Game #30 Preview Suite
Notes: Last night was truly sobering. DeBrincat and Jokiharju barely got 10 minutes of even-strength time. Why? What are you holding onto here? Forsling played with Keith just as much as anyone, and we know how that goes. This is the last game you’ll have to watch Manning regularly though, so that’s nice. Maybe. Also, Corey Crawford basically sucks right now. And the season hinged on him. Which isn’t fair to him considering what he’s been through, but that’s the reality.
Notes: Marchessault hasn’t scored in his last eight…Wild Bill has scored in four of his last five…Eakin has six points in his last four games, including three against the Hawks last time even though that line has struggled with him at center…The real strength of late has been their bottom-six, which no one seems to be able to match. Especially the Hawks.
Game #30 Preview Suite
vs. 
RECORDS: Hawks 9-14-5 Ducks 14-10-5
PUCK DROP: 9:30
TV: NBCSN
HERE WE GO AGAIN IT’S NEVER GONNA END: Anaheim Calling
God, writing that record out just hurts.
The Hawks quickly jaunt out west this week for a back-to-back against Anaheim and Vegas, and I’m sure landing in Vegas really late curtails any urge to enjoy the splendors and luxuries of Sin City–what I’m saying is that the Hawks will look like particular shit tomorrow night. But we’re not there yet. Let’s deal with a slog with the Ducks first.
Starting with the local Westside Hockey Club. There wouldn’t appear to many changes. Having failed to launch Chris Kunitz headfirst into a landfill at great speed, our best hope is that his “veteran leadership” that cost the Hawks any chance of a point on Sunday lands him in the pressbox for the foreseeable future. Erik Gustafsson should draw back in after a one-game ball-tap, which should send Jan Rutta back into the darkness of the Honda Center on his way to Rockford. Connor Murphy is on the trip but is not likely to play either game, but Sunday against Les Habitants would seem to be likely.
As for the rest of it, there isn’t much left to say. The forwards will get jumbled. Patrick Kane will play everywhere. We hope to notice Brendan Perlini at all. We hope that Dylan Strome builds on what was a decent game on Sunday. But if there’s ever a time to claim some new ground, it’s tonight.
Because don’t be fooled by the Ducks record or placing in a Pacific Division that has all the momentum of a pig in shit. This team BUH-LOWS. They’re on pace to give up a record number of shots per game. They give up the second-most attempts per game, and have the fourth-worst xGA/60 (care to guess who has the first?). They basically get shelled every night, and only heroic work by both John Gibson and Ryan Miller have kept this team from loitering around the entrance to the drugstore with the Hawks, Blues, and Kings.
Gibby, I can call him that, has cooled off a touch since his unholy October, but still came up with a .921 in November and had put up a 34- and 44-save effort in his two starts before getting clocked by the Capitals. Perhaps because of that, and blatant lack of respect for what the Hawks are, they’ll get to see Ryan Miller tonight, who’s only been at .954 at evens this year. So that’s nice.
Up front, the Ducks have a clear delineation from their top-six to the bottom-six. The top line of Pontus Aberg– Ryan Getzlaf–Rickard Rakell has been a weapon of late, with Aberg benefitting the most. I’m not telling you Getzlaf found his long-lost fuck to give, but he’s more than talented enough to set up plays while floating around the outside and reading…well I don’t think he can read but whatever dumbass fucks like him read. The second line is being carried by Adam Henrique, and both of these units start exclusively in the offensive zone. The next lines start exclusively in their own end, and because Ryan Kesler has maggots crawling out of every orifice now, they can’t escape.
The defense had been missing Hampus! Hampus! for a while, and will be without Cam Fowler for longer still. And while they want to believe that Brandon Montour and Josh Manson are that good to justify giving up on Shea Theodore as he excels in Vegas, they’ve been having their brains turned into potato soup most of the year. Maybe a fully-healthy Fowler and Lindholm help that, but this is a Randy Carlyle team and Randy Carlyle teams are terrible metrically while he finds reasons to justify his “Helmets Cause Concussions Because They Make Brains Hot” theory (this is a real thing).
Look, we all know the Hawks are going to get stuffed tomorrow night because they have in every meeting with the Knights. So if they actually still care, and I’m not convinced they do, and want to get a win just to see if they can still feel anymore, this would be the time. The Ducks are bad. The Hawks already deservedly beat them once this season.
Just get a win. Because it might be a nice change of pace.
