Everything Else

Game #50 – Hawks vs. Predators Douchebag Du Jour: He’s A Doughboy Again

By Sam Fels 1826 0

It’s a relief to make fun of some other team’s gooey bag of nougat instead of our own, so we present Ryan Johansen.

Here’s something strange for you. All of Johansen’s stats are down from last year. He’s scoring less, he has less points per game, his relative Corsi is down, his defensive stats are worse, and he’s not getting nearly as many attempts as he did last year for himself. Now, you may be asking yourself, “What could have happened that caused this? It’s merely luck, right?”

Oh right, the Predators handed him a new contract worth north of $8 million a year for the next forever. Isn’t that curious.

Of course, Johansen has pulled this act before. The Jackets signed him out of his entry-level deal with a lot of rancor, and then he pissed John Tortorella off so much he got him launched out of town for Seth Jones. We all made fun of Torts then, and it’s hardly a challenge to get his anger up. And yet, here we are again. Most nights Johansen has looked like a bag of pancake batter than the ass-kicker he flashed last spring.

Sure, RyJo Sen might be waiting for the playoffs where he can pull his red-ass act off again as he did last year before he got hurt (and might have cost the Preds the Cup). Maybe he’s a little unlucky, as his shooting percentage has sank. And yet there’s enough stink around Johansen from Columbus that he’s going to have to prove it again in the spring. Then again, we’d love nothing more than for the Preds to have their own boat anchor of a contract to live with. It fun to make fun of others for a change.

 

Game #50 Preview

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Atop the Sugar Pile – 1/29

By John Pullega 2299 0

Since the last time we did this, the Hawks have gone 1-2-1 with a -3 goal differential. Things got progressively better after the “slam all of your fingers in a car door during a -10 wind chill” effort against the Islanders, so let’s see if we can suss out what’s going on here.

The Dizzying Highs

Anthony Duclair: The points have only just begun to come, but Duclair is yet another example of Arizona being the place where good hockey goes to die. Over the past four games, Duclair’s 5v5 CF% has never dipped below 58, and he’s sporting a four-game average of 64. Playing with DeBrincat and Toews has done him good, with the glut of his Blackhawks points coming in the Motor City Massacre last Thursday. Duclair’s speed is what sets him apart most, and it makes sense that having a playmaker like DeBrincat playing with him has begun to unlock his scoring potential. When the only thing you haven’t mastered is the breakaway backhander, you’re in a good spot.

Alex DeBrincat: Top Cat has trended similarly to Duclair over the last four games, with a 55+ CF% overall at 5v5. He’d hovered around 50 combined against New York and Tampa, until grouping with Toews and Duclair, which over two games has returned a 58+ CF%, four points, and a hat trick. It seems that DeBrincat and Duclair make each other better, as in the limited time they’ve had together, they’ve posted a 55 CF% with Toews and an astounding 70 CF% without Toews. (Don’t tell the good folks at Twitter dot com about that last part, lest you want to hear a Master’s length thesis about how the Hawks should trade Toews, an idea so profoundly offensive that even Zappa wouldn’t argue with Tipper over it.) Keeping the DDT line together is now a must, thanks in part to DeBrincat’s vision.

The Terrifying Lows

Joel Quenneville: We’ve covered several reasons why we’re all starting to get itchy with Quenneville. From the confusion he’s brought on himself about what this team is this year, to the fact that one of his scattershot solutions to a woeful Hawks offensive effort was to put Patrick Sharp on a Top Six line with Schmaltz and Kane, Quenneville’s Jeff Skilling-esque accounting for the Hawks’s poor play has made him look less like the tinkering madman we know and love to poke fun at, and more like a coach born on third with no idea how to transition his younger guys into the NHL properly. But most egregious has been his handling of the defensive pairings. The Forsling–Rutta fiasco. Scratching both Murphy and Kempný in New York. These are the kinds of things that make the FIRE QUENNEVILLE jalopy run, and he’s only got himself to blame for it.

With Forsling retooling in Rockford and Rutta breaking in his press box suit, we may have turned a corner, but that it took this long is an affront. For now, the key will be keeping the lines and pairings as-is and not getting too cute by swapping in spare parts for things that work.

