Chicago Blackhawks – Page 65 – Faxes from Uncle Dale

Everything Else

Game #77 – Sharks vs. Hawks Preview/Bullet Club Reunion: But Just A Glimpse

By Sam Fels March 26, 2018 1958 0

vs.

RECORDS: Sharks 43-23-9 Hawks 31-36-9

PUCK DROP: 7:30

TV: NBCSN Chicago

THEY CAN’T AFFORD IT EITHER: Fear The Fin

A friend of the program, one Kevin Kujawa–guitarist and singer for great local band of the past Mannequin Men– used to refer to the first game after the trade deadline as “New Toy Day.” Well, the Hawks didn’t get that this year as it was clearance sale time, but Hawks fans will get some of that this week as the Hawks show off what they hope will be a couple pieces that matter in the future.

The first one arrives tonight in Victor Ejdsell, probably referred to from here on out as “Eggshell.” He’s a big center, whom they’re probably already envisioning taking Anismov’s place so they can punt him to the nearest taker this summer that’s also on his list (YOU’RE ON OUR LIST. HE NAMED NAMES!). Ejdsell comes with plus-hands, so we’re told, though the Hawks are probably already telling him to get his ass to the front of the net which will kneecap his playmaking abilities we’re told he has a bit. Whatever, there will be plenty of time to worry about that next year. The big concern is whether or not he can skate enough to make any of it matter, or if he’s just a monolith the Hawks hope they can park at the other crease but which hurts you in every other aspect. He’d better be the former, otherwise the trade of a definitely useful Ryan Hartman is just simply running in place (because he was a first-round pick at #30, which seemingly everyone evaluating that trade forgot). The Hawks were after Ejdsell when he chose the Predators, and generally the European players they’ve been hot on tend to work out at least ok (Jan Rutta excluded and they’re going to give that one another go anyway).

The other one is Dylan Sikura, who will arrive Thursday. We’ll talk more about him then but he’ll be an interesting watch because he’s got a big chance to more than just ballast on the team next year, even if he’s in desperate need of a sandwich. Just a shame he couldn’t bring Adam Gaudette with him.

As for the rest of the story with the Hawks, there isn’t one really. Toews is still out, with some mystery injury that definitely isn’t either “tired of this shit” or “has been playing with something for months and can’t be bothered anymore but don’t think it’s a head injury” or “we’re actually trying to tank.” After Anton Forsberg looked decent against the Isles he’ll get the start again, but we know what it’s looked like when he’s tried to put two starts together. So JF Berube should probably be properly warmed and stretched, as Q pulls a goalie switch for the 46th time this season.

This game matters a little to the Sharks, though not that much. They’ve pretty much held off either the Kings or Ducks for the second spot in the Pacific, especially with the seven-game winning streak they’re currently on (you can do that?). They’re four up on the Ducks and have a game in hand, and six up on the Kings with a game in hand. So they’ll start the playoffs at home against either, and really they should beat either. But these are the Sharks, and without a healthy Thornton anything is possible for them. Pavelski has been great at center, and that should be enough to see off either of their California brethren. But again, the Sharks have found a way in the past to drive their car into a swimming pool.

After a hiccup around the turn of the year, Martin Jones has been excellent the past two months and the Sharks would enter either series with the better goalie, which is a leg up (sorry Jonathan Quick but we know what you are). While it doesn’t jump out at you, the Sharks are deeper than most teams even without Thornton. Pavelski and Evander “I’m The Other Fuckstick Named…” Kane have been quite the force on the top line, Couture and Hertl have dovetailed on the second line, and Tierney andLeBanc have been a surprise on the third. A Thornton return along with Joonas Donskoi (who’s only day-to-day) only adds to that. They’ll be deeper up front than either the Ducks or Kings, that’s for sure.

