All our Nashville friends ignored us. They must really hate Chicago. Guess that’s what happens when you’ve never really won anything. Anyway, here’s the preview from their side.
Game #82 Preview Suite
Last year, when the Hawks season was over, it was just relief. It has become too hard to watch, and it was clear everyone involved just wanted to see the back of the season. No one was upset when it came to an end in Winnipeg.
This year is different, for many reasons. Because of what the Hawks said, because there isn’t the ready-made excuse that Crawford’s injury was last year, because of what the Hawks wasted. They have two 40-goal scorers. Five 20-goal scorers. A d-man with 60 points, even if he can’t read a map in his own zone. And they’re not even going to come close.
It’s going to be very hard to match all that again. Kane and DeBrincat will score a lot of course, but they may not score this much. Toews might not either. You can’t blow this kind of thing, and the Hawks did spectacularly.
Think about how bad you have to defensively to waste that many goals. They were eighth in goals-for this year. No matter the metrics or analytics, the game is about goals. The seven teams ahead of them not only are playoff teams, they are comfortably so. Five of the six teams behind them are playoff teams, the lone exception being the Panthers. How do you do that?
Hopefully the stewing spurs something. You can’t really do this again.
Game #82 Preview Suite
Notes: If the Hawks wanted to have some fun they’d let Lankinen start tonight, as a reward for a season in Rockford. Ward gets to go out with a win, everyone’s happy…Kunitz certainly looked like he was playing his last game last night, starting with Daydream Nation, so you could see Kruger slot back in for him instead of Hayden…Koekkoek scored so maybe he gets to stay in the lineup? Does it matter? No, it does not…four 20 goal-scorers, two 40 goal-scorers, and they’re not even close to the playoffs…
Notes: That’s two picks and a player they gave up for two-thirds for a fourth-line…It felt like Granlund would be a perfect fit in Nashville, as it never quite popped in Minnesota, but his 3.8 SH% has seen that it hasn’t yet…Forsberg only has one goal in his last seven…Rinne’s found it again after a wonky February, with a .927 in March and stopping 56 of 60 in two April starts…Johansen is on something of a heater for him, with three goals in his last five games…
Game #82 Preview Suite
Don’t get me wrong, it’s more fun to watch the Hawks win than to watch them lose, but while these last two games may be some point of pride for the players, it’s in a way even more frustrating to see them beat better teams when it no longer matters. If they just got their ass kicked we could shrug and say yeah, this is where we’re at. Maybe it would help their draft position in some small way. But when they manage to do something like score five on a really hot goalie while only giving up one, it rubs salt in the wound remembering how they couldn’t do this in the key moments when it mattered. Fuck it all, let’s do the bullets:
– Tonight was really a showcase in not-giving-a-shit, in many different ways. But how could that be, you wonder? The Hawks scored five goals…how could they not give a shit? Well, when the first period ended neither team had shots in double-digits. Both teams were playing, shall we say, leisurely, and even the refs didn’t give a shit enough to call a penalty shot on a clear take-down of Gustafsson on a break-away. You would think the Stars would have wanted to make at least a half-assed effort, but with a couple notable exceptions like John Klingberg robbing Alex DeBrincat (legally) on yet another breakaway, they really couldn’t be bothered.
– But yes, the Hawks did score five goals, so there’s a feather in our cap. Kane has a career-high in points and now 44 goals, Kahun scored off a great play by Brandon Saad in the second when Saad made a great move at the blue line and drove to the net where Kahun picked up the rebound, hell even Slater Koekkoek got his very first goal. Dylan Sikura must be pissed. Chris Kunitz also scored in what is most likely his last game as an NHL player, or if not his absolute last, the last one in a home rink. I’ve been bored and mildly annoyed with the fuss they’ve made for him even though yes, I get it, it’s the right thing to do. But I will say it was rather touching how genuinely excited his teammates were when his weird, fluky bounce was deemed to have just barely crossed the goal line. So good for him, now Chris Kunitz please go away.
– Can we all just take a moment to reflect on the scoring capability that’s on this team and yet the fact that they’re missing the playoffs again? I know we’ve all beaten this dead horse—I know you’ve thought about it and we’ve all marveled at how shitty a defense can be, how inexplicable some personnel decisions have been…all of it. But god damn it, games like this throw into harsh relief the absurdity of such talent and career years by Kane and Toews being wasted.