Forsling–Rutta: Thankfully, it looks like this botched experiment is finally over. They were abysmal together against the Islanders, a game in which Rutta was on the ice for seemingly every single goal. After their woeful performance, Forsling got sent down and Rutta got sent up to the press box.

It’s not entirely fair to pin the blame on these two for their poor performances, Forsling in particular. For the second straight year, Forsling’s had to go back to work on his confidence, this time because of mismanagement from Quenneville and supposed Defenseman-Whisperer Ulf Samuelsson. Rutta had a nice run at the beginning of the year, but the Hawks already have a right-handed guy who sort of does the stuff he’s supposed to do in their older, balder, fatter son, Brent Seabrook, so it’s hard to figure out what Rutta does anymore that Murphy, Kempný, or even Oesterle or Gustafsson can’t do better.

The Creamy Middles

Jeff Glass: It doesn’t have to be pretty to work, and giving up two regulation goals against each of the Lightning and Leafs (for a combined 93.9 SV% against 68 regulation shots) is impressive. Since swapping in for Forsberg in New York, he’s managed a 92.2 SV% over 77 shots in regulation, which you’ll take all day from a backup. The rebound control and crease awareness are still a circus, but given the lack of puck luck the Hawks have had this year, I’m not going to discount what we’ve gotten out of him. He’s not a long-term solution, but he’ll do for now.

Erik Gustafsson: In supplanting CONNOR MURPHY as Seabrook’s babysitter, Gustafsson has looked anywhere from good to unnoticeable, which is all you can ask. He came out scorching against the Islanders because we all said he wouldn’t, and since then has been quietly alright, with CF%s of 61+, 43+, and 57+ while riding shotgun with Porkins.

Most interesting is that Gustafsson’s CF%s have been staggeringly higher away from Seabrook than with him: In his four games up, Gustafsson has played with Seabrook for about 54 minutes at 5v5, for a CF% of 46+. He’s been away from Seabrook for about 12 minutes at 5v5 and has a CF% of 65+ in that time. Small sample sizes, but this could tell us that Gustafsson might be a serviceable third-pairing D-man on his own.

Vinnie Hinostroza: Or Kris Versteeg II, if you prefer. Vinnie’s produced a goal and an assist over his last two, and looks right at home with Jurco and Kampf, both of whom have the wheels (and maybe even the vision in Kampf’s case) to keep up. I don’t particularly hate him on the power play either, as long as he stays away from doing the Versteegy things we all grew to hate.

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Thoughts At The Break

By Jon Fromi 1696 0

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, have hit the All-Star Break in their 2017-18 schedule. Rockford has the next few days to prepare for action Friday and Saturday. The AHL All-Star Classic is tonight. With two Hogs skaters participating, it’s as good as time as any to weigh in on the campaign thus far.

Surprise, surprise, a team of young prospects has been a little inconsistent in some areas of play through the first 46 games. One thing that has been a constant from this club, however, has been their level of compete.

Simply put, this team has battled hard for first-year coach Jeremy Colliton. Regardless of the score, they don’t pack it in. This has made them a very entertaining squad to watch. This trait also served them well this past week; twice Rockford rallied from third-period deficits to post wins.

The boys from ‘Bago County have a current mark of 24-17-2-3. That places them fourth in the Central Division standings. Rockford has as many regulation/overtime wins (19) as they had all of last season. Aside from first-place Manitoba, who the Hogs host Friday night, the Central is going to be a dog fight these last 30 games. Still, a spot in the postseason is well within reach.

The IceHogs are the least penalized team in the league, earning just 9.78 minutes in the sin bin per contest. The team has been disciplined, though the dearth of penalty minutes can be attributed to committing just six major penalties this season.

Rockford has been a better team at home (15-8-1-1) than on the road (9-9-1-2), but has kept its head above water when away from the BMO Harris Bank Center. After struggling mightily in games that stretched beyond regulation a season ago, the IceHogs are 4-2 in Gus Macker Time and have a 5-3 mark in shootouts.

The Hogs are scoring 3.15 goals per game. That’s tenth in the AHL. This is light years better that last year’s bunch, who depended way too much on greasy goals and were the worst offensive team in Rockford history.

Rookie Matthew Highmore, who is playing for the Central Division All-Star squad Monday, leads the IceHogs with 18 goals and 29 points. Six of those goals have come on the power play, which easily paces the team.

