This game was so exciting I decided to write poetry to pass the time. Here’s a haiku I wrote:
His mouth agape,
TVR over skates the puck;
Another shot against
vs. 
RECORDS: Coyotes 8-12-4 Hawks 16-8-3
PUCK DROP: 7:30pm
TV: CSN
LOTTA STORIES IN THE DESERT: Five For Howling
Projected Lineups
SCORE-ADJUSTED TEAM CORSI %: Coyotes- 44.0 (30th) Hawks – 50.1 (15th)
SCORE-ADJUSTED xGF %: Coyotes – 39.5 (30th) Hawks – 47.4 (24th)
POWER PLAY %: Coyotes – 15.3 (21st) Hawks – 15.7 (19th)
PENALTY KILL %: Coyotes – 80.8 (21st) Hawks – 70.7 (dead ass last)
If the Hawks could schedule it themselves, and really given the pull they have with the league they may want to try it, they’d schedule the Yotes four or five times while they’re without Toews and Crawford. Because curveballs don’t hang much worse than this, and it’s boosted with the Coyotes having played last night in Ohio. Whatever is ailing the Hawks, this is how you medicate it.
In this latest installment, we somehow manage to gripe and carp for nearly an hour about how boring this team is without either Jonathan Toews or Corey Crawford. Also, using our four combined medical degrees and various residencies at places like the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins, we determine that back injuries are probably not good. And that neither is Trevor van Reimsdyk. Audio after the jump.
The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, currently have a commercial you may have seen occasionally while watching Blackhawks telecasts. The ads, which also run on local Rockford stations, declare that IceHogs hockey is, “a beautiful combination of violence, speed, and intensity.”
It surprises me just a bit that the club would lead off that mix with “violence”. The IceHogs definitely try to get families into the BMO Harris Bank Center. You’d think that fisticuffs would be something the promotions department would put a little further down the list in terms of marketing the team.
Besides, the men of Rockford aren’t doing much fighting these days. They also aren’t drawing as well, either. Or winning.
It would’ve been borderline criminal for the Hawks to draw a point in a game where they surrendered three breakaways; were severely outplayed for large portions and didn’t generate a whole bunch of extended offensive zone time.
Yet, there they were with two minutes left firing pucks at will on Connor Hellebuyck. The mad scrambles were turned away and the Hawks finished their weekend back-to-back with 0 points to show for it.
There’s a few things to get to. Let’s not waste time. Westworld awaits.
vs.
RECORDS: Jets 12-13-2 Hawks 16-7-3
PUCK DROP: 6pm Central
TV: CSN, Rogers for the creepy-ass Hometown Hockey Mishegas in Canada
COLDER THAN A WELL DIGGER’S ASS: Jetsnation.ca, Arctic Ice Hockey
Projected Lineups
ADJUSTED TEAM CORSI %: Jets – 47.5 (24th) Hawks – 50.4 (15th)
ADJUSTED TEAM xGF%: Jets – 48.3 (21st) Hawks 48.2 (22nd)
POWER PLAY%: Jets 15.2 (20th) Hawks – 16.3 (17th)
PENALTY KILL%: Jets – 78.4 (25th) Hawks – 71.3 (dead ass last)
The Hawks get an immediate chance to get the Listerine out to wash out the taste of yesterday’s loss. The Winnipeg Jets dance on in here, though if the Flyers speed was something of an issue, there’ll be no reprieve from the Jets. It’s been augmented by a return to health for Bryan Little and analytic darling Mathieu Perreault, which they didn’t have last time the Hawks saw this squad. And that one didn’t go all that well anyway.
Garret is a contributor for JetsNation.ca. You can follow him on Twitter @GarretHohl.
Let’s start with Connor Hellebuyck, who was supposed to fix the Jets’ biggest problem for years. It hasn’t worked out that way. What’s been the problem? Still hopeful or is this worrying? Are most of the problems on the kill?
Hellebuyck has indeed been better than Pavelec’s overall average. A career 914 save percentage is still better than a 907, and that’s significant. All things being equal, that is an improvement that will lead to wins.
The issue is that all things have not been equal. Team struggles on special teams, penalty differential, and have been their worst shot metric team (both Corsi and expected goals) since the move to Winnipeg.
It’s still early to tell what Hellebuyck will be, you need about 3000 shots (ish) for that. I have confidence he’s an answer to getting something better than Pavelec. The real question: how much better?
On a day that started with possibly the first ever combination of the words “NHL” and “Temple University,” the Hawks got a glimpse of the results their play has deserved lately but Crawford has kept from happening. That’s not to say Scott Darling was bad, he was far from it. But it’s an example of the other-worldly play Crow has had to put forth at time to get the Hawks two points consistently. When you go from other-worldly to just pretty good, the chances these Hawks surrender right now make for less than two points.
And it’s not even as the Hawks were 60 minutes bad. For long stretches they were better, though those came after they were down two goals and could be partially attributed to score effects and having to throw more and more caution to the wind. Given the lineup though, even when the Hawks have the upper hand there are some shifts where they are running around their own end like a kids birthday party where someone gave them all soda. Or they make a mistake at the other line or neutral zone to cause odd-man rushes. Crow’s expected absence for a couple weeks will be an excellent chance to shore this shit up.
Let’s clean it up:
@ 
Game Time: Noon CST
TV:/Radio: CSN, SportsNet, WGN-AM 720
Travis Hughes Sucks, He Never Settled The Bet: Broad Street Hockey
For some obtuse reason, the Hawks travel to the armpit of the East Coast for a matinee in South Philly this reason. Normally these nooners take place after the Super Bowl and on NBC, but for some reason this one is only on the local outlets in the States. And because it’s a prime weekend matchup, the Flyera will more than likely be wearing their god-awful gold-trimmed 50th anniversary sweaters. But hey, home whites are home whites.
