Faxes from Uncle Dale

Category: Hockey

  • Game #25: Avs 5, Hawks 2–These Answers Don’t Elude Me, I’m Merely Avoiding What I Feared All Along That They Could Be

    The Blackhawks were leading in shots, they led in possession, they had Corey Crawford in net who’s been stellar of late…and they managed to get completely outplayed and have their asses handed to them at home. And Duncan Keith is out with a groin injury, so all around a rough day. Let’s get to it:

    Box Score

    Natural Stat Trick

    –This game showed, in no uncertain terms, that the Hawks are not fast enough to handle elite teams. And I’m using “elite” in a very broad sense because the Avs aren’t REALLY an elite team right now because of all the injuries to their lineup. As the broadcast pointed out, they have about 5 AHL players on their roster right now and STILL managed to be faster and more skilled. It happened right out of the gate, with the Avalanche going up 2-0 less than 5 minutes into the game, and as you can see by the score, they didn’t really stop. They didn’t dominate in possession either—as Sam pointed out earlier, they’re not a possession team and they didn’t surpass a 40 CF% until the 3rd period, yet it didn’t even matter. They moved the puck up and out, burned our slow-ass defensemen time and time again, and they finished. Even Valeri Nichushkin finished. They were just better than the Hawks.

    –Adding insult to injury (literally) is the fact that the Hawks only gave up 23 shots. They managed 36 themselves, and normally that would be something to celebrate—not only did they lead in shots but the Hawks gave up fewer than 4,728 in a game! But it was for nothing, as Crawford definitely did not have his best day, although the slow-ass defensemen just mentioned are more to blame than Crow. Yes, I’m always going to defend Corey Crawford and yes, he should have had a couple of those, but he was largely left hung out to dry by his teammates just watching faster players skate by them. And it wasn’t even just the defensemen. David Kampf, who normally is really reliable, let some pucks get by him at his own blue line. Patrick Kane ‘s give-a-shit meter was about -3 until late in the second and he lazily let pucks go multiple times. No one was tight defensively today. But hey, Kane’s point streak is still alive.

    –And Duncan Keith apparently has a groin injury, which would explain at least partially why he got absolutely smoked a few times. (Erik Gustafsson doesn’t have this excuse, but that’s a larger problem that was in evidence today.) Obviously no one wants Keith to be hurt and it’s not going to help this lineup to have him out, seeing as he hasn’t been bad lately. But, if this does open the door to get Adam Boqvist back up here I’m going to try to focus on the glass being half full. If there is one takeaway from this game, it’s that they need faster skaters and puck movers and gee whiz where could they possibly find one?!

    –Speaking of youngsters, Kirby Dach also had not-his-best-game and got stupidly demoted for it. Listen, he’s 18, he’s going to pass a few too many times, he’s going to lack confidence sometimes to shoot, and demoting him to the 4th line to center two oafs is NOT going to help that confidence or make him a better player. Meanwhile, Ryan Carpenter who is a fine bottom-sixer, should not be centering Kane and DeBrincat. Everyone had a rough afternoon. Everyone played like shit. This is no reason to fuck with the lines and ignore the basics of personnel and the talent you’re dealing with. It’s another symptom of Colliton being in over his head. My only hope is that Dach is back on the second line tomorrow and adds some fuck-you to his game so he doesn’t get demoted again while Strome is still out.

    –It also should be noted that Alex DeBrincat muffed about 3 or 4 chances today. Granted, he had assists in his last couple games but he’s not scoring at the level we need. Sure, everyone was shitty today but if he had buried even one or two of those it might have been a different story.

    –Erik Gustafsson had a terrible, very bad, no-good day. Two stupid-ass penalties, one of which led immediately to Cale Makar‘s goal, he got completely burned by Nichushkin on his goal, and made more turnovers than I care to count. You already know how I feel about this guy and his future on this team, so I will say no more. But he sucks.