Tyler Sikura has provided surprising offensive punch for Rockford. His 12 goals are second to Highmore among active Hogs. Anthony Louis (7 G, 19 A) has been a steady offensive contributor, as has Andreas Martinsen (8 G, 12 A).

Luke Johnson has brought his game up in his second season, with nine goals and ten helpers. Both John Hayden and Tanner Kero have helped shoulder the offensive load since being sent to Rockford.

AHL All-Star Carl Dahlstrom has three goals and 20 assists to lead the blueline in scoring. Ville Pokka (21 points) and rookie Darren Raddysh (11 points) each have four goals to pace the defense.

Of the active Hogs, four have two game-winning goals-Highmore, Kero, Raddysh and William Pelletier (7 G, 10 A).

Colliton has preached a high-tempo style. His players haven’t disappointed in this department. Rockford is averaging 35.04 shots per game; that leads the AHL by over two shots more than division rivals Grand Rapids and Chicago.

The Hogs are giving up 3.02 goals per game. As you would expect from a team that is pushing hard to get pucks on the net, more than a few of those come back at them for prime scoring chances.

The play in goal has been vital to Rockford’s fortunes. It was very good to start the campaign. However, the IceHogs have been playing with a pair of rookies for almost a month after an injury to J.F. Berube and Jeff Glass being recalled to Chicago.

After some settling in, Colin Delia has played well for Rockford this past slate of games. If the Hogs can reach the playoffs, this last couple of weeks could well be the key stretch.

Delia and Matt Tomkins have been good enough for Rockford to compile a 7-6-1-2 record since Glass was recalled December 27. That’s far from dominating, but after starting 1-4, the rookies have held up and given the IceHogs a chance to win.

 

Special Teams

If Rockford can get a handle on this part of the game, it would be a big help. The power play has shown signs of life the last two weeks. However, the 12.4% conversion rate is still the AHL’s worst. The IceHogs have also surrendered seven shorthanded goals.

The penalty kill is not faring much better. Rockford has stopped just 78.7% of opponents power plays. They are 28th out of 30 teams in this category. Sikura has two of the IceHogs five shorthanded goals.

 

Odds And Ends

Rockford still does not have a captain.

Berube appears to be nearing a return, as is defenseman Luc Snuggerud. Both have been practicing.

Rockford sent F Tommy Olczyk, who skated in Grand Rapids for the Hogs January 20, back to the ECHL’s Indy Fuel.

 

The Bottom Line

This has been a streaky team, which is what I expected to see when previewing Rockford back in the fall. The Hogs have a pair of four-game win streaks this season and two three-game win streaks. They currently have points in nine of their last 11 games.

Rockford also have lost four straight on two occasions this season. Throughout it all, however, the Hogs have continued to play hard right up to the horn. This is a group that could go on a tear in the playoffs…should they make the playoffs.

The piglets have a road-heavy schedule and will have to keep earning points to stay with the pack in the middle of the division. It will likely come down the final week of the season in terms of making the postseason field.

Getting Berube back should be a boost, as will recently acquired D Adam Clendening, who adds AHL experience and offense from the blueline. There will be some roster turnover as the trade deadline looms, for better or worse.

Can this team make the top four in the Central and keep playing hockey this spring? With the motor I’ve seen from this group, I would say yes.

Recaps

Tuesday, January 23-Rockford 4, Bakersfield 1

A big third period was the catalyst for the Hogs win in their return to the BMO Harris Bank Center after a two-week road jaunt.

A Dillon Simpson goal 7:29 into the game was all the scoring through the first 40 minutes. This, despite the IceHogs tossing 30 shots on goal to that point. The cover would come off the Condors net early in the final frame, however.

As a 4-on-4 session was wrapping up, Andreas Martinsen gathered in a Matthew Highmore pass and skated into the Bakersfield zone. Swooping toward the left post, Martinsen got to the bottom of the left circle before flipping a shot high to the short side of the cage. Condors goalie Laurent Brossoit couldn’t keep it from cuing the horn, tying the score at a goal apiece 48 seconds in to period three.

The game-winner came at 7:38 on a pretty piece of work that started with Tanner Kero digging a puck out of the corner of the offensive zone. William Pelletier gathered the biscuit before backhanding a pass to Anthony Louis. Weaving to the top of the crease, Louis hit Kero in front of the net to complete the scoring play.

