Everything Else

Game #18 – Hawks 2, Hurricanes 2 (Canes win ping pong tourney): Can’t Get Right

By Sam Fels 1990 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Corsica

Well, changing coaches hasn’t worked yet. Jumbling around the lines didn’t really either. Though Jeremy Colliton has his first point, a return of one out of six probably isn’t what management had in mind. Or maybe it was and they didn’t tell us?

Whatever it was, tonight was nothing we didn’t know. The roster is short, and there a couple veterans not carrying their weight. This team was probably calibrated on the hope that they would. I don’t know why you’d calibrate it that way, but here we are. At least I don’t have another explanation. If you do, feel free to share.

All right, let’s clean this up and get on with our lives.

The Two Obs

-Not sure where to begin, so I’ll unfairly begin with Duncan Keith again. While his glaring gaffe (alliteration, people) took place on the penalty kill, so I should probably just dismiss it as him getting the inevitable goal against out of the way early so the Hawks could get back to even-strength.

At some point this season, if Jeremy Colliton accomplishes nothing else this season but convince Duncan Keith that he’s no longer DUNCAN KEITH, I’ll call it a success. We went over this on Saturday. Duncan Keith was paired with Henri Jokharju to take that aspect of his game off his plate. It was meant to streamline his game, and keep him more efficient with what he can do. He didn’t listen. Maybe he can’t fight it, maybe it’s been too long.

Pairing him with Seabrook was only going to enforce that feeling, I guess. So there he was, chasing Andrei Svechnikov outside the circles, pretty well contained out there. But Keith can’t get there anymore. And Svechnikov, a budding monster, is going to walk him every time. He did it later in the game as well, So did Aho. But this is the one the Hawks paid for. Svechnikov has a clear path to the net, forcing Seabrook into basically Sophie’s choice. He could maybe do a little more than just amble over there while leaving a passing lane to Michael Ferland, but here were no good options.

Someone get Keith in front of a video screen with nothing but how Ryan Suter plays these days. It’s a super-efficient game, where Suter lets the game come to him and picks his spots when to get outside the normal parameters. Keith is still chasing the game and trying to bend it to his will, He can’t do it anymore. And the Hawks keep paying for it.

-That goal was off a Henri Jokiharju penalty where he braced for a hit at the expense of getting the puck. These are the kinds of mistakes we would normally live with, but now is about the time they have to stop. Hey, The HarJu isn’t going to survive too many hits in the NHL with the puck. But his hands are quick enough to move the puck along before getting hit. Chalk it up to the learning curve.

-Which will bring us to Nick Schmaltz. We generally like Schmaltz around here. Fine player. Clear problems. The refusing to shoot is getting really annoying. And Eddie correctly lit him up for ducking out of a puck battle/hit with Justin Faulk (though Schmaltz did cause a turnover a second later, but still).

And that kind of thing keeps happening. And it’s a tough sell to your fanbase and everyone else when you’re saying you basically did nothing in the offseason to keep your powder dry in big part to re-sign Schmaltz. Because he keeps looking like a second-line player, whether that’s wing or center. You don’t build around second-line players. I don’t want to know what kind of deals Stan turned down that included Schmaltz.

Schmaltz still has 60 games to turn it around and look like a real piece. But it’s year three now, you kind of know where he is. Are you tossing $6 million at this? Or are you hoping he keeps doing shit like this and we’ll have to agree to a bridge deal? And shoot the fucking thing already.

-Brandon Davidson and Jan Rutta got themselves in a tangle when the Canes were on a change and there was literally no forechecker in the zone and they couldn’t manage to pass between each other in the 2nd period. I can’t really sum the third pairing up any better than that.

-Other than the penalty, Goose and The HarJu weren’t a complete disaster, to the tune of a 68% and 64% share on the night.

-It’s nice that the Hawks fourth-line was so effective. But to review, when your fourth line is your most effective, that’s a problem.

Ok, that’s enough. It’s a point. Maybe it’ll be better to snap it against the Blues. Somehow, I doubt it.

Onwards…

Everything Else

Game #18 – Hawks vs. Hurricanes Preview: Because Seven Eight Nine

By Sam Fels 1763 0

 vs. 