    –Speaking of guys who suck, Andrew Shaw is a useless tool. He dropped the gloves in the first once the Hawks were down 2-0, and because their first goal came sorta-kinda close to that, the broadcast was all over him with the tired, worn-out trope that a fight changes momentum and makes a team better. It does not, and it did not today. A good forecheck by Ryan Carpenter is why they scored their first goal, not Shaw’s dumbassery. And then at the end of the game he tried to fight a guy who just had plates and screws surgically implanted to put his face back together and was wearing a shield! But please, tell me again about his energy and how it helps the team.

    OK, so they pulled their Jekyll & Hyde routine today and we were on the wrong side of it (was it Jekyll who was bad? Or Mr. Hyde? I can’t remember nor can I make thoughtful literary references right now). But they’ve got a chance to bring Boqvist to Denver, throw Lehner out there, and hopefully bounce back against a team that they can obviously shoot on. Or so we can hope. Onward and upward…

    Line of the Night: “The Hawks having some problems in their own end.” —Pat Foley, in the most-heard refrain of the game.

    Beer de jour: Good Behavior IPA, Odell Brewing

     

  • Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks Preview: Here Comes The Rabbit

    Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks Preview: Here Comes The Rabbit

    vs.

    RECORDS: Avalanche 13-8-2*   Hawks 10-9-5

    PUCK DROP(S): 3pm Friday, 8pm Saturday

    TV: NBCSN Chicago for both

    BUCKWHEATS: Mile High Hockey

    *Wednesday’s game not included

    The Hawks will try and help you shake off the tryptophan and dealing-with-family hangover this weekend with an old school home-and-home against the Avalanche. And with it, they may get a look at what might be the class of the division now, and certainly will be before too long. Seeing as how St. Louis is in Monday, the Hawks will definitely have some idea of just how far behind they are.

    No team had more preseason buzz than the Avs. Nathan MacKinnon ascended to demigod status in last year’s playoffs, they finally got Mikko Rantanen signed, made a nifty trade with Toronto that brought them back a multi-faceted (though at times dunderheaded) Nazem Kadri, and most of all it is a full season of Cale Makar. And when the Avs have been fully healthy, it’s looked very boomstick. They started the season 8-1-1, scoring 40 goals in those 10 games.

    But it’s been only 5-7-1 since, and a lot of that is injuries. Rantanen and Gabriel SapsuckerFrog have been out for a while now, though Dear Rat Boy could return this weekend. Depth pieces like Matt Calvert and Nikita Zadorov and Colin Wilson and others have missed time as well, thinning out what was a deeper team than before but not exactly deep either. Those are slowly returning, but they’ll have some ground to make up.

    But the Avs can’t curse the gods for their fortunes totally, either. Their PDO is right behind the Hawks’, as they’ve gotten excellent work from their goalies at even-strength, with a .935 SV% overall, third in the league. But they’ve had real problems on the kill, where they have the fourth-worst save-percentage. And looking at their metrics while shorthanded, they’re only middle of the pack in the chances they give up while killing penalties, so their goalies just have to be better.

    Clearly, the story with the Avs starts with Mac K and Makar. When they’re on the ice, and they’re on the ice together a lot, the Avs are nearly unplayable. It’s two of the two most dynamic forces in the league together, and yes Makar is already rocketing up to that status in just his rookie season. He’s going to walk with the Calder Trophy at this rate, averaging a point per game from the blue line and leading the rookie scoring race by seven points barely a quarter of the season in.

    Still, the rest of the roster needs some tuning, and again when they get their full lineup this will help. Nazem Kadri has not been the possession and defensive monster he was in Toronto, mostly getting domed in possession. He’ll get help when Donskoi is allowed to slot down upon Rantanen’s return. They’re still waiting for a pop from Tyson Jost, and JT Compher hasn’t gotten to play the Hawks yet and pile up 17 goals. Rantanen and ThreeYaksAndADog’s return will definitely help with the depth scoring.

    Another problem for the Avs is they’re just not a great possession team overall. While trading Barrie made sense given that he’s a year from free agency, it’s left Makar as basically the only true puck-mover from the back. It’s not Erik Johnson‘s game, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be Samuel Girard‘s (THE BIG DOG IS ALWAYS RIGHT) game either, thought there’s room for growth there. They could probably use another one back there to really challenge, as right now Girard and Johnson are deployed merely as fire fighters.

