Everything Else

Game #31 – Panthers vs. Hawks: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

By Sam Fels 1583 0

All stats at even-strength unless noted. Courtesy of Corsica.hockey and NaturalStatTrick.com

Key: CF/60 – shot attempts for per 60 minutes

CA/60 – shot attempts against per 60

CF% – ratio of shot attempts for and against

G/60, GA/60, GF% – goals scored, allowed, and ratio of per 60 minutes

xGF/60, xGA/60, xGF% – “expected goals” i.e. goals team “should” have scored and allowed based on amount and types of chances and attempts created and allowed given neutral goaltending. 

PDO – shooting percentage plus save percentage, used to measure luck. 100 is average.

Time On Ice Percentage – amount of even-strength time player skates

Off. Zone Start Ratio – percentage of shifts started in offensive zone

TOI% of Competition: percentage of even-strength time opponent takes of his team player skates against

Game #31 Preview

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – December 11th

By Sam Fels 1281 0

First Screen Viewing

Islanders vs. Capitals – 6pm

Well it wasn’t the Hawks who spurred the Capitals to revive their season, but they were part of it. The Caps have won seven of eight, though that hasn’t been able to vault them out of the muck of the Metro, still trailing the Blue Jackets. Ovechkin and Backstrom are on fire. They’ll get a divisional tilt tonight against another member of the rabble, the Islanders. It’s been a rougher go for the Isles, who have lost four of five and the one win was a rock-paper-scissors over the Panthers. The problem for the Isles is they can’t get anyone who can stop a puck at a reasonable rate of late, as both Griess and Halak are going to pull muscles in their neck looking behind them. So the Caps aren’t exactly the team they want to be seeing right now. There will be goals.

Second Screen Viewing

Canucks vs. Jets? – 7pm

It’s not much of a slate tonight, so the beat-up Canucks visiting The Peg is about all we can get to. The Nucks are without Horvat and Baertschi and they weren’t all that good to begin with. The Jets have lost three in a row, including to the Wings and Panthers which is not a very good look. A loss to the shorthanded Canucks will assuredly leave the always rational Jets fanbase in a tizzy.

Other Games

Stars vs. Rangers – 6pm

Avalanche vs. Penguins – 6pm

Panthers vs. Red Wings – 6:30

Hurricanes vs. Ducks – 9pm

Everything Else

Atop the Sugar Pile – December 11th

By Rose Rankin 1796 0

Since our last installment of Sugar Pile, the Hawks went on a bus ride from hell and the outcome was, well, let’s just say they kinda got kicked in the dick. Crawford in particular actually did sustain a groin injury and then had to rush his return, thanks to a combination of shitty defense, Forsberg’s bad luck, and Q acting like a skittish horse that bolts for safety at the first sign of trouble. Benchings, a call-up from the AHL, really these last couple weeks have had it all. So how does it all look from this vantage point?

The Dizzying Highs

Alex DeBrincat: Against all odds, Top Cat has muscled his way not only onto the Hawks roster as opposed to the Ice Hogs, but also into the top six where he undoubtedly belongs, regardless of Q’s predilections. DeBrincat has eight points in his last seven games, including the popping of his hat trick cherry against the Ducks a couple weeks ago. With a total of 21 points, he’s our second-leading scorer right now, behind only Garbage Dick. And that means (in case you forgot) that he’s leading Toews and Saad in scoring. I’d also like to point out that his last goal even came on the power play, which has been a damn near impossible feat for any of the Hawks (but more about that in a minute).

Up until last week, DeBrincat was on a line with Sharp and Hartman and he still made a difference despite their inability to keep up with him, and in his 4-point hat trick game he took advantage of changes to score with better players than his linemates. All that meant that when Q hit the blender he was eventually forced to land on a Saad-Toews-DeBrincat top line. Now, one would expect that his 22.6 shooting percentage is going to plateau a bit in the near future, but up to this point he’s earned every one of these opportunities, despite the moronic, barely controlled tendencies of his coach.

The Terrifying Lows

The Power Play: I won’t dwell here for long because you know how bad the power play is. But still, I’d be remiss if I left it out because there is no low more terrifying right now than the Hawks on the man advantage. Their power play percentage is 15.83, which puts them at a dismal 29th in the league. What’s worse is that they’ve had 120 pp opportunities, still leading the league here and yet still managing to be so terrible. They’ve had 19 pp goals thus far (remember, that’s out of 5,824 chances), and there’s little evidence to suggest it’ll get better soon. Their zone entries fail constantly, their personnel is ever-changing, and guys are on their wrong side (or, in the case of Kane on the point, just in the wrong role all together). It really is quite the remarkable dumpster fire right now.