RECORDS: Hawks 6-8-3   Hurricanes 7-7-3

PUCK DROP: 6pm

TV: NBCSN Chicago

YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MAKES YOU? LARRY!: Canes Country, Section 328

It has to end sometime, it has to end somewhere…

I can’t say that it’s totally encouraging that Jeremy Colliton is hitting the Quenneville Memorial blender in his third game in charge. I’m sure the constant line-shuffling was something that came to annoy the players in the end from Q. But Q drew a lot of water, and it could at least be construed that he was an experienced coach who was just experimenting, and who had earned the right. A coach in his third game in his second season in North America at all might look like he’s just throwing shit at a wall.

But according to the morning skate today, that’s what the Hawks might get. Brandon Saad didn’t skate, and he’s only a maybe to go, so that could confuse things even further. As of now, Patrick Kane and Nick Schmaltz have slotted up with Jonathan Toews in a definite “go-for-it” top line. Sure, fine I guess, Toews hadn’t produced much of late with Dominik Kahun and Top Cat. Then it gets silly.

What a line of John Hayden, Artem Anisimov, and Alex Fortin is going to do is really a mystery up there with the Bermuda Triangle and how Ricky Jay ever had an acting career. Top Cat-David Kampf-Kahun is at least worth seeing as it’s really fast and active. I guess. I don’t know really what I’m supposed to say here. The fourth line doesn’t matter and is basically “Eat Arby’s” territory like the third-pairing.

The changes don’t stop there, as there’s been a shuffle in the top-four on the blue line. Marlboro 72 has been reunited, because apparently they weren’t bad enough separately and can really reach a new level of suck together. Erik Gustafsson paired with Henri Jokiharju only exacerbates the problems that pairing The HarJu with Keith created, in that the Finn has to play free safety for his partner’s directionless wanderings instead of pushing the play and getting involved in the offense which is supposed to be his calling. We know Gustafsson needs a GPS and a guide-dog in the defensive zone.

Let’s get nuts!

I suppose when you’ve lost seven in a row you have license to try anything. Consider that license used. Cam Ward will get the start in his return to Carolina, and hopefully doesn’t decide to relive the old days by giving up four or five as he so frequently did while adorned in the warning flags of Raleigh.

As for the Hurricanes, they’re coming off blowing a two-goal lead to the Red Wings and losing in overtime, somehow. Not that anything could have changed all that much from last Thursday, so you know the drill here. They have great possession numbers, they generally maul teams at even-strength, but there’s no one around here to finish all those chances consistently and Scott Darling (unless he’s playing the Hawks, obvi) can’t make enough saves to let them get by with their sneeze-like finishing. This is why they’re the leading contender for William Nylander, should the Leafs decide they don’t need a dynamically talented forward.

This will sound stupid, and it very well may be. The Hawks have rolled both the Canes and Flyers in the first period of Colliton’s two games. They got stoned by goalies who are supposed to be nothing much more than construction horses. Then they do something stupid to get behind and they lose all their zest. But that luck should turn. If the Hawks can get the same kind of start they’ve gotten, even with this pile of goo lineup, they will get goals. Get a lead, start to relax, get your feet under you, and maybe we can see what this team could look like with Colliton.

Then again, given the defense, the chance of doing something stupid to undo all your good work at the other end is always extremely high. But let’s hope for the best, because there’s not much else to do.

 

Game #18 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #18 – Hawks vs. Hurricanes Spotlight: Dougie Caine

By Sam Fels 1760 0

Let’s start with the raw numbers right at the top. Since he came into the league in the season-in-a-can of ’13, Dougie Hamilton is 4th in CF%. He’s third in relative-Corsi. The names ahead of him are Erik Karlsson and Mark Giordano. The names behind him are Hampus Lindholm and Kris Letang. He’s seventh in that time (min. 5,000 minutes played) in relative expected-goals percentage, ahead of names like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic. If you go by straight points, Hamilton is 17th among d-men who have played 400 games in that time. Clearly, Dougie Hamilton has been one of the best d-men in the league for six seasons now.

