Everything Else

Why Aren’t The Hawks Considered The Oilers?

By Sam Fels 1805 0

As long as we’re firebombing everyone, let’s get out the heavy artillery and mercenaries with no soul to wield it.

One team is considered the laughingstock of the entire league. One team is viewed as just a down-on-their-luck powerhouse instead of a Den of Incompetence, which it just might be. They both have 76 points. What’s funny is that the Oilers finished with more points last year, and were only six points behind the Hawks the year before that when they both made the playoffs. Except the Oilers actually bothered to win a round, or even a game.

I know, I know. The Oilers have the exact opposite pedigree of the Hawks before that. This is where I’d also point out that Peter Chiarelli was the width of a post in double OT in Game 1 of the ’13 Final from being a two-time Stanley Cup winner, one behind ol’ Stan there. So while the team might not have any of the glow, the two GMs who built these current messes are more similar than you think.

And you may say, “Yeah, but the Oilers only have 76 points because Connor McDavid is Dark Phoenix and he’s got a really good running buddy in Leon Draisaitl and another pretty good one in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and otherwise they’d be the Senators.” You wouldn’t be wrong. Except then I’d say the same thing about Patrick Kane, and then Alex DeBrincat and Jonathan Toews. And Kane and Toews are older than McDavid and either RNH or Draistail, take your pick.

And then you might say, “Ok, even if I give you that, the Hawks haven’t handed out a patently stupid contract like Milan Lucic.” Here’s one for ya: Milan Lucic over the past three years has two more points than Artem Anisimov, and for only a million and a half more per season. And Lucic only cost money, whereas Anisimov cost you Brandon Saad the first time as well as his money.

We’ve laughed and scoffed at the inability of the Oilers to build a defense, and that’s the main reason they suck. Ok, so heading into next year, which blue line would you take?

Oilers – Klefbom, Larsson, Nurse, Benning, Sekera

Hawks – Keith, Seabrook, Gustafsson, Murphy, possibly some comb of Forsling, Dahlstrom, Jokiharju.

And before you answer, remember the Oilers rank ahead of the Hawks in every defensive category and they’ve gotten essentially the exact same save-percentage this season.

Well sure, the Hawks had to hold onto guys longer, you’d say, considering what they’d accomplished, which hampered their flexibility, whereas Chiarelli basically got to build the Oilers from scratch. Somewhat fair, but the only holdover for the Hawks now who has become a foul-smelling, maggot-infested corpse is Seabrook. Yes, Keith isn’t what he was and has actively sucked or not cared or both at times. But he could almost certainly fill out a second or third-pairing role for you, and it isn’t his fault that the Hawks have literally found no one to move him into that, other that MAYBE Connor Murphy.

There are differences. The Hawks don’t have an obviously franchise-sinking trades like Hall-for-Larsson. They do have a collection of deadline and offseason deals that netted them nothing that has helped yet. Off the top of my head: Sharp trade, Bickell trade, Leddy trade, Danault trade, Hartman trade. Shaw trade got you DeBrincat, so there’s a win!

In reality, I don’t think the Hawks are the Oilers. The Oilers are also capped out for next year, and that’s with pretty much this as a roster. Evan Bouchard appears to be their only prospect to get excited about, and we’ll see with Kailer Yamamoto. The Hawks can at least boast about Jokiharju and Boqvist (maybe on both), and Sikura, Perlini, Kahun, Kampf are at least “guys” to fill out the bottom of a roster on a good team. But the connections are closer than you think.

 

 

Everything Else

Ball Don’t Lie

By Sam Fels 1889 0

There will be lots of post-mortems in just over 10 days time when this season ends now. And that’s when it will end, which we all kind of knew but some of us had deluded ourselves into thinking there was hope it might go on for 10 days more. Which is kind of a silly thing to hope for, because those 10 days in one playoff series really have no more bearing on the future than missing out on them do. But it became official last night.