– And just to make things worse, Corey Crawford sustained a groin injury and left the game in the second period. Yeah, he’s got plenty of time to recover and a muscular injury is definitely less worrisome than another head injury. But this guy doesn’t need any more shit breaking or going awry, even if he’s got six months to heal. He most likely pulled it when moving left to right on a brilliant save in the first, but you could tell he was struggling when he got back up. So that’s just one more kick in the collective ass for this season and one more roadblock for someone who doesn’t deserve the hand he’s been dealt with this team lately.
– Speaking of goalie problems, Anton Khudobin came into this game with a .926 SV% and somehow managed to barf up an .813. Part of this was undoubtedly his defense not giving a rat’s ass—case in point, the first goal when Dowling kinda sorta attempted to block a shot and the rest of the Stars literally skated the opposite way of Kane and the puck, making it easier than it already is for him. Also, there was some bad luck for the Stars like when the puck deflected off Reverend Lovejoy’s skate and right onto Dylan Strome‘s stick, who happened to be all alone in front of the crease and just held onto it long enough to get Khudobin moving the wrong way. So it wasn’t that Khudobin just fucked up royally, but he still should have had at least a couple of these.
So that’s the end of things on Madison St. this season. They didn’t go down like bitches in front of the fans for the last time, which I suppose is a nice gesture. But it grinds my gears one more time that only when there’s no pressure could they rise to the occasion and play a well-rounded game. Pullega will be here tomorrow night to bring it all home for you. Onward and upward indeed.
Photo credit: NHL.com
In lieu of doing the normal Tonight Gonna Rock You Tonight, we only need to focus on the games that matter. There’s one spot to be sorted in the East, some seeding in the Metro, some seeding in the Central. Let’s run it through.
Eastern Conference
The Jackets are in the veritable catbird’s seat. They have two games to gather the same points as the Canadiens have in their one, so essentially one win or two ties gets the Jackets in. The Canadiens finish with Toronto, who may or may not care, but the game could be moot by the time it starts as Columbus has the Rangers tonight. Columbus could still catch the Hurricanes if they win both of their games and the Canes don’t beat the Flyera tomorrow.
The Canes however can also still catch the Penguins. If the Penguins lose in regulation to the Rangers at home (not likely) and the Hurricanes win they’ll take the tiebreaker. The Penguins in turn can still catch the Islanders, with a win and a regulation loss by the Islanders at the Caps tomorrow.
So that’s the East.
Western Conference
The spots are all settled. The seeding is not.
At the top of the Central, the Predators need only a win of any kind to take the division. If they get one or no points against the Hawks tomorrow, the Jets can take the division with a win in Arizona. The Blues can still do this, somehow, if neither Nashville or Winnipeg win tomorrow and the Blues beat the Canucks at home.
The only other seeding to be solved is the order of the wildcards. The Stars only need one point out of their last two games to secure a date with the Central winner. But should they whiff completely and the Avs beat the Sharks in San Jose tomorrow, they’ll slide up one and leave the Stars with the Flames.
So there you go.
As we expand our remit here at FFUD it gives us the chance to pester you with other non-hockey stuff that we like, such as European soccer (you’ve seen it before with English Premier League pieces from our fearless leader). To that end, the quarterfinals of Champions League are coming up in two legs over two weeks. And, despite the fact that my personal rooting interest (Napoli, Serie A) is out, these will still be some quality matches plus there’s the chance for some schadenfreude (at least for me, although unlikely). Let’s line them up:
Tottenham vs. Manchester City
1st leg: Tuesday, 4/9, 2pm central
2nd leg: Wednesday, 4/17, 2pm central
These teams are going to play each other three times in 12 days, with the first two matches being Champions League quarterfinals. Seeing as familiarity breeds contempt it should automatically be interesting, and the Spurs will be bordering on desperate to win this first match to prevent things from getting out of hand. On paper Man City is the better team, and they’ve pulled away from Tottenham in the Premier League table. However, at this very same time last year an equally dominant Man City got their ass kicked out of the quarters by Liverpool, so it’s not like it couldn’t happen. This first match will also be at Tottenham’s long-awaited finally-open new stadium, which they played at (and won) for the first time earlier this week. So maybe there will be some adrenaline rush with that. The bigger issues for them are staying healthy (at least Harry Kane and Dele Alli are both back), and their goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, not being a sieve. He played pretty shitty against Liverpool recently and they’re comparable to Man City, so it sort of feels like a matter of time until Pep Guardiola’s squad gets to him.
