As Bad As The Hawks Were Jake Allen Was Worse and That Makes Me Smile: Hawks 4, Blues 3

Brutal, brutal, awful effort from the majority of The Hawks, but I don't care 'cos they fell ass backward into a win and messed with The Blues playoff plans.  If that's mean or petty...I don't give a damn.  There's been precious little to enjoy about this season and sticking it STL is one of the few pleasures I have left, so don't give me that look.
Luckily, Jake Allen was porous, 'cos The Hawks breakouts were terrible, their passing was rotten and, while this has nothing to do with Jake Allen, the defense served up a big stinkeroo of a game.  It's been awhile since I've seen so many lazy, thoughtless pass attempts as I did tonight.  Passes off the mark, to no one in particular (lookin' at you Connor Murphy) or to a teammate who is already under pressure.  Just a lot of dumb choices from the back end.
Rutta was ridiculously, comically bad and Gustafsson treated us to another game in which he was on-point offensively, disinterested defensively.  The rest were unexceptional.
And that stupid push-em-back crap they try to do on the PP....laughable tonight. I'm pretty sure the guy who's been nominated to carry the puck up-ice shouldn't have to skate back to his goal line to retrieve a drop pass to no one.
Corsi was about 7:3 in favour of STL.  I don't think The Hawks won more than one or two draws in The Blues zone.
Yet they prevailed. It goes like that sometimes.  Heaven knows The Hawks have been on the other end of that stick enough times this year.
JF Berubé had a typical Guy night, letting in goals that appeared savable but also making a host of excellent stops, many on second chances.
Dylan Sikura, I think, will be A Thing.  I'm less sure about Victor Ejdsell, but it's early days yet.
Blake Hillman kinda floundered in The Hawks zone for much of the game, but he did score his first NHL goal, and a shortie, at that.  He was no better or worse than the other five D-men.

Okay, that's enough.  Let's hope that The Hawks can bring their C- game again on Friday against Jake Allen's D- game and stick a fork in The Blues' playoff hopes.  Please.

Almost Got Away With It: Sharks 4, Hawks 3

After only showing up for the first period and overtime The Hawks really had no business thinking about a win tonight, but there they were, hanging in there and making The Sharks sweat a little.
At this point in this season it's the little things that give one hope.
Despite their hideous record this month The Hawks haven't often been kicked around in shots/ Corsi/ chances, but tonight was a night in which they were dominated and shoulda coulda lost badly.
Anton Forsberg, however, had other plans.  Yes, he allowed 3GA and, yes, he was a bit sloppy on E. Kane's goal, but he outplayed the bona fide NHL goalie at the other end and kept his team in it to the end.  Extra credit, too, given the number of A+ chances his teammates ceded to The Sharks.

But you all want to read about Victor Ejdsell, so let's get to that.

The big fella, obtained from NSH at the trade deadline, debuted after playing a mere two AHL games and, in all of 17 minutes, looked okay.
Not great, not terrible...okay.
The first thing you notice is his size: long & lanky, with a vast reach.  He doesn't seem especially quick but he's no slug, either.  Hands seem good and he got a few hard shots off rather quickly.  His positional play was hit-and-miss but, it's his first game, he was thrust onto the top line and played the point on the PP.   Someone might point out that he was on the ice for all three Sharks goals but, to be fair, two of those GA were down to 1) Seabrook turning the puck over (after Ejdsell had won the draw, BTW) and 2) Gustafsson being beaten twice along the boards in a single sequence.  He was clearly not comfortable on the left point on the PP and was a bit out of step during his shift in OT but, he was given a ton of responsibility for a guy playing his first NHL game so I'll not rake him over the coals just yet.
If Edjsell turns out to be A Thing, though, Anismov and/or Hayden had best brace themselves.

And hey, The Hawks allowed fewer than five goals in consecutive games.  That's progress.

Trade Deadline Recap: I Guess Q WAS Really Pissed

Predictably, The Hawks were sellers at this season's Trade Deadline and made one move that, while not entirely surprising, is still pretty dramatic.

OUT

Ryan Hartman and a 2018 5th Round Pick to NSH

IN: Victor Ejdsell, 2018 1st Round Pick and 2018 4th Round Pick

Well, ol' Harts finally wore out his welcome, and just in the nick of time, too.  Nashville paid a ridiculously high price for this soon-to-be RFA that Coach Q never really knew what to do with.  That's not entirely on Q, mind you; players create and destroy their own opportunities to a large extent and Hartman often made it easy for Q to bench him or have him banished to the press box.  The implication is that Hartman is perhaps difficult to coach and has not demonstrated that he's learned from past transgressions.  It could merely be a personality conflict between he and Q but, given their relative status & responsibilities, that's something that Hartman had to work around, not Q.  The trust was lost and, as we all know, when you lose Q's trust, you're Done, Son.

The Draft Picks are generous and the warm body we've received is of great interest, as Ejdsell is a big center (6'5" and 214 lbs) who was a Swedish Div II MVP last season and is currently the goals leader on his HV71 club.  If this lad can skate at all I'll gladly learn how to pronounce his name.

OUT

Tommy Wingels to BOS

IN: 2018 5th Round Pick (upgraded to 4th Round if BOS make it to round two of the playoffs OR if they re-sign Wingels)

Useful if a bit frustrating, Wingels was slotted up and down the lineup all year.  Smart, defensively responsible and somewhat versatile, yet possessing virtually no hand skills.  As Guys go, he's a very good Guy but had been ridiculously miscast as a first line component.

All that aside, I half expect Wingels to be back with The Hawks for next season.

ALSO OUT

Lost in shuffle, here, but I'll mention it now, was the dispatching of Michal Kempny and Ville Pokka.  Kemps is another player who Q did not seem to like, which mystified me.  Kempny plays a pretty straightforward game and does it reasonably well, but is somewhat mistake-prone.  That said, I'd rather go to war with Kemps than with Oesterle or Gustafsson.  We'll probably never find out but Kempny may well have requested a trade OR indicated that he would not return next year to be a healthy scratch half the time.

With Pokka's departure we say so long to a guy that The Hawks waited on through the duration of two contracts.  Even though he had been called up from Rockford a couple of times during his tenure in The Hawks' organization we only ever saw him play in pre-season games.  He struck me as competent but not really excellent at any one aspect of the game. The Hawks' current devotion to Gustafsson and Dahlstrom, as well as Forsling waiting in the wings, clearly made Pokka an expendable asset.

AND

Lance Bouma, waived and successfully demoted to Rockford, making space for Matthew Highmore.  I cannot say much about Highmore except the dry facts: he's a 22-year-old small forward, undrafted, and leads The IceHogs in goals and points.  Maybe he's A Thing or maybe he's just the first of a series of late season auditions that we'll be treated to in the coming weeks.