Faxes from Uncle Dale

Category: Everything Else

  • Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks Spotlight: Those Who Do Not Learn…Go To The Kings Front Office

    Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks Spotlight: Those Who Do Not Learn…Go To The Kings Front Office

    Let us take you back to the spring of 2014. It’s not a happy trip for those of us around here, but it’s necessary. The Kings and Blackhawks played perhaps the best playoff series since The Great ’05 Lockout. The Kings come out on top by a pubic hair. They go on to destroy the Rangers for their second Cup in three years.

    You might think they would have taken a close look at how they did that. You might think they’d want to keep replicating what they actually did on the ice, not what they did in between their own ears. You’d be wrong. The Kings beat the Hawks that spring by playing the Hawks’ game better than the Hawks. They were fast. They were dynamic. They scored a ton. They simply overpowered the Hawks on most nights of that series. Corey Crawford was helpless (so was Jonathan Quick, to be fair) to do anything about it. You may not see a series of that raw power again…until the Jets-Sharks West Final this spring, obvi.

    We can demonstrate it better. They averaged 2.78 xGF/60 in that playoff run of ’14. That was a boost from 2.37 from the regular season. They averaged more attempts and shots, as well. Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Marian Gaborik, et all were skating everywhere.

    They haven’t been above that 2.37 mark in the four seasons since. First Darryl Sutter, and then John Stevens returned the Kings to their plodding, simplistic ways that their players hated. And in a league that gets faster and faster, the Kings are getting left behind.

    Check out some of the acquisitions since that Cup win, both from Dean Lombardi and Rob Blake (or Robb Lake, if you prefer): Milan Lucic, Vinny Lecavalier, Kris Versteeg, Luke Schenn, bringing back Rob Scuderi, Dion Phaneuf, Nic Dowd, Jarome Iginla, Devin Setoguchi, and an aging Ilya Kovalchuk. What about any of these names suggest faster and skilled? Or even smarter? The Kings seem to be playing a game that’s from 2002.

    Moreover, since the 2011 draft, here are the NHLers the Kings have produced: Andy Andreoff, Nick Shore, Colin Miller, Tanner Pearson, Paul LaDue, Adrian Kempe, and that’s it. Say what you want about where the Hawks are now, but they’ve produced actual prospects. They’ve traded most of them, but at least they exist.

    The Kings mistake was falling in love with the idea of what people thought the Kings were. They won the ’12 Cup on the back of Jonathan Quick with a heavy roster. It also didn’t hurt that the entire Western Conference that year took a step back. The Hawks were still reloading, the Sharks fell off their peak, the Canucks were a paper tiger beating up on a horrid division, and the Wings were done. It was ripe for the Kings to run through, which they did.

    They fell in love with this image of an atom-smashing, meat-off-the-bone, thundering herd of a team that hockey media was only too happy to play up. But they were only that once. 2013 saw them get rolled by the Hawks in the Conference Final, and realize they couldn’t be viking warriors if they were going to win. They set out to be the Hawks. And they did it. And then for some reason, forgot all about it.

    And now they’re on the precipice of a great fall. Not only is their window shut, there isn’t a path to open a new one. Kyle Clague won’t by himself. By the time they can summon another good team, Kopitar and Doughty will be well into their 30s. Carter already is. How do you extricate yourself from this? Being so bad that Kopitar and Doughty ask out? Who wants those contracts? The Kings dinner for the next 10 years is going to be a lot of salary for players moved elsewhere.

    But banners hang forever. It’s a trade most fanbases would make. Perhaps all. The crash doesn’t have to be so hard, though.

     

     

    Game #20 Preview Suite

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups & How Teams Were Built

  • Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks Q&A: Out Of The Darkness…More Darkness

    Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks Q&A: Out Of The Darkness…More Darkness

    We really have to reach into the depths for our Kings Q&A. It’s best if you don’t know. Just know that he’s truly warped. 

    Boy, your lot really sucks, huh?

    Last Saturday, Sportsnet flashed a graphic that the five leading scorers on the Flames had more goals than the Kings have scored all season. In the two games since, the Kings have added one goal to their total of 34, which is also the season total of the quartet of Kane, DeBrincat, Toews, and Saad combined.

    You mean Ilya Kovalchuk and his five goals weren’t the answer?