When you look at the list of d-men around him in any of these categories, you’ll notice that none of them have been traded twice. Most haven’t even once. Anton Stralman is an under-the-radar player that signed as a free agent in Tampa. Brent Burns was a forward when he got traded. Karlsson was traded because his former team is A). going through a rebuild and B.) is an asylum for the truly confused. Quite simply, everyone treats a d-man of this class like a precious stone. Because they are. The amount of game-changing, right-handed d-men who turn the ice over is a list you could compile on barely two plies of toilet paper. It’s Drew Doughty, Hamilton, Karlsson, Burns, supposedly Dustin Byfuglien (we’re skeptical), PK Subban, and that’s about it. Throw John Carlson on there if you must.

So why has Dougie Hamilton been traded twice?

The Bruins and Flames both tried to throw Hamilton under the bus after they traded him, mostly to justify to a fanbase why they made silly trades that ended up with them getting, at best, 75 cents on the dollar. You’ve heard the jokes about Hamilton going to museums while teammates went to movies or holding farting competitions. You’ve heard he’s just kind of out there as a guy.

Most of this is utter garbage, as might suspect. These days, with media being everywhere, a problem in the dressing room would not be able to be kept a secret for very long. And yet you never hear about problems with Hamilton until he’s already been jettisoned. Then it just becomes justification to questions they don’t have answers to for real.

Is Hamilton something of a free thinker? Yeah, seems that way. Is he interested in himself more than others? Probably. So’s PK Subban and it got him dealt to Nashville. They’ve basically been the best team in the Western Conference since and Montreal, whatever the start to this season, has spent a majority of the time with its collective dick in its hand (and this year’s start has taken place without Shea Weber anyway). The Preds sure don’t seem to mind whatever it is Subban is as a person.

Hockey certainly isn’t the only sport that has looked suspiciously on a player that doesn’t seem fully invested in being “one of the guys.” Football has long had this problem, where any player who reads something else other than his playbook is to be regarded with suspicion. Baseball sees some of this as well.

But the fears with Hamilton have gone overboard, considering the rare production a team gets from him every season. What’s more important, that he’s seen as a drinking buddy by everyone or he is one fo the best d-men in the league? While team chemistry is important, it’s not like things happen on the ice because Hamilton was hanging out by himself one night and not out at the local with a couple of other wingers. Sure, if he was an actual disruption or raging asshole, we’d know. And that would be a problem. No one’s saying that he is or has been.

The Hurricanes don’t seem to care, and we’re all too happy to plug him into their top-pairing and watch him kick everyone’s ass on a nightly basis. This is another brilliant example of hockey’s outright terror of “the individual” ahead of the team. Anything that doesn’t fall uniformly in line and indistinguishable from everyone else is to be killed or eliminated as quickly as possible. Mostly because hockey is run by old drunks with a lot of head injuries who can’t remember anything but their way.

Perhaps one day it will change. Until it does, teams and front offices like Carolina’s that rightly swipe it away as nothing more than a slight nuisance will be be a half-step ahead.

 

Game #18 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #18 – Hawks vs. Hurricanes Q&A: Section 328 Again, Because Four Days Is But A Drop In An Ocean

By Sam Fels 1572 0

This is the Q&A with @Section328 from last Thursday, because four days in an NHL season pass with the impact of a fart in the wind. 

 

Game #16 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineup s& How Teams Were Built

 

Game #18 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #18 – Hawks vs. Hurricanes Douchebag Du Jour: Enough Of The Dads’ Trip

By Sam Fels 1690 0

First of all, who takes all the Dads to Philadelphia and Raleigh? “Ok guys, we know most of you are sore all the time and sitting on a plane doesn’t help much but your reward is…a cheesesteak, liberty bell, and BBQ?” Let these altacockers get to Vegas or Miami or something. Most of them have spent a lifetime in a cold rink. Give them some warmth. Well, except Father Kane. You don’t want him anywhere near Vegas or Miami.

It’s not that the Hawks should stop the Dads’ Trip. It’s a cool thing to do for the players and their families, along with the odd year Moms’ trip. But what we don’t need is to hear about how special it is every fucking year. WE ARE USED TO IT, YOU DO THIS EVERY YEAR.

But every year, we get a long soliloquy from Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk about what a special organization the Hawks are for doing this, because not every team does this you know? Except that they do, and the Hawks stole the idea from the Rangers anyway.