The Creamy Middles

Connor Murphy: Murphy is slowly becoming the defenseman we need him to be, and who we thought he could be when we made the Hjalmarsson switcheroo. Seeing as the latter isn’t even playing right now due to injury, we’re definitely on the better end of things. But it was a rocky start, and Q still hasn’t brought Murphy into the circle of trust. But he’s adjusted well on his wrong side (is it really “wrong” if he’s playing well? Whatever), and his puck movement has improved as of late. He’s still taking mostly offensive zone starts (53.5 oZS%), but his CF% is a healthy 57.4. Let’s keep this going.

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Goalie Picture Clear As Glass

By Jon Fromi 2629 0

The Rockford IceHogs, the Blackhawks AHL affiliate, used an offensive explosion to sweep Grand Rapids this weekend. The ‘Bago County Piglets have been filling the net, with and without Vinnie Hinostroza.

The IceHogs currently sit behind Manitoba in the division standings with a 15-9-1 record. Rockford has won its last four games heading into this week’s action. If the season would happen to end today, the Hogs are a playoff team. Not that the season shows any signs of stopping, but winning is definitely better than the alternative.

 

Berube Injured

Much of the credit for Rockford’s lofty position in the Central Division standings has to be directed at the goal tending.It’s been a two-man effort in goal so far this year, with J.F. Berube and Jeff Glass both providing solid play. Of late, Glass has been the man for Rockford with Berube up in Chicago before being reassigned this past Friday.

Glass had backstopped the IceHogs last four games before Berube took the BMO Harris Bank Center ice for his first action since coming back down to Rockford. He made it though half the game before some unfortunate luck.

With the Hogs on a second-period power play, Rockford’s Carl Dahlstrom and the Griffins Colin Campbell were chasing down a loose puck that was headed the way of Berube. The IceHogs goalie had just knocked the puck into the corner when the two players passed.

As they came by, Dahlstrom’s left leg swept Berube’s right leg out from under him. Berube’s left leg then buckled beneath him. The Rockford net-minder was attended to by the medical staff and was taken to the locker room. All the while, no weight was put on the injured left leg.

If Berube is to miss any significant time, the pair in Rockford will be what is has been since December 1; Glass and Colin Delia, who has not played in his most recent stint with the team. Its unfortunate that Berube may have gone down with a leg injury. However, the veteran Glass has shown that he is more than capable of shouldering the load in net.

Rockford does have three games this week. None are back-to-back, though. Glass could easily get all three starts for the Hogs. Delia has not played since November 25 with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel. Possibly he gets a start down in Texas to get him some action.

Glass’s numbers have inflated to a 2.89 GAA and a .907 save percentage, but that includes the eight goals Glass gave up November 28 to Manitoba (who have been running roughshod through everyone recently). His last three starts, all IceHogs wins, have been excellent. Excluding that blip when the Moose ran loose at the BMO, Glass is 8-0-1 with a 2.17 GAA and a .929 save percentage in his last nine starts.

The piglets tend to leave their goalies some messes to deal with while pushing the tempo the way they do. Berube and Glass have done a fine job keeping the bulk of Rockford’s mistakes out of its net. Glass may have to go it alone until Berube returns, whenever that may be. Based on his play the last few months, he’s up to the task.

By the way…Matt Tomkins, who is on an AHL deal with Rockford, might be worth keeping an eye on. Tomkins was playing well when he was injured early in his second start for Indy back on October 25. He returned this past weekend and stopped 88 of 91 shots in two starts (both wins) for the Fuel.

 

Roster Moves

The big news out here in Rockford, of course, was Vinnie Hinostroza’s recall to the Blackhawks on Friday. Tanner Kero, having passed safely through waivers, was assigned to the IceHogs on the same day. Kero got his first action with Rockford this season on Saturday, picking up an assist on the Hogs power play goal in a 7-2 victory.

On Sunday, Rockford recalled AHL defenseman Brandon Anselmini, who has a goal and five assists in 11 games with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL. This is only my speculation, but it would appear that another Hogs defeseman is banged up. It could possibly be Luc Snuggerud, who sat out Saturday’s game.

 

Picking Up The Scoring Slack

Hinostroza’s departure leaves a potential void in the Rockford offense. This weekend was a chance for the Hogs to respond to concerns for replacing Hinostroza’s scoring punch. They did so with 11 goals in the two games with Grand Rapids.