    That doesn’t mean they aren’t a huge headache for the Hawks, who only managed one regulation win over the Avs last year and lost the two big games against them when the playoffs were actually something worth discussing. Still, this was one of the opponents the Hawks did play even in terms of shots and chances, just didn’t get the goaltending the Avs did from Grubauer or Varlamov. That shouldn’t be a problem this time around.

    It’s not like you need a big dossier on how to get past the Avs. Contain the explosive device that is MacKinnon into no more than a controlled explosion, and you’re half the way there. On Friday, Colliton will be tempted to use Toews to do that, but it should be Kampf. If you can do that it’s not a great defensive team, you just have to get past their goalies, which was a challenge for the Hawks last year. But the power play scratched on Tuesday against the Stars, and the Avs have been pretty welcoming in that spot this year too. That would help.

    Huge stretch here for the Hawks, as the next four are against some of the best the league has to offer. They can’t afford too many dry stretches from here on out, even if we’re not to December yet. And get used to the Avs, as the Hawks will be seeing them four times in the next month.

    So get your post-Thanksgiving shit in early, this one has a chance to be fun.

  • Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks Spotlight: Here In Makar, I Feel Safest Of All

    Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks Spotlight: Here In Makar, I Feel Safest Of All

    There was an inkling last year when Cale Makar was simply toying with the strongest conference in college hockey as a sophomore that he night be something special for the Avalanche. 49 points in 41 games from the blue line for UMass is not a stat-line you see every day. It only got stronger when Makar suited up for the Avs in the playoffs and not only didn’t look out of place, but was taking shifts by the throat.

    So yeah, you can probably just give him the Calder Trophy now.

    Makar has amassed 25 points in his first 23 regular season NHL games, and might be the biggest reason the Avs have gone from lively upstarts to very much Western Conference favorites this season. Makar is also simply going upside the head of the competition metrically, as he’s carrying a +6.5 relative xG% rate over the rest of his Avs teammates.

    The caveat, if you can call it that, is Makar has seen most of his time on the ice behind fellow tool of Galactus Nathan MacKinnon, who can puree most anyone facing him no matter whom he is on the ice with. But neither MacKinnon’s or Makar’s numbers sink terribly without the other.

    Numbers probably don’t tell the whole story of Makar, as he might already be the best skater on a blue line anywhere in the league. He can simply be devastating, especially when in space and generating odd-man rushes with merely his feet. He can also do it with his passing when the lanes are bottled up. Basically, if you were curious what Paul Coffey might have looked like in the game today, this is it.

    You’d think merely getting to the second round wasn’t enough to burn the first year of Makar’s entry-level deal last year, and that the Avs might come to rue that in two years. Probably not, and it’s once again due to the insane deal they got Nathan MacKinnon on that will pay him $6.5M for another three seasons after this one. So when it comes time to pay Makar, and at this pace it’ll be paying him a lot, they’ll still have two years of cheap Mac K, and their only other expensive deals are Rantanen and Erik Johnson (and not even that much in the latter case). Landeskog will need a new contract by then, but the Avs should easily be able to soak that up.

    The scary thing for the Central Division is that with Makar only 21, Girard also 21, and Zadorov 24, the Avs blue line looks set for a while. Which is probably why they felt comfortable moving Tyson Barrie along a year before free agency. They’re probably even more comfortable with it seeing how things have gone in Toronto for him and the Leafs.

    For now, Makar and MacKinnon on the ice together are a truly wondrous sight, at least for Avs fans. It’s pure terror for anyone facing them, and MacKinnon already proved last year that when he wants to, even in the playoffs, he can’t really be stopped. And now he’s got Makar behind him? Illegal, that should be.