Even last night’s effort wasn’t a crime against the sport. The Hawks don’t have a trap-buster. They never really have honestly, but they had the forwards and the defensive discipline to grind it out in the past. Gustafsson is too slow, Forsling too dumb and slow, and Keith too manic with the puck. They don’t have forwards to just get it low and get it back other than Saad, especially with Caggiula hurt (and when you’re needing Drake Caggiula, that expresses things I never could through sheer prose). Dominik Kahun can in spurts, but he was on the 4th line for some reason. And they don’t have d-men who can get a shot through traffic. I’m not even convinced Gustafsson is that good at it, as his skill seems to be burying open ones. Seabrook used to, when he could get to any spot to even get a shot off quicker than can be measured with an egg timer.

Still, they didn’t try as much of the dipsy-doodle shit they did against Vancouver against the same tactics. They actively tried to harass the Coyotes d-men early and often to try and create turnovers at the Arizona line or just beyond to avoid that trap, which is what they had to do. Didn’t work, but at least they tried it.

But at the end of the day, the Hawks had seven “big” games that definitely would have had them in the playoff spots or right on them. The spots they’ve told you are the season’s goal. The spots they told you were the minimum for this season.

They took two points out of them.

It’s a second straight year without the playoffs for Team One Goal. Two years after you were told that everyone would be held accountable. So who’s been held accountable?

Brent Seabrook has been healthy scratched twice in two seasons where he’s been AHL-level. Duncan Keith probably can’t be demoted in the lineup, but other than occasionally Murphy and Dahlstrom taking last minute shifts, there’s been no sign of that either. Nick Schmaltz was held accountable, I guess. But that’s easy. Henri Jokiharju was apparently held accountable. That’s even easier.

Joel Quenneville was, though only after his GM was actively spiking his roster. And I don’t know that was the wrong choice. I don’t think it was, and I didn’t then either. But his replacement has done exactly the same (.500, which in the NHL is bad) with an improved roster. Q didn’t have Connor Murphy. Q didn’t have Caggiula. Q didn’t have Sikura. Q didn’t have Strome and Perlini (whatever that counts for). And Q didn’t have a back-to-his-best Crawford, which Colliton has had the past month. Where has that gotten the Hawks? A handful of themselves. Will Colliton be held accountable? When he was hired they told you this was a playoff team. They’ve snuffed it in every game they had that truly mattered. Keep in mind, if they’d just split those seven points from the 14 on offer, not only are they in a wildcard spot, they’re probably comfortably so.

After stealing a win out of Montreal and then struggling against Vancouver’s trap for a period. Coach Cool Youth Pastor switched the lines to whatever this is. Top Cat doesn’t have a point. Kane doesn’t have a goal. Strome doesn’t have a point. Neither does Perlini. Toews has two goals and three points. Brandon Saad has averaged a 65% Corsi over these five games, and the same scoring chance share, and has been on the ice for one goal for because all his work is being done for the benefit of balloon handed clods. Sure, teams go through snakebitten periods as a whole, and maybe this is it. Or is it that a very thin and fragile lineup needs to be perfectly assembled, and Beto O’Colliton did the opposite?

Will Stan Bowman be held accountable? He was the one actively trashing his coach in the offseason with his moves for an excuse to fire him, which he didn’t have the balls to do over the summer. He then installed his guy who is clearly not ready for this after one season coaching in North America. It was a hail mary to save his job. It didn’t work, but he’ll get away with it. While the broadcast spent several minutes discussing the Coyotes overhauling their scouting after having to trade three straight first-round picks, the names of Schmaltz, McNeill, Danault and Hartman certainly ring around the ears of Hawks fans (I’d throw Teuvo on there, but he was a sweetener). Will Stan be held accountable for his pro scouting staff? Because in the past that’s netted him a clinically dead Johnny Oduya, Dale Fucking Weise, Tomas Fleischmann, and an even more clinically dead Andrew Ladd. Sure, he fleeced Edmonton, but that’s filling-your-name-on-the-SAT shit. Strome and Perlini may yet work out, but the record is very spotty. This is the same GM who ruined last year by having no backup plan for Crawford than Anton Forsberg and JF Berube. Has it improved at all?

