Everything Else – Page 64 – Faxes from Uncle Dale

Everything Else

Game #41 – Hawks vs. Avalanche Q&A: Anthrax Jones And The Precious Juice

By Sam Fels December 29, 2018 1599 0

It was only eight days ago that we visited the deranged warlord Anthrax Jones to consult him about the Avs and the precious juice. Not much has changed, with either the Avs or the juice.

So Rantanen and MacKinnon were awesome last year, and MacK could have easily won the Hart. But they’re both on points for 130+ points this year? Why is this line putting a foot in the ass of the world?

If you did an Inception-style deep dive into Don Cherry’s wettest dream, MacRantaskog would be in it: open mouth-kissing policemen, playing with Blue, and wearing suits made out of the furniture in Dom DeLuise’s opium den. Mikko Rantanen has evolved from Large Baby Deer into Jaromir Jagr’s blonde, blue-eyed second cousin. Defending Nate MacKinnon is the hockey equivalent of trying to catch a fire hose with a goldfish net, and Babe Landeskog’s good looks distract from the fact that he’s morphed into a Marian Hossa/Richard Kuklinski hybrid. This line has everything all the old school shitheads like to burp up every time some weepy Canucks fan starts pissing through their butthole about what a pretty finesse game the Sedins played. They’re talented, fast, and all three of them play with varying degrees of open hostility. I love them a lot.

It felt like the Avs wanted to transition from Varlamov in net to Phillip Grubauer, but Grubs hasn’t really grabbed that brass ring in limited appearances this season. Are they just going to have to ride it out with Varlamov?

Sure beats riding it out with Cal Pickard or the Hamburglar. Varlamov is who he is: occasionally spectacular, occasionally a Farrelly Brothers script. When he’s hot, he’s a top 3 goalie in the league. When he’s not, he’s every goalie the Flyers have run out since Ron Hextall. Grubauer has had his moments where he looks good and his moments where he looks like he’s playing behind Patrik Nemeth and Mark Barberio, because that’s what he’s doing. If the Avs are gonna do anything in May, they’re gonna need one of them to go full 2003 JS Giguere.

With the top line doing what they’re doing they should be gobbling up the toughest opponents every night. Yet no one has been able to really benefit yet. Is this where Tyson Jost or someone else should come in?

In theory, yes. In practice, you’re relying on the entirety of your depth scoring to come from second year pros (Jost, Kerfoot, Compher), waiver wire guys (Andrighetto), An Actual Cyclops (Soderberg), and Colin Wilson. This year is “sit tight and see what we have with the young guys”, and next year is where they go out and overpay a UFA.

Samuel Girard seems to have at least established himself in the top four, no?

The Duality Of Man: I love Girard and I love his game and I love his potential, yet I spent the late 90’s with a recurring grundle cramp because every time Sandis Ozolinsh touched the puck, my sphincter collapsed into itself at roughly the speed and density of a dying star. Girard may not have the offensive upside of Ozolinsh, and may not have the defensive downside of Ozolinsh, but I can foresee a scenario where he becomes Ozolinsh 2020. I’m too old for that type of gooch pain, so let’s hope he doesn’t.

Game #41 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #41 – Hawks vs. Avalanche Douchebag Du Jour: Ian Cole, Bay-bay!

By Sam Fels December 29, 2018 1521 0

Ian Cole makes $4.2M. Just ruminate on that for a second.

Ian Cole has never managed more than 25 points in a season. He averages somewhere around 11 points for his career. He’s been pretty ho-hum metrically for his entire career, basically being just below whatever his team’s averages are for possession and chances. Ian Cole is just there. And the Avs handed him $4.2M per year.