    We can only hope Adam Boqvist can emulate just some of this when he gets to the Hawks full-time, because it is how the game needs to be played now. Given how much speed most teams have at forward, you need Makar’s speed to make sure they’re not consistently getting in behind you. And you also need their dynamism to get through their forechecks. Sadly, you think that even if the Hawks were to get it right in the next couple years, MacKinnon and Makar are just always going to be in the way. Until they’re out of sight the other way, that is.

  • Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks: Hedley Lamarr’s Mugs, Pugs, And Thugs

    Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks: Hedley Lamarr’s Mugs, Pugs, And Thugs

    J.T. Compher – Sometimes you’re not a prick, you just keep scoring against the Hawks even if you’re no damn good. Compher might be good, he might not be, but against the Hawks he’s some sort of HYDRA creation. Five games last year, four goals and five points. He hasn’t scored more against anyone else in his career than he did against the Hawks last season. He has two goals this year. He’ll probably double that total this weekend.

    Nazem Kadri – Ah, here’s our prick. Maybe being out of the pressure cooker of Toronto will un-fuck his brain, but Kadri has helped torpedo a couple seasons with selfish and dirty hits that ended in suspensions. A wonderful checking center who can score, that is when his brain is turned on. But can’t help himself with being a dipshit, and the Avs can only hope that doesn’t rear its ugly head again at the absolute worst time.

    Ian Cole – BAYBAY!

  • Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

  • Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks: Lineups & How They Were Built

    Game #25 and #26 – Avalanche vs. Hawks: Lineups & How They Were Built

    Avalanche

    *does not include Wednesday’s game

    Notes: There’s a chance that Rantanen could return at some point this weekend. He’ll slot in on the top line, sliding the rest of the right wings down. Landeskog just started practicing again but is much less likely to appear…MacKinnon has seven points in his last four games…Burakovsky has six goals in his last five…Grubauer has an .897 SV% in November…

    Hawks

    Notes: We won’t know if Strome is able to go until gametime Friday but if he doesn’t you’ll see Dach slide up to the #2 center and Matthew Highmore come in on the fourth line…Top Cat had seven shots against Dallas, just can’t seem to buy one right now…If Highmore is in the fourth line was actually highly effective with him on Tuesday, with everyone carrying a 70%+ Corsi…

  • High On The Hog: Thinning At Forward

    High On The Hog: Thinning At Forward

    The Rockford IceHogs head into battle this weekend in an unfamiliar spot, at least up front. For the bulk of the 2019-20 campaign, ice time has been at a premium for the plethora of forwards on the Hogs roster.

    At one point this fall, there were 18 forwards clamoring for playing time. Injuries, Kris Versteeg’s retirement, and some recent call ups to the Blackhawks have thinned the herd a bit. Heading into Friday’s game with Chicago, Rockford’s actually a little light at the position.

    Matthew Highmore was recalled by the Hawks on Sunday. Anton Wedin followed on Wednesday. Together, the two were among Rockford’s best two-way performers.

    With rookie Mikael Hakkarainen still out since an injury suffered on opening night, the IceHogs were looking at 12 healthy forwards heading into the weekend. On Tuesday, Rockford signed forward Alex Krushelnyski to a PTO.

    The 29-year-old Krushelnyski has been skating for the Indy Fuel this season. In twelve games, he totaled 15 points (5 G, 10 A). Krushelnyski has 118 games of AHL experience over the past five seasons, with eight goals and 13 assists.

    You may be wondering why the IceHogs don’t recall Nathan Noel or Dylan McLaughlin, two of the NHL contracts currently playing for Indy right now. Why not one of the AHL contracts that Rockford has assigned to the Fuel? You got me.

    Krushelnyski seems like a player whose tires have been kicked by several organizations. He has played well for the Fuel, however, so Rockford becomes his latest stop.

     

    What’s The Delia In Net?

    All three goalies traveled to Texas for a three-game road trip. Kevin Lankinen manned the pipes Saturday and Tuesday, with Matt Tomkins picking up an impressive win on Sunday afternoon.

    Collin Delia did not play at all on the trip.

    Delia has struggled so far this season, but has he fallen so far as to be the odd man out for the Hogs? There are two home games this weekend against opponents that Delia knows well. If he isn’t injured, and that doesn’t appear to be the case, he should be in line for a start either Friday or Saturday.

