Everything Else

Game #41 – Sippin’ Champagne While You’re Drinkin’ the Slag – Hawks 4, Oilers 1

By John Pullega 2485 0

Box Score

Hockey Stats

Natural Stat Trick

This is the outcome you expect when you’re playing a team that has scored nine goals since its last regulation win eight games ago. The Oilers, once again, have managed to be a zoo without cages despite having a generational talent in David McConnor, and the Hawks took two points they needed on a drag-ass Sunday afternoon tilt. To the bullets.

– Let’s begin with the past in front: Nick Schmaltz’s game-opening goal is the sort of thing that should give Hawks fans the same sense of anticipation we all felt in the 08–09 season. His read off Rutta’s point shot was obscene, and he made Kris Russell look like the overrated pile of hockey garbage no one in broadcast wants to admit he is. Even better, Schmaltz gave Ryan Nugent-Hopkins every reason to have the long face he has, using him as a screen en route to an embarrassingly beautiful backhand against Cam “(Used to Be a) Cha-Cha” Talbot.

– On the topic of Jan Rutta, he had himself a nice game after a four-game absence. He carried a 56 CF% (and a precisely even 0.00 CF% Rel) and racked up an assist on Schmaltz’s wizardry. But no matter what, there’s absolutely no justification for slotting Rutta in place of Connor Murphy, who, over the past month, has been the best Hawks D-man by just about every metric. I get that Murphy had a rough go of it against Vegas, but unless Murphy were hurt or had the runs, scratching him is absurd.

Going further, I don’t think that Rutta’s good performance was a coincidence. Before his streak of sitting, he had begun to look sluggish and overpowered after several hockey writers, including yours truly, were champing at the bit to anoint him the savior of the Hawks’s blue line. It’s almost as if Rutta needs some extended time off during the season to recharge. There’s another Hawks D-man who probably needs it too, but it isn’t Murphy.

I know that we probably won’t ever see Seabrook as a healthy scratch because of this bullshit LEADERSHIP narrative that’s served as nothing more than justification for Seabrook’s contract, which the organ-I-zation threw at him like a farm boy throws a wedding ring at the girl who took his virginity. But I think that you’ll get better results letting Rutta slot in for Seabrook over Murphy or Kempný (who had a 59 CF% today). Both Rutta and Seabrook are right-handed shots who have shown signs of exhaustion throughout the season, and what would be a better example of leadership for Bottomless Pete than admitting that you don’t have the energy to play 82 games a year and give other, more physically fit players a slot to play? Fantasies, I know.

– Back in reality, there’s no doubt that Cam Talbot sucks. DeBrincat’s goal had no business ending up in the