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Your Friends And Neighbors – ’17-’18 NHL Previews – A Speculative Fiction

By Sam Fels 1326

This league wide preview series at long last comes to its merciful end, fittingly in the last place anyone wants to be – Winnipeg.

For as much shit as the Blues get for “This Time It Will Be Different”, the Jets continue to trot out the same roster year after year that simply isn’t good enough, led by a GM in Kevin Chevydayoff that cannot seem to get himself fired in spite of all of this inertia, and a coach in Paul Maurice who people simply accept as being competent for no other reason other than he has been behind a bench since he was 14 years old. But hey, things are bound to bounce their way sooner or later right?

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Sit Back, Relax, and Strap it Down – ’17-’18 Blackhawks Player Previews: The Roster

By Sam Fels 1362

We have made it to the end of this crazy train that is our Blackhawks Player Previews, and no we get set to set to take a look at the roster as a whole. There are a lot of people with a lot of opinions on these Blackhawks, as some feel like they won’t even make the playoffs this season, and others feel like they’re ready to compete for the Stanley Cup again. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle (I think they’ll make the playoffs, and once they’re there just about anything could happen), but in reality there is a strong chance for either of those scenarios to play out.

There’s a lot of “if’s” either way, so it’s basically up to the eye of the beholder which “if’s” seem more likely. They could be a Cup Contender if Corey Crawford remains the best goaltender in the Western Conference. They’ll probably miss the playoffs if Crawford experiences any sort of long term injury. They might be a Cup Contender if Alex DeBrincat and Nick Schmaltz can put up 60 points with Patrick Kane. They could miss the playoffs if those two can’t produce quite yet. They could be a Cup Contender if even two of Connor Murphy, Michal Kempny, and Gustav Forsling prove themselves as capable top-4 defensemen. They could miss the playoffs if those players don’t take the next step. All of those scenarios are certainly possible outcomes of the season, but which outcomes seem more likely are up to your perspective and outlook.

Let’s take the Sam Fels Team Preview approach to this roster preview:

Forwards: The Blackhawks probably have one of the better collections of top-end forward talent in the NHL, because it’s kinda hard to find a better potential line around the NHL than Saad-Toews-Kane, even if that likely will not be a good line. Anisimov is still a good middle-six center, and I explained in my Richard Panik preview why his good production last season is was probably not just a fluke. Ryan Hartman is an excellent third line forward who might be able to flash on your second line if necessary. Schmaltz and DeBrincat looked great in camp/the preseason and could have good seasons. The problem is their fourth line is going to be straight dog shit, Patrick Sharp has one good hip and might play significant time on the second line, and any of those top-nine forwards struggling to score could end up completely fucking up the season. I am generally an optimist and do believe this group as a whole could be quite good, but it may not go our way.

Defense: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand here’s the real problem. Duncan Keith is 33 years old and might end up being their only good defenseman. Seabrook could finish the year weighing 300 lbs. Murphy is a huge question mark, and strangely he could end up being the key to the whole thing. If he’s good, the situation isn’t as dire. If he sucks, it’s made all the worse. Forsling has had flashes on both ends of the spectrum in the pre-season, which only proves how much of a question he is right now. Again, if he proves to be good, it’ll make things a lot better. If we get the same kind of play from him as we saw last year, it won’t make things worse necessarily, but the problem will remain. Kempny is damn near excellent, so hopefully that continues but without Q bottling him up. The problem is just there are just so many question marks about this group, and if Keith goes down they will be completely fucked. I guess we need to hope there is a good defenseman available on the trade market that StanBo can fit within the cap relief he’s getting. I’d call that unlikely.

Goalies: Crawford is the best in the west, and has constantly been solid. He’s the most important Blackhawk bar none. If he gets hurt and misses significant time, they’re completely fucked. If he doesn’t he’s probably good enough to make up for the questions on defense and help this team make the playoffs, even in the Central. Forsberg being an average goalie is all the Hawks need, and that’s all I have to say about that.