    If coach Derek King goes with Lankinen and Tomkins as he did last week…

     

    Falling Short In San Antonio

    Tuesday, November 26-San Antonio 3, Rockford 2 

    In a back-and-forth affair, San Antonio wound up taking the second meeting between the two teams on the road trip, two days after the Hogs overtime victory.

    The Rampage quickly took advantage of a high-sticking penalty by Alexandre Fortin. Mike Vecchione sticking back a rebounding puck past Hogs goalie Kevin Lankinen at 3:47 of the first period. The early going was controlled by San Antonio, who spent much of the early going on the man advantage.

    Rockford drew even at the 7:15 mark when Reese Johnson came down the left side to take a pass from Brandon Hagel. Johnson’s shot from the left circle found the far side of Ville Husso’s net. Nicolas Beaudin, who got the scoring play started from the defensive zone, picked up the secondary apple.

    The IceHogs found cord on the power play 5:27 into the second period. Dylan Sikura took a pass from Anton Wedin and sent it across the ice to the stick of Jacob Nilsson. Nilsson had time to settle the puck at the right dot before flinging it past Husso for a 2-1 Rockford lead.

    That lead lasted until the latter stages of the second, when Jordan Kyrou knocked in a bouncing puck late in a Rampage power play. The goal came at the 18:54 mark, and the teams went to the locker room knotted at two.

    San Antonio came out firing in the final period, peppering Lankinen with a slew of rubber. The Hogs repelled a couple of Rampage power plays before a turnover led to a blast by Jake Walman. The puck got by the Hogs goalie at the 13:21 mark and the IceHogs trailed 3-2. Rockford pulled Lankinen, who made 37 stops on the evening, with 2:10 remaining in favor of an extra skater. Unlike Sunday’s late rally, the piglets couldn’t come up with the equalizer.

     

    Familiar Foes

    The Wolves come a-calling to the BMO Harris Bank Center on Friday night. Rockford will attempt to make it five wins in five tries this season over their I-90 rivals.

    Chicago may or may not have Gage Quinney (6 G, 11 A) in the lineup, but AHL juggernaut Brandon Pirri is back with the team. The Wolves also pick up forward Valentin Zykov, another very capable offensive player. On the other hand, Garret Sparks was recalled to Las Vegas this week, so Rockford shooters may find the going a bit easier.

    Grand Rapids returns to Rockford Saturday. The two teams split a home-and-home on November 15 and 16. Rockford’s 5-2 victory at the BMO two weeks ago was physical to say the least. Dennis Gilbert was suspended for a hit that knocked the Griffins Matt Puempel out of the contest. Things could get chippy very quickly in this one.

    Follow me on twitter @JonFromi for game updates and my thoughts on the IceHogs throughout the season.

     

     

  • Game #24: Stars 0, Hawks 3 – The Only Thing Consistent Here is How You’ve Always Been

    This was a well-played game. Yeah, that’s right, I said they were good! Of course there were a few defensive breakdowns and they gave up a total of 16 high-danger chances, but they stayed right around 50 CF% as a team, they actually led in shots (38-32), and also gave up way fewer than 40 shots on the night. That alone is notable. Plus, only three of those high-danger chances came in the third so essentially they not only held a lead but extended it, took advantage of their one power play opportunity, and tightened up defensively when needed. Oh, and their goaltender was pretty OK too I guess. To the bullets:

    Box Score

    Natural Stat Trick

    –The story tonight again was Corey Crawford, and really the goaltending in general. But let’s be honest, Crow was amazing, particularly during some scrums in the second period, such as during the PK on Shaw’s dumbass penalty (how many more times are we going to say that? Wait, I don’t want to know). The Hawks gave up 14 shots in the second, their worst period in that measure, and yes Calvin de Haan deserves credit for saving a goal but Crawford was basically the first and second star tonight (at least, to me his is). It seems safe to say at this point that balancing the workload with Robin Lehner is really working for Crawford, and it makes sense as he’s getting older and has more time to recover from shit like the two shots he saved with his facemask tonight. I’m not suggesting he’s concussed every time a puck hits him above the shoulders, but it’s just punishing in general to get hit with shit at high speeds, and the extra time to rest between games certainly doesn’t seem to be breaking his rhythm or his comfort in the crease. He’s the hero we need but don’t deserve.