Saturday’s rant was even more precious, because they made special mention about how much it costs to do this for the organization. Because that’s what fans want to hear, the financial burden of flying the players’ fathers around to a couple different cities. Tell us, what do you think fans would prefer if it is so cost-prohibitive: The Parents’ Trip or lowering ticket prices? We’ll be over here when you have an answer.

It’s even more awkward as the Hawks and Rocky Wirtz are never hesitant to tell you about all the money they don’t make and how the Hawks are still in the red even after all the miracle work he and John McDonough have done, according to Rocky and McDonough. Well, if you’re a team that loses money then maybe the lavish extravaganzas like this aren’t necessary?

Of course that’s all bullshit, and the Dads’ or Moms’ trip is fine. The Hawks are so desperate that their fans and the rest of the league see them as a model franchise they’ll sell you just about anything. Clearly, the Hawks are scratching for any goodwill they can right now because most fans, and a fair number of voices within the organization, aren’t pleased about the firing of Joel Quenneville.

So do your trips and your luxuries for the players. But we don’t have to hear about it anymore. Not until you win some damn games, at least.

 

Game #18 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

High On The Hog: New Faces Impact The Weekend

By Jon Fromi 1445 0

The Rockford IceHogs had a pleasant weekend away from the BMO. New head man Derek King put some new faces in the lineup; it paid off with a pair of victories for Chicago’s AHL affiliate.

The Hogs got some excellent play in net from both Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia to knock off two of the Central Division’s better clubs. Friday saw Rockford beat Milwaukee 2-1 before King and company went into Rosemont and bested the Chicago Wolves. The IceHogs won the first meeting of the Illinois rivals this season 4-3 on Saturday night.

King has a lot of skaters nursing injuries and wasn’t afraid to get some recently acquired players into action. One that made an immediate impact was forward Justin Auger, who opened the scoring in both contests this weekend.

The 6’6″ Auger was on a power play unit this weekend, as was Hunter Fejes, another player who was signed to a PTO by the Hogs. AHL signing Connor Moynihan appeared in both games for Rockford. Saturday, with Tyler Sikura feeling ill and being a late scratch, Brett Welychka was back in the lineup.

Rockford has added several players to the roster, which should promote a sense of competition among a team of prospects. With Terry Broadhurst inactive for the weekend set and Sikura sitting on Sunday to go with injuries to Jordan Schroeder and Matthew Highmore, it was great to see players stepping up to beat a couple of quality division foes.

 

Lankinen Recalled

On Sunday, goalie Kevin Lankinen was recalled to Rockford. I can only speculate as to why this is, but here goes:

  • The Blackhawks want Lankinen to spend a few days under the watchful eye of their coaching staff. It is possible that he could start the Hogs Wednesday morning game in Grand Rapids.
  • Collin Delia took a lot of contact in Saturday’s win in Chicago. He did not seem to have suffered ill effects, but an issue may have been revealed post-game. Delia (5-2-2, 2.41, .931) was terrific at Allstate Arena, stopping 37 of 40 shots in what turned out to be a very physical game around the net.
  • Forsberg tweaked something in his appearance Friday night in Milwaukee. Forsberg was outstanding for the Hogs, especially early when Rockford was out of sorts. In four games with the IceHogs, Forsberg sports a 3-1 record, a 1.75 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Both Forsberg and Delia are among the top-performing goalies in the AHL at the present time.
  • Someone’s getting dealt. Who that could be is anyone’s guess.

 

The Perch

With fifteen games in the books for the 2018-19 season, Rockford is 8-4-1-2. With a .633 point percentage, the piglets are in third place in the Central Division. Milwaukee and Iowa are the two teams ahead of the Hogs.

Rockford has points in their last six road games (5-0-1). They have three games in opposing barns this week, starting with a morning game in Grand Rapids on Wendesday. The IceHogs will fly to Texas for a Friday date the Stars. Games in San Antonio await the Hogs Saturday and the following Tuesday.

Dylan Sikura (5 G, 7 A) and Darren Raddysh (4 G, 8 A) pace Rockford with 12 points. Sikura has fired 56 shots on goal, by far the most active on the team through 15 games.