You know the story on the blue line. Marc-Eduoard “This Is What Seabrook Was Supposed To Be” Vlasic and Justin Braun are the human shield for Brent Burns on the second pairing, and he simply runs wild. Again, a unique weapon to have. And Brenden Dillon and Dylan “Fine And” DeMelo on the third pairing aren’t really a disaster. Again, sneaky depth.

Even with all that, it’s hard to know if the Sharks are that good. Their special teams for sure are, and that’s gotten them a long way. But this is one of the more boring Sharks teams we can remember, who play in a terrible division and when you watch them nothing really jumps out. Then again, that’s the exact kind of team that comes alive in the playoffs when things get choppier. Secondly, in that division there’s no one who’s going to turn up the pace on them that they can’t handle, which is what Edmonton did last year and the Penguins the year before. You could see if they ran into a misplaced Colorado team in the second round where that could be a problem, but that’s one line and specifically one guy. Vegas, if it somehow shambles its way out of the first round even without Fleury, will see it all pop against the vastly more experienced Sharks. Really, this team merely has to stand still to get to a conference final, where it probably will be laced by Nashville or Winnipeg, assuming there’s anything left of either of those teams after they’re done bludgeoning each other in the second round.

Let’s have fun with our new toys these last two weeks. It’s all we got.

Game #77 Preview

Everything Else

And You May Ask Yourself, Well, How Did I Get Here – Hawks 3, Islanders 1

By Rose Rankin March 24, 2018 2097 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Corsica

It’s a pretty sad commentary on the season when holding on to beat a bottom-feeder after being eliminated from playoff contention is the best we can muster, but hey, here we are. To the bullets:

–With Toews out and nothing really of consequence to play for (pride? Does that matter?), the lines were more jumbled than usual. However, the top line of DeBrincat-Kane-Saad was enjoyable to watch, in the same sense that Taco Bell after a night of drinking is enjoyable: in the moment it solves a specific need and makes you feel better, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problem—no matter what you tell yourself about that food “soaking up the alcohol,” that hangover is still coming. And so it is with this scenario. These guys aren’t really a viable line and Kane, notwithstanding his foiling a Tavares shot in the third with arguably his best defensive play of the season, is not a center. But what does that matter? At evens this line ended with a CF% right around 70, and they totaled nine shots between them all.

Plus they scored the goals that mattered (Seabrook had an empty netter, bfd). Kane’s goal was on the power play, so I’m not chalking that up to his fantastic chemistry with these linemates. But Saad overcame his generally terrible luck and banked a shot off Halak’s ass, as he looked around frantically for the puck in all the wrong places. Not only was it enjoyable to see shitty goaltending screw over someone else, it was also nice to see Saad score the goal that would end up being the difference maker.

–And that’s because John Tavares came close to single-handedly getting the Islanders back in the game. He had a pretty wretched 31 CF% and no shots until the 3rd, but he scored the only goal after continual pressure and just plain old creating the chance to go top shelf on Forsberg. He probably would have had two goals if Kane hadn’t lifted his stick just enough on the opportunity he had in the slot, which was shortly before the goal he did score. I know it’s unlikely that the Hawks could pull it off, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want them to make an attempt to bring him here after he hits the market this summer.

–Anton Forsberg looked nervous and at times shaky in net, but he played the part of serviceable backup pretty well tonight. He finished with a .969 SV% (NICE), and while it’s rather pathetic that this display of goaltending prowess could only be managed against the lowly Islanders, at this point we should just be happy that the guy who started in goal was able to finish the game. And it’s not like Halak was any better, so there’s that.

–Vinnie Hinostroza was his usual energetic self but he seems a bit snakebitten. After missing the net on a good chance in the second, he was visibly frustrated and took it out on his stick against the post. I can’t fault the guy—he’s consistently one of the fastest if not THE fastest Hawk out there, and he and Schmaltz seem to have good chemistry. Yet he hasn’t scored a goal since March 3rd, and hasn’t had a point all week. I hope he can rack up a couple more points before the season ends, and finish it on a high note. For all his effort, he deserves at least that.