Will John McDonough be held accountable? It’s his enforced extensions to Bickell, Seabrook, and Anisimov that have hamstrung this team. It’s his message that this is a playoff team is broadcast far and wide, and yet it’s his team that’s not even coming close to that. By what standard is he judged? The building is still full, so I guess that’s what matters.

In a depleted Western Conference that made the hurdle of the playoffs barely knee-height, these Hawks will barely get within hailing distance. Their point-total this year will be the same as it would have been last year if Crawford had remained healthy. Perhaps even worse. They have the same 76 now, and you could easily see them only beating the Kings the rest of the way here (and there’s another thing they barf-belched last time, so who knows?). So how do you make the argument they’re moving forward? And they’re not moving backward, they’re in the same hell they were before. Not near the playoffs and not bad enough to get a true difference maker in the draft. And you have to believe the playoff threshold will return to its 95-point level next year because that’s just how things work. Do you see a 95-point team here without massive additions?

This was a team in need of a lot, and even at the draft they took the biggest project possible. And trading or buying out Keith and Seabrook, respectively, this summer, if that is the plan, is only going to ramp up the pressure even more. Their names still draw a ton more water than Bowman’s or Colliton’s do. Is there any forward in the system anywhere close worth getting excited about? It seems like the Hawks are poised to make the team good again just at the point when Toews and Kane are too old to do that. How many more MVP-worthy seasons do they think Kane has left in his 30s?

Who will be held accountable? The answer is no one, as the front office hides behind the three banners they were pretty much as along for the ride for as you and I were. And they can do that, because the Hawks have returned to their natural place in the Chicago pecking order. The Bears are Super Bowl contenders. The Cubs are still World Series contenders. The Sox are at least in the news and producing players their fans can get excited about. Even the Bulls stupidity knocked the Hawks back even more off the headlines.

So they can keep the status quo, because really, who’s looking?

Everything Else

Game #76 – With the Apple in My Mouth, the Food That Celebrates Your End – Hawks 0, Coyotes 1

By John Pullega 1768 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Money Puck

That’ll about do it for any playoff hopes the Hawks had. In another BIG GAME, the Hawks let out the biggest and densest of farts, failing to scratch against a team straight ahead of them in the standings and more than happy to play a wet blanket trap. Now too bad for the playoffs and too good for a top draft pick (probably), the Hawks get to end the year against a running buzz saw of teams entrenched in the playoffs and the Kings. What a fucking treat.

– Let’s start positive. Corey Crawford looked outstanding yet again. At the beginning of the broadcast, Foley mentioned that Crow was pitching a .940 SV% through the last nine games. In his last five, including tonight, Crow tossed a .924 SV% and managed to get saddled with a 1–3–1 record. He had another stellar game ruined by a bad penalty and his team’s complete Beavis when it mattered most.

Still, it’s always going to be comforting to watch Crawford dominate like he did tonight, especially when his team is giving up 12 high-danger chances for throughout the game, including seven in the third. Crow looks like the Crow of old, and that’s at least a small respite from this skidmark of a season.

– Another thing Foley and Konroyd spent far too much time doing early in the broadcast was pushing the “Keith has really grown” narrative. Konroyd’s Keith fluffing was especially egregious early in the first, during which he waxed poetic about how Keith had really evolved under Colliton’s man zone system as shown by his +20 plus-minus rating or some such shit. Anyone with standard definition television can see that Keith has gone kicking and screaming like Ned Flanders into this fucking asylum of a system, and no meaningless plus-minus or OT goal in a game they needed in regulation is going to change that. Having Keith take the lazy tripping penalty on Crouse late in the third was just the icing on the cake.