Game #29 Preview Suite
Notes: It honestly could look like anything, Collition got awfully blender-y on Sunday night and they’ll have their skate after we post. Expect Kunitz to sit, though. For good, we hope…Gustafsson should draw back in…Maybe Fortin does too though he didn’t do all that much on Sunday either.
Notes: The Ducks are beat up. Fowler is out for another month at least, Eaves is long-term gone as well…the third line has been getting smoked, which isn’t hilarious at all…The first two lines have found some kind of chemistry though, as Aberg has six points in his last four and Henrique has a five-game point-streak…That bottom-pairing though, woof…As always, to entertain yourself tonight, or just to feel anything, makes sure you yell out, “COGLIANO!” in NBA Jam voice.
Game #29 Preview Suite
Sorry, A Few Good Men was on when I got home last night.
To preserve any kind of sanity about the state of the Hawks, I work under the theory that behind closed doors, Stan Bowman told John McDonough and Rocky Wirtz that basically this season was going to be a toss, but they wouldn’t tell the fans that because they’re terrified no one would understand (even though I’m fairly sure they would?), but he would take the bullets about it all. I take him at his word that the team’s future is resting basically upon Adam Boqvist, Henri Jokiharju, and some combination of Ian Mitchell and Nicolas Beaudin. That, and some big free agent signing, which they’re trying real hard to make you believe is Artemi Panarin and I still remain unconvinced that’s a great idea. But unless he goes entirely late-career Patrick Sharp and does more floating than a drunk yuppie in the Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day, it won’t end up that badly.
There’s one problem with that theory. Stan Bowman may not have any idea how to scout, develop, or identify a defenseman.
Here’s a list of d-men that Stan Bowman has drafted that have had more than a cameo in the NHL: Stephen Johns, Klas Dahlbeck, Adam Clendening, Henri Jokiharju. That’s in nine years.
Here’s a list of d-men that Bowman has either acquired or signed: Nick Leddy, Nick Boynton, Chris Campoli, Jassen Cullimore, “John Scott” (the quotes because he rarely played defense but he did start there), Johnny Oduya, Sami Lepisto (Sami Lepisto! Sami in the Taco Bell!), Steve Montador, Sean O’Donnell, Sheldon Brookbank, Michal Rozsival (fine the first time, not the next 12), Mike Kostka, David Rundblad, Kyle Cumiskey, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Tim Erixon (you forgot, didn’t you?), Kimmo Timmonen, Trevor Daley (who sucks out loud despite what any writer tells you), Christian Ehrhoff, Erik Gustafsson, Rob Scuderi, Darko Svedberg, brought Brian Campbell back, Gustav Forsling, Michal Kempny, brought Johnny Oduya back, Cody Franson, Connor Murphy, Jordan Oesterle, Jan Rutta, Blay Killman, Brandon Manning, Brandon Davidson.
How many times did you throw up? Eleventy-billion?
Now, let’s throw one note of a qualifier in there. For most of the years Stan has been here, the top four was set. So they really only had to find third-pairing players. Ok, now that’s out of the way…
So in nine drafts, Bowman found all of four d-men that could play at the NHL at all, and only one has any hope of being more than a third-pairing guy, and I’m giving Jokiharju some credit there. And he’s the only one to make any kind of impact on the Hawks.
Add those four, and the 33 that Bowman has signed or acquired in some way. So that’s 37. How many rise above just third-pairing status? Oduya the first time is clearly the pick of the bunch. Nick Leddy didn’t here but is a second-pairing player for sure, so we’ll give him that. Michal Kempny clearly is, but he couldn’t get his coach to agree. Connor Murphy probably, but now he has a back made out of rubber cement. So that’s four. Five out of 37. 13% of the d-men he’s tried have been something more than scenery, and only two here in Chicago where the Hawks could benefit. Two and a half as Leddy was pretty damn good in ’13 and ’14.
It’s like saying the Cubs will eventually develop starting pitching. We have more than 10 years of evidence in two organizations that Theo Epstein can’t really develop a starter. Maybe it’s just not going to happen.
So every time Stan stands in front of the media and tries to sell you on Boqvist, Beaudin, and Mitchell being some kind of savior(s), I would raise an eyebrow or six. Because the track record just isn’t there.