    Where would this team be without its leading scorer, Ilya Kovalchuk? The answer is in exactly the same spot standings-wise, and possibly the same place points-wise, depending on how a theoretical Knifey Spoony against Lundqvist and three friends turned out. If you pretend the Kings have two additional Kovalchuks? Well, they would break the salary cap by over $12 million, but also finally pull into a tie for 30th in goals with Anaheim. The only unrealistic part of this scenario is imagining the Kings bringing in multiple players in one offseason.

    Anze Kopitar has six points. What’s the deal there?

    And only three of those six points were at evens, where his most common wingers are Alex Iafallo, and since his return from injury, Dustin Brown. Playing around with sortable categories on Natural Stat Trick, one notices that his current numbers are still above 50% (hovering around 52-53% for Corsi and Fenwick). However, they are mostly below either his rookie 2007-2008 season or his broken wrist 2016-2017 season. He’s 31 and it has become easier and easier to concentrate on just shutting his line down. But I bet if Eastern Conference writers stayed up to watch him play more often, he would have at least eight or nine points by now.

    Does Rob Blake have any idea what he’s doing?

    He knows exactly what he is doing: firing everyone under him before people realize this team is going nowhere. Was it really John Stevens’ fault after just 95 games?

    What does the immediate future hold? What should it hold?

    The immediate future holds rooting against any hot streaks that pull them ahead of other bottom-feeding teams, or convince upper management not to make more drastic changes. Everything with a pulse should be traded, but the team’s most liquid asset is Carl Hagelin, whose best case scenario is being flipped for a fifth-rounder to a team looking for #SPEED. Their youngest defenseman, Paul LaDue, is 26. Dion Phaneuf is still signed until 2021. The immediate future does not look great, even with a big lottery win, so maybe it is time to revert to planting drugs on albatross contracts.

     

    Game #20 Preview Suite

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups & How Teams Were Built

  • Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks Douchebag Du Jour: The Road To Hell Is Paved With Kyle Clifford

    Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks Douchebag Du Jour: The Road To Hell Is Paved With Kyle Clifford

    Fanbases can get attracted to fourth-line players, especially ones that stick around for a while. You see it all the time. Even though deep down, everyone knows they could be replaced by any number of halfwits from the AHL, because no one paid attention long enough to see that this particular grunt hadn’t left, he becomes celebrated.

    What can’t happen is that scenario in front offices. Just because someone screwed up and forgot to tell this particular punter that he was moving on, doesn’t mean he becomes a team staple.

    Kyle Clifford is going into his 9th season with the Kings. He’s scored 45 goals over that time. He’s amassed 96 points. His metrics have always sucked, consistently lagging behind the team rate. He’s big, and he’s slow, and he’s dumb. He’s the kind of player you’d want to see washed out of your team years ago. And yet here he is.

    There isn’t a better symbol of how the Kings have valued the wrong things the past three or four years that they sought not to populate their bottom six with more speed. Or there’s no bigger indictment of their development system that no kids has been able to render him redundant and pick up the pace. And so Clifford remains.

    Clifford isn’t the reason the Kings suck. No team is ever brought down by one bottom-six forward. But it’s a spot the Kings could have improved upon, and didn’t feel they needed to. Because Clifford can fart loudly in the corner, or something. The Kings have sat back and watched the Sharks, Ducks, Knights, and Flames in their division filter out the dim-witted for at least the dim-witted that could skate and was younger and cheaper. Clifford isn’t terribly expensive at $1.6M per year, but it’s a job you can get done for something with a “K” instead of an “M.”

    We’re sure he’s “good in the room.” Or he “is a good teammate.” And all the other buzz-phrases that players and coaches alike come up with to justify a player who doesn’t actually do anything that helps you win.

    But this is how the Kings want it.

     

    Game #20 Preview Suite

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups & How Teams Were Built

  • Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

     

    Game #20 Preview Suite

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups & How Teams Were Built

  • Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

    Game #20 – Kings vs. Hawks: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

     

    Game #20 Preview Suite

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups & How Teams Were Built

  • High On The Hog: Gone To Texas

    High On The Hog: Gone To Texas

    The ‘Bago County Flying Piglets have business in Texas this weekend. Chicago’s AHL affiliate flew to the Lone Star State yesterday and are getting ready for a pair of Central Division contests.