I won’t ever hate Duncan Keith, but some of the pissbaby penalties and plays are starting to wear thin.

– It’s good that the next six games don’t matter, because Patrick Kane is completely out of gas. Tonight saw him displaying flat passing and skating and more stripped turnovers than I can remember in a while. And yet, Colliton kept double shifting him, because that’s apparently his counter-clockwise fucking swirl. Except when Kane can’t keep up with the plays he can normally make, the swirl looks more like a knuckle.

– It’s a bit concerning that in the last five games—five games that in theory mattered—the Hawks managed to score just seven goals, and that was with the “nuclear option” flying out there regularly. That’s something that’s on Colliton. He boxed his team in by tossing out one line with all the scoring threats and no one to retrieve the puck, and then Nathan For You’d the rest of the lineup.

It wasn’t until the third of this game that he tried throwing Sikura up with DeBrincat and Toews, leaving a tired Kane to try to manufacture everything else by himself. It’s frustrating when you’ve got teams directly above you in the standings simply trapping and stuffing the middle because they know the top line won’t be able to retrieve the puck off a perimeter shot. It’s especially frustrating when your third line dominates in the oZ but doesn’t have a true scorer to finish the job. Colliton either couldn’t or wouldn’t make the adjustment. I’m not sure which would be worse.

– David Kampf is a fine player. Maybe even good. But if you needed to be reminded about why he’s not ever going to be a Top 6 guy, tonight was the night. His line was the only forward line underwater in possession, and they were way, way under. He doesn’t complement Perlini or Strome well at all, and that Colliton thought that the way to fix that line was to put a defensive stalwart with very little offensive upside in the middle of it doesn’t inspire confidence.

– Forsling–Seabrook continues to insult. Along with the Kampf line, they were buried in possession (26+ and 30+ CF%, respectively). Seabrook’s desperation tripping penalty led to the Coyotes’s only goal, and Forsling had no fewer than four unforced turnovers, at least three of which came in the defensive zone on long pass attempts. It’s a never-ending nightmare whenever these two are on the ice. Given how bad they are, everyone should be fired if Boqvist and Harju aren’t up and playing with this team next year. There’s simply no way those two can be any worse than Forsling–Seabrook.

– On the Yotes’s goal, Connor Murphy went out too far to cover Keller, who easily slipped a pass by him and to the waiting stick of humongous puddle of wet dogshit Nick Cousins. If Murphy sags a bit, it closes that lane off and makes that pass more difficult at least. It didn’t help that Kruger couldn’t clear the ice immediately prior, but Murphy’s positioning was the main culprit.

– Brendan Perlini’s got a hell of a release. If he can ever get it under control, he could be fun. I do not like how many ifs I have to attach to him at all.

– Alex DeBrincat has had a rough go of it over the past few games. Now that the Hawks are dead, Colliton would be wise to slot him with Perlini and Strome again and try to get that line back on track.

Unless you think the Hawks can beat the Sharks, Kings, Jets, Blues, Stars, and Preds all in a row and in regulation, then tonight’s loss was the final nail in the coffin. The best they can do now is try to get the Perlini–Strome–DeBrincat line back on track, get Sikura his first goal, and maybe give Garbage Dick some time off.

We’re at the funeral, so we’ll sing the requiem.

Booze du Jour: Two Hearted

Line of the Night: “FUCK” –Corey Crawford

Everything Else

Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – March 26th

By Sam Fels 977 0

First Screen Viewing

Hurricanes vs. Capitals – 6pm

All the action is in the Metro tonight, both at the top and bottom of that playoff picture. The Canes are almost clear of trouble, with a five-point gap to the Jackets outside the fence. They’re only four points behind the Penguins for third with two games in hand, so they may even scrap an automatic spot. The Caps have ascended to the top spot of the division, which at this point is basically a birthright for them, but are only holding off the Islanders by a point. This is the first of a home-and-home and if the Canes were to take both they’d be one point behind the Caps, even with the Pens, and it’ll be a big ol’ mess. Which is clearly what we’re rooting for.