 

Recaps

Friday, November 9-Rockford 2 , Milwaukee 1

Rockford started very slowly, picked up the play as the game progressed and found a way to knock off the Admirals for the second time in a week. Interim head coach Derek King got his first win behind the bench.

The IceHogs got some outstanding play in net from Anton Forsberg, allowing them to stay in the game throughout an uneven first period. The teams went into the first intermission in a scoreless tie.

Rockford built momentum as the second period wore on, taking a 1-0 lead at the 14:42 mark. Darren Raddysh got the play started by forcing a turnover in neutral ice. Lucas Carlsson chased down a loose puck in his own zone and skated along the left half boards across the Admirals blue line.

Carlsson slid the puck over to Justin Auger, in his first appearance for the IceHogs. Auger settled the puck in the high slot before shooting low on Milwaukee goalie Tom McCullom. The shot reached nirvana to end a four-period scoring drought for Rockford.

The Hogs lead was short-lived. Colin Blackwell collected a loose puck in neutral ice, skated to the bottom of the right circle and sent a shot past Forsberg that caught the crossbar and entered the net. The game was tied at one at 15:28 of the second and stayed that way when the teams went to the locker rooms.

After coming up empty on a couple of strong power plays, the IceHogs got the go-ahead goal 15:59 into the third period. The play got started with a Darren Raddysh point shot that was wide of the mark. The puck nearly came out of the Ads zone but was held in by Graham Knott just inside the blue line.

Joni Tuulola took in a pass from Knott, skated to the top of the left circle and fired to McCullom’s stick side. Rubber and twine united as one, with the IceHogs taking a 2-1 lead. Milwaukee pulled McCullom in the final minutes but Forsberg made the required stops to preserve a hard-fought victory.

Raddysh, Blackwell and Tuulola were the games Three Stars. However, the only reason Rockford was in a position to win this game was Forsberg, who made 19 saves and prevented an early Admirals lead with several high-quality saves in the first two periods.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Dylan Sikura-Jacob Nilsson-Viktor Ejdsell

Tyler Sikura (A)-Anthony Louis-Justin Auger

Hunter Fejes-Graham Knott-Henrik Samuelsson

Matheson Iacopelli-Nathan Noel-Connor Moynihan

Lucas Carlsson-Carl Dahlstrom (A)

Darren Raddysh-Joni Tuulola

Blake Hillman-Gustav Forsling

Anton Forsberg

Power Play (0-3)

Sikura-Sikura-Samuelsson-Raddysh-Forsling

Louis-Ejdsell-Fejes-Auger-Dahlstrom

Penalty Kill (Admirals were 0-2)

Nilsson-Noel-Tuulola-Carlsson

T. Sikura-Knott-Forsling-Dahlstrom

Louis-Auger-Raddysh-Hillman

 

Saturday, November 10-Rockford 4, Chicago 3

A big second period and 37 Collin Delia saves propelled the Hogs to the win in the first meeting of the season between two Central Division rivals.

Rockford withstood several early chances by the Wolves before Justin Auger won control of a puck in the corner of the IceHogs zone. He guided the biscuit to Anthony Louis, who sent it along the left half boards and across the Chicago blue line.

Graham Knott won a race to the puck and drove to the front of the net. The play was broken up, but Auger was on hand to pressure the Wolves and found the loose puck on his stick. Auger slid it behind Chicago goalie Oscar Dansk at 15:15 of the opening period for a 1-0 Rockford advantage.

The Wolves countered in the waning seconds of the first with a power play goal by Brooks Macek, who slammed home a Daniel Carr rebound with 3.9 seconds remaining. The teams went to the locker room even at one goal apiece.

The key stretch of the game came early in the middle frame. With the teams skating four to a side, Lucas Carlsson uncorked a one-timer off of Viktor Ejdsell’s faceoff win from the right point. Dansk was unable to detain the puck and Rockford was back on top 2-1 at the 1:35 mark.

The Wolves were down two players due to penalties soon after, setting up another long-range bomb. This one came from the stick of Darren Raddysh, who one-timed a pass from Gustav Forsling at the top of the left circle past the blocker of Dansk. The Hogs led 3-1 at 2:58 of the second.