Prediction: Manchester City
Liverpool vs. Porto
1st leg: Tuesday, 4/9, 2pm central
2nd leg: Wednesday, 4/17, 2pm central
This one is going to be ugly for Porto. Liverpool is good—really good, and even when they aren’t that good they still find a way to pull shit out of their ass and/or take advantage of their opponents’ mistakes (Napoli had to score one goal…one fucking goal to get past them in the group stage and couldn’t do it but it’s their own fault and I’m not bitter and THAT’S NOT WHY YOU CALLED). Anyway, Porto may sneak in a goal or two but likely it’ll be over quickly.
Prediction: Liverpool
Ajax vs. Juventus
1st leg: Wednesday 4/10, 2pm central
2nd leg: Tuesday, 4/16, 2pm central
Ajax (pronounced “eye-ex”) is having a better run than I figured they would. They’re dominant in the Eredivisie in the Netherlands, but I definitely pooh-pooh’d their chances in Champions. Which gives me hope that they can get past Juventus (pronounced “you-vent-oos”, and no I’m not trying to be a dickhead I’m honestly trying to be helpful with some of these). They probably won’t, seeing as Juve’s entire motivation for existing is to win Champions League and it’s literally the exact reason they brought Cristiano Ronaldo over (and it’s been working out for them thus far). Juve’s backfield has been beat up but the bigger issue was that Ronaldo himself was injured. But as of today, their manager Massimiliano Allegri hinted pretty damn strongly that Ronaldo would play, and it would be nigh impossible to imagine him not taking part in what is his entire job description, i.e., winning in Champions. I would love nothing more than to see Juve lose this round, but I doubt it. They’ve got too much depth and keep getting bailed out by CR7 even when they don’t deserve to win.
Prediction: Juventus
Manchester United vs. Barcelona
1st leg: Wednesday 4/10, 2pm central
2nd leg: Tuesday, 4/16, 2pm central
This one has the potential to be the most interesting match-up of the round. Barca is leading La Liga, forward Ousmane Dembele may be back if not for the first leg than by the second (after tearing a hamstring in their ass-whooping of Lyon in the last round), and oh yeah Lionel Messi’s on this team. They played earlier this week and scored twice in extra time to get it to a draw, and although that was not against Man United so perhaps not apples to apples here, it should go without saying they can score (Messi is the leading goal scorer in Champions so far). And what about Man United? Since jettisoning international toxin Jose Mourinho as their manager they’ve been the annoyingly successful team you probably know from that one obnoxious acquaintance you had in college who had to be different and not watch American football. You know that guy—he was always a Manchester United fan. Anyway, they were a surprise coming out of the round of 16 after losing their first match to PSG, but they came back with a 3-1 win for the second match and since that was their away game, they ended up winning on away goals (a tie-breaker function—both teams scored a total of 3 goals over 2 games). So Barca is really the better team but Man United may be the hotter team…honestly I’m pissed for adding a prediction to these because it’s really tough to choose on this one. Luckily I’m under no obligation to be right.
Prediction: Barcelona
vs. 
RECORDS: Stars 42-31-7 Hawks 35-33-12
PUCK DROP: 7:30pm
TV: NBCSN Chicago
MOVING ON: Defending Big D
And now the wake. Or shiva. Or whatever other ceremony where the drinking after the service takes place (some would call it life). The Hawks will close out the home schedule tonight, and despite what they told you before and during the season, for the second straight year it won’t be a launch point to something bigger and more exciting. This will be it. They get the 41 here and no more. There will be plenty of time for commiseration, but for now maybe it’s better to enjoy Alex DeBrincat, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane one more time on the ice.
Because if you think about it, there are some pretty heavy questions hanging over this one. A lot of players will be dressing in red for the last time. Could one or two of them be Brent Seabrook and/or Duncan Keith? There is a case to move each of them on. The one for Seabrook is much easier to make but much harder to execute. Keith still has a role to play here if he both accepts what he is now and more importantly accepts who’s in charge. He doesn’t seem inclined to do either. The argument about both can wait. If this is to be the last time they’re seen together here, it will be sad. One or both will take a significant chunk of Blackhawks history with them when and if they go.