–Jan Rutta did a good thing! He had a nice play in the first to stop Barzal on a breakaway, exactly the sort of thing a defenseman is supposed to do. It should speak volumes about our defense that one good play by this guy would stand out so much, but again, here we are. The defense actually wasn’t awful tonight, but again, it’s the fucking Islanders so I’m not sure how much this really means. But we’ll take our victories where we can get them (literally).

There are so few games left…we can almost count them on one had. It’s sad, it’s a relief, it’s frustrating, it’s a lot of things. At least this one was a win.

Beer de jour: 312 by Goose Island (there’s a bunch of it in my fridge and, well, I was too lazy to bother getting anything else)

Line of the Night: OK, so I don’t have one and that’s because I was listening to music with the game on mute, which apparently my esteemed colleagues just figured out is a thing you can do (sorry guys but I’ve been laughing my ass off about this all week). For those of you who haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend it and not just for hockey—it works with any sport. But don’t fret—Line of the Night isn’t going anywhere…now you know why I don’t always have one. And what was I listening to? Well, it’s a vinyl evening here at Casa di Rankin, going through my catalog of Bob Marley records, including Live from the Record Plant, Kaya, and Uprising, among others.

Photo credit: Washington Post

Everything Else

Dying Anonymous On The Fury Road

By Sam Fels March 23, 2018 2383 0

I liked Hess’s title last night, so I’m going to piggyback off of it. I’m sure he won’t mind.

This isn’t the autopsy of the Hawks. We’ll have plenty of time for that come April 9th. Hell, we’ve already been doing it. There will be even more time to speculate about what lies ahead, or whether losing out the rest of the way would change minds upstairs about firings and such. We can and will do that.

No, this is pretty much just the mourning. It didn’t come as a huge shock, but the Hawks were eliminated officially this week from the playoffs. And I was surprised at how much the feeling was the inverse of what I felt April 3rd, 2009. You probably don’t remember that date all that well, and I had to look up the exact one for this.

That night, the Hawks beat the Preds 3-1. They clinched a playoff spot for the first time in seven seasons. Though that team was a playoff lock all year and had been second or third best in the conference all of that season, when they flashed the “Stanley Cup Playoffs” graphic at the game’s conclusion I wasn’t the only one whose heart paused for a moment. In a season and time that were filled with moments signaling how much had changed, this was another. It was arrival, a welcoming. Back where we belonged and such.

So at the end of Tuesday’s loss, it was something of the perfect bookend, I guess. While I don’t think this team or organization will enter anything like the abyss of before, it certainly is now a time of uncertainty and trepidation. Back then we knew the Hawks were there to stay. Now we know they could honestly be anything. While we had known it was coming since like January, to finally see it official is jarring and what lies beyond even more so.

There’s a lot that will piss us off about this season. For me, I most miss the tension. While we just passed the first day of spring, if you’re part of our fucked up cabal that probably means to you that spring doesn’t begin until the day of Game 1. The season ends but it only feels like a phase. You find out exactly who’s waiting finally and you start picturing the colors, players, things you’ll see over the next 10 days to two weeks. You eagerly await the schedule and official times. You already start your plans (drinking plans clearly).

You wake up that day, whether you work or not, and you don’t really focus. You know it very well might be two months before you’re of any use to anyone. That feeling of wanting to eat cigarettes. Tension beers. The charge in the air outside the United Center. We won’t get any of that, though clearly you could argue we barely got any last year either. Which is only accentuating this year’s despair.

Not that we aren’t used to this. The NHL playoffs were a party we watched from the lawn across the street for years and years. Sure, you get to talk to those who are hanging out outside to smoke or whatever but you’re missing the good stuff because the keg and dance party is inside.

