*Corsi-percentage and expected-goals percentage are from last year
In the interest of being a full-service hockey blog, we’re here to provide you the best in what you should be drinking while watching hockey. Because you’re drinking while watching hockey. And if you’re not, you should be. So we turn to our local expert, you may remember him from such blogs as this one in its previous forms (he did start the fucking thing), Matthew Killion! (@_Killion_)
Hello! Been a while since you’ve seen my name on this site, unless it’s one of the many instances of slander from Fels. But we’re back! It’s time to talk some beers. We’ll roll these out weekly, maybe more if we get on a roll. So what should you be drinking this week? I’m going to go with Half Acre’s Sticky Fat. Is it cheating to use one of Half Acre’s beers for one of these since I work there? Maybe. But it’s the first time I’ve written one of these in a while so it’s a welcome little on-ramp. And it’s a damn good beer.
This is a new thing we’re gonna try this year, setting up every night’s action outside of the Hawks. We’ll see how it goes.
Game Of The Night
Flames vs. Oilers (9pm)
Fuck the banner-raising in Pittsburgh, as that’s going to be called by Mike Milbury and will involve the Blues. Although it’s hard to imagine a more perfect marriage than the Blues being watched by Milbury, who will assuredly spend a period and a half wondering how the Blues could have traded Ryan Reaves. Anyway, these are two of the three teams that are going to matter in the Pacific. And they’re way more interesting than the Ducks. Flames fans can already start cutting themselves if the Oilers light up Mike Smith, which you’d have to bet they would. See how Draisaitl shifts back to center and how the Oilers still have no defense.
This league wide preview series at long last comes to its merciful end, fittingly in the last place anyone wants to be – Winnipeg.
For as much shit as the Blues get for “This Time It Will Be Different”, the Jets continue to trot out the same roster year after year that simply isn’t good enough, led by a GM in Kevin Chevydayoff that cannot seem to get himself fired in spite of all of this inertia, and a coach in Paul Maurice who people simply accept as being competent for no other reason other than he has been behind a bench since he was 14 years old. But hey, things are bound to bounce their way sooner or later right?
We have made it to the end of this crazy train that is our Blackhawks Player Previews, and no we get set to set to take a look at the roster as a whole. There are a lot of people with a lot of opinions on these Blackhawks, as some feel like they won’t even make the playoffs this season, and others feel like they’re ready to compete for the Stanley Cup again. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle (I think they’ll make the playoffs, and once they’re there just about anything could happen), but in reality there is a strong chance for either of those scenarios to play out.
There’s a lot of “if’s” either way, so it’s basically up to the eye of the beholder which “if’s” seem more likely. They could be a Cup Contender if Corey Crawford remains the best goaltender in the Western Conference. They’ll probably miss the playoffs if Crawford experiences any sort of long term injury. They might be a Cup Contender if Alex DeBrincat and Nick Schmaltz can put up 60 points with Patrick Kane. They could miss the playoffs if those two can’t produce quite yet. They could be a Cup Contender if even two of Connor Murphy, Michal Kempny, and Gustav Forsling prove themselves as capable top-4 defensemen. They could miss the playoffs if those players don’t take the next step. All of those scenarios are certainly possible outcomes of the season, but which outcomes seem more likely are up to your perspective and outlook.
Let’s take the Sam Fels Team Preview approach to this roster preview:
Forwards: The Blackhawks probably have one of the better collections of top-end forward talent in the NHL, because it’s kinda hard to find a better potential line around the NHL than Saad-Toews-Kane, even if that likely will not be a good line. Anisimov is still a good middle-six center, and I explained in my Richard Panik preview why his good production last season is was probably not just a fluke. Ryan Hartman is an excellent third line forward who might be able to flash on your second line if necessary. Schmaltz and DeBrincat looked great in camp/the preseason and could have good seasons. The problem is their fourth line is going to be straight dog shit, Patrick Sharp has one good hip and might play significant time on the second line, and any of those top-nine forwards struggling to score could end up completely fucking up the season. I am generally an optimist and do believe this group as a whole could be quite good, but it may not go our way.
Defense: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand here’s the real problem. Duncan Keith is 33 years old and might end up being their only good defenseman. Seabrook could finish the year weighing 300 lbs. Murphy is a huge question mark, and strangely he could end up being the key to the whole thing. If he’s good, the situation isn’t as dire. If he sucks, it’s made all the worse. Forsling has had flashes on both ends of the spectrum in the pre-season, which only proves how much of a question he is right now. Again, if he proves to be good, it’ll make things a lot better. If we get the same kind of play from him as we saw last year, it won’t make things worse necessarily, but the problem will remain. Kempny is damn near excellent, so hopefully that continues but without Q bottling him up. The problem is just there are just so many question marks about this group, and if Keith goes down they will be completely fucked. I guess we need to hope there is a good defenseman available on the trade market that StanBo can fit within the cap relief he’s getting. I’d call that unlikely.