    Rockford begins the action in Cedar Park with the Texas Stars. The Hogs travel to San Antonio Saturday to face the Rampage in what will be the first of two games. That second game will be on Tuesday.

    This is as good a time as any to visit the IceHogs two southern-most division opponents. Texas is siting at .500 right now and the Rampage are the worst team in the AHL right now. Still, it won’t be a cakewalk for Rockford, who have been missing some key players and are tossing a lot of players into the forward mix.

     

    Morning Blues

    The IceHogs had another morning game this week, losing 3-1 in Grand Rapids. Rookie Filip Zadina’s two goals were the difference; Jacob Nilsson potted his second of the campaign for Rockford. However, Zadina’s second of the night plus an empty netter by the Griffins in the third period did in the Hogs.

    It has become an annual tradition that the IceHogs host a morning game and pack the BMO with school children. Hopefully, young fans are being cultivated due to this practice. It certainly isn’t producing winning hockey.

    The IceHogs don’t fare well when playing earlier in the day. Going back to the 2011-12 season, Rockford is 3-9 when playing one of these morning games, whether at home or in another team’s barn. Since the Hogs began hosting a morning game in 2013-14, Rockford is 1-5, including a 3-0 loss to Iowa November 9.

    The IceHogs have been a bit better when playing on Martin Luther King Day, splitting their last six games played at 1:00 p.m. in the BMO on that day.

     

    Roster Moves

    Head coach Derek King confirmed Tuesday that Anton Forsberg, who has been awesome for Rockford since being assigned to the AHL, is managing an illness that necessitated the recall of Kevin Lankinen Sunday night. It will be Lankinen and Collin Delia as the goalie tandem for the road trip.

    With two games with the low-scoring Rampage this trip, it might be a good plan to go with Delia Friday against the Stars. Lankinen could face San Antonio the next night, with Delia getting the net Tuesday in the return match. Of course, Delia could well start all three of these games.

    Monday, the IceHogs signed forward Nick Moutrey to a PTO. Between Cleveland and Belleville last season, the 6’3” Moutrey had five goals and six assists. He’s another big body to go with the others that have been collected in recent weeks by Rockford.

    Connor Moynihan was re-assigned to the ECHL’s Indy Fuel Monday. King was hopeful that this weekend would see the return of forward Jordan Schroeder, who has been out the last nine games.

     

    Texas-Friday, 7:00 p.m.

    This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams that faced off in last spring’s Western Conference Final. Rockford beat Texas 5-3 at the BMO Harris Bank Center back on October 13.

    The Stars (6-6-1-1) are paced by Denis Gurianov, who has seven goals and seven helpers in 13 games. Rookie Joel L’Esperance also has seven goals for Texas. Forwards Eric Condra (5 G, 7 A), Justin Dowling (3 G, 9 A), Michael Mersch (5 G, 5 A) and Colton Hargrove (5 G, 5 A) also are double-digit point producers for Texas.

    Defensemen Gavin Bayreuther and Joel Hanley are now skating for Dallas of the NHL. The Hogs will get their first look at veteran Taylor Fedun, who Dallas acquired in a trade with Buffalo last week. Fedun is a steady point-producer who has six assists so far in 11 games between Rochester and Texas. Rookie Benjamin Gleason is tops on the blueline for the Stars, with two goals and four assists for the season.

    Landon Bow should get the call for the Stars Friday. The third-year goalie is coming off a loss to Manitoba in which he surrendered five goals. Bow has a 3.00 goals against average and a .893 save percentage.

     

    San Antonio-Saturday, 7:00 p.m.

    The Rampage are 4-12 thus far. That .250 points percentage is by far the lowest in the league. The problem for San Antonio has been getting pucks in the opposing net, though they did break a three-game skid with a 5-0 win over Manitoba Tuesday night. Jordan Nolan (3 G, 4 A) had a pair of goals in that game.

    Rockford beat the Rampage 5-2 back on October 24 behind a 29-save performance by Delia. Four IceHogs poured in four goals in the second period to take control of the game.

    Nolan shares the team lead in goals with Klim Kostlin (3 G, 4 A), Trevor Smith (3 G, 2 A) and Ryan Olsen (3 G, 1 A). Veterans Brian Flynn and Chris Butler each have a goal and seven assists to lead San Antonio in scoring.

