Depends on the price:NBC
But it would be awesome:CBS
So is this..Enjoy It:FS
Flair for the dramatic: Blackhawk Up
Exactly why you don’t get comfortable:DMN
Let’s go back to that silly place again. Warning: It’s almost as long as that fantasy draft we did a couple years ago that we kind of swore we’d never mention again.
Erik Gustafsson has been up for about a month now. While it’s obviously too early to jump to conclusions, let’s do that anyway. Can he shore up the 2nd pairing enough for a deep run?
McClure: I like what I’ve seen so far of Erik Gustafsson on a couple of fronts. While he’s a bit light in the ass and relies a bit too much on stationary stretch passes, albeit with plus-vision to even attempt some of them, what is really encouraging is what I’ve seen on the defensive end. He will get beaten occasionally with speed, as he’s not as fast as one would think given his skill set, but when he does, he does not reach and tries to make up ground with his feet. That alone will earn points with any coach, and even if he gets beaten he’ll do his part to at least try to make the angles more difficult for a rushing forward and not put his team on the kill in the process. But all of that being said, asking him to bail water for a partner who undoubtedly has at least three different sandwiches named after him around town is a bit unfair at this point. In an ideal world when the playoffs come Goose is partnered with Rozsival permanently, where Rozy can play free safety for him with primo zone starts (at least at home), while Scuds and TVR are in suits. It’s now been nearly a whole season and I still cannot figure out anything that TVR does well. He can’t move, his shot isn’t hard, accurate, or quick to be released, and decision making on positioning in the defensive zone leaves a lot to be desired. So no, I do not think that Gustafsson is a long term second pairing answer.
A good time to look at some underlying trends for the Hawks at the break.
40.2, 33.9, 29.9, 34.1
That would be Brent Seabrook’s last four games in Corsi. If you’re new to the stat, let me spoil the mystery. That’s real bad. Like, abhorrent. And it’s kind of been the trend for Seabrook all season.
Seabrook’s numbers, other than his offensive output which shouldn’t be dismissed, have fallen off a cliff. Overall, Seabrook has a 48.1% Corsi percentage, far down from his 53.2 career mark. What makes that even scarier is that Seabrook is facing just about the easiest competition of his career since his rookie year. His time-on-ice of competition, which is how some people measure it, is 17.3. That’s down slightly from last year’s 17.4, but in this category tenths of a minute do actually make a difference. His zone starts aren’t really any different from what’s come before either.
If you’ve watched the Hawks for even just a few years, this was not all that hard to see coming. A single road game before the break. A more than solid effort last out over a division rival that put to rest a mini-losing streak, so there wasn’t really anything to “correct” tonight. A motivated opponent that needs every point it can get with the things that the Hawks struggle with when they’re not all there (a good coach and a mobile defense). A sick captain, and it’s hard to keep a sickness restricted to just one player on a team, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if a few guys have rumbling tummies or whatever’s bugging Toews. It all added up to an effort where the Hawks looked like they were watching the clock from the opening faceoff. And that’s exactly what we got.
This harkened back to some other games. The tenets of was made the Hawks 12-game win streak were not in evidence tonight. And while it was only a one-goal game, this was as badly as the Hawks have been outplayed in a long while. Other teams had done it for a period or two during this streak, but for a whole game you’d have to go back to the loss to the Canes. The Bolts are basically the realized version of what the Canes would like to be. A high-tempo team with a couple puck-moving d-men, a band of quick, skilled forwards who play with speed at both ends. The Hawks were nowhere near tonight.
What had gotten them to this point? Let’s go through the checklist:
vs. 
PUCK DROP: 6:30pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN, WGN Radio
CRASH BEFORE MY EYES: Raw Charge
The Hawks return to the scene of the latest crime, where they took Games 1 and 5 of last season’s Final. This would have been circled on the Bolts’ calendar before the season even started. It’s doubly so with this being the two hottest teams in the league, as Tampa has won six in a row to match the back half of the Hawks’ 12-gamer. It had been something of a train wreck of a season for the Lightning until this streak. But the winning hasn’t stopped the drama.
Interesting move this morning, as the Hawks traded CatButt to Anaheim for Jiri Sekac.
There isn’t much to tell about Sekac. I know that Habs fans last season were not pleased that the Canadiens gave up on him so quickly and he looked to be another sacrificed at Michel Therrien’s altar of “GRITSANDPAPERFAAAAART.” But Sekac never quite fit in with the Ducks either, and you sort of start to wonder how many more chances he has left.
He’s got good wheels and decent skill, so he would seem a perfect fit with the Hawks. But then he would have with the Ducks too, though maybe they couldn’t look beyond his size which isn’t much at a mere 6-0 and 185. Sekac put up seven goals and 16 points in 50 games in Montreal last year, and a further seven points in 19 games with the Ducks. He’s certainly capable of providing secondary scoring. He was carrying a 54% share so far this season, +2.9% of the Ducks’ team rate.
While everyone was falling over themselves about CatButt in October, anyone who had watched him play before this year (so basically only a few fans and no Hawks media) knew water would seek its own level. For the most part he’d lost his bowling ball game over the past couple months, though there was something of a revival the past couple games with Dr. Rasmussen and Panik At The Disco. But he is what he is.
Box Score
Sorry for the delayed wrap. My insomnia got the best of me again and I was going to write this last night before my forehead nearly landed on the laptop.
I don’t think there’s much to draw from this one other than how the two goalies are playing. It was a pretty even 1st period, with the Preds certainly having the upper hand in the first 10 minutes and the Hawks the last 10. The Hawks benefitted from a good bounce to get their goal, but you see how the Preds can get caught trying to play at their skin-peeling pace. 1-0 is certainly no huge advantage.
And then Rinne gives up that goal to Panik, and he might have been screened by Barret Jenkem and his terrible gap but it was not a goal that should have gone in. Sure, the Preds quickly got back within one but the way Crawford is playing you’re just not going to make up two goals on him right now. The Preds didn’t, and once Panarin found Kane for a breakaway this one was basically over. And Rinne wasn’t bad for sure, but he’s giving up the goal he can’t right now. Crow isn’t.
Let’s to it:
vs.
FACEOFF: 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN, NBCSN, Sportsnet, WGN 720
WHERE YOU GOIN’, CITY BOY? On The Forecheck
The Hawks hit the home stretch before the All-Star break with a trip down south. It starts in Nashville before doing the Florida swing later in the week. They’ll see a Predators team that last week thought it had solved its biggest problem, and this week may have figured out it has one it can’t do anything about.