That’s the point of being a hockey fan. It’s why you trudge through -2 from where you parked repeatedly, or suffer through the Hawks broadcast, or even bother reading this waste of time because there’s supposed to be this payoff. No other sport has such a start contrast and reward-type structure as the NHL. Sure, we’ve sat through a lot of shitty baseball in this town in my lifetime, but the weather was still warm and the beer still cold and the dogs still tasty at either park, so going to games or hanging out in your apartment with a breeze coming through the window was still its own reward. Sure, there’s charm in freezing your ass off on your way to watching the Hawks and Jets for the third time that year, but it’s not the same.

We’ve been missing out on that. We will miss out on that. And we may not get it back next year either. This is the new normal, I guess. Can’t say I like it much.

Everything Else

Game #75 – Canucks vs. Hawks Preview/Pegging Session: Friends And Family Only

By Sam Fels March 22, 2018 1865 0

vs.

RECORDS: Canucks 25-39-9 Hawks 30-35-9

PUCK DROP: 7:30

TV: NBCSN

OUR FELLOW WALLOWERS: Nucks Misconduct

Look people, I’ll level with you. We’ve done our best to maintain the same standard throughout this season. You’ve earned and expected and paid for that. Even though this season has spiraled into the hell toilet, we’ve tried to treat every game the same, because it’s still the Hawks and it’s what we do and such. And there’s only a few of these left, the finish line is in sight, and we’ve got enough wind to make it through to it with our energy intact.

But this one…

Good lord. I mean these are the games the marketing team wakes up in a cold sweat thinking about. This is the type where it becomes real just how much of a fart-gone-wrong this season has been. Two bad teams battling in front of people who aren’t quite sure how they got there and what it says about them that they are there (unless you know exactly what it says that you are there, and that’s never, ever good). A game that will take place basically in a vacuum within the walls of the United Center. It might not even get highlights on “On The Fly” or TSN. Oh sure, there will be cameras there and it will be broadcast, but will any of you admit to watching it to anyone you care about?

We used to be accustomed to these. Hell, all 82 Hawks games in certain seasons were basically this. We had left these behind a decade ago, but now they’re back. A stark illustration of what both teams have become. Someone will win, but no one will know why.

So I’m not going to dress it up for you. The Canucks blow, and they’re dumb, and they appear like they’re going to be both for a very long time. The Sedins are old and Passy Twin can’t score at all but they can still spasm offense here and there. Brock Boeser is hurt and he was the only reason to bother at all. Reid Boucher is on this team, which is the international language for, “This Team Isn’t Worth Anyone’s Time.”

The Hawks blow. I’m not sure they’re dumb but I’m also not sure that they’re not. Toews is hurt so there’s even less to make them watchable. Vinnie Hinostroza will play center, which hasn’t worked well in the past. But now it doesn’t matter. JF Berube will start, because the rules say you have to have a goalie. Actually, do they? Maybe the Hawks should try it.

Please, for the love of all that you hold dear, leave this one to us truly sick and twisted. We can’t be saved, but you can. Don’t do this to yourself. We have no choice.

Game #75 Preview

Everything Else

Game #75 – Canucks vs. Hawks Douchebag Du Jour: You’re Still Booing?

By Sam Fels March 22, 2018 2594 0

This one is at the United Center, in front of friends and family only, so it won’t be part of the atmosphere. And the past couple visits from the Hawks to Vancouver, it’s been muted. But it’s still there. They still boo Duncan Keith. In some ways, you have to admire the dedication. And in others…good god, people.

If you don’t remember, Canucks fans still loathe Duncan Keith, or like 100 of them still do, for braining Daniel Sedin late in the ’11-’12 campaign. Sedin missed the rest of the season, Keith was suspended for it, and neither team got out of the first round.

Of course, any scrutiny put to this and you’d have to wonder why anyone would take the time, until you remember that it’s Vancouver and nothing has to make sense. The Canucks were absolutely pummeled by the Kings in the first round that year, losing in five games. Had Sedin been there, they might have gotten it to six games. There was no beating L.A. that year. Second, the Hawks got theirs, as they also went out in the first round, and without Keith through suspension couldn’t really climb up the standings to more than a sixth seed. So it didn’t work out for anyone. Thirdly, Canucks fans still conveniently forget that Sedin went after Keith’s head minutes before his Macho Man Elbow, a hit that these days probably would have seen Sedin suspended, too.