Of course, Kero is likely to pick up some of the workload for Rockford. He has shown a goal-scoring knack in both his previous seasons with the Hogs. He had an apple in his first game back with Rockford Saturday.

Tomas Jurco (9 G, 9 A) had two goals and an assist this weekend and is currently riding a four-game goal streak. Jurco’s 85 shots on goal lead the club; he definitely has the puck skills to carry Rockford for a stretch.

Hinostroza is an excellent distributor of the puck and that will be sorely missed. The player I see filling that role is David Kampf. The rookie from the Czech Republic broke an eight-game scoreless streak in a big way this weekend, with a helper Friday and a goal and two assists Saturday.

Even through the eight-game drought, Kampf has been active both with and without the puck. He is centering Anthony Louis and Jurco at the moment. This would be an opportune stretch for him to start impacting the game on the scoreboard.

Also posting a three-point weekend was Matheson Iacopelli, whose strong shot is starting to see some time on the IceHogs power play. Louis, who has earned time in the top six, has a three game point streak going.

Andreas Martinsen had goals in each of the weekend wins and has three in his last four games. Martinsen has four goals and five assists on the season; as I’ve mentioned before in my posts, he is one of a few IceHogs skaters who can bring the physical element on a nightly basis.

Martinsen forced a turnover in the corner Saturday that resulted in an IceHogs goal. The big Norwegian has been getting to the net and showed some skill in a key goal against Grand Rapids Friday night.

Stepping up on the defensive side is Carl Dahlstrom, who has eight points in his last four games. Dahlstrom was especially effective Saturday, pinching in for his first goal since Halloween and adding a pair of assists.

 

Where’s TooToo?

Veteran forward Jordin Tootoo was assigned to Rockford back on November 30. He hasn’t appeared in a game for Rockford. The way things sound, it doesn’t look that that will happen for a while.

After Saturday’s game, Chris Block of thethirdmanin.com asked IceHogs coach Jeremy Colliton about Tootoo. Here was the coach’s response, per the team website:

Right now, he hasn’t played in a long time. He hasn’t skated in a long time. (We’re) trying to get him back up to speed. We’ll see…I don’t know. We don’t have a timeline.

 

Pushing A Broom: Four Points From The Griffins

Friday, December 8-Rockford 4, Grand Rapids 1

The IceHogs won their third straight game and remained undefeated against Grand Rapids this season thanks to timely scoring and great play in net by Jeff Glass.

The Griffins went up 1-0 at the 12:45 mark on a power play goal by Matt Puempel. Rockford evened the game just over three minutes later.

Carl Dahlstrom got the scoring play started from his own end, sending a pass to David Kampf along the left boards on the Grand Rapids side of the red line. Kampf hit Tomas Jurco coming into the Griffins zone. Splitting the defense, Jurco skated to the top of the left circle and fired to the short side. The puck beat Grand Rapids goalie Jared Coreau at 15:38 for the equalizer.

Rockford picked up its second goal of the contest near the end of the middle frame. It came via the nimble stick of Andreas Martinsen, who picked up a loose puck along the left half boards and skated into the Grand Rapids zone.

Flipping the biscuit past Griffins defenseman Robbie Russo, Martinsen regained possession, skated to the bottom of the left circle and sent a shot high over Coreau’s right shoulder and into cage at 17:20. The IceHogs went into the second intermission up 2-1.

Jeff Glass proved to be the difference for Rockford, making 33 stops on the night, including a spectacular denial of a 2-on-1 Griffins rush late in the second. His play in the third period kept a desperate Grand Rapids squad at bay until some insurance could be had.

That insurance came from Robin Norell, who took a feed from Anthony Louis at the top of the left circle and slapped one toward the Griffins net. The shot glanced off the stick of Colin Campbell and got by Coreau for a 3-1 Hogs advantage with just 1:39 left in the game. Luke Johnson added an empty netter in the final minute to complete the scoring.