Second Screen Viewing

Islanders vs. Blue Jackets – 6pm

Kind of the same thing here. The Isles need this to get back over the Caps, and the Jackets need every point on offer to avoid a franchise-defining capitulation that could set them back years. Although at this point they’re just playing to get impaled on something sharp by the Lightning, which would be more of the same in their playoff history. Still, to miss out after all that would frankly be embarrassing for them (and life-affirming for us). Maybe Artemi Panarin can join the party before he fucks off, as he’s currently got six assists in 12 March games when the Jackets needed him most. You can have him.

Other Games

Panthers vs. Canadiens – 6:30

Sabres vs. Senators – 6:3o

Kings vs. Oilers – 8pm

Ducks vs. Canucks – 9pm

Everything Else

Game #76 – Hawks vs. Coyotes Preview/Live Album Recording: Still Reaching For The Ropes

By Sam Fels 1777 0

vs.

RECORDS: Hawks 33-32-10   Coyotes 36-33-7

PUCK DROP: 9pm

TV: WGN

HI HOMER! FIND YOUR SOULMATE: Five For Howling

Only because the Western Conference refuses to let anyone die (at least outside Southern California), tonight’s tilt still has implications on the final wildcard spot. With their decisive win in Winnipeg last night, the Stars have probably extricated themselves from this Battle Stupid. The Wild still seem to be going the other way, though they’re three points up on the Hawks but having played two games more. The two combatants tonight are officially not dead, so this somehow clears the bar of “BIG GAME.” We know how that’s gone for the Hawks, with Sunday’s hail mary being their only reprieve.

Since you last saw the Coyotes, which was getting speed-bagged by Brendan Perlini, they’ve gone 2-4-1 and have lost those four all in a row leading to his one. Their last out was a cure of insomnia, shutout-loss to the Islanders, who have a habit of doing that. Getting pumped by the Lightning on the road is par for the course, but also eating it to the Panthers and Devils is not. It’s left the Yotes two points behind the Avalanche having played the same number of games. Let’s say their forlorn hopes are fading.

The problems for the Coyotes are hardly inconspicuous. Since putting up a touchdown on the Ducks, in this 0-4-1 stretch they’ve scored six goals. That’s not going to get it done, no matter what kind of holistic/satanic ceremonies Darcy Kuemper may be performing in the crease to put out numbers like this. And the Coyotes don’t score because they simply don’t have enough talent. Yes, Derek Stepan is back, but when you desperately need Derek Stepan to return, that says everything about what you are and where you still need to go.

I suppose the Coyotes can claim to be a little hard done by, as in those five games they’ve been on the positive side of the possession ledger. But they don’t do as much with that as most opponents will, so they’ve lost the chance battle. There’s not enough here to turn possession into threat consistently, and that will be their problem until they produce a star out of the kids they have or they convince one to sign there. Which ought to be a real trick. Worker bees need a queen, after all.

So the Yotes can be GO HARD all they want, and there is a decent amount of speed here, and they can gobble up points in the doldrums of the season when other teams are in the midst of, “I can’t be fucking bothered with this” phase. But when teams are trying, or just ramping up for the playoffs, they’re short. The Hawks will find this out themselves in a week, if not sooner. But it’s enough to put the Hawks off for sure, and the Yotes will definitely be looking for some get-back after getting it up them sideways on Madison St. a couple weeks back.

As for the Hawks, I guess if they’re still counting these as real games they need to run the table this week. That includes a trip to San Jose, a team that has treated them like a marrow bone twice already but is kind of a mess at the moment, can’t get a save anywhere, and is basically locked in where they are and is waiting for the playoffs to start. So maybe you can goof a win there, who knows? But beating the Yotes and Kings is an absolute must, because the last week is murder. But hey, if you’re going to pull a miracle, pull A MIRACLE.