Up 2-1, Rockford extended the advantage on an unassisted goal by new arrival Gustav Forsling. Picking off Brossoit’s clearing attempt in the neutral zone, Forsling skated across the Condors blue line. Firing from the high slot, his shot zipped under Brossoit’s glove for a 3-1 Hogs lead at 8:27 of the third. Adam Clendening completed the scoring for Rockford, clearing the puck he length of the ice and into an empty net in the final minutes.

Colin Delia got stingy after the early Bakersfield goal, stopping 23 of 24 shots on the night to pick up his fifth win of the season. Forsling and Delia were the first and second stars of the evening.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson (A)-John Hayden

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-William Pelletier

Andreas Martinsen-Tyler Sikura-Robin Norell

Matheson Iacopelli-Graham Knott-Alex Wideman

Cody Franson (A)-Viktor Svedberg (A)

Darren Raddysh-Carl Dahlstrom

Gustav Forsling-Adam Clendening

Colin Delia

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Tommy Olczyk, Jordin Tootoo, Alexandre Fortin, Ville Pokka, J.F. Berube

Power Play (0-5)

Highmore-Johnson-Kero-Louis-Forsling

Sikura-Martinsen-Hayden-Franson-Clendening

Penalty Kill (Condors were 0-1)

Johnson-Kero-Franson-Svedberg

Martinsen-Sikura-Dahlstrom-Raddysh

Pelletier-Hayden-Forsling-Clendening

 

Friday, January 26-Rockford 3, Ontario 2 (OT)

In the pink glow of Rockford’s annual cancer awareness game, the Hogs put on another rally for the BMO faithful. This time, Rockford came back from two goals down, tied the game in the closing seconds, and beat the Reign to sweep the season series between the two squads.

Jonny Brodzinski tipped in a Sean Walker shot to give Ontario a 1-0 lead 6:04 into the game. It stayed that way until the waning portion of the middle frame, when the IceHogs appeared to have blown a golden opportunity to draw even.

Penalties by Jamie Devane and Paul LaDue resulted in Rockford receiving a two-man advantage with 3:29 remaining in the period. Unfortunately, Tyler Sikura was called for interference after winning the resulting offensive zone draw.

Now with a 4-on-3 power play, Rockford lost the draw down at the other end. The Reign promptly doubled their lead when Brett Sutter slid a long-distance shot past Hogs goalie Colin Delia. At 16:37 of the second, Rockford was down a pair. However, Delia tightened his belt and the piglets got to work.

As their 4-on-3 was running out, Cody Franson got a shot on net that rebounded off of the pads of Reign goalie Jack Campbell. John Hayden was on hand in front of the net to poke it across the goal line to get Rockford back within a goal at 18:24 of the second.

The Hogs had several decent chances to pot the equalizer during their third period push. Campbell was up to the task for the first dozen Rockford attempts. Jeremy Colliton brought Delia to the bench with nearly three minutes remaining in the contest. A risky move, for sure, but it would pay off.

Ville Pokka one-timed an offering from Carl Dahlstrom at the top of the left circle. With Luke Johnson coming across the crease to screen the goalie, the puck got under Campbell’s pads and slid into the Ontario cage with 15 seconds remaining to make it a 2-2 game.

Johnson would drive the game-winner home to complete the comeback in Gus Macker Time. Taking a pass from Adam Clendening, Johnson looped up to the right circle as a Justin Auger and Andrew Crescenzi ran into each other while trying to make a defensive switch.

Johnson skated to the right dot unchecked, then fired a shot that caught the far side of Campbell’s net, ending the contest in the IceHogs favor 1:59 into the extra session.