Overview: Again, a lot of question marks here, but this is probably a playoff team. They’re not on Nasvhille’s level overall, and especially not on the blue line, but the forward group isn’t too far off, and they have a far superior goaltender. But I don’t think anyone in the division caught up to this Blackhawks group that put up 109 points last year. I highly doubt Nashville struggles as bad during the regular season as they did last year, so the I don’t think Chicago will run into them again in the first round of the playoffs. I really think Nashville and Chicago are gonna end up finishing 1-2 in this division in some order, but again, the Blackhawks have a lot of questions and if the answers aren’t in their favors, they might even end up missing the playoffs. I have a lot of hope and optimism for this group, but I can’t blame you if you don’t.

There’s not much more to be said now. Everything kicks off tomorrow. Go Blackhawks.

Everything Else

Your Friends And Neighbors – ’17-’18 NHL Team Previews: This Time It Will Be Different

By Sam Fels 1572

We’ve made a career out of mocking and hurling insults at the St. Louis Blues. At this point it’s basically batting practice. Luckily for us, we’ll have our bread and butter this year. Again. Because we always will. Nothing is ever going to change in Missouri, as they attempt to roll out essentially the same roster that got domed by the Preds in Round 2 last year, and basically the same one that hasn’t really ever come close to winning anything. Same as it ever was. You can set your watch to it.

St. Louis Blues

’16-’17 Record: 46-29-7  99 points  (3rd in Central, out in Round 2 to NSH)

Team Stats 5v5: 50.1 CF% (15th)  50.4 SF% (15th)  51.0 SCF% (10th)  8.3 SH% (7th)  .923 SV% (17th)

Special Teams: 21.2 PP% (8th)  84.7 PK% (3rd)

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Your Friends And Neighbors – ’17-’18 NHL Team Previews: Sky Of Blue, Sea Of Green, In Our Yellow Submarine AH HA!

By 1687

Everyone’s darling. It’s always so much fun when the Canadian media “discovers” that hockey can be enjoyed somewhere else other than some main artery in Toronto or that one strip of bars in Calgary where everyone wears a jersey because they don’t actually own anything else. Of course, this also happened in 2012 when the Canucks played the Predators in the 2nd round and they were shocked to discover the Nashville fans had better and more fun traditions than, “two college kids ripping off a game from It’s Always Sunny,” and “waving a towel.”

Whatever, the Nashville Predators made the most noise they ever have in the playoffs last year, and outplayed the Penguins for a good stretch of the Final. But in the same vein as, “didn’t, lawyer fucked me,” they went the, “if only Pekka Rinne was actually as good as we keep telling people he is” route for defeat excuse. Here’s the thing though: Pekka Rinne is still here. And he’s a year older.

Nashville Predators

’16-’17 Record: 41-29-12  94 points (4th in Central, lost Final to PIT)

Team Stats 5v5: 51.3 CF% (5th)  51.3 SF% (7th)  50.7 SCF% (14th)  7.8 SH% (13th)  .926 SV% (9th)

Special Teams: 18.9 PP% (16th)  80.9 PK% (15th)

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Piglet’s Progress

By Jon Fromi 2417

After hibernating for most of the summer, I’ve crawled out from under my rock to shine what will be my weekly spotlight on the Fabulous Skating Piglets of Winnebago County. Otherwise known as Chicago’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

Regardless of how things shake out with the Blackhawks roster, the ice at the BMO Harris Bank Center is going to be smothered in young ‘uns. The dearth of prospects that was more than evident last season has been rectified by a slew of signings last spring, as well as several over the summer months.

Both the Hawks and Hogs organizations have dutifully swept away pieces of the crew that limped to a franchise-worst showing in 2016-17. Coach Ted Dent is now on the staff of the OHL’s Niagra IceDogs. Longtime captain Jake Dowell is skating in Austria. Brandon Mashinter signed with the Sharks. P.C. Labrie will be a familiar face…when the Milwaukee Admirals come to Rockford.

Of last season’s AHL signings, only Robin Press (who came aboard mid-season) was brought back. I hope the IceHogs scrubbed out their locker rooms as thoroughly as they did the roster.