    Jordan Binnington (3-3-0-2, 2.13 GAA, .924 save percentage) shut out the Moose Tuesday and should get at least one start against Rockford. Ville Husso, who gave up four to the Hogs back in the October 24 contest, is scuffling with a 1-9 record, a 3.58 goals against average and an .879 save percentage.

    Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for game updates and thoughts on the goings-on in Rockford all season long.

     

     

  • Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – November 15th

    Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – November 15th

    First Screen Viewing

    Leafs vs. Sharks – 9:30

    Pretty big week in San Jose. The Sharks and Preds played an absolute barn-burner on Tuesday that saw the Sharks blow a 3-0 lead and then score two goals in 11 seconds in the 3rd to win it. And now another of the league’s glitterati show up at the door, this time the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sharks haven’t broken away from the pack yet in the Pacific, but after this tilt there’s a fair amount of trash on the schedule until Christmas. The Leafs have hummed along without Auston Matthews or William Nylander, but don’t want to lose touch with Tampa. Given how Martin Jones is playing, this one again should have goals. If you’ve got the day off tomorrow, stay up for this one.

    Second Screen Viewing

    Canadiens vs. Flames – 8pm

    When the Flames start David Rittich, they’re good. When they start Mike Smith, they’re quite entertaining. The Habs continue to do it, though they did kick off this Western Canada swing by getting a foot in their ass from the Oilers. Still, any chance you get to see Mark Giordano play good teams is worth the time. It’s all out west tonight.

    Other Games

    Rangers vs. Islanders – 6pm

    Devils vs. Flyers – 6pm

    Lightning vs. Penguins – 6pm

    Panthers vs. Jackets – 6pm

    Red Wings vs. Senators – 6:30

    Canucks vs. Wild – 7pm

    Predators vs. Coyotes – 8pm

  • The Real NHL Standings

    The Real NHL Standings

    Most of you know that we basically abhor how the NHL standings work. We’ve never recognized shootouts from our very first incarnation at SCH, and when they went to 3-on-3 OT, we started disregarding those results as well. Because it’s basically just an extended shootout gimmick.

    We all know why the NHL keeps the loser point and the sometimes two-, sometimes three-point system. It artificially bunches up teams in the standings so just about everyone (save the Kings) can claim to be “in it.” It also gives everyone what appears to be, at first glance, a record over .500 or close to it, which probably helps a little with ticket sales and interest in those markets.

    But as we know, it makes it doubly hard to make up ground when you’re behind, and teams in the playoff spots around Thanksgiving (next week) tend to stay there through April. I believe the last number I saw was 75% of teams in those spots as of next week will make the playoffs. There isn’t a lot of drama, though that won’t stop the NHL from telling you there is.

    So every so often, I want to post what the NHL standings would look like if the NHL had a straight Win-Loss-Tie after regulation system, and what it would look like if it had a 3-2-1-0 system–that is three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win, one for an overtime or shootout loss, and zero for a regulation loss. Basically I just want to toss overtime and see who’s doing the best work in the 60 minutes.

    Let’s get in up to the elbow. Here’s the standings if all overtimes are relegated to just ties, and regulation wins are the only wins. I’ve left the standings as they are to the right, so you can see any differences:

    Atlantic Division GP REG WINS L T R PTS W L OL PTS
    Tampa Bay Lightning 18 11 5 2 24 12 5 1 25
    Toronto Maple Leafs 18 10 6 2 22 12 6 0 24
    Boston Bruins 18 9 6 3 21 10 6 2 22
    Buffalo Sabres 18 9 6 3 21 10 6 2 22
    Montreal Canadiens 18 9 6 3 21 9 6 3 21
    Detroit Red Wings 18 6 8 4 16 8 8 2 18
    Florida Panthers 15 6 5 4 16 7 5 3 17
    Ottawa Senators 18 6 8 4 16 7 8 3 17
    Metropolitan Division GP REG WINS L T R PTS W L OL PTS
    Columbus Blue Jackets 18 8 6 4 20 10 6 2 22
    New York Islanders 17 8 6 3 19 9 6 2 20
    New York Rangers 18 8 7 3 19 9 7 2 20
    Philadelphia Flyers 18 8 8 2 18 9 8 1 19
    Washington Capitals 18 7 7 4 18 8 7 3 19
    Carolina Hurricanes 18 6 7 5 17 8 7 3 19
    Pittsburgh Penguins 16 5 6 5 15 7 6 3 17
    New Jersey Devils 16 7 8 1 15 7 8 1 15
    Central Division GP REG WINS L T R PTS W L OL PTS
    Nashville Predators 18 11 4 3 25 13 4 1 27
    Minnesota Wild 18 9 5 4 22 11 5 2 24
    Winnipeg Jets 17 10 5 2 22 11 5 1 23
    Colorado Avalanche 18 9 6 3 21 9 6 3 21
    Dallas Stars 18 8 7 3 19 9 7 2 20
    Chicago Blackhawks 19 4 8 7 15 7 8 4 18
    St. Louis Blues 16 6 7 3 15 6 7 3 15
    Pacific Division GP REG WINS L T R PTS W L OL PTS
    San Jose Sharks 19 7 6 6 20 10 6 3 23
    Vancouver Canucks 20 7 8 5 19 10 8 2 22
    Calgary Flames 18 8 7 3 19 10 7 1 21
    Anaheim Ducks 20 7 9 4 18 8 9 3 19
    Edmonton Oilers 18 6 8 4 16 9 8 1 19
    Arizona Coyotes 17 7 8 2 16 8 8 1 17
    Vegas Golden Knights 19 7 10 2 16 8 10 1 17
    Los Angeles Kings 17 5 11 1 11 5 11 1 11

    What we can conclude from this is…man, the Kings really, really suck.

    So as you can see, the standings don’t really change at all. Some of the gaps open up a little more, but Tampa, Toronto, Nashville basically remain the class of the league.

    As for the Hawks, they’d be seven points out of an automatic playoff spot, and four out of a wild card spot, instead of the current five and two.

    Elsewhere, the Pacific Division would look even more pathetic, as it would only have two teams above .500. The Atlantic would still be brutal.

    Now let’s check it out under the 3-2-1-0 points system:

    Atlantic Division GP REG WINS OTW OL L R PTS W L PTS
    Tampa Bay Lightning 18 11 1 1 5 36 12 5 25
    Toronto Maple Leafs 18 10 2 0 6 34 12 6 24
    Boston Bruins 18 9 1 2 6 31 10 6 22
    Buffalo Sabres 18 9 1 2 6 31 10 6 22
    Montreal Canadiens 18 9 0 3 6 30 9 6 21
    Detroit Red Wings 18 6 2 2 8 24 8 8 18
    Florida Panthers 15 6 1 3 5 23 7 5 17
    Ottawa Senators 18 6 1 3 8 23 7 8 17
    Metropolitan Division GP REG WINS OTW OL L R PTS W L PTS
    Columbus Blue Jackets 18 8 2 2 6 30 10 6 22
    New York Islanders 17 8 1 2 6 28 9 6 20
    New York Rangers 18 8 1 2 7 28 9 7 20
    Philadelphia Flyers 18 8 1 1 8 27 9 8 19
    Washington Capitals 18 7 1 3 7 26 8 7 19
    Carolina Hurricanes 18 6 2 3 7 25 8 7 19
    Pittsburgh Penguins 16 5 2 3 6 22 7 6 17
    New Jersey Devils 16 7 0 1 8 22 7 8 15
    Central Division GP REG WINS OTW OL L R PTS W L PTS
    Nashville Predators 18 11 2 1 4 38 13 4 27
    Minnesota Wild 18 9 2 2 5 33 11 5 24
    Winnipeg Jets 17 10 1 1 5 33 11 5 23
    Colorado Avalanche 18 9 0 3 6 30 9 6 21
    Dallas Stars 18 8 1 2 7 28 9 7 20
    Chicago Blackhawks 19 4 3 4 8 22 7 8 18
    St. Louis Blues 16 6 0 3 7 21 6 7 15
    Pacific Division GP REG WINS OTW OL L R PTS W L PTS
    San Jose Sharks 19 7 3 3 6 30 10 6 23
    Vancouver Canucks 20 7 3 2 8 29 10 8 22
    Calgary Flames 18 8 2 1 7 29 10 7 21
    Anaheim Ducks 20 7 1 3 9 26 8 9 19
    Edmonton Oilers 18 6 3 1 8 25 9 8 19
    Arizona Coyotes 17 7 1 1 8 24 8 8 17
    Vegas Golden Knights 19 7 1 1 10 24 8 10 17
    Los Angeles Kings 17 5 0 1 11 16 5 11 11

    Again, the standings don’t really change much, just the gaps do. The Preds, Lightning, and Leafs remain the aristocracy…and the Kings still overwhelmingly blow (can you tell I’m enjoying writing that?).