    –Anton Khudobin was really fucking good too, though, and the Hawks should be damn proud that they got two by him. The first by Brandon Saad was squeezed through a closing five hole like the Millennium Falcon escaping closing monster jaws. The second was Patrick Kane‘s that keeps his scoring streak going, and it was on their lone power play. That goal came in the third and basically sealed the game, and it was pretty classic where Kane held the pass as everyone in the UC—and me leaping off my couch—screamed for him to shoot but he held on just long enough to get Khudobin out of position. Well, really Khudobin was already flopping a bit but Kane’s patience faked him out just enough. It was a thing of beauty.

    –And our Large Irish Son capped it off with the empty netter, which always seems like something we can never manage.

    –One downside was that Dylan Strome was scratched for concussion protocol, but Kirby Dach did a fine job filling in on the second line. Granted, that line was still shitty defensively (35.7 CF% and 9 SA) but Dach played well and given Coach Gemstone’s predisposition to be randomly shitty to Strome, there’s a chance Dach plays himself right into Strome’s job. I don’t want that and I still say that DeBrincat-Strome-Kane is a no-brainer while Dach should play with Kampf and Kubalik, but I’m also saying don’t be surprised if the new kid supplants Strome, who ends up getting traded in a typical lack of foresight.

    –Speaking of forward lines, the fourth line of Smith-Carpenter-Highmore was excellent. They had a 77.8 CF% at evens and a total of 5 shots between them. Early on in the first when the Hawks were getting outplayed, Zack Smith even had a breakaway that of course he couldn’t finish on because he’s Zack Smith, but still you gotta appreciate the effort. They were solid throughout and exactly what you want out of a fourth line.

    –And, let’s just note for the record that the Hawks killed both penalties they gave up, and took advantage of the one power play they had. It was a little questionable with Erik Gustafsson as the only defenseman out there on the power play but as we saw, it ended up not being a problem. It was a relief to see them 1) not give up a shitload of penalties and 2) not fall to pieces when they gave up the two penalties that they did. We need special teams to keep this up.

    –I also have to say, given everything that’s going on with the NHL right now with asshole coaches, endemic racism and bullying, and hopefully the start of a general reckoning with deep-seated cultural problems in this sport, I was relieved to not be listening to Pat and Eddie tonight. I pictured myself wincing every time Foley opened his mouth, worried about what ass-backward thing he would say if any of the recent news came up. And for the record, AJ Mleczko was knowledgeable, confident and had a nice TV voice—she was a pleasure to listen to and way less annoying of a between-the-glass person than that jamoke the local broadcast has been putting out there. She handled color commentary and the bench interviews and was excellent the whole time. Can we please try having more women in these roles?

    The Stars’ winning streak and the Hawks’ losing streak are both over, good riddance. It’s not getting any easier with two against Colorado after the turkey coma, but if they can play like this it may just stay interesting. Onward and upward.

    Line of the night: “He can scoot!” –John Forslund describing Kirby Dach, who is probably the only guy you could say that about and not get your ass kicked (yet).

    Beer de jour: Busted Prop Wheat, Crystal Lake Brewing

     

  • Game #24 – Stars vs. Hawks: Gamenight Sloth

    Game #24 – Stars vs. Hawks: Gamenight Sloth

    Everything you need for tonight’s pre Black Wednesday get together on Madison St. 

    Preview

    Spotlight: Jim Montgomery

    Hedley Lamarr

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups & How They Were Built

  • Daylight Cleans All, Even If It’s Hard To Find

    Daylight Cleans All, Even If It’s Hard To Find

    This is going to be the major story in hockey today, and it wouldn’t not be shocked if Bill Peters is fired by the end of business today. We’d like to believe it would lead to a reckoning in how hockey coaches are viewed, judged, and forced to change, but nothing works like that in hockey.