Only changes tonight you’d see is the defensive rotation in some fashion that doesn’t really matter. One would think at home the Coyotes will come out far more aggressive, for one after what went on last time and after losing four in a row on the road. The Coyotes are faster than the Hawks and if they play up to that they can cause all sorts of headaches. If they’re on the heels and give the Hawks’s greater star power time and space to be the Hawks’ greater star power…well, you saw what happened last time. You’ll know how this will go by how out-and-up the Coyotes are playing.

Hey, it’s better to have games with minimal stakes on them than just running out the clock, I guess. Let’s take it a little further.

 

 

Game #76 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #76 – Hawks vs. Coyotes Spotlight: Did I Ever Tell You Why I Left The CIA? My Kuemper

By Sam Fels 1431 0

We’re so sorry.

All right, on with it. The Coyotes would like you to believe that they got back into the playoff race–one they’re falling out of now–due to the collective. That even though they don’t have any stars, or anyone close at forward, because they all worked together just so damn hard and man aren’t they adorable they’ve managed to find the swarm method to points and competitiveness.

It’s all utter horseshit, of course. The Yotes are here because Darcy Kuemper got them here.

Kuemper took over the starter’s job at the end of November when something on Antti Raanta went TWANG!. Since the turn of the year, he’s been marvelous. He’s made 32 starts in 2019, going 19-8-5 with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .927 save-percentage. Since January 1st, the only goalies to have a better SV% than Kuemper are Ben Bishop, Thomas Greiss, Jordan Binnington, Andre Vasilevskiy, Carey Price, and Juuse Saros. That’s the two Vezina frontrunners, the highest-paid goalie in the league, and one behind a Trotz defensive team. All of them are backstopping playoff teams at the moment as well, so it’s no secret what the Yotes are doing loitering around the West’s wildcard spots.

Kuemper flashed something like this last year, as Jonathan Quick‘s backup in Los Angeles. He made 19 appearances and amassed a .938 SV% behind the still-stingy (and utterly boring) Kings defense. That earned him a deadline deal to the Coyotes, where he wasn’t nearly as effective filling in for the seemingly perma-crocked Antti Raanta. Still, as an insurance plan, you could do way worse. Instead, the Coyotes got a reason for being.

Arizona has needed it. While their record since the calendar change is good to better than good, their methods are not. They’re bottom-10 in attempts, scoring-chances, and high danger chances since January 1st, so they’ve basically needed every Kuemper save they’ve gotten. They’re also bottom-10 in goals scored at even-strength in that time, so again, the margins for error are extremely thin. Which might be why they’ve lost five in a row with Kuemper’s level dropping every so slightly.

The Coyotes do limit what Kuemper has to do in one fashion. They give up a ton of attempts but block a ton of shots, as they’re middle of the pack in shots-against and scoring-chances-against since the turn of the year while being bottom-five in attempts against. So Kuemper doesn’t have to perform a high amount of miracles, but he does have to perform a high-percentage of the ones asked because the Coyotes just don’t score much.

Which puts brain-boy John Chayka in something of a quandary next season. Raanta will be coming back, but can’t be trusted to stay upright in a stiff breeze. The Coyotes have to do something eventually other than promise a future, and next year would seem the bills come due. Kuemper is signed through next season at a very cheap $1.8M, so the simple answer is to keep him around as Raanta insurance.

On the other side of the coin, you could never sell higher on him than now, especially with that very reasonable salary. Raanta’s injury history make him unmovable, or at least for nothing more than whatever’s left in the truck after cleaning. This is far and away the best regular season Kuemper has had, and his only one as a full-time starter. He also remains DARCY KUEMPER. Raanta was awfully good last year when healthy, and the Yotes could use some pieces at forward. Would the Flames or Sharks or someone else who bites it early due to a giant sucking sound in the crease come calling? You have to think they would, and the free agent class has Bobrovsky, Varlamov, and that’s just about it. Kuemper’s going to be a more attractive trade piece than he will ever be.