Johnson (first), Pokka (second) and Campbell (third, 39 saves) were the game’s three stars, though Delia deserves a stick tap for another solid effort. He stopped 31 of 33 shots and kept Rockford within striking distance for most of the evening.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson (A)-John Hayden

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-William Pelletier

Andreas Martinsen-Tyler Sikura-Robin Norell

Matheson Iacopelli-Graham Knott-Alex Wideman

Gustav Forsling-Adam Clendening

Cody Franson (A)-Viktor Svedberg (A)

Ville Pokka-Carl Dahlstrom

Colin Delia

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Tommy Olczyk, Jordin Tootoo, Alexandre Fortin, Darren Raddysh, J.F. Berube

Power Play (1-3, gave up 4-on-3 shorty)

Highmore-Johnson-Kero-Louis-Forsling

Sikura-Martinsen-Hayden-Franson-Clendening

Penalty Kill (Ontario was 0-2)

Johnson-Kero-Franson-Svedberg

Martinsen-Sikura-Dahlstrom-Pokka

Pelletier-Hayden-Forsling-Clendening

 

Saturday, January 27-Grand Rapids 4, Rockford 1

Rockford scored the first goal of the game but that was all the offense the Hogs could muster at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins limited Rockford to just 17 shots, pulling away with three second-period goals.

The IceHogs goal came late in the first period. Williiam Pelletier brought the biscuit across the Griffins blueline and centered to Anthony Louis, who couldn’t initially come up with the puck. It hopped toward the left circle, where Louis collected it before beating Grand Rapids goalie Jared Coreau at 18:06 for a 1-0 Rockford lead.

That was it as far as IceHogs highlights. Matt Puempel hammered in a power play shot to the far side of Matt Tomkins net to tie the game 1-1 2:56 into the second. Midway though the period, John Hayden surrendered the puck to Brian Lashoff in the corner of the Hogs zone. Lashoff skated below the goal line and banked the eventual game-winner off Tomkins and into the cage at 11:17.

Hayden did some shoving in front of the Grand Rapids net a few minutes later. Turner Elson jumped into the fray and the two engaged in a brief scuffle that saw some jabs from the Griffins forward and a wild right by Hayden. Call it a draw.

At the 15:25 mark, Eric Tangradi set up Evgeny Svechnikov in the high slot. Tomkins couln’t track the one-timer quickly enough, and the Griffins led 3-1 after 40 minutes. Matthew Ford would complete the scoring for Grand Rapids with a put-back goal at 16:57 of the third period.

No lines for this one; I was out of town and didn’t have time. Cody Franson left this game and did not return. Colliton dressed seven defensemen and skated Robin Norrell at forward in what has been a regular gig for him.

 

Weekend Preview

Friday night, Rockford will get a chance to atone for a 8-1 spanking at the hands of Manitoba on November 28 when the Moose visit the BMO for the second time this season.

Manitoba comes bearing the league’s best offense (3.66 goals per game) to go with the second-best defense (2.39 goals allowed per game). They’ve cooled a bit, but the Moose won their last three games going into the All-Star break, outscoring their opponents 13-4.

The Manitoba roster boasts four players who have notched 30-plus points this season. They are led by rookie Mason Appleton (15 G, 26 A). D Cameron Schilling, a former IceHog, is having a career season (5 G, 19 A). He is second among Moose defensemen in scoring behind rookie Sami Niku (8 G, 21 A).

This will be a tough team to hang with, let alone beat. Rockford’s post-break schedule definitely begins with a test.

Saturday, the Hogs head east on I-90 for a friendly bit of Illinois Lottery Cup fun with the Chicago Wolves. Cup aside, Rockford needs a win over the Wolves, who currently sit one spot above the IceHogs in the division standings.

Rockford is 3-3 against Chicago in 2017-18, but has yet to claim a victory at Allstate Arena this season.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for my thoughts on the IceHogs all season long.

 

 

Everything Else

The Thinking (Or Drinking?) Man’s Awards – At The All-Star Break

By Sam Fels 1993 0

Time to get down again. For those who are new to our deranged family, every so often I like to delve into what the end-of-season awards would look like if everyone actually paid attention to what was really going on during the NHL season. This will always remain my wish, but hey, it’s fun to dream and hope. So let’s get to it.

Hart – This one’s pretty simple. You hand it to Nathan MacKinnon, or Nikita Kucherov if you’re feeling spicy. I don’t think either is a wrong choice. You could even make a case for Phil Kessel, who has kept the Penguins afloat while they try and figure shit out and kick through some fatigue. MVP is still kind of easy to measure. Goals are how games are won, and whoever is scoring and creating most of them, with the least help, probably should get the award.