Others are more sured of the exit. Chris Kunitz is headed for retirement. So might be Cam Ward. Marcus Kruger will be elsewhere, as his larger-than-you-think contributions to two Cups are yellowing and green with mold as time goes on. We can only hope Slater Koekkoek and Gustav Forsling are never seen here again. John Hayden has a great career in Germany awaiting him. Has Brendan Perlini earned another contract? Will Brandon Saad be trade bait again? Will Artem Anisimov? More than a few, to be sure.
The other sting about tonight is the Hawks only need to look at the other bench to see what could have been. Could the Hawks be where the Stars are? Maybe not that high, but they could be much closer if they’d done a couple things like Dallas did. What if the Hawks had hired their new voice to replace a legend in the summer and given him a fresh start instead of tossing him in midstream in the busiest portion of the schedule? What if they’d opted for Anton Khudobin instead of Ward? The Hawks’ higher end has been better than the Stars, and by some margin. The middle and bottom has not. Instead you got Brandon Manning and Stan Bowman lurking behind the curtain like Claudius, except this time he didn’t let Hamlet get the drop on him.
The Stars did these things, and the Stars won the games they had to, which the Hawks did not. Because of that, they get to use tonight as a rest-up. Jamie “I Don’t Know Which Way Is South” Benn, Mats Zuccarello, and Roman Polak didn’t even make the trip. Ben Bishop is continuing to rest whatever fell off of him this time and is geared to be ready for the playoffs. Which could come against any of the top three in the Central, though all the Preds have to do is beat the Hawks tomorrow night to clinch. That said, given they only have one line and the Stars defensive ways and Bishop’s form when healthy, that could get sticky for everyone’s darling in yellow in a hurry. But that’s a matter for next week, and not a matter for the Hawks at all.
They’ll wrap it up tonight. They told you they wouldn’t be. The real drama comes next, just not the type they promised.
Game #81 Preview Suite
We’ve often bitched about the Old Boys Club that NHL coaches are chosen from. Same goes for GMs. It feels like you only get an NHL job if you had one before, or served as an assistant for years. We think the game could use new ideas, and they need to come from new places.
And yet those coaches picked from different places…it really hasn’t always worked out, has it? In fact, the success rate is pretty low.
Dave Hakstol flamed out in Philly pretty quickly. You can argue about the roster he was given, but no one with the Flyers or who follows them was too upset with his dismissal. At best, you can say the jury is still out on Jeremy Colliton. Remember Dallas Eakins? Boy, that went well. Guy Boucher turned out to be a fraud, twice. About the only coach who worked his way up through the levels and got his first coaching gig without being an assistant is John Cooper in Tampa Bay. It can happen, it just doesn’t all that often.
Jim Montgomery is a name that will get tossed out as a success. And on the surface, that seems correct. Montgomery had a glittering record at Denver University. Over five seasons the Pioneers went 125-57-26, made two Frozen Fours and collected a national championship. If any coach was screaming out for a promotion to the pro ranks, it was Montgomery.
And Montgomery has the Stars in the playoffs. They missed out last year. Except dig anywhere beneath the surface, and there isn’t much difference between the job Ken Hitchcock did last year, which everyone panned, and the one Montgomery is doing now.
The Stars could finish with a max of 95 points, which is only a small improvement on the 92 they collected last year. They could finish with less than those 92 points as well. That’s just a bounce here or there.
On top of that, by any measure the Stars are actually worse than they were last year. They take less attempts, and they give up more of them. They take less shots, and give up more of them. Their expected goals, or types of chances, they both create and surrender are both headed in the wrong direction. The difference is that Ben Bishop has been way better, as they had an ES SV% last year of .925 and this year it’s .934. That’s a difference of about 20 goals just at even-strength, which is about four or five points in the standings. The other difference, of course, is that the conference is so much worse.
The Stars have roster flaws of course. There’s only one line here. They’ve been racked by injuries, as Radulov, Benn, Klingberg, Bishop all having missed time. Maybe for Montgomery to have their peripherals where they are is something of a job. Hard to say, though.