Glass was rightfully tabbed the game’s first star, followed by Martinsen and Puempel.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Anthony Louis-David Kampf-Tomas Jurco

Alexandrea Fortin-Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson

Matheson Iacopelli-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen (A)

Graham Knott-Laurent Dauphin-William Pelletier

Carl Dahlstrom-Viktor Svedberg

Luc Snuggerud-Ville Pokka

Darren Raddysh-Robin Norell

Jeff Glass

Scratches-Tanner Kero, Robin Press, Erik Gustafsson, Jordin Tootoo

Power Play (0-1)

Highmore-Louis-Johnson-Raddysh-Pokka

Kampf-Jurco-Fortin-Iacopelli-Snuggerud

Pentalty Kill (Griffins were 1-4)

Knott-Dauphin-Svedberg-Dahlstrom

Sikura-Martinsen-Smuggerud-Pokka

Highmore-Johnson-Raddysh-Norell

 

Saturday, December 9-Rockford 7, Grand Rapids 2

The Hogs returned to the BMO and delivered a whipping to Grand Rapids, winning for the fourth straight game.

Rockford struck first at 6:41 of the opening frame. Carl Dahlstrom took a cross-ice pass from Matheson Iacopelli and skated to the bottom of the left circle. His centering pass caught the skate of Andreas Martinsen and banked into the Griffins net.

The IceHogs took full control of the contest in the second period with a pair of goals. The first occurred shortly after Rockford had shut down a Grand Rapids four-on-three power play. Laurent Dauphin received a pass from Ville Pokka as he entered the Griffins zone.

Tomas Jurco skated into the slot to take Dauphin’s offering to the crease. Deking goalie Tom McCollom, Jurco backhanded the puck into happy land at the 6:01 mark for a 2-0 Rockford lead.

About four minutes later, Viktor Svedberg hit Graham Knott with an entry pass. Knott skated into the high slot before finding Darren Raddysh with all kinds of room coming down the right side of the slot. A quick pass afforded Raddysh the scoring chance and he buried it at 9:58 to put the Hogs up 3-0.

Midway through the period, J.F. Berube got tangled up with Dahlstrom and the Griffins Colin Campbell and went down favoring his left knee. The medical staff was brought out and the injured goalie was helped from the ice. Jeff Glass took over for the remainder of the game.

Rockford was able to double its three-goal advantage in the first 3:18 of the final period. Matthew Highmore carried David Kampf’s feed to the bottom of the left circle and burned McCollom 1:19 into the third. Dahlstrom banged home a power play slapper from the point at 2:03.

Shortly thereafter, Martinsen forced a turnover in the corner of the Grand Rapids zone. Tyler Sikura gained control of the puck and centered to Matheson Iacopelli in front of the cage. The shot was high to McCollom’s stick side; he never had a chance.

Up 6-0, Rockford surrendered a pair of Griffins goals before closing out the scoring via a David Kampf backhander from the slot. The primary assist on the play came from the stick of Anthony Louis.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Matthew Highmore-Tanner Kero-Luke Johnson (A)

Anthony Louis-David Kampf-Tomas Jurco

Matheson Iacopelli-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen

Graham Knott-Laurent Dauphin (A)-William Pelletier

Robin Norell-Ville Pokka (A)

Viktor Svedberg-Darren Raddysh

Carl Dahlstrom-Robin Press

Jean Francois Berube

Jeff Glass

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Erik Gustafsson, Jordin Tootoo, Alexandre Fortin

Power Play (1-5)

Iacopelli-Kampf-Jurco-Kero-Dahlstrom

Louis-Highmore-Johnson-Raddysh-Pokka

Penalty Kill (Grand Rapids was 0-6)

Dauphin-Highmore-Dahlstrom-Norell

Knott-Johnson-Svedberg-Pokka

Sikura-Martinsen-Press-Raddysh

 

What Lies Ahead-A Look At The San Antonio Rampage

Rockford hosts Chicago Tuesday night. The IceHogs hold a 2-1 advantage in the season series; both those wins came at the BMO. The Wolves are coming off a Micheal Leighton shutout of Cleveland Saturday night but still are in the Central Division basement with a 7-12-4-1 mark.

Following that game, the IceHogs travel to the Lone Star State for a pair of games with the San Antonio Rampage. Rockford has Friday and Sunday dates with Colorado’s AHL affiliate.

San Antonio spanked the piglets 6-0 at the BMO November 10. The Rampage drew cord on their first three power play opportunities and wound up with four tallies with the man advantage.

A parade to the Rockford penalty box was a big part of that loss. On the other hand, goalie Spencer Martin stopped 39 shots to blank the Hogs. Ville Husso faced the Hogs three times last season when he was with the Wolves. Husso won two of those matchups, but is currently up with St. Louis, who has been loaning him to the Rampage.