If you want a recap of last season’s wreckage, go back and read this. I lack the time or inclination to detail the failings of Stan Bowman in regard to assembling a decent squad last year. Safe to say that he has gone about his business a little differently in terms of setting things up in Rockford.

There are two basic strategies for setting up an AHL franchise:

A. You can load up with proven AHL veteran players, guys who are fringe NHLers due to something lacking but can dominate at the penultimate level of hockey.

B. You can load up with prospects, sprinkle in some mentoring-type veterans with NHL experience and hope everyone learns something before all is said and done.

Last season, Bowman did neither. What he did was send minimal prospects out with AHL role players. Bowman then spent the season removing egg from his face when that team couldn’t score or stop other teams from doing so.

This year, Bowman has picked a more workable model. He has inked lots of young prospects we’ve been reading about for the past few years. This group will have a lot of jelling to do, but should be vastly more entertaining to watch.

Understand that the Blackhawks have always used Rockford as a training ground rather than competing for Calder Cups. Developing prospects has been and will be the priority. There were lots of capable, experienced AHL scorers to be had this past summer. As per usual, they didn’t end up with the IceHogs. That’s not the way things work in this partnership and I have no issue with the lane the organization elects to use.

Except…

What the team seems to be lacking is that contingent of veteran leaders. Players who have logged some mileage in the NHL and can help season a young team. Usually, the Blackhawks sign a player of that type in the summer to a two-way deal knowing full well he’ll spend the season in Rockford.

Could a player like Lance Bouma, Tommy Wingles or Jordan Tootoo find his way through waivers and onto the Hogs roster? Maybe Chicago brings a veteran piece aboard this week. For now, this is a team very short on elder statesmen.

Rosters are still kind of fluid, but I feel like there enough spots decided upon to formulate what the IceHogs will send out to Cleveland to open the 2017-18 campaign Saturday night. Let’s see what kind of hand Rockford fans have been dealt this fall…

Listings will be divided into NHL and AHL contracts. AHL rosters are infinite as there is no limit to how many players they can have on them. I will work within the limits a 23-man team, but the final total could be higher. Rookies will be in italics.

 

Forward

It is this area that the new-car smell will be most prevalent. The Hogs could have as many as ten first-year players at forward when the season starts.

NHL Contracts: David Kampf, Laurent Dauphin, Kyle Baun, Luke Johnson, Matheson Iacopelli, Matthew Highmore, Nathan Noel, Anthony Louis, Graham Knott, Alexandre Fortin… and Alex DeBrincat (though its looking like he could be doing his skating at United Center).

AHL Contracts: Tyler Sikura, Radovan Bondra, William Pelletier.

AHL signings Tommy Olcyk and Alex Wideman are already with the Hogs ECHL affiliate, the Indy Fuel.

A lot depends on how the bottom of Chicago’s roster shakes out. DeBrincat would be welcome at the BMO any time the Hawks deem to send him here. If he makes the big club out of camp, there are still three or four players who may come down to Rockford. That list would include John Hayden and Vinnie Hinostroza, who would be solid additions to the Hogs.

Tomas Jurco, Bouma, Wingles and Tootoo would have to clear waivers before heading to Rockford. No matter how the cookie crumbles, I would think Chicago sends at least a couple of players to the AHL this week. Perhaps Pelletier and Bondra remain with Rockford as AHL forwards, with Sikura sliding to Indy.

Do the Blackhawks nab a veteran stick on this side of the puck who could provide some steady offensive push, a la Spencer Abbott last season? All signs point to no, but that may need to change if goals were as hard to come by as they were in 2016-17.

How will this group perform? Well, Iacopelli has shown to be quite the sniper from what I’ve seen so far. Baun’s not a high output offensive force, but provides work ethic around the net that should result in decent numbers. Hinostroza was a big scorer in a full campaign with the Hogs in 2015-16, provided he winds up in Rockford.

Remember, with prospects, there are no guarantees (DeBrincat included). Someone has to put the puck in the net; the fun is seeing where the scoring will develop. The first task for the baby Hogs: finish scoring plays. This was in short supply a year ago.