He might not be done yet. The Coyotes face the Avs and Wild after tonight, which are direct competitors. Their three games to close the season are the Kings, Knights, and Jets, and while the latter two are much better than the Coyotes, they almost might not have anything to play for by then. If he’s got one more spurt in him, he could goof the Yotes a playoff spot. Which would only drive up his value even more.

Let’s see how galaxy brain Chayka really is.

 

Game #76 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #76 – Hawks vs. Coyotes Q&A: Catherine Silverman of Athletic AZ

By Sam Fels 1463 0

Catherine Silverman covers the Yotes for The Athletic, as well as working as a goalie expert of In Goal Magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @CatMSilverman. This is the Q&A we did with her a couple weeks ago when the Coyotes were here.

The Yotes have hung around the playoff picture, and yet they don’t have anyone who has scored over 42 points. Is this all or mostly Darcy Kuemper‘s resurgence?

So, let me preface this as saying that I think that Darcy Kuemper has been a really solid part of the team this year. He’s had his moments that put your heart in your throat, but he’s internalized the need to play well for the team’s playoff hopes and gotten the job done. 

That being said, I think that the biggest contributor to their success has been their scoring depth. They don’t have anyone over 42 points, but they have 11 players with 20 or more points and 10 players with 10 or more goals. In comparison, the Blackhawks have a 96-point getter, but also only have 10 players with 20 or more points — and they only have eight players with 10 or more goals. It’s why the Dallas Stars have a 61-point player in Tyler Seguin, but are still hanging around Arizona; they only have five players with 10 or more goals. 

While the more top-heavy teams live and die by the success of their stars, Arizona has been getting effective middle-six production from… well, everyone. Add in their injuries (if you project players like Schmaltz, Richardson, Galchenyuk, and Grabner onto an 82-game season, they’d all be sitting on much higher point totals) and their success makes a lot more sense. 

In my opinion

Look, we like Connor Murphy. We may be the only ones, but we’ll hold on. But we can’t help but notice the metrics that Niklas Hjalmarsson is turning in these days. Starting in his own zone most of the time, against the toughest competition, and turning it around. Is that to do with playing with Ekman-Larsson? Because Hammer was starting to turn here before the trade…

I think it has a bit to do with it, but Ekman-Larsson certainly isn’t propping Hjalmarsson up if that’s what you’re insinuating. Isolated on his own, Nik has been one of Arizona’s best players all year; he’s looking incredibly effective, and very much like the player that Chicago initially signed to his current deal. 

It’s possible that the rest from no playoffs last year combined with missed time for injury legitimately gave him enough rest to refuel his tank. Whatever it is, though, he’s looking fantastic.  

We were also Alex Galchenyuk fans and though Arizona got the better of that deal. He’s produced ok, been hurt a bit, but maybe not yet what we were thinking. What is he to someone who watches him far more?

He’s been exactly what the team traded for. After missing the start of the season for injury, he had a bit of a slow start — understandable when coming in with the season in full swing on a brand-new team. 

In the last few months, though, he’s been one of their best players. He’s excellent on the power-play, has 15 goals and 36 points in 57 games (which would be 43 points if he’d missed no time, putting him over that 42-point threshold), and has won 46 percent of his face-offs — his highest percentage in three years. 

Since February 1st, he’s put up seven goals and 11 points in 17 games. If he can continue to perform on the power-play like he has lately — and, frankly, continue to set up plays for Clayton Keller like he has been, even when it doesn’t get him a point on the board — he’ll continue to prove to be a fantastic add for the team. 

Three points out, game in hand on the Wild, 15 to go. Can the Yotes do it?

Three points out and two games in hand now, since the Wild forgot they were playing tonight. But I’d say at this point, it’s really anyone’s game — meaning that I won’t be putting money on Arizona, but I won’t be surprised at all if they make it either. 