Why? Because there are still far too many GMs who go tumescent at any player that’s won a Cup, even though they were about as important to it as the attendant on the team’s charter. Cole was on both of Pittsburgh’s recent Cup wins. He wasn’t anything more than a third-pairing player, averaging 17 minutes per game between the two. But any bum get a special kind of gloss on them when riding all the way to an end, even if it’s on the coattails on Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

It’s particularly acute in GMs who used to be players, like Joe Sakic, who have spent a career not taking credit and deflecting it to . various punters and squeegee-men on their team. It’s no wonder that Sakic was the one to literally double Cole’s salary from last year, even though he barely knows which was is forward.

Here’s what you need to know about Ian Cole. He was a first-round pick for the Blues. So that tells you he’s basically a clod who can’t move but makes angry faces a lot of the time. Cole hasn’t torpedoed the Avs, because he’s gotten to play with Tyson Barrie and more importantly, spent most of his time behind MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Rantanen. If you want to pay $4M for a player who needs to be propped up by the best you have a majority of the time, then by all means, Cole is your guy.

But hey, he’s got those rings. And he’ll get to profit off them for years more.

Game #41 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #41 – Hawks vs. Avalanche: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

By Sam Fels December 29, 2018 1251 0

Game #41 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #41 – Hawks vs. Avalanche: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 29, 2018 1303 0

Notes: Wouldn’t expect too many changes from a winning lineup. Maybe Martinsen comes in for Hayden…Delia starts until he drops, at least that should be the expectation…Strome is on a 55-point pace for a whole season since becoming a Hawk…hey remember when that scout said Top Cat would never be more than a 20-goal scorer? Good stuff…

Notes: Grubauer has taken the last four starts from Varlamov, and only given up nine goals in them so he might be seizing the #1 job…Wilson got hurt the last time these two met and is out week-to-week, according to the club…MacKinnon tossed seven shots at MAF in their last game and didn’t score, so he’ll be out for vengeance tonight…Compher has four points in his last three games…it’s gone a bit cold for the Avs, as they have only managed more than two goals in a game once in their last five…

Game #41 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Halfway There, All Along I’ve Been The Traveler – The Kids

By Sam Fels December 28, 2018 1548 0

As we continue with this mini-half-season-review, when you have a lost season on your hands the main thing you want to do is find hope for the future. That means what are your young players doing, and what does it look like they’ll be doing when the games might matter again, if anything.

The main one for this season, or at least the most intriguing, is Henri Jokiharju. He’s not here right now because the Hawks couldn’t count and have an even harder time scouting their own talent, but we’ll leave that aside for now. Quick were the masses to heap praise on The HarJu, I assume for not shitting himself in public. I’m more tempted to give him an incomplete. That’s not to say I think he’s been bad or needs to go to Rockford or something, because I don’t. But there needs to be more and some major steps taken.

Jokiharju has been given some tough obstacles to start his NHL career. He’s on a team flailing in the wind most nights. He was put with a partner who simply refused to adjust his own game to help the rookie’s, meaning Jokiharju is cleaning up a lot of messes that he’s just not physically ready for (strangely, Keith has been content to let Erik Gustafsson play the cowboy and be the free safety for him). And the goalies haven’t bailed him out as much as you’d hope, which can only put him more on edge. He’s had to learn two different defensive systems in the first few months of his pro career.

So partly because of all that, we’ve seen very little of the offensive game we know the Finn has. In brief flashes, we’ve seen an ability to get a shot through traffic and a keen passing eye. There is a calmness with the puck at times that belies his age. When given the chance, he does make a solid first pass, and really should be given license to do that more often with passes that go out of the zone instead of just shuffling it up to a covered forward on the boards. But there hasn’t been enough of it yet.

Jokiharju also doesn’t seem to have game-breaking speed, like future teammate Adam Boqvist already possesses. He’s not slow, but he’s not getting away from anyone yet either. Again, some of this is due to the complicated situations he finds himself in, but that’s going to have to improve a touch. He gets snowed under a lot. He needs time with Paul Goodman and a squat rack. And he probably needs a new partner when he returns from the WJC.