Then again, when you have nothing else, these grudges are all that make a fanbase feel relevant. The Hawks would go on to win a Cup the very next year, and the Canucks have won two playoff games since. The Hawks left the Canucks behind, and now they’re all alone. The Hawks and their fans have warm memories to wrap themselves in even now, the shine from past glory. All the Canucks have is what they lost and the bitterness along with it and the current team-in-shambles.

So perhaps the booing is a reminder. A reminder that the Canucks used to matter to the Hawks. Not that we’re listening. Maybe it’s now a reminder that the Hawks used to matter to the Canucks, even though the Nucks biggest rival is now the Canucks themselves. Perhaps it’s just a wistful gesture, to a different time, when these games and teams were important to the league and fans. Maybe it’s comforting, to remember what was and the passions we used to feel, and a signal that maybe one day, it could be like that again.

So you go ahead and boo, Canucks fans. You still hold that grudge. It might be all you have.

Game #75 Preview

Everything Else

How Not To Write About The Hawks Elimination

By Sam Fels March 21, 2018 2413 0

So originally I planned to do some wistful, eulogy-type thing about the Hawks being officially eliminated from the playoffs. And I may yet still tomorrow or Friday. But then I saw this, and I feel like it’s at the root of so much horseshit Hawks thinking right now that I thought it best to dissect it until it’s dust.

Though at the top, I should mention that Steve Rosenbloom has been a big supporter of ours and a genuine fan, so I don’t take pleasure in it (well, not THAT much pleasure). And Rosey is always up for a good argument, so I don’t think he’ll mind too much. With that, let’s go through what Rosenbloom had to say today.

Just like that, on consecutive nights, the United Center was eliminated from the playoffs.

On Monday night, the Bulls lost to the Knicks. Bang, officially out. First goal officially met

On Tuesday night, the Blackhawks lost to the Avalanche. Bang, officially out. Firing speculation season officially opens.

Ok… not sure what the Bulls have to do with anything but I’ll allow it. Though the Hawks and Bulls are certainly in different spots in their arc but let’s save our breath for when we need it.

Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2015, their third in six years, the Hawks haven’t won a playoff series. Geez, last year they didn’t even win one playoff game, a pantsing that came one postseason after losing a seven-game series to the evil, dreaded Blues.

Yeah, the thing is they didn’t win a playoff series for two years after the first one, so this isn’t that abnormal? I mean we’ve gone through this before. And when you say seven-game series, you’re basically saying the Hawks lost a coin flip. Which it was. But hey, if you want the Blues recent history instead of the Hawks, that’s your toasted ravioli/mucus to choke on.

Getting swept in a playoff series was deemed unacceptable last year. People lost jobs. Big verbal fingers were wagged. So, what does missing the playoffs altogether for the first time in 10 years bring?

The firing of GM Stan Bowman?

The end of Joel Quenneville as coach?

Both?

The argument for firing Bowman starts with Brent Seabrook’s inexplicable contract that still has six years and more than $41 million remaining with a no-movement clause that makes it less a playing contract than a prison sentence.

Look, I will certainly listen to arguments for firing one of or both of Stan and Q. It certainly should be brought up. But…but… I’m no insider, but even I know that Bryan Bickell’s contract and Seabrook’s weren’t all Stan’s idea. That doesn’t mean Stan was willing to see either of them walk, but as we’ve seen with Antti Niemi, Brandon Saad, and a couple others, he will pull the trigger on some parts when he feels they get too expensive.