 

Defense

Things will be much more familiar on the blue line, with most of the Hogs Nordic Corps back for another spin around the league.

NHL Contracts: Erik Gustafsson, Ville Pokka, Viktor Svedberg, Carl Dahlstrom, Robin Norell, Luc Snuggerud.

AHL Contracts: Robin Press, Brandon Anselmini, Darren Raddysh.

If the Hawks keep eight defensemen, two of the AHL guys play in Rockford. I would guess that Press would be one of those guys.

This is a group that should benefit from a bit more hop in the forward lines. They’re better forcing the action in the offensive end. Dahlstrom’s a solid defender and Svedberg’s positioning has improved a lot in his time in Rockford. Pokka and Gustafsson should provide most of the offensive/power play spark.

Press is a big body out there; the question will be in how he defends. Snuggerud was impressive in his brief run with the team last spring and should be a regular. A defense-first veteran with some NHL miles on him would be a welcome addition, though I don’t think that’s in the cards.

 

Goalie

NHL Contracts: Jeff Glass, J.F. Berube, Colin Delia.

Rockford’s AHL signee, Matt Tomkins, is already with the Indy Fuel.

In a perfect world, this developing team would have Delia as the backup for either Glass or Berube. The Blackhawks see some potential in the former Merrimack College standout. Other AHL clubs keep three goalies on the roster, so I suppose that could happen. At this point, however, Delia likely joins Tomkins to form the tandem in goal for the Fuel.

The combo of Glass and Berube is a good as any, I suppose. Berube’s last full season in the AHL was excellent; a 2.18 goals against average and a .913 save percentage in 52 games with AHL-champs Manchester back in 2014-15. Glass is a solid AHL-level goalie (as well as veteran presence in a locker room)  and the two look to be capable of getting the job done in the crease.

 

The Forecast

October has been kind to the Hogs. Rockford is 27-15-1-3 over the last five years in the first month of the season. Even last season’s club was 4-4 to open the campaign.

How long it takes for the rookies to get up to speed in the AHL way of life will have a lot to do with how Rockford fares in the standings. The Traverse City Tournament title won by the Blackhawks prospects was a positive sign, but coming out on top of other rookies doesn’t assure success in the AHL.

New coach Jeremy Colliton’s first priority is going to be player development. As Colliton pointed out after the team’s 4-3 loss to Milwaukee to open the brief exhibition season, however, “It’s tough to learn lessons if the winning and losing doesn’t matter.”

What lessons are this year’s crop of players going to pick up over the next six months? Time’s gonna tell; I’ll try to keep you abreast of the progress in Rockford.

 

This Week

The IceHogs open the season Saturday night in Cleveland. I will report on the season debut next week, as well as spotlight some players to watch on what should be a definite roster. I’ll also spend time dissecting the Hogs schedule, toss in any numbers I crunch in the evenings and share thoughts on anything new down on the farm.

For updates and team transactions, as well as my armchair thoughts on the doings in Rockford, follow me @JonFromi on twitter if you like. I’m looking forward to another fun season covering the IceHogs; hopefully we get better results in the win column.

Everything Else

Your Friends And Neighbors – ’17-’18 NHL Team Previews: A Division-Less Boudreau Is No Boudreau At All

By 1443

The Wild suck so hard that they’re the only team Bruce Boudreau hasn’t coached to a division title when he’s had a full season behind the bench. And really, if you don’t get that basically meaningless bauble out of our favorite Haagen-Dazs slathered bocce ball, then what’s the point at all? You’re still going to get a coach with both hands around his own throat in the playoffs but not to get to raise a silly banner aloft. Well, the Wild probably aren’t going to win the division this year, and they’re probably not going to get out of it in the playoffs. It’s almost if Brucey is now just in an abyss of meaninglessness. Which is how most people feel about the state of Minnesota.