I don’t know if we should even include Alex DeBrincat on this list anymore, given what we already know about him. Still, it’s always fun to point out that in a preseason “Scouts’ Take” piece by The Athletic’s Scott Powers, one said Top Cat would never be more than a 25-goal guy. He’s currently on pace for a 34-32-66 season, and that’s with a fair amount of time playing on a third line. If he ever gets full-time, top-six minutes, there’s no telling where this could go.

We didn’t know we’d be writing about Dylan Strome when the season started, but it is a strange old world, indeed. Strome has looked sluggish at times, but not nearly the drunken sloth the Coyotes tried to paint him out to be after giving up on him just 50 games into his NHL career. He’s been more scorer than playmaker during his time here, but that can happen when Patrick Kane is doing most of the latter. That still portends to good things when Strome is getting to the areas to score, whatever the labels of his skating. He’s helped make the power play look competent, not only by playing the role of “Annette Frontpresence,” but being able to do more than just be an obelisk there and rotating to other spots, even the point. The hope in the back half of the season is that he’ll show more of the vision that got him taken 3rd overall in the first place. If that happens, the Hawks might have a gem on their hands here.

Dominik Kahun has spent a majority of the season on the top line, which he can’t possibly have dreamed of ever happening. He hasn’t looked totally out of place there, but it’s clear his NHL future is of a bottom-six weapon. Which is a good thing to have around, of course. He’s got some skill, and instinct at both ends. You could see him being a poor man’s Michael Frolik one day, though with slightly better finish, we can hope. He’s not a team-changer, but he looks to be a nice complimentary piece. You could envision him and David Kampf combining one day soon to be a hell of a third line.

Dylan Sikura has only been up for eight games so far, but I’ll admit to being pleasantly surprised. We basically wrote him off when he didn’t make the team out of camp after all the pub the team gave him, and last year’s quick stint didn’t show much either. He’s gotten the sweetheart shifts on a third line, but hey, that’s ok at this point. Though he hasn’t scratched goal-wise yet, his metrics are very clean-looking and he’s shown the confidence to show some dash to his game at points. Having Top Cat on the other side for most of his stay certainly didn’t hurt. Don’t know if he’s a piece yet or not, but he’s certainly earned a “Want To See More Of” label in his second go-round in the big time.

Those are the ones worth talking about.

Everything Else

Halfway There, All Along I’ve Been The Traveler – The Brent Seabrook Problem And Solution

By Sam Fels December 28, 2018 2031 0

Tomorrow night, the Hawks will cross the rubicon of the first half to the second half of the season, even if it feels like this half was 295 games long. There are a lot of issues with the Hawks that can be studied in this context, but there is no more important one than their blue line. Their blue line is why they’re the worst defensive team in the league. The blue line is why they give up the most high-danger chances in the league. And the blue line is what they’ve told you to focus on in the future. The blue line is why they keep mentioning the names Adam Boqvist (who has looked a bit tasty at the WJC so far, admittedly), Nicolas Beaudin, and Ian Mitchell. They know what the main issue is.

So let’s start our quick, half-season survey stretch by looking at the biggest issue on this team and what they’re going to do going forward.

This is only a working theory, and I’ll never prove it, but the main reason Henri Jokiharju is off with the Finnish kids instead of flying to Denver today is Brent Seabrook. And it’s because the front office didn’t want to put Coach Cool Youth Pastor in a position to have to scratch Brent Seabrook, and consistently. They’re still a touch afraid to have him tell Cam Ward he’s going to sit behind a goalie who has four NHL appearances to his name, even though it’s obvious that’s what has to happen. He’s already had to tell Chris Kunitz and Brandon Manning their services are no longer needed. But that’s one thing. Seabrook is quite another.

Here’s Seabrook’s last 10 games in CF% relative to his team:
+5.62 last night (yay!)

