a goal and a few more good looks, but could not be arsed defensively. Panarin seemed disinterested in getting into a good shooting position and Schmaltz can abandon that reverse-and-reset thing he keeps trying along the boards, 'cos it ain't working.
TVR is so comically bad it would be entertaining if it weren't so frustrating.  While this idiot stands motionless for much of the game, reacting only after something has already happened, Michal Kempny sits in the press box wondering if he really is a worse defenceman than van Riemsdyk.
Corey Crawford was quite good, making a handful of A+ saves, many of which wouldn't even have materialized if the guys in front of him gave a crap, but that's not for now.
The first couple of power plays were interesting, with The Hawks moving the puck well and keeping their feet moving.  The weird thing is that they failed to generate any great chances.
I dunno about Hartman at 2C and, if this is gonna be a thing, can we get Schmaltz back on Toews' line, please?

ONE Blackhawk played consistently well even if, too often, he was reduced to playing keepaway while his linemates failed to find good shooting lanes and, too often, held the puck only long enough to get it back to Kane.  88 was the best of a mediocre lot, tonight.