Goalies: Crawford is the best in the west, and has constantly been solid. He’s the most important Blackhawk bar none. If he gets hurt and misses significant time, they’re completely fucked. If he doesn’t he’s probably good enough to make up for the questions on defense and help this team make the playoffs, even in the Central. Forsberg being an average goalie is all the Hawks need, and that’s all I have to say about that.
Overview: Again, a lot of question marks here, but this is probably a playoff team. They’re not on Nasvhille’s level overall, and especially not on the blue line, but the forward group isn’t too far off, and they have a far superior goaltender. But I don’t think anyone in the division caught up to this Blackhawks group that put up 109 points last year. I highly doubt Nashville struggles as bad during the regular season as they did last year, so the I don’t think Chicago will run into them again in the first round of the playoffs. I really think Nashville and Chicago are gonna end up finishing 1-2 in this division in some order, but again, the Blackhawks have a lot of questions and if the answers aren’t in their favors, they might even end up missing the playoffs. I have a lot of hope and optimism for this group, but I can’t blame you if you don’t.
There’s not much more to be said now. Everything kicks off tomorrow. Go Blackhawks.
We’ve made a career out of mocking and hurling insults at the St. Louis Blues. At this point it’s basically batting practice. Luckily for us, we’ll have our bread and butter this year. Again. Because we always will. Nothing is ever going to change in Missouri, as they attempt to roll out essentially the same roster that got domed by the Preds in Round 2 last year, and basically the same one that hasn’t really ever come close to winning anything. Same as it ever was. You can set your watch to it.
St. Louis Blues
’16-’17 Record: 46-29-7 99 points (3rd in Central, out in Round 2 to NSH)
Team Stats 5v5: 50.1 CF% (15th) 50.4 SF% (15th) 51.0 SCF% (10th) 8.3 SH% (7th) .923 SV% (17th)
Special Teams: 21.2 PP% (8th) 84.7 PK% (3rd)
Well, not the way we’d like it (or most of us), but it’s still a medal at stake. Discuss the goings on here.
Quick reactions to the semifinals today. We’ll start with the bigger game to us, and that’s the battle of the 49th. Those of us here in the land of guns and poor public education love to big up our chances and talk a big game, but every hockey fan knows in their heart that Canada will always ice a better roster than the US, and better than everyone. You know in that one game things can go right, a bounce or a call here or there or one spectacular goalie performance (which the US got and that’s the only reason this didn’t end up 4-0 at least) or one pants-shitting can swing the result. But if both teams play their game, you know where it’s going. And that’s where it went.
Shall we get to the bullets? We shall:
If this is to be the last Olympics with the NHL involved, I suppose there’s decent symmetry in having the last two Gold Medal games be the semifinal match ups. It should make for a pretty good morning for hockey fans, assuming you can get up early enough or get off work or watch at work and get fired or whatever you’re going to have to do to watch. But hey, isn’t this what we all came for? Let’s give it the proper treatment.
vs. 
Sweden v. Finland
TIME: 6am Central (NBCSN)
The Scandinavian rivals kick off the day, with Finland looking to turn around the result from Torino and I suppose the Swedes still a bit sore from coughing up the World Juniors at home to Finland thanks to Teuvo and Rasmus. This is has always kind of been a one-sided rivalry, with Finland playing the little brother to the more exalted Swedes.
While we’re poised for a semifinal day that really will be a feast of hockey, the other side of the debate is also clear after John Tavares’s injury. It would be an even bigger howl if the Islanders were in playoff contention, so I guess the NHL dodged a quarter of a bullet there. The risks are there for all to see, but seeing the videos of full bars during T.J. Oshie’s Michael Jackson performance against Russia provide all the benefits to be seen as well.
I can’t say I’ve made up my mind. I really like the international game. What I haven’t heard is what will happen if the NHL doesn’t send its players to South Korea in four years. Will it be just an under-23 tournament with college juniors and seniors and AHL-ers available? I think most GMs would be ok with sending their top prospects to such a crucible. Most of them let those players go to the World Juniors instead of play in the AHL for a couple weeks. I guess that would be ok, but really as nothing more than a scouting combine that the Juniors is now. Would NHL players under 23 be allowed to be picked? I’m guessing no. Would it just be the World Juniors replayed six weeks later? Would the European leagues still send their players, like the KHL or Swedish Elite League? Would that be fair?