    Locally, the Hawks would be 11 points out of a automatic playoff spot, and though that gap is large it would be make up-able. They would be six points out of a wild card spot, or two regulation wins, which is one more win than they currently are now.

    We’ll revisit this somewhere around the halfway mark when teams have gone to OT more and games tighten up from the Chinese fire drill they’ve been so far.

     

  • Game #19 – Hawks 1, Blues 0: Well the First Days are the Hardest Days, Don’t You Worry Anymore

    Game #19 – Hawks 1, Blues 0: Well the First Days are the Hardest Days, Don’t You Worry Anymore

    It’s the first win of the Jeremy Colliton era! And the end of a wretched losing streak! And why did it happen? Because Corey Crawford is god. To the bullets:

    Box Score

    Corsica

    Natural Stat Trick

    –The first period was just plain old uneventful. Crawford had a big stop on Vladimir Tarasenko (more on him later), and David Kampf and Brandon Manning fell over one another in the defensive zone in a very accurate Three Stooges impression, but it’s the Blues and they weren’t able to capitalize. Aside from that, it wasn’t a poorly played period by any means, just not a flashy one.

    –The second wasn’t much better, but the Hawks got their one and only goal and on the power play no less. It was actually more luck than skill, as Jay Bouwmeester kicked it in while Jay Gallon was flopping around. But whatever, we’ll take it. And honestly Allen wasn’t that bad tonight, it’s just that Crawford was better.

    –And he had to be—the Hawks gave up 28 shots on goal and only managed 19 of their own. Same old story. In fact the Hawks got domed in possession tonight and were only above water in the first period. They had a 39.4 CF% and 33.3 CF% in the second and third, respectively. Going by the eye test alone tonight, the defense actually didn’t look that bad, that’s the fucked up thing. Yes, Manning and Forsling as a pairing was rather terrifying to watch, but for the most part the defense at least attempted to get themselves in front of their net. After leaving O’Hare-runway-sized gaps in front of Crawford for most of last week’s games, this is a relief. And yet, they still gave up nearly 30 shots. Baby steps, but there is still work to do.

    –I’m not entirely sold on Colliton’s lines, but I also think it’s too early to start bitching about them (yet). The top line of Schmaltz-Toews-Kane is passing the aforementioned eye test. Anisimov is still too damn slow and couldn’t keep up with the again-resurgent Brandon Saad, so that’s annoying. I’m not quite sure what the DeBrincat-Kampf-Kahun line is going to end up being. They were just north of 50% in possession, which was better than the top line, and all together had five shots on the night. So yes? This is good? I have difficulty trusting Kampf to make good decisions or execute competently, I’m worried that Top Cat is wasting his time, and I’m suspecting that Kahun was basking in reflected glory from being on a line with Jonathan Toews. All of these assumptions could turn out to be wrong, so again, no judgement…yet….

    –Tarasenko had an interesting evening, sacrificing a tooth (wholesale, like a cartoon with it popping out of his mouth onto the ice), and he foiled the Hawks trying to get a damn empty net goal. Twice. This had to have been a painful game for him, in both the physical and mental sense.

    If the drought was going to be broken, it makes sense that it came against the lowly Blues. The fact that we had to eke out the win with a fluky own-goal by dumbass Bouwmeester and Crawford had to stand on his head against these bottom-feeders to keep the Hawks in the game is a little worrisome. But hey, it’s a win! And if we can beat these fucksticks, then we can do the same against the equally terrible Kings on Friday. There’s nothing to worry about, right?

     

  • Game #19 – Blues vs. Hawks Preview: At Least We’ve Got You Beat

    Game #19 – Blues vs. Hawks Preview: At Least We’ve Got You Beat

     vs. 