Halfway into the second period, the Rockford power play struck again. Forsling sent a slap shot toward the Chicago goal that rebounded off Dansk and into the slot. Ejdsell was on hand to collect the puck and pass to Dylan Sikura at the bottom of the right circle. The resulting shot caught twine at 10:55 to make it 4-1 Rockford.

The Hogs needed each of those tallies to outlast the Wolves, who had their offensive prowess on display. Keegan Kolesar batted in a rebound of a Brandon Pirri shot on a delayed penalty call to cut the lead to 4-2 at 13:31 of the second. Chicago then turned up the heat in the final 20 minutes.

Delia found himself fending off an onslaught of rubber throughout the third period. The IceHogs penalty kill stopped two Wolves chances; after Raddysh was called for interference with 7:40 remaining, Chicago brought Dansk to the bench for a two-man advantage that Rockford stopped. Dansk spent most of the remainder of the contest behind the boards as the Wolves slammed away at the Rockford goalie.

Macek eventually got his second goal of the game to make it 4-3, but that came with just 22 seconds to go in regulation. The piglets held on despite 20 Chicago shots on goal in the third to post their second win in as many days.

Sikura, Macek and Ejdsell were voted the game’s three stars, though Delia certainly deserves a mention for stopping 37 of 40 shots. Most of those shots came with heavy traffic in front of his net.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Hunter Fejes-Nathan Noel-Henrik Samuelsson

Anthony Louis-Graham Knott-Justin Auger

Dylan Sikura-Jacob Nilsson-Viktor Ejdsell

Connor Moynihan-Brett Welychka-Matheson Iacopelli

Gustav Forsling (A)-Dennis Gilbert

Carl Dahlstrom (A)-Lucas Carlsson

Darren Raddysh-Joni Tuulola

Collin Delia

Power Play (2-7)

Sikura-Samuelsson-Knott-Raddysh-Forsling

Fejes-Ejdsell-Auger-Louis-Dahlstrom

Penalty Kill (Wolves were 1-6)

Nilsson-Noel-Tuulola-Carlsson

Samuelsson-Knott-Forsling-Dahlstrom

Louis-Auger-Raddysh-Gilbert

 

Waking Up With The Griffins

Grand Rapids, who hosts the IceHogs Wednesday morning, are 6-6-0-1 on the season. They have, however, played well at Van Andel Arena (3-1-0-1).

The Griffins are led in scoring by a pair of long-time AHL veterans, Chris Terry (8 G, 3 A) and Camper Carter (2 G, 9 A). Matt Peumpel, who notched 22 goals for Grand Rapids last season, has five goals and five helpers this season.

There’s a lot of veteran presence on the Griffins. Returning faces include forwards Martin Ford (3 G, 4 A) and Turner Elson (3 G, 5 A). Defenseman Dylan McIlrath is a nine-year AHL vet. Fellow blueliner Brian Lashoff is starting his tenth year with Grand Rapids. Both are big, physical players who have been dishing it out against Rockford for years.

Former Sharks prospect Harri Sateri spent several seasons in the KHL and now patrols the net for the Griffins. In nine games, he’s 4-5 with a 3.71 goals against average and an .867 save percentage. Patrik Rybar (2-1-1, 2.21, .905) comes from several seasons playing in his native Slovakia. He had a rough debut against the Wolves but has played well in three other starts for the Griffins.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for thoughts on the IceHogs throughout the season.

 

 

Everything Else

Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – November 11th

By Sam Fels 1267 0

First Screen Viewing

Flames vs. Sharks – 8pm

It still hasn’t quite clicked into gear for the Sharks, who are still somehow looking up at both the Flames and Canucks in the Pacific. But that’s mostly due to some wonky goaltending, and should straighten out at some point. The Flames have been spikier than imagined, though they’re starting Mike Smith in this one so you can expect them to give up five. Still a lot of fast players on display here and if the Flames believe in some sort of “throwing down a marker of intent” type thing, a win in The Tank is a good way to do it.

Second Screen Viewing

Wild vs. Blues – 2pm

Only to see if the Hawks drop into last, which is probably where they belong.