-2.09

-16.2

-9.5

-0.77

-6.67

-4.11

-2.96

-7.22

-33.3 (less yay)

Believe me when I tell you that the scoring chance numbers and high danger chance numbers are way, way worse. Seabrook is in the bottom-20 when it comes to relative Corsi or expected goals in the league of any d-man to play 400 minutes at even-strength this term. These are the facts and they are indisputable.

When Jokiharju comes back, it would be easy to argue that Seabrook is no longer one of the most important six d-men. That doesn’t mean best. Because you could easily point out that Gustav Forsling is just as bad, and I would happily agree with you. And this will be the Hawks’ out when The HarJu comes back, demoting Forsling as Dahlstrom appears to have played himself into the lineup every night. But this is Forsling’s make-or-break season. The games he would get to finish out the season are more important than the ones Seabrook will get. You have to find out if Forsling is going to be anything (spoiler alert: he won’t) at this level, and the Hawks probably still believe that something can be mined out of him. Having him finish the year in Winnebago County isn’t going to do anyone any good.

There isn’t a Hawks fan out there who hasn’t pointed at Seabrook’s contract as the reason for the Hawks pratfall from the NHL penthouse to the pile of mud outside the building. That’s not his fault, it is what it is. But the Hawks are doubling up on the mistake by playing him regularly. It’s sunk cost. That money is gone whether you play him or not.

As this season is lost, it doesn’t really matter what you do with Seabrook for the rest of it. Or it matters less than the summer. Because then it’s going to get ugly. Aside from him, Keith, Jokiharju, Murphy are guarantees to be here next year. Let’s just say Dahlstrom continues his strong play and carves out himself a role. We’re not even talking about Gustafssson yet. You have every reason to believe that at least one of the three of the Youth Triumvirate the Hawks keep selling you is going to be on the team, probably two. That’s five without Gustafsson and only one of Boqvist, Mitchell, Beaudin on the team. Any other combination and that’s six. Would you want to see Seabrook ahead of any of them?

The Hawks cannot lose yet another good player in service of paying a player who’s already past it, otherwise known as the “Bickell Process.” That cost them Teuvo and arguably Danault. It can’t happen again. Teams would absolutely call about Murphy, who has looked like the Hawks best d-man from the moment he stepped back on the ice (faint praise, clearly). They’ll be certain to call about the kids. The Hawks can’t choose nostalgia over them.

The easy way out for the rest of this season is to play seven d-men. That was something Q refused to do and most teams are loathe to (except for the league’s best in Tampa, but y’know, why take your cues from the team that’s going to put up more points than anyone has in a decade or more?). I don’t really need more John Hayden or Andreas Martinsen in my life, and you could use that hole with 11 forwards to get all of Kane, Toews, Top Cat, Saad, Strome an extra couple of shifts per night. Seabrook can play on the second power play unit and spotted shifts here and there, and both Gustafsson and Murphy have shown the ability to play either side to deal with pairing-juggling. This is a half-measure for now.

But it won’t be a solution for all of next year, especially if two of the kids make the team. That’ll put Seabrook eighth on the depth-chart. And that’s if the Hawks don’t conclude they need to go outside the organization for a top-pairing guy to help all the kids, which they absolutely, really need to do (except there’s only one UFA who fits that bill and he’s very handsome and Swedish and decidedly not coming here. Or you could offer-sheet Jacob Trouba, and in that same world I’d be marrying Scarlett Johansson).

So where does that leave everyone? To me, there’s only one way out of this.

At his exit interview, or at his summer home, or somewhere during the offseason, Stan, McD, and Rocky are going to have to sit across a table from him and tell him that everything he has done for this team is cherished and appreciated. He will go down as one of the greatest Hawks d-men ever, because he is. But at this point in his career, he’s going to be no more than a #7 on this team, and he will not play half or most games. If he’s fine with that, great. If he’s not, the Hawks will do everything they can to find a team that will take him and play him more, including paying half his salary. They owe him that.