Another pair of former Wolves lead the Rampage (13-10-2, fourth in the AHL’s Pacific Division) in scoring. Forward Andrew Agozzino is a familiar face to Hogs fans, having played in Lake Erie as well as Chicago. In his second stint with San Antonio, Agozzino has 19 points (7 G, 12 A). He is currently on a nine-game goal drought. Defenseman Jordan Schmaltz, another former Wolves skater, also has 19 points (5 G, 14 A) and is a plus-ten on the campaign.

Rocco Grimaldi is smallish forward who can really light it up; he had 31 goals for the Rampage a year ago. He started slow this fall but recorded a hat trick this weekend against Bakersfield. Rookie center Tage Thompson has seven goals and seven assists for San Antonio, but just one assist in his last five games.

Another offensive force is former Milwaukee Admiral Vladislav Kamenev, who had three apples in the Rampage win over Rockford November 10. He hasn’t been in the San Antonio lineup since mid-November, however. He was recalled by the Avs and injured in his first game with Colorado.

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

 

 

 

 

 

Everything Else

Game #30 Alright in a Sort of a Limited Way for an Off Night – Hawks 3, Coyotes 1

By Rose Rankin 2986 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Corsica

OK, so it took until the third period for this one to get interesting. But it did, and the Hawks got the two points they very badly needed against this crap excuse for a team. To the bullets:

– Oesterle instead of Kempny, huh? What did this guy do, run over Quenneville’s dog? Oesterle wasn’t particularly bad so it’s not like this decision ruined the game. He ended up with an assist on the first goal and a 54.6 CF% so…cool? Honestly, who even knows if Kempny would be any good at this point; I’m sure his confidence is shot to shit. But he proved himself capable last season so I just don’t get it. And now that Oesterle got a point in this game, it’s probably a done deal and Kempny might as well go to the land of wind and ghosts.

– Speaking of questionable decisions, for some fucking reason Saad and DeBrincat were on their opposite sides. Why? It’s like Q is fucking up the new-look top line out of spite. Am I missing something? What is it that I don’t know that would explain that? All it led to was Top Cat fat-fingering a pass and missing on what was basically an open net in the first period. This line was pretty quiet all night…gee fucking whiz I wonder why.

– Nick Schmaltz got a well-deserved mark on the scorer’s sheet tonight. He’s been busting his ass doing all the cliché things that don’t get you a point, so I was happy to see him get a goal. It was a classic 2-on-1, a great pass from Garbage Dick, and he buried the shot. Nicely done. It also put the Hawks up by 2 goals and for the first time in the game I was confident they would actually win it.

– Everyone’s favorite d-pairing of Forsling and Rutta were caught looking like fools on Duclair’s goal. Foley’s response was “somehow he beat Rutta” and I nearly had beer come out my nose.

– But his next line was “somehow he beat Crawford,” and that actually was surprising. Crow looked solid as usual, and if he’s still recovering from a groin issue it’s not showing. Midway through the second he got caught up playing the puck behind the net, but other than that misstep—which really didn’t matter anyway—he looked as good as we’ve come to expect. There was a nice sequence of saves late in the second and a big save in the third just prior to the first Hawks goal. I don’t know how long he’ll be able to keep this up every night, but we needed it tonight.

– Local guy does OK! Tommy Wingels scored his second goal in as many games. Enjoy that sentence because you’ll probably never see it again—I know I don’t ever expect to write it again.

The Hawks did what had to be done and got the two points. I wouldn’t say they looked dominant, but it’s baby steps right now. Their third shitty opponent in a row is on Tuesday (the Panthers), so hopefully they keep this going. Onward and upward.

 

Everything Else

Game #30 – Coyotes vs. Hawks Preview, Homebrew Sampling – Candy Cigarettes & Cap Guns

By Sam Fels 1951 0

 vs 

Game Time: 6:00
TV/Radio: WGN Ch. 9, WGN-AM 720
I Really Wish Joe Arpaio Would Have Been Brutally Murdered In Prison: Five For Howling

It’s once again time for another tearful montage as a returning Hawks player appears in the United Center in an opposing uniform for the first time, one of the underrated aspects of how this championship window has played out, somehow being actually heartwarming, nauseating, sad, and hilarious all at the same time. Tonight would  have been that for the injured Niklas Hjalmarsson,  and this is the thanks he would have received for the absolute pounding he took while wearing red on West Madison for years, as he returns with the dog-ass (GET IT?) Coyotes.