Other Games

Senators vs. Panthers – 4pm

Coyotes vs. Capitals – 4pm

Devils vs. Jets – 6pm

Knights vs. Bruins – 6pm

Avalanche vs. Oilers – 8:30

Everything Else

Game #16 – Hawks 0, Flyera 4: All Seven And We’ll Watch Them Fall

By Sam Fels 2008 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Corsica

At least the Colliton Era already has a familiar pattern.

Once again, the Hawks were the better team in the first period. They had the better chances, they looked faster and more creative than they have for most of the season, and yet they couldn’t solve a goalie who for the most part has struggled for a while. And then a defensive miscue causes them to fall behind. They don’t panic, but can’t scratch one out. At least it didn’t all fall apart like Thursday. Progress?

But then two veterans completely shit it on a power play, including some really questionable effort, and now you’re down two. The Hawks couldn’t crack a Flyers team that could then just sit back and wait, because they don’t have enough of those players. You know where it goes from there.

Let’s sort it out.

The Two Obs

-Let’s start with Duncan Keith. In the first period, the broadcast was all gaga about his “activity,” which pretty much amounted to impersonating that shortstop on your little league team who chased down every ball, even if it was deep in the outfield. And while activity looks nice, there’s a problem.

It’s not what supposed to be happening.

The main reason Henri Jokiharju was paired with Keith, other than there being no one else really and his veteran tutelage, was to take that part of the game off of Keith’s plate. Keith simply can’t be all over the ice anymore, he can’t be jumping into the play because he can’t get back, and he wasn’t that good at it anyway. As he settles into the sunset years of his career, a free safety role where his still useful mobility would be better suited is what’s on the menu. It’s Jokiharju the Hawks want jumping into the play. They want him making those passes and taking those shots. That’s where his game is. He’s not going to develop by having to catch all the fly balls Keith loses in the sun behind him. If Keith can’t, or won’t, reel it in, then there’s going to have to be another solution. This is part of the reason HarJu is drowning in his own zone. He’s there on his own a lot. And when his instincts to be aggressive come up, he’s finding his partner already there.

As for the first goal, yeah it’s a bad turnover, and a symptom of the Hawks still trying to do the things they used to. But still, when Keith does look, Anisimov is in that circle. Anisimov then proceeds to just float backwards toward the blue line, letting Giroux in front of him, for no discernible reason. Keith is under pressure and facing the boards, how’s he going to get that puck to you at the line, Arty? If you want to know why Anisimov’s possession and defensive numbers blow, there you go.

-Now to the second goal. Keith biffs a puck, admittedly rolling, at the blue line, letting Couturier in. And then Chris Kunitz…well I’m not sure what the verb is here. Blobs on Coots? Attempts to confuse him with his taco breath? Whispers in his ear about the emptiness and meaningless of life in an attempt to get Coots to be buried in ennui? I can’t tell.

I’m not going to rant and rave about him being on the power play at all, though I want to. With Saad out and the first unit loaded up, the alternatives are like Kahun, Fortin, and….well, you. So whatever. But if that’s the best effort that Kunitz can muster, to be shrugged off that easily, then he’s not an NHL player anymore and should be on waivers tomorrow. If he didn’t bother to do more, well that’s some veteran presence you’ve got there.

-Every time David Kampf, who does have use, makes a move at the offensive blue line to put his teammates offside, he should have to spend five minutes with a weasel in his pants.

-The third goal is mostly unlucky, except for the part where Jan Rutta is hesitant, takes a shit angle, and gets beat to the outside. Otherwise there isn’t even a shot to bounce off Crow and Manning to go in. Ain’t no coach going to do anything with Jan Rutta or Manning or Davidson. Too bad Connor Murphy is dead.

-At least Crow looked more like Crow than he has in weeks.

-A word on the broadcast. First, the barely concealed contempt Foley and Olczyk have for Barry Smith during that interview is excellent television.

We went through this last year. I know this team is a tough watch, but Pat and Eddie are getting paid a fair sum to be professional about it. I don’t need them to agree with the firing, I really won’t argue with anyone who does. But it’s not their job to sit around and lament it two games later. To make it clear how miserable you are having to broadcast this team. No, it wasn’t a great game today, but the mark of a broadcaster is what you do with the bad games. We’re all wondering what we’re doing here, but it doesn’t help when the broadcast of the game sounds like they’re narrating a trip to the DMV. Do better.

Onwards…