Second, Seabrook’s extension was signed three months after that third Cup. Yes, it was too long and yes it was for too much money, but what kind of rocks would it have taken to just let him walk? Or trade him? After he had just skated like 30 minutes a game for two straight months? It appears that’s an organizational policy to not do that, and I don’t think that’s Stan’s policy. Also, name me another GM who just let a top pairing or top line player simply walk out the door? You could argue Marc-Andre Fleury, but the Penguins had Matt Murray already taking over. Again, this Seabrook contract is bad, but the alternatives, especially at the time, weren’t nearly as clear as everyone wants to believe they are now.

The argument also extends to the no-movement clauses given to former heroes such as Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith. Toews isn’t the No. 1 center on a Cup winner anymore the way Keith isn’t a No. 1 defenseman on a future champion.

I know this is convenient and all, but Toews is closing in on a 60-point season which isn’t what you might remember him doing but he’s hardly a bum. And he’s been seriously unlucky to be at that total. Trading Toews to leave the Hawks with Nick Schmaltz and a handful of themselves at center is in a word, “lunacy.”

Keith is Thirty-Fucking-Four. You got a two-time Norris winner for barely $5 million a year. He’s been one of the biggest bargains in the league for a decade. Suddenly he’s just ballast? Yeah ok maybe he’s not top pairing anymore, but you’d still be moving him for 70 cents on the dollar at best. He can probably still take second-pairing minutes. And also we have no idea if that NMC is that big of a hinderance because the Hawks haven’t been motivated to ask because… well Duncan Keith wasn’t bad until this season, and “bad” is kind of strong.

And then there are such things as curiously big contracts for defensemen Jan Rutta and Erik Gustafsson while remaining a franchise strapped by the salary cap.

Except they’re not really strapped by the cap anymore, especially with it going up. Yeah these deals are high, but only by 500k or so and as we’ve previously discussed, the Hawks might have $12 million or more to play with. And no one needing an extension just yet, after the trading of Ryan Hartman. Which Rosenbloom strangely doesn’t mention.

The argument for firing Quenneville starts with that awful team defense and the painfully regular inability to protect a lead. Some of that blame is mitigated by the loss of star goalie Corey Crawford, but defensive responsibility team-wide has been hard to find.

Ok, before I get to the half-dismissal of Crow being hurt as the biggest reason the Hawks blow chunks, you just said four of the Hawks d-men suck deep pond scum (and you’ll allude to a fifth later), and now you’re blaming the coach that they can’t play defense?

Ok, to Crow. Since he got hurt, the Hawks SV% at ES is .910, second-worst in the league. Crow’s was .935. Yeah, ok, maybe unsustainable, but with that SV% the Hawks would have given up 23 goals less just at even-strength. I don’t know how many points that results in, but it’s more than a little. Even a .920 at evens would have seen the Hawks give up 11 less goals, and I’d be willing to be Crow would have eclipsed that because he’s been over .930 for five of the past six seasons . And we’re not even getting to the PK which has suck into the dirt to the points of being past the Earth’s core. “Some” of the blame?!

The Hawks have allowed 228 goals, fourth-worst in the Western Conference. Blame Bowman for not having a backup goalie who can win. Blame Quenneville for not devising a system that protects clearly inferior goalies. And blame the players for not executing and for not scoring the way the Hawks must.

In goals for per 60 minutes, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Hawks rank 18^th. They used to be the scariest team in the league. Now they’re in the lottery.

Yeah I don’t know what system protects goalies that aren’t even cracking .905. Jacques Fucking Lemaire would have a hard time with this lot. We’ve already been over the blue line. So your point about Bowman is correct, except he’s also the guy who found Niemi, Emery, Raanta, and Darling as backups, so he’s allowed a fuck-up here and there? You just said they were cap strapped so they needed a backup on the cheap.

Ok, the Hawks don’t score a lot. They also have the sixth-worst shooting percentage. They also create the most scoring chances per 60 minutes. Know where I got that? NaturalStatTrick.com. Finish is a skill, yes, but it’s impossible to ignore luck here.