Vezina – Easy as well. Hand it to Andrei Vasilevskiy. He’s got the league’s highest save-percentage, and the second biggest difference between his actual save-percentage and his expected. So he’s not benefitting hugely from a great defense in front of him.

Calder – Again, this isn’t hard. Mathew Barzal. He’s on pace to have the greatest rookie scoring total in over a decade. He’s made the Islanders relevant, and even interesting even though they can’t play defense worth a shit.

Selke – Ok, this is where the rubber meets the road. As we’ve previously stated, this award always goes to a center that everyone knows, who wins a lot of draws and scores a lot too and has developed a reputation as a defensive center simply because everyone says so. And that center is always Patrice Bergeron. And that’s not entirely wrong. You can make a solid case for him every year. You can for this one. When we looked at this in mid-December, we were actually making a case for Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry. Let’s see if that’s still the case.

For best defensive forward, we should really look at who is holding down attempts against and limiting chances against. When it comes to the top five in attempts against per 60, it’s still Lowry, Bergeron, Tanev, Backes, and Marchand. Strange that they all play on the same lines, eh? (except for Backes). When it comes to types of chances against, the top five in expected goals against per 60 at evens is Mikko Koivu, Lowry, Granlund, Tanev, and Jason Zucker. Again, all linemates. So let’s try and suss it out from who’s benefitting from playing on a great defensive team. Let’s get relative.

When it comes to best relative marks to their team in attempts against per 60, Lowry leads the pack again. He’s followed by Andrew Ladd, Koivu, Brandon Martinook (huh?) and Tanev. When it comes to relative xGA/60, your leaders are Lowry, Hagelin, Kase, Martinook, and Koivu. Again, it looks like Adam Lowry should be getting some votes here. As far as context, Bergeron plays much harder competition than Lowry, but Lowry starts in the offensive zone much less than Bergeron (40% to 60% for Bergeron, though that could be that the Bruins and Bergeron in particular are always driving the play into the offensive zone). Whatever, get original and give it to Lowry.

Norris – This one’s harder. You can’t just give it to the best defensive d-man because driving the play from the back has become so important in today’s game. But it’s gotta be more complicated than just handing it to the d-man with the most points, which would be John Klingberg. If you were going simply by who let up the least chances and attempts, you’d be handing this thing to Dan Hamhuis. Do you really want to do that? No, of course you don’t. If you were going by relative marks to their team in those categories, Hampus Lindholm would have that claim.

When it comes to total contribution, possession-wise, because that’s the entire job description, the leaders in CF/60 relative to their teams are HAMPUS! HAMPUS!, Giordano, Hamilton, Karlsson and Werenski. When it comes to relative xGF%, the only names you’ll see on both lists HAMPUS! HAMPUS! and Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton faces slightly tougher competition than Hampus, and both start in the donkey end the overwhelming majority of the time.

But neither are anywhere near the top of the scoring charts, so you can forget that.

 

Everything Else

Only you can prevent coach firings

By Adam Hess 2398 0

On Tuesday, Sam dug into the two possible intentions the Blackhawks had when building the roster heading into this season, and how the way Stan constructed the team doesn’t seem to mesh with the way Q has manged it. His conclusion was that it looks like Stan is playing the rebuild/retool on the fly under the obvious core of the team, but Q isn’t quite singing the same tune. Go read it for yourself if you haven’t already.

Reading Sam’s piece, I certainly don’t disagree with any of it, and to an extent I would say I agree with his conclusion that if Stan and Q can’t be on the same page, one needs to go. And I also agree that it shouldn’t be Stan, even after I expressed the hilarity I find in the idea that he’s Chicago’s best non-Theo GM in the city. Even if I don’t think Stan has the best track record over the past three years, and that he did put his team in this place, I definitely think he has a vision for how to get his team back to the level the team and fans expect to be at. So I am not in disagreement with Sam’s overall point or conclusion.

But after Wednesday night’s loss to Toronto, I left NCBSN on for a while longer, and on their nightly NHL show Uncle Bob McKenzie said something I thought was pretty interesting. When asked if missing the playoffs should result in Q’s firing after back-to-back first round exits, Uncle Bob basically said that Hawks fans have gotten a bit spoiled by the success of the team in the first half of the 2010’s, and as a result a stretch like this sends us running like chickens with our heads cut off and screaming for a firing that might not be necessary.