Again, that money is gone either way. If you can get out of half of it, that’s a win. Maybe you have to include a mid-level prospect to entice, but not every one is going to make the team anyway and as long as it’s mid-level and not an established NHL-er in the vain of Teravainen, Danault, and Hinostroza. This gives Seabrook some control, as he has his full NMC, but also gives him say over how his career is going to play out. And yes, I’m willing to wager you can find a team that will take a chance on him for a mere $3M or so per season, especially if they have to give up nothing and maybe can get a lottery-ticket prospect out of it as well. And if you can’t, Seabrook isn’t bringing your team down night after night, and will know why.

For the rest of this season, and especially in the summer, this is the Hawks biggest issue. And how they solve it is going to be a fascinating, if not infuriating, watch.

Everything Else

Game #40 – Might Not Know It Now, Baby, But I Are, I’m a Star – Wild 2, Hawks 5

By John Pullega December 27, 2018 1875 0

Box Score

Corsica

Natural Stat Trick

After a piss-poor first, the Hawks piled on the offensively anemic Wild in the final 40. By all the metrics except the score and the save percentage, the Hawks had no business winning this game. Good thing they don’t let us fuckin’ nerds make the rules. To the bullets!

– Forty-six saves on 48 shots. Collin Delia had himself a hell of a night tonight. The Wild needed a man advantage to score both of their goals, and neither of them were his fault (they were Seabrook’s. More on that later.). The only real knock against him was his rebound control, especially early on, but he kept it clean when it mattered most. There’s no reason outside of injury or diarrhea that should keep Delia from starting Saturday, and unless he gets completely domed, he should also start the Winter Classic, if not for performance than because it would be a sin against God and the Irish not to start a guy who spells his name the brogueish “Collin” at Notre Dame. Again, 46 saves on 48 shots, and both goals required a man advantage.

– Kane got his hat trick, and man, that creep can roll. No one has evangelized for the Gustafsson–Kane connection harder than I have, and the reason was clear on Kane’s PP goal. It was a simple play—Toews wins the faceoff, Gus walks the line, Kane fires a one-timer short side—but it’s on the power play, which all of a sudden looks deadly.

Kane’s first goal was all him. When Gustafsson took the shot fake and skated around Kunin, I thought he had given himself a nice lane to take a decent shot. Then he fucking passed it. Normally, this would have been a bad pass and a missed opportunity. But Kane kicked the puck to his stick in traffic and flicked it by a porous and soon-to-be-pulled Devan Dubnyk. There are a handful of players who could have gotten a shot off on that pass, let alone scored, and Gus should thank his stars that Kane’s one of them.

– Brandon Saad did a good deal of fucking tonight. His first goal took a bit of luck from Toews behind the net. After receiving a pass from Kahun—who himself was feisty tonight—Toews tried to thread one to Saad, and it ended up bouncing off of Zucker and straight to Saad. After last year’s unlucky debacle, it’s about time Saad got one to bounce his way here. His second goal came off a brilliant DeBrincat steal. With Stalock coming out of the goal to play the puck forward, DeBrincat batted his pass out of mid-air and swept it to a wide-open Saad, who sneezed it over the goal line. His 11+ CF% Rel was also best for third on the Hawks, behind Sikura and DeBrincat.

– Dylan Strome had a ton of opportunities tonight that he just couldn’t cash in, but he was in all the right places. He’s got five points in his last two games, and one can only wonder how much more it could be if he had DeBrincat flanking him rather than Artie the Obelisk.

– It’s been a while since we’ve had to gripe about Brent Seabrook, mostly because Coach Cool Youth Pastor has hidden him as far away from meaningful time as possible. But tonight was different, though not necessarily by choice.