    RECORDS: Blues 6-6-3   Hawks 6-8-4

    PUCK DROP: 7pm

    TV: NBCSN

    EVERYTHING IS EVIL: St. Louis Gametime

    No matter where you are in life, or how things are going, there is sadistic joy in looking around and seeing that someone else has it worse. Or at least it provides perspective. In sports, it’s joy. The Germans didn’t create the word, “schadenfreude” out of thin air, folks.

    So while the Hawks have fired a coach, and yet still looked pretty helpless, and the season very well might get away from them before Black Friday, they could be the St. Louis Blues. And they should be intimately familiar with what the Blues are now, because we all are, because this will be the fourth fucking time these two have seen each other in a six-week-old season. Thankfully for everyone, they won’t do this again until April. We have enough trash here, thanks. Don’t constantly need to double it up. We could all use the break.

    It was something of an outside shot that the Hawks fired their coach before the Blues did, because Mike Yeo showed up at training camp with a noose instead of a whistle. The players have had it out for him since just about the time he took over for Ken Hitchcock, whom they also hated, so it’s a real positive atmosphere down there. Unlike the Hawks however, the Blues went all out this summer to be something, trading for Ryan O’Reilly and signing Tyler Bozak. It has not worked, at least not yet. Maybe the next coach will be the one to unlock the mystery. Just like the last one was. Or the one before that. Or the one before that. And then there was Davis Payne.

    And maybe it’s not going to. As we keep saying, and they keep ignoring, this was a castle built on sand. We’ve been over and over the Jay Gallon saga, which once again appears to be turning into him surrendering the starting role to a backup–in this case Chad Johnson. It doesn’t matter what work you do anywhere on the ice if it results in your goalie waving at pucks going by him like an acid head waving at imaginary, friendly flying rabbits toddling off into the sky. For some reason, even though Johnson has been pretty ok of late, Allen will get the start.

    But it goes deeper. This defense isn’t good. It hasn’t been for a while. In a league that gets faster and faster and more aggressive, the Blues have become entrenched with a top four that can’t move and can’t think. Alex OrangeJello has limited mobility. Joel Edmundson has limited IQ. Same with Colton Burpo. Jay Bouwmeester is dead, and when it’s not him it’s Carl Gunnarsson who is essentially the same as Michael Cera’s girlfriend in “Arrested Development.” Way to plant, Carl! The Blues defense is like the worst house cat. It’s like having nothing, and they probably don’t even clean themselves.

    So where are the Blues going with their improved forward group if they’re constantly pulling the defense out of the ditch they just backed into in their own zone? Into the basement, where they currently reside (though it should be mentioned they’ve played three less games than the Hawks and when that gets made up, it could see the Hawks with the wooden spoon).

    The Blues aren’t going to trade for Justin Faulk or the like to try and correct this. They’re just going to fire another coach and then pray that their players finally start pushing up the mercury on the give-a-shit meter. They haven’t in three years but hope springs eternal! Anyway, that’s the mess that arrives at the United Center tonight.

    As for the Hawks, the big story is that Gustav Forsling will make his season-debut tonight. And when that’s your story, you know there are issues. At least it will be in place of Jan Rutta, who is also in plant-area as far as usefulness. The Hawks are screaming for more mobility and spice on their blue line, and this will be Forsling third (and last) chance to grab the NHL brass ring. Now he’s got a coach who believes in him and worked with him extensively last season. It’s now or never, and he should get bum-slaying opportunities at home and on the third-pairing with whatever member of the Eat Arby’s Trio’s number is drawn (it’s Brandon Manning). As the other two puck-movers are barking at each other in the second pairing, this could be welcome.

    Other than that, Alexandre Fortin is going to sit so Eddie O can wax lyrical about Andreas Martinsen and John Hayden some more, before turning on Hayden for not shooting from outside the circles. Whatever. Corey Crawford is your starter.

    If the Hawks are going to pull out of this, it kind of has to be now. The Blues suck, the Kings are way worse, and you can show me the Wild’s point totals all you like but I just won’t buy it. There’s a three-game road trip either side of Thanksgiving that’s not as daunting as it looks on first glance, even with the expected thwacking by the Lightning. But then it gets real hard, real quick. Points are needed now or the Hawks could very well be buried by Christmas.

    No better way to get started than against this lot.

     

    Game #19 Preview Suite

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups & How Teams Were Built