He followed that up by raising a smart question: what if Chicago has a great GM, and a great coach, and just needed a year to get more NHL time on the clocks of the younger and more inexperienced players that make up a majority of this roster?

As Sam pointed out, that does seem to be the most logical explanation for how Stan went about roster construction, at least for the most part. The blue line was/is made up largely of players who were in their first or second year in the NHL, and Connor Murphy having a lot of potential that hadn’t quite manifested yet. Really, Keith and Seabrook were the only players that offered any semblance of certainty as to what you’d get on the blue line, and Seabrook’s certainty was not the good kind. The forwards were a bit different story, but guys like Top Cat, Schmaltz, and Hartman were still needing more experience under their belts, and the recently added Anthony Duclair is in essentially the same boat as Murphy.

And yes, the perception is that Q has not quite played along with the image that Stan had. But part of me feels like the constant blue line scratch carousel is meant to serve as a developmental tool. Not the actual scratching, which helps no one, but rotating players in and out of the lineup and trying them in situations that aren’t natural fits to their skills to see where their limits lie are definitely ways to continue a player’s development for better or worse. Maybe Q knows exactly what he kind of playmaker he has in Forsling, for example, but wanted to see if he could elevate the defensive side. Q does have a tendency to see players for what they aren’t, but that’s not a bad thing by rule.

Sam asked in his piece that if this year was really about going for it, how could Q have done a number of things he’s done this year? No matter how frustrating he can be at times, Q is certainly not an idiot. He knows what a winning lineup looks like up and down.

I don’t want to give the mustachioed bench boss too much credit, but maybe he is playing along with Stan’s plan as best he can. The results have not been there, and yet Q hasn’t tried going to the old trusty 19-88 well for long stretches at all this year as he tends to do when things are bleak.

I theorized on Twitter the other day that maybe Joel has gone into John Fox mode – doing stupid shit for the sake of stupid shit, just to see what he can get away with. Fox pretty much knew he was getting fired by the Bears at the end of the year, so he pretty  obviously stopped trying to make smart moves, or defend his idiotic ones. That’s not to say Q is assuming he’ll be canned, but maybe he wants to be to avoid a retooling. He is a winning coach, not a developing coach, for better or worse.

But because he is a winning coach, and not an idiot, it’s likely he is aware of Stan’s vision and goals for getting this team back to winning. I’d certainly hope they at least communicate that much. He has to see there is good talent on this team that he can win with, with a GM who isn’t afraid to add more if and when he can. There is more to be mined out of this roster and this system, and it may be as early as next year that the Blackhawks are back to contending in the mediocre-team-rich NHL. And if/when this team is in contention status again in the coming years, Q is still a coach you want behind the bench guiding winner.

So yeah, if Joel isn’t playing the same game as Stan, and has decided his idea of how to run the team is better or more important than Stan’s. If that’s the case, kick him down the road. But I am not entirely convinced that’s the case, and a firing this summer may be a bit premature.

Everything Else

Game #49 – They took the train going anywhere because your city is trash – Blackhawks 5, Red Wings 1

By Adam Hess 2385 0

After three weeks of the Hawks essentially either getting their dicks kicked in or playing well enough to win but finding a way to lose, tonight was a welcome outburst of good hockey. Especially after Detroit was one of the teams that did the dick-kicking-in just last Sunday. This is what the Wings get for putting their shitty team in a shitty town and naming their arena after shitty pizza. TO DA BULLETS MY FRENT

– Give me more DeBrincat-Toews-Duclair. Give me all of it. The three of them went 56.25-62.16-58.82 on CF, respectively, and each found the score sheet (finally, in Captain Woke’s case). DeBrincat recorded a Cat Trick (yeah I said it, fuck off) and an assist, Duclair found the net after an absolutely orgasmic passing play from Keith and Top Cat to go with 2 assists, and Toews notched a helper on a nice rush that led to Top Cat’s second goal. As John said yesterday, as long as Toews can figure out he doesn’t have as much time as he wants to think he does to make plays, this line has chemistry, and the speed and skill of the two wingers will hopefully help Toews find more production.