Seabrook was on the ice and out of position on both goals. On the first, the PK2 unit found itself stranded on the ice for 1:30. With about 15 seconds left, Granlund moved in on Seabrook at the far circle, forcing Seabrook to step up, which is not a phrase you want to hear outside of “Seabrook stepped up to cheer on Henri Jokiharju (FINLAND POINT) from the press box and got jalapeño stains on his suit.” Granlund then floated toward the top of the circle, opening up Seabrook on the inside, and hit Staal with a pass. Staal’s shot was blocked by Delia, but it allowed Staal and Parise time to set up behind the net. After playing catch, Staal swung behind the net for a wraparound, and Seabrook got caught between playing Staal behind the net and Parise in front. Seems like you’d want to cover the guy who’s in front of the net rather than behind it, but Seabrook’s hesitation allowed Staal to take the wraparound and Parise to sweep in the rebound.

On the second, Seabrook managed to screen his own goaltender and vacate the spot from which Staal scored. This one was a bit more excusable, given how quickly the play developed, but still not great. There’s not much we can do about it other than grumble, but when Seabrook and Keith were together, they got overwhelmed. No more of that.

– Dominik Kahun was active all night, even though the stats show paltry evidence of it, aside from his secondary assist on Saad’s first goal. His best play of the night came about halfway through the second. Carl Dahlstrom broke on a rush, only to have the Hawks turn it over in the neutral zone. Murphy gummed up a 2-on-1, giving Kahun time to get back and lift Staal’s stick as he wound up for a pass from Zucker. It would have been a hard shot for Delia to stop, and Kahun prevented it all with strong stick work.

– David Kampf was good on the PK tonight, logging just over four minutes. He was on the ice for the Wild’s not-really-a PP goal, but aside from that, he battened down the hatches. If he had just a bit of scoring touch, he probably would have had a goal too, as Kane hit him with a smooth drop pass (the good kind) and left him with a wide-open shot that Stalock denied.

– Though it’s a minor gripe, I’d like to see Sikura and Perlini switch back up. Neither was particularly noticeable tonight in their respective spots. It didn’t hurt, but it also didn’t help.

– Toews got his 400^th assist tonight. Good on him. If anyone deserves a statue, it’s Toews.

In the first time in about 10,000 days, the Hawks had the tools to win a post-Christmas-break game. They’ll travel back to my backyard on Saturday, where the only excuse Colliton will have for not starting Delia will be because he ate the fattest edible known to man and took advice from drunk Patrick Roy. The Hawks are on a bit of a roll now, and if the shit fits, wear it.

Booze du Jour: Tin Cup

Line of the Night: “Have to get Forsling and Seabrook off the ice. They’re out of gas.” Eddie O., saying what we’re all saying.

Everything Else

Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – December 27th

By Sam Fels December 27, 2018 1030 0

First Screen Viewing

Flames vs. Jets – 7pm

Everyone’s pretty much in the pool coming out of the Christmas break, and while the nation’s eyes will mostly be tuned to children in Vancouver beating up on children from Switzerland to define that weird country’s emotional state, its two best teams will be dancing in Winnipeg. Both the Jets and Flames stand atop their divisions, giving the Great White North real hope of another Final appearance, only its third in 13 years should it come to pass. The Jets have actually opened up some space on the Preds, who can’t get their act together on the road at all, while the Flames are going to have to shake off the Sharks (if Martin Jones doesn’t do it for them). Two of the NHL’s glitterati here.

Second Screen Viewing

Avalanche vs. Knights – 9pm

And then two of the chasing pack. The Knights are only four points behind the Flames and the Avs are still being something of a nuisance to the Preds and Jets. Yes, the Avalanche are only one line and that’s going to be a problem down the road, but when that line is doing this you don’t complain too much. The Knights don’t have a shutdown pairing, and their up-tempo ways would seem to let Mackinnon and Rantanen off a leash and into the neighbor’s yard. Could be points galore for everyone here.