Jason Demers is healthy again. Michael Grabner is healthy again. Antti Raanta is getting close. They’ve survived the first of potentially four to six weeks without Derek Stepan, and only lost one game in the process. I think if they put up the kind of performance they did down the back stretch last year, especially with Colorado losing one of their own top-heavy talents and Minnesota and Dallas struggling with consistency, they could easily slip their way in. 

 

Game #76 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #76 – Hawks vs. Coyotes Douchebag Du Jour: The Idea Of A Collective

By Sam Fels 1404 0

It’s not going to work out for the Yotes again, but there was a time when it looked like it might. And hey, if they run the table the rest of the season, they just might sneak a playoff spot. Which would actually be the wrong reinforcement for what they do down there.

But whenever a team like this is just a little better than it was thought they’d be (and we leave it to you to decide whether the Yotes are better or the conference is just that much worse), their supporters and media like to trumpet and champion their faceless nature. That they don’t need stars or have somehow found a way to do it through group effort. Their total is greater than the sum of their parts and more cockameemee gobbledygook like that.

It’s not true, of course. The Coyotes haven’t been able to produce “a star” with their bevy of top-10 picks, which is a failure. Clayton Keller might be that one day, though even in just his second year you’d probably know by now. The reason the Coyotes suck–and let’s be real, if you’re outside the playoffs in the West you suck–is that they don’t score enough. 4th least amount of goals in the entire league. And they don’t score enough because they don’t have the talent.

As much as hockey likes to bill itself as the ultimate team game and 4th liners get over-glorified on Cup winners, you win the important games at times because you have one or two guys the other team doesn’t. There’s a game or two on the run where your best player just decides you’re going to win. You’ve seen enough of them around here to know what they look like. Fuck, Duncan Keith did it for a whole spring.

Name the last Cup champ to not have that guy. You can’t do it. Maybe the Bruins of ’11, except they had a goalie throwing a .945 in the playoffs. And they still had Bergeron, Krejci, Marchand, Chara in front of that, players better than anything the Coyotes have managed to find or develop.

Arizona is not going to rise out of the muck they’ve resided in for their entire existence until they find one or two or three of those guys. They can play the “team” card all they want, so can their fans, in a bid to justify their existence or dedication. It’s kind of a Stockholm Syndrom. And as long as they do that, the 8th-seed is the best they can hope for. They should be offer-sheeting the shit out of Mitch Marner or throwing everything at Erik Karlsson or the like.

Until then, feel free to pretty much ignore.

 

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Game #76 – Hawks vs. Coyotes: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels 1351 0

Notes: Due to the Pacific Timezone start we didn’t get a chance to glance at the morning skate, but we assume Coach Cool Substitute Teacher will stick with the lines that didn’t work on Sunday but got a win. The prospect of the top line is tantalizing, but there’s not puck-winner, space-opener there. Toews doesn’t do that anymore, and Beto needs to realize that. It also leaves the rest of the lineup without any dash whatsoever. We know Kane on a “third” line looks weird, but the Hawks did win five in a row in that formation…Forsling probably plays, but we can’t bring ourselves to change it all the time or more likely to care when everyone basically sucks…Would be nice if Perlini found it again, and his recent “streak” is just three big games against bad teams…

Notes: Stepan didn’t play last time, and he does make a difference as he’s an actual checking center. Expect him to be on Toews all night…Chychrun didn’t play last time but that doesn’t seem to be carrying over to tonight…Vinne Smalls poured in four goals in the two games after the loss to the Hawks, but hasn’t scored or assisted in the five games since…Kuemper may be having fatigue problems. He wasn’t any good against the Oilers, Lightning, or Panthers. He rebounded against the Devils and Islanders, but there’s no offensive there there…Keller has no goals and two assists in his last eight games…

 

Game #76 Preview Suite

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Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built