Perhaps hockey is more like football in that the transition from college to pros is just rougher than you’d think. Maybe it’s a path that needs to be more well-worn. It’s also worth noting the Denver has rolled right along without Montgomery, into the Frozen Four again. But those are his kids there, so we know he can recruit. Sadly, that doesn’t do much for you in the NHL.
If the Stars get Montgomery a second and third line, then we’ll see what he’s made of. If they can make noise in the playoffs and Bishop is injured we’ll know. But until then, maybe the exclusive club isn’t as bad as we thought.
Game #81 Preview Suite
None of our Dallas friends wanted to talk to us. So here’s what Logan Stark had to say a month ago when the Hawks were in Dallas. (@LoganStark)
Let’s get this out of the way up top. While the CEO swearing about the team’s two stars is good for comedic value out here, isn’t it nonsensical as Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are just about the only reason the Stars are anything? (not to mention Benn’s long-standing place with the team and fans)
– First of all, Bishop and Khudobin have been absolute brick walls this season. They’re a large factor of why the Stars are still in a playoff position this late in the season. Second, Miro Heiskanen is a godsend for this team, especially when half the blue line was injured during the first half of the season. Okay, on to the real question. CEO Lites’ comments were beyond nonsensical. Not only did the tirade tarnish the team’s reputation around the league (what high-profile player would want to sign with the team now?), but it also made them a laughing stock. Benn and Seguin have proved Lites wrong with their on-ice performance, but those comments are continuing to hang over them and the team almost two months after they rocked hockey Twitter. Benn and Seguin are the faces of the franchise and are fan-favorites, and they were definitely fan-favorites for their classy responses to the comments. In the end, Lites’ comments backfired, I think, landing egg on his face – while getting some good splatter on the team that will come off with time. CEOs come and go, but Benn and Seguin are here to stay for a long, long time. In the end, it’s their on-ice performance and leadership in the locker room that matters the most. The team and coaching staff still support them, so why should fans do any different?
Why has Julius Honka not worked? The pedigree is there, he seems to have a coach that wants to play faster, and yet four points is four points…
– Do we have time for me to draft a graduate dissertation on why Honka hasn’t worked? No? Okay, let’s give this a shot: The yo-yo effect under Hitchcock last season did absolutely nothing for Honka. Not only was he bounced between the Dallas Stars and their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, but he was bounced with such frequency that he never had a chance to settle into the lineup and make a real impact. When Honka did spend time in Dallas, it was most often as a healthy scratch or with sub-par ice time. None of that helped his development and can only have hurt his confidence on the ice. We’ve seen flashes of his brilliance on the ice, but not this season. He’s been a healthy scratch with regularity under Montgomery, which leads me to believe that Montgomery doesn’t know where to slot him in within the current lineup. There’s just not room in the lines for a player struggling to produce (hush, let’s not talk about Nichushkin) and who needs time on the ice to get his skates back under him, so to speak. At this point, I would say it’s time to trade Honka, use him to bring in fresh talent that’s capable of producing at a steady rate.
Jim Nill has gotten three coaches. At what point does the cannon point at him?
– If the Stars fail to make the playoffs this spring, I think there’s going to be a turnover in the front office. It’s pretty clear that management expects this roster to be a repeat contender, yet they’ve failed to make a real postseason splash. If the Stars fail to make the playoffs (or fail to make it past the first round), I would place good money on Nill being let go. The lack of postseason performances and his lackluster record at the draft table would definitely be grounds for his exit from the team. At a certain point, it’s not about the coaches, but about the guy in the front office saddling said coaches with questionable trades, picks, and players.
What are the Stars gong to do before the deadline (assuming they don’t do anything before we print this, in which case I’ll just switch whatever you said to what they did and make you look like geniuses)?
– Nill has gone on record saying they’re looking for offensive power and depth at the deadline, and Dallas scouts have been checking out Zuccarello and Panarin (they got Zuc, and then he got hurt-ED). I would keep an eye out for the Stars to make a move for either of them on a rental basis (with an extension option on the table). One thing to watch for: the picks and/or players they send the opposite way. Just what is the front office willing to part with in exchange for a player that just might help the Stars get to the playoffs? In the past, Nill has been pretty good about not giving up first round picks or developing players that will aid the team. However, the Stars are getting desperate to make that playoff push this year, so is this the year Nill finally parts with the golden ticket of a first round pick?
Game #81 Preview Suite