Other Games

Devils vs. Bruins – 6pm

Jackets vs. Rangers – 6pm

Red Wings vs. Penguins – 6pm

Hurricanes vs. Capitals – 6pm

Flyers vs. Lightning – 6:30

Sabres vs. Blues – 7pm

Stars vs. Predators – 7pm

Canucks vs. Oilers – 8pm

Coyotes vs. Kings – 9:30

Ducks vs. Sharks – 9:30

Everything Else

Game #40 – Wild vs. Hawks Preview/Clear-Out Sale: Sweat Out The Cake

By Sam Fels December 27, 2018 1918 0

vs.

RECORDS: Wild 17-15-3 Hawks 13-20-6

PUCK DROP: 7:30

TV: NBCSN Chicago

VIKING HORN SOUND: Hockey Wilderness, Zone Coverage MN

The mini-Christmas break is over, and the entire NHL is kicking out the cobwebs, stretching it out, processing a big yawn, and getting ready to get back to the grind. And thanks to the CBA and the players’ union strange request, tonight is filled with games where the road team flies in day of and never looks like it’s all working together. You’ve seen some of them get really fed on this day, but the Hawks haven’t gotten this day right much at all over the years. Last season they got an extra night before shitting it against the Canucks in Vancouver. The year before that that they were nowhere against the Jets, and the year before that they laid an egg against Carolina. So just because the Wild are in the air as we speak doesn’t guarantee much.

Let’s start with the Hawks. Collin Delia looks to be getting the start, which should be the case until there’s a back-to-back (weekend after next) or Corey Crawford comes back. Cam Ward showed his true Cam Ward colors on Sunday, or should I say is true technicolor yawn, basically gifting the Panthers a couple goals and ruining what was a decent enough start from the Hawks. While he played well in a couple wins before the break, he still has a terminal case of being Cam Ward and we all know exactly what he is. Delia at least comes shrouded in mystery and some hope, and right now that’s good enough for the Hawks.

Other lineup changes see John Hayden slot in for Chris Kunitz, who sadly wasn’t banished to a sawmill in the country during the break. Dylan Sikura is dropping to the fourth line, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I guess Brendan Perlini has played well enough for a promotion? Whatever. I don’t think it matters at this point.

To the Wild, who are only five points ahead of the Hawks but have played four games less. They have been tumbling down the standings like Martin Sheen off a roof for the past few weeks now. First it was Devan Dubnyk having a month-long sneeze in November, and while that’s corrected their scoring has gone completely agoraphobic and they can’t get anywhere near the opening between the posts. Since the middle of last month the Wild are shooting just 6.4%, fifth-worst in the league. Which betrays their metrics, as just like last year they create far more good chances than they let up even if the attempts are more or less evenly distributed. But that doesn’t really matter if you can’t bury them, and if your goalie goes through a streak where he can’t stop them.

Further dampening the Wild attack is that Matthew Dumba is basically done for the year, out three months with a pectoral problem that required surgery. He was one half of all their push from the blue line, with Jared Spurgeon the other (it’s not really what Ryan Suter does anymore). This has forced both Nate Prosser and Greg Pateryn into the lineup, which is a place you want to be in less than a bus station at 3AM. Without Dumba, you can expect the Wild’s metrics to go down.

Up front they’re juggling things again, with Charlie Coyle doing his regularly scheduled shift from wing to center where he can flatter to deceive there as well. Jordan Greenway has got himself punted to a wing where he can watch Mikko Koivu wheeze and belch as Father Time leaves another counting the lights. Zach Parise was hot there for a minute but has cooled off, and Mikael Granlund couldn’t hit an elephant from five feet at the moment. The lack of a true front-line scorer is once again biting the Wild in the ass, just as it has for the past…well, existence.

I guess in the Hawks’ mind, not yours or mine, if they’re going to push anything out of this season they have to start now. The schedule is pretty light from now until their bye in January, with only one back-to-back and three-in-four stretch with two of those at home. We’ll see what they make of it, which won’t be much.

Game #40 Preview Suite