– More on the Duclair goal. Please go watch it here. Granted, it is off a faceoff, which helps a little bit in catching the Wings on their heels. But can you imagine if the Hawks moved the puck with that sort of urgency on a power play instead of everybody standing around with their dick in the hands every time. If I’m Q, I’m sitting the whole team down in front of the video screen when they get back from break and just saying “DO THIS ON THE POWER PLAY.” Maybe they could score a damn PPG against a team not from Canada.

– The third line of Wingels, Anisimov, and Heart Man was one of the few low spots for the Hawks in this game. And they were a very low spot. All three of them got absolutely skull fucked on shot shares, with Heart Man and Anisimov both posting 33.33 rates and Wingels below that at 32%. Those were -22.83 and -24.94 compared to the team rate for the game, which is just pathetic. Even adjusting for score and venue, Natural Stat Trick has all three around 40%. To echo John from last night’s wrap again, this is further evidence that the Hawks aren’t gonna be able to roll a 3+1. And if maybe for some reason this third line was intended as the 1 and rather than part of the 3, that might actually make this look a lot worse.

– Guess which defenseman led all Hawks blue liners with a 60% CF. Connor Murphy, bitches. It’s becoming evident that Sam’s assertion that Murph is this team’s best defenseman this year is correct, and Q’s diaper filling over Hjammer is just sad. Murphy also tallied the primary assist on Top Cat’s first goal, which got the night started. Fuck you and your press box, Joel.

– Ant Man Forsberg was fine in the net tonight, but he still too scrambly-panicky for me to truly comfortable with him, even as a main backup. I am not sure what options there are out there, but I almost wonder if Stan shouldn’t investigate adding one of the league’s better backups via trade. There’s still enough here for the team to maybe sneak into the playoffs if they get reliable goaltending, and I am not sure you’re getting that from Glass/Forsberg. But it’s also about more than this year. Again, I am not sure Forsberg is really a good backup, and those can prove to be important throughout a regular season. Points won or lost when your backup is in can impact playoff seeding. So a good backup who might have some controlability moving forward, and maybe some potential to take the starter’s mantle in the coming years (Crow is only getting older and that brain can only get more mushy) could be a wise investment.

– For being “HOCKEY TOWN,” Shitty Pizza Arena sure had a lot of very obviously empty seats tonight. Shit, you can see a lot in that photo above. Not that Chicago is one to talk cuz ticket prices are dropping like bricks around here and seats are opening up in the UC like mad, too. But with opening a brand new arena, and this being the only Chicago-Detroit matchup in the Motor City this year, I was a little surprised to see how empty the arena was. Just another fly dropping to the NHL attendance plague. Ho Hum.

– Look, it’s only Detroit. They’re not great. But this kind of effort is one we hadn’t really seen from the Hawks since the ass whooping they gave Ottawa, who is also bad. And this is also the same Detroit team that kicked the Hawks dick in 11 days ago. If it is indicative of what’s to come for this team (and that is a BIG if), there is reason to think this team can find the playoffs. Maybe.

Everything Else

Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – January 25th

By Sam Fels 1425 0

First Screen Viewing

Maple Leafs vs. Stars – 7:30

Well, much to our chagrin, Ken Hitchcock has gotten the Stars humming again, and they’re only one point behind the Blues with a game in hand for the third automatic spot in the Central. The Leafs got a win last night of course, something that’s been a touch rare for them (happy to help). While Hitch has his faults, you won’t find a much better show than John Klingberg and the Stars’ top line these days. And the Leafs remain the Leafs, though that’s more potential than on display these days.

Second Screen Viewing

Avalanche vs. Blues – 7pm

The Avs finally lost a game, and now they’re only four points behind St. Louis so tonight’s game has some extra meaning for them. The Blues are headed for another goalie controversy/meltdown at the end of a season, which might be one of the few joys we get this year. Nathan MacKinnon has gone supernova, which makes for excellent television.

Other Games

Predators vs. Devils – 6pm

Lightning vs. Flyers – 6pm

Wild vs. Penguins – 6pm

Hurricanes vs. Canadiens – 6:30

Bruins vs. Senators – 6:30

Capitals vs. Panthers – 6:30

Flames vs. Oilers – 8pm

Blue Jackets vs. Coyotes – 8pm

Sabres vs. Canucks – 9pm

Islanders vs. Knights – 9pm

Jets vs. Ducks – 9pm

Rangers vs. Sharks – 9:30