If you’re ranking causes of death this season, Crawford’s injury is No. 1. Then comes the loss of Marian Hossa to a skin affliction. No. 3 is trading defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. Then the loss of Brandon Saad – or at least the loss of his ability to play hockey, which came at the cost of Artemi Panarin, with whom Patrick Kane won a scoring title.

Crow’s injury is numbers 1-10, but I won’t push it. Fair enough on Hossa. But Hammer? Really? Weren’t you just bitching three paragraphs ago that the Hawks didn’t move along a slowing, aging, stay-at-home d-man who sucks now and now you’re bitching they did move along a slowing, aging, stay-at-home d-man who sucks now for a younger, faster, cheaper model? I don’t think both of these things can be true.

Ok, Panarin’s gone. But Debrincat has 25 goals and he didn’t get any of the PP looks that Panarin did. Essentially, Panarin’s goals have been replaced. So your problem there is with Q, no? For making him a third liner for a good portion of the season and having a power play that is causing tooth decay throughout the land?

Crawford’s injury is not on Quenneville or Bowman. Ditto, Hossa. Hjalmarsson is Bowman’s fault, same as the Saad trade, although Saad gets a ton of blame, too, as do the core players with no-movement clauses.

Is this where I have to point out that Saad is basically the same player he’s been in terms of possession, attempts, and chances, and just none of them or going in? Or do I do that later? Or are you blaming him for not being a 35-goal guy which he has yet to be in the NHL? Tell me where that goes, I’m not sure.

You can blame Quenneville for the lousy power play, but look at the talent out there. I’d blame the big names, too.

Where’s the line for “You made Jordan Oesterle a PP QB or a quarter of the season?”

One knock on Quenneville is that he hates young players, something that goes back to Nick Leddy. But if he hated kids, how has Gustafsson gotten another chance after making the awful, series-deciding mistake in Game 7 against the Blues in 2016?

And look at Alex DeBrincat and Nick Schmaltz, youngsters showing they could play in the top six for years. Heck, DeBrincat looks like he’s threatening to become Kane 2.0.

Top Cat has spent most of the season being a third line RW when he’s a top six LW, so his scoring has been somewhat miraculous. It took 30 games to get Schmaltz into the middle over Artem “I Skate Like Something Died In My Pants” Anisimov. So while Q isn’t the dungeon master of young talent he’s portrayed by some, he’s also not the child-whisperer either. And Q didn’t want DeBrincat on the roster at all to start the year, by the by.

And Bowman gets credit for the drafting and development of that talent. This is how the game works. It’s tangled, the blame and the credit. And then there’s this question:

Who’s available and who’s better?

Tyler Dellow.

Quenneville trails only Scotty Bowman in all-time regular-season wins. Since the start of the 1997 playoffs, Quenneville is tied with Bowman with three Cups. Nobody has won more.

This always annoys me. With the shootout and overtime rules coaching wins are horribly inflated. Q would still be top ten but like, c’mon. What if Al Arbour never had ties?

Quenneville won those Cups with Stan Bowman, although both received help from Dale Tallon.

Who received help from Mike Smith, believe it or not.

So, you can fire Bowman or Quenneville, or both, and you could convince yourself you have legitimate reasons.

Seems like you just did for yourself.

But I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t fire either of them. Their resumes earn one more chance to return to Cup contention. I think the case to fire Bowman is stronger, but I’d give both a do-over.

Weren’t you just complaining that Seabrook and Keith and Toews got extensions because of resumes and not for what they would do in the future? On the nights the Hawks clearly don’t give a shit, I’m not sure they’re all that concerned with Q’s resume. Also, you just said Stan owes a portion of his resume to Tallon, and then torched the part that doesn’t for nearly 700 words.

Because here’s the hard truth: If Crawford doesn’t come back as Crawford next season, then this team is going nowhere and John McDonough might as well serve as President/GM/coach to save the organ-I-zation some cash.