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Game #30 – Coyotes vs. Hawks: Spotlight – Let’s Save OEL

By Sam Fels 2644 0

One of the things that annoys fans of struggling teams, especially ones in non-traditional markets, is the fans and media of successful/big-market teams discussing, dreaming, and creating trade rumors and scenarios for their best players to get them to teams that they think they “belong” on. That it isn’t fair for that player to toil away in obscurity when he “should” be a Leaf/Hab/Hawk/ Ranger/Penguin so that his skills can be properly utilized. It’s as if some teams merely exist in the league to be a feeder for the more-watched and followed teams. They only exist to have their organs harvested. They are the inhabitants of “The Island.”

So let’s do that with Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Let’s be clear, there have been no credible rumors that the Coyotes are looking to trade OEL, nor has he asked out. In fact, the moves over the summer, particularly the acquisition of countryman Niklas Hjalmarsson, were made with him in mind. A partner he would love playing with, a couple veterans to boost the culture in the dressing room and show the promising kids the way a signal of intent.

Except it’s all gone balls-up.

Stepan has been ok, which means he’s been Derek Stepan. Hjalmarsson is hurt now, and when he wasn’t he was actually pretty shit. Raanta hasn’t been healthy and has only been ok when he’s been in the net. The Coyotes are marooned as the wooden spooners of the conference again, and they’re not even close to the Oilers in 14th. Their GM has gotten his coaching hire after moving Dave Tippett along, and Rick Tocchet may in fact be an idiot. So how long is the GM around for? He gets one more coaching hire, one would think, but he’s definitely on the clock.

And there are always the questions around the Yotes. No, they’re not going anywhere, but what is their internal budget? Max Domi, Tobias Rieder, and Anthony Duclair are due new deals after this season. Though they’ll all be restricted free agents, they’ll get raises. Can the payroll go too much above $65 million? 70?

OEL himself is up after next year, which is why this discussion will heat up, whether Coyotes fans like it or not. His value is basically going to be peak from the deadline to this summer. Even if OEL spent the rest of his career in the desert, they need another d-man who can be around for a decade. Maybe they’re set down the middle with Strome and Dvorak? Won’t know for a few years. Keller and Domi on the wings is certainly a nice start. But all of it suggest that the Coyotes are still two-three years away at best.

Which means OEL will be 30 when they play games that matter again. Perhaps he finally boils over.

But getting OEL is another trick. Trying to gauge what he might cost in a trade, Matt Duchene just netted the Avs three prospects, one on the blue line and two forwards. It also got them three draft picks. You could easily argue that a Larsson type–a dominant, fluid, top-pairing puck-mover–is an even rarer commodity than a Duchene. There are only a handful of d-men who do what OEL does. Three prospects, two of which are ready to be in the league now, and three picks seem the least OEL should bring back.

While he would solve just about every problem the Hawks have, you’d have to figure the price starts with Schmaltz and Debrincat and goes from there. These Hawks can’t really lose either. Could the Hawks just unload the pipeline, such as it is, and get it done? Kampf, Fortin, Jokiharju, and keep going from there? And picks on top of that?

It’s probably not enough, but if the Yotes are listening the Hawks should try. They only have a season or two, including this one, to make a real run with this group and then it’s all going to hell anyway. If you’re in it you’re in it. There will be years of cleanup anyway.

Game #30 Preview

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Game #30 – Coyotes vs. Hawks: Douchebag Du Jour: Coach Q’s Communication Skills

By Sam Fels 2585 0

Little something different today, as the Yotes don’t really drum up the emotions. Though we could go off on Zac Rinaldo on another day. But this caught our eye yesterday:

What kind of horseshit is this? Let’s run through all the possibilities and just wonder how this benefits a young player who is only in his second year.

One, Hartman really was scratched due to a high-sticking penalty. A great majority of those are simply bad luck, as Hartman puts it. Trying to lift a stick, play the puck, falling over. This was the case on Wednesday, as Hartman never saw the player behind him. Is he really being punished for luck. How’s that going to instill any confidence in him when he returns to the ice?

Second possibility: No one’s told Hartman why he was scratched, so he’s left to guess why. How’s that help? What’s he going to work on? And if he thinks it’s because of a high-sticking penalty, what kind of message is he getting the rest of the time?

Third possibility: Q and/or the coaches have told Hartman why he’s been scratched–and they’d have plenty of ammo–and he still thinks this is the reason. So they have no idea how to get through to him. Or Hartman is just rock stupid and isn’t hearing what they’re saying.

If you want to know why young players have a tendency to stall-out on the Hawks after initial promise, might this be a clue? They’re not getting any message? Or the right one? Feel frozen out? Quite the insight a simple quote can give, no?

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