    So the headline and how it relates to the Hawks first. Akim Aliu, a former Hawks draft pick, on Twitter last night was commenting on Mike Babcock’s firing when he connected it to Bill Peters, who served as a Babcock assistant for three seasons before taking the Carolina job. In those tweets, which you can see here, Aliu alleged that Peters called him the n-word several times. When Aliu rebelled against Peters, as he should have, Peters requested to the Hawks brass of GM Stan Bowman and President John McDonough that Aliu be sent to the ECHL. He was.

    The Hawks released a statement today:

    The Notes App press release is a nice touch.

    Right, so first the Hawks. They’ll have plausible deniability on this, which doesn’t mean they’ll totally skate, or more accurately should. What they’ll say is they got a letter or request from their AHL coach, who of course wouldn’t mention what actually happened, and they took his word at the time.

    Which is obviously bullshit, because they should have been doing due diligence on what was really going on. The challenge for the Hawks then, as it would be now, is hockey’s over-entrenched “stays in the room” culture, which would have made it utterly impossible for them to get corroboration from any other player who would be reluctant to speak against their coach. It’s just not done in hockey, not even now. It’s why all this Babcock stuff is coming out now instead of when it was happening, likely because no player would confirm it while Babcock was still employed (or the Toronto media is a bunch of sycophantic chicken shits, take your pick).

    Still, what’s clear is the Hawks probably should have done a little more than simply taking their coach’s word for it. What some will rush to point out is that Akim Aliu was always considered a malcontent or having an attitude problem. Most of this stemmed from his refusal to engage in stupid and demeaning hazing rituals for his junior team, which led to rocky relationships with his team for his entire junior career. We could do a whole other post or six about the backward and disgusting culture of junior hockey, but let’s save it. We do know that Aliu’s refusal to “conform” to what was considered normal behavior in junior poisoned his whole time and every relationship there, because Canada and hockey are basically fucked in the head. There was talk he was disruptive in Rockford too at the time, and now we know why.

    There were some NHL players on that Rockford team, including one Corey Crawford. You can bet McDonough has made sure to get to Crawford well before any media availability today (and as Crow is likely starting tonight, he wouldn’t be available anyway and now you can bet he’s starting tonight) to make sure they control the message.

    Though it was only 10 years ago or so, and this is hardly a justification, it was a different culture then. The Hawks probably didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, no matter how much the claimed they were different, than what any other team would have and just took their guys in the AHL’s word for it. They’ll probably show a fair amount of contrition today, whoever decides to get in front of the cameras and mics. “We didn’t know,” “We should have looked into it further, “won’t happen again,” is probably the gist of what you’ll get today.

    Throw it on top with everything else you’ve seen the Hawks do this decade (Ross, Kane, Reiff, Shaw, etc) and you can see what they’ll do to control any narrative from here. It also doesn’t extend them much benefit of the doubt if any.

    As for Peters, he should be done in hockey forever, and if anything starts coming out in Carolina he certainly will be toast. It’s becoming less and less of a mystery how the Canes went from consistently disappointing to conference finalists as soon as he was gone, and you can see the cycle in reverse for the Flames. Already another former Hogs player is coming to back up Aliu and the story of Peters being a real piece of shit.

    There’s no doubt Peters isn’t the only one of these in NHL, AHL, NCAA, or CHL ranks and probably in youth hockey too. Some will say it’s just being a tough coach, but that’s horseshit and you know it. There is no place for the likes of Peters and what Mike Keenan was back in the day, and we know better now. It’s not coaching, it’s posturing. It’s bullying, especially in a culture where any player who rises up against a coach is still considered the problem and a pariah. You know where hockey media almost always sides on these things, or at least used to. No one cares until the results turn sour. Frankly it’s abuse.

    Hockey will do well to use this as a platform to start cleansing itself of this kind of dickheadedness. If I know the NHL and hockey, it will use it as an opportunity to stick its head in the sand.