Minnesota Wild

’16-’17 Record: 49-25-8  106 points (2nd in Central, out in 1st round to STL)

Team Stats 5v5: 49.3 CF% (20th)  50.5 SF% (14th)  52.6 SCF% (3rd)  9.2 SH% (1st)  .925 SV% (11th)

Special Teams: 20.9 PP% (9th) 82.9 PK% (8th)

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Is This It – Hawks 1, Bruins 0

By 1391

Box Score

Hockey Stats

Natural Stat Trick

And with that, the preseason is finally over, with the Hawks closing the festivities out with an unconvincing 1–0 victory against a collection of strokes and scabs that probably won’t find themselves near the ice in the near future. To the bullets.

-Let’s get it out of the way early: Brent Seabrook looked like a soiled diaper that had been left out in the sun. When he wasn’t getting blown past by AHLers, he was futzing around with janky passes in his own zone. Throughout the game, Crawford got a better look at his face than his ass, which is neigh on impossible to do these days. Yet here we are. He ended the game with a 27.91 CF%, which was positively immaculate compared to his 1st period CF% of 15.38, which I didn’t know was a real thing. He was also on the ice for 7 of Boston’s 13 high-danger chances. The only player who was on the ice for more high-danger changes was Forsling, with 9. Would you like to guess whom he was paired with most of the game?

-At least we got to see Crow do what Crow does. He looked a little like Bizzaro Brodeur behind the net early on with a few fumbles, but when the Bruins put the heat on in the 2nd, he stood tall with 16 saves. He ended 38/38, and while the shutout is somewhat expected given the quality of the opponent, that he had to make 33 saves at evens doesn’t induce any swelling in the loins.

-It took a while, but Kempný settled in after a less-than-impressive 1st period. One thing I noticed in the 1st and 2nd was that Kempný liked to skate the puck into the zone with power, but when he got halfway through the circle, he’d sort of freeze, as if to say, “What am I doing here?” A bit more time and a positive outcome or two should shake what looks like tentativeness out of his system.

-It figures that the Hawks would win it on a PP after spending most of the game not doing much on it. On cue, Kane hit Sharp with a cross-ice pass, but when you really look at it, it was a much harder play than it seemed. Kane saucered the pass through the “royal road,” which is the area between the circles from the goal line to the top of the circles. The idea is that passes through the royal road force goalies to move laterally, opening up a lot of holes to shoot at. But what was truly impressive was that Sharp was on his off side, meaning he had to pull the shot back to flick it over Khudobin’s shoulder. All around, really impressive.

-If they want to make Bouma–Kero–Hayden a thing, I’d be OK with that. Aside from a stupid run that led to a near odd-man rush, Bouma was decently responsible in his own zone. Kero seems to rove a bit much for my liking in his own zone.

-The PK looked good. I primarily saw Kempný–Rutta and Keith–Murphy. The forward pairings were consistent, with Schmaltz–Kero, Hartman–Artie the One-Man Party, Saad–Toews, and even Bouma–Hayden.

-Speaking of The Brain, Hayden might have played himself onto the roster. He was aggressive without being stupid, and I really, really like how well he’s skated.

-I kept looking for the hinge on Toews’s stick, because he had some trouble corralling the puck early on. But he and Saad jelled more and more as the game went on, with several high-quality chances.

-Panik, on the other hand, looked lost out there, going so far as to take a temper-tantrum cross-checking penalty after something called Rob O’Gara, whose name I’m certain is nothing more than a fat-fingered registrar’s typo, horsed him on a one-on-one.

-Rutta looked decent. He had one egregious turnover in his own zone late in the 3rd, but was fine otherwise. Murphy looked a touch worse than him before coming down with a case of “this is boring” or whatever it was that happened to him.

-Alex DeBrincat didn’t put any numbers up tonight, but looked good for the most part. He had a good block in the 1st, looked confident in the neutral zone throughout, and had a good sequence in the 3rd, nearly tipping a shot in and then drawing a penalty. He had a bad turnover on that PP, but it ended up not mattering. He ought to make the team out of the preseason.

-I never want to see Forsling–Seabrook behind Sharp–Schmaltz–Kane on purpose again. Every time it happened, it was a personal affront to proper theology and geometry.

Beer du jour: Zombie Dust

Line of the night: “Sharp looks absolutely fantastic.” –Steve “Stars in My Eyes” Konroyd.

Onward. . .