Don’t think he won’t try.

Live From The Five Hole

Live From The Five Hole – Live From Jersey Mike’s

By Sam Fels March 21, 2018 1933 0

This week we talk about Alex DeBrincat, just how bad the goalies have been, the hilarious Carolina GM search, and just a bunch of other nonsense. Share with your friends!

Everything Else

Game #74 – Avalanche vs. Hawks Preview/ :

By Sam Fels March 20, 2018 1976 0

vs.

RECORDS: Avalanche 39-25-8 Hawks 30-34-9

PUCK DROP: 7:30

TV: NBCSN Chicago

REAL MEN OUT OF SNOW: Mile High Hockey

The Hawks will get some say in the bottom of the Western Conference race, or in that they can decide who they’ll gift two points in that race on most nights and greatly anger someone somewhere. Sunday they blew three leads to keep St. Louis in it (we can only hope to set up a deeper heart-cutting for the last week in April when they play twice), and though Colorado holds the 1st wild card they’re only two points from dropping completely out of it. So the Hawks can play spoiler again, a role which they’ve been particularly shit at ever since it became their calling.

Not much has changed since the Avs were here just two weeks ago. Meaning they still have the best player on the planet in current form right now, so not much else matters with them because Nathan MacKinnon will make it all ok. Since he was last here, when the Hawks miraculously held him to just one goal, he’s poured in 11 points in six games. He’s four points off the scoring lead in the NHL even though he missed eight games. He leads the league in points per game at 1.39 and if he would have played a full 82 would’ve ended up somewhere around 114 points. Quite simply he’s been freakish, so if you’re headed to the UC tonight you’ll be treated to the sight of a player playing about as well as anyone has managed in years.

And because someone has to come along for the ride, Mikko Ratanen has 11 points in his last five games as his linemate. Ratanen does more than simply stand around and let Mac K bank the puck off of him into the net, and given his size and where he shoots from his 16.4% shooting percentage might be closer to the norm for his career than just a spike. The following years will tell, but the Avs might have a budding power forward on their hands if they can introduce him to a kettlebell this summer.

Adding to the roll for Denver is that Semyon Varlamov has gotten hot, letting in only six goals in his last five appearances. Between these two, the Avs really should lock up a playoff spot no one saw coming. Their schedule is somewhat kind to them from here on out as well. They get the Hawks twice, the fading Knights twice, the Flyers at home, and then a California swing that will probably tell the tale. Those Knights games ought to be interesting, as that very well might be the first round matchup and the Avs will have the pleasure of pilfering that outfit in their first real test. It basically will come down to the Avs have MacKinnon and the Knights don’t.

And then it gets scary, because if the Avs are slung out to the Pacific and can put the knife into the false gods of Vegas, there’s really no reason they can’t beat San Jose or LA or Anaheim or whatever other dreck is left out there. The Avs in the conference final? God help us and this league is a hell toilet. Anyway, pretty impressive for a team that was supposed to be at the beginning of a rebuild. But then I guess all it takes in this league is for your #1 line to freak the fuck off and there you are, along with goaltending. We did watch the Hawks the past two years, after all.

For the Hawks, Matthew Highmore dinged himself on Sunday and is out, so they’ve called up Andreas Martinsen who can’t do anything but will run around like a meth-head for a while and pick a stupid fight and Foley and Konroyd will slather themselves in Worcester sauce over it and “DATS WUT DIS TEAM HAS BEEN MISSING ALL SEASON MY FRENT!” bullshit that already has me kicking various wood furniture around the house. After JF Berube was given the chance to grab the brass ring of backup next year and let it and Patrik Berglund’s shot through him, Anton Forsberg will get another chance to shoot his confidence in the face with a bazooka tonight.

Yeah… I don’t know. Only seven of these left after this. Also, we’ll be recording the podcast during this one, so send in your questions on Twitter during the day if you have something you want to know or just hear us bitch about .

Game #74 Preview