Tonight’s game was quite a throwback—to stupidity, dirty hits, pointless fights, everything you remember from the bad old days! This marks two games in a row where the Blackhawks have had a player thrown out, which tells you nearly all you need to know. Let’s get to it:
–The Hawks actually made it over 10 minutes without giving up a goal in the first period. This is where we’re at now, when going half of the first without falling behind is a major step. Putting aside the blackness of that reality, not only did they avoid giving up multiple goals early, they even answered the Flames’ first goal with a classic forehand-backhand by Jonathan Toews, which just de-pantsed Mike Smith. So the game didn’t get off to TOO terrible of a start, although it must be said that the Flames outshot the Hawks 18-6 in the first. Think about that for a minute. They gave up 18 shots in one period, which is bad enough, and that was a full three times the number of shots they themselves managed. What does this tell you? One, is that they barely clung to life in that period. Two, is that the only reason they did so was because Corey Crawford is unreal. He had multiple saves in the first that kept the game from getting out of hand early, including after Forsling had a bad giveaway, and also on the PK after Kunitz took Dumb Penalty #1 (more on that later). Crawford hasn’t exactly been lights out in his last few games, but none of the goals tonight can be pinned on him as bad or soft ones. He was definitely back to form.
–And man did we need him to be. The level of stupidity tonight was really something to behold. After getting out of the first tied at one and with a tenuous hold on things through 4-on-4 to start the second, Chris Kunitz went full-on Neanderthal and elbowed Travis Hamonic in what can only be described as a dickhead play. Hamonic’s head was down, but Kunitz went high with the elbow and he was getting rid of the puck so it was both foolish and dangerous. Kunitz fully deserved the major penalty and game misconduct. And of course, the Flames scored twice on the ensuing extended power play. Those goals made the difference in the game, and they were entirely because of Kunitz being a stupid asshole. If he isn’t stapled to a chair in the pressbox for the rest of the season that will prove once and for all that the Hawks’ brass is incompetent, doesn’t understand how to win, and doesn’t care to figure it out.
–In an attempt to not be outdone in the stupid asshole department, everyone’s favorite dung heap Brandon Manning got in the most useless and wimpy fight possible with Garnet Hathaway (which btw is NOT an actual name). The two skated around each other with fists brandished like old timey boxers, and hit each other far less than that. It didn’t “change the momentum” or “send a message.” In fact, the only upside was that Manning spent most of the rest of the game in the penalty box and thus unable to offend our eyes with his playing.
–Clearly I’m not one for fighting, but I will say this: in the second period when James Neal basically stomped on Corey Crawford and Crawford came after him and nearly punched him, I was cackling with delight. If Crow wants to hit someone because he’s frustrated with this shitty team and the defense allowing him to get curb-stomped, I’ll set aside my issues and I’ll be here for it.
–The power play…it’s just so bad. And on paper it really shouldn’t be: Toews, Kane, Saad, DeBrincat and Jokiharju…this should be a functional first power play unit! But they can’t make a zone entry to save their lives. Seriously. They cannot get out of their own zone, they cannot get through the neutral zone, and they most certainly can’t get across the offensive blue line. It’s like a god damn force field, and that stupid-ass drop pass in the defensive zone has lived on in the Colliton era like a recurring nightmare. There are too many issues to cover in these bullets, but suffice it to say that the clown shoes are still firmly entrenched.
–Alright, enough doom and gloom. What was good from this game? Toews’ goal was pretty and we need the top line to keep scoring. The Kahun-Kampf-Kane line may be something that works. Their 43 CF% didn’t bode all that well but they were certainly fast (and besides, the entire team was underwater in possession). Dylan Strome had a nice goal. And once again, for the cheap seats in the back, Crawford finished the night with a .927 SV% and an assist, and had to face 41 fucking shots on goal.
Tonight was ugly, dumb and frustrating. If the Hawks had gotten blown out it would have made sense and been deserved. The Flames are playing much better, but again this could have been a winnable game—Mike Smith is Mike Smith which means there’s always a chance, and the fact that it came down to the stupidest of penalties is downright painful. But, there’s no rest for the wicked with three more games this week. Fire Chris Kunitz into the sun. Onward and upward.
Photo credit: Chicago Tribune
Notes: Michael Frolik and Jusso Valimaki have missed the last couple through injury…Big Save Dave gave up four to the Stars last out so maybe Mike Smith gets a run-out with tougher games against Columbus and Minnesota later in the week for the Flames…Kylington is a prospect our Flames friends were pretty excited about before the season so he may entrench himself in the lineup…This should be the year Backlund gets Selke consideration but won’t…WHO WANTS TO WALK WITH ELIAS?!
Notes: We imagine Martinsen will keep his spot ahead of Fortin and Kunitz…At least Keith will be rested…Is Saad playing the best stretch of his career?…Funny how Manning played his best game of the season with the return of Connor Murphy looming this week, no?…The Kampf line actually got its head kicked in last night…Strome and Kane and Top Cat were better but once again broken up, would like to see them get the full game tonight…
Game #28 Preview Suite
vs. 
RECORDS: Hawks 9-12-5 Predators 17-8-1
PUCK DROP: 7pm
TV: WGN
KISS MY GRITS: On The Forecheck
There’s no such thing as sympathy in the NHL, so even if you’re getting your dick knocked in the dirt night after night, the next team on the docket is going to be real excited to repeat the punishment. So it is for the Hawks, who head from one division favorite to another and the one actually on top, the Nashville Predators. And even in their beat-up state, you fear how quickly it could get out of hand if the Hawks don’t straighten the fuck up. So, cheerful, eh?
Let’s start with the Hawks. Henri Jokiharju will return after an illness, and looks to be paired with Duncan Keith again. The Keith-Forsling Axis Of What The Fuck? never really worked, though it didn’t work for the same reasons that the Keith-HarJu pairing has struggled at times. Both players are inclined to be aggressive and get up the ice, and only one is supposed to play that way. The HarJu is more defensively inclined than Forsling though, and overall this pairing has done ok this season. So it’s good and proper to have it back. But you can look forward to more tweets from us about Keith having to change his game when he gets caught outside the circles again.
That slots Forsling down with Gustafsson in what can only be called “adventure time,” and Brandon Manning and Brent Seabrook are paired in what can only be called “fuck my life.”
Cam Ward looks to be the starter, which is fine because Crawford hasn’t been all that good and could use the extra day. The lines are going to pretty much stay the same, with Dylan Strome at least starting between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane. Jeremy Colliton went away from it in the 3rd against the Jets but will give it another go. To maximize what they do well and to eliminate as much of what they don’t as possible, they really should only start exclusively in the offensive zone. Toews’s and Kampf’s line can do the defensive starts if need be, and you don’t want any of Kane, Top Cat, or Strome there either.
Right, the Predators. The headline, other than their marvelous and expected record, is that a good portion of their team is on a trainer’s table. Kyle Turris, Viktor Arvidsson, and PK Subban all will miss out tonight, and Arvidsson is a long-term casualty. It’s put a dent in their mojo, as they’ve lost three of the last four, including getting capsized at home by the Coyotes and getting trounced by the Blues. So if there was ever a time to catch the Preds, it would be now. If the Hawks were anything resembling a coherent outfit, that is.
If there’s a bone to pick with Nashville, is that they can look a touch short on scoring. With Arvidsson out, Filip Forsberg is the only player with more than eight goals in the lineup. Ryan Johansen has gone back to “Treat Boy” status, and Ryan Hartman isn’t going to continue to shoot the lights out forever. Subban was chipping in a bit from the back, points-wise at least, but he’s out now too.
Another quirk of the Preds is that their power play is just as bad as the Hawks’ somehow. It won’t get any better with Subban out, but then again there isn’t a power play that the Hawks’ kill can’t cure.
Given how the Hawks play defense, there’s no reason to think that Peter Laviolette won’t turn the Preds up to 11 and pressure them all over the ice. The Hawks simply can’t match their speed, though they played them pretty tough last year, going 2-2-0. Still, if the Hawks can find their way past what will be a furious forecheck (they can’t), they can get some rushes and chances in the open ice behind it.
Of course, waiting there is Pekka Rinne, coming off collecting his first Vezina and dead-set on getting a second. He’s your clubhouse leader, as he leads the league in GAA, SV%, even-strength SV%, and difference between his expected save-percentage and his actual. He’s simply been brilliant, so you can have a great game and still lose because you can’t pierce him. Which is great for a team like the Hawks that struggle to score.
It’s the Flames tomorrow night, who are playing some of the best hockey around. Which means if the Hawks can’t find another gear and some stability in their own end, they’d be a Top Cat miracle goal from losing seven in a row and 15 of 17. Not that 14 of 17 is that much better.
The season is on the very edge of the precipice. Maybe they should act like it on the ice…or perhaps they’ve already accepted their fate.
Game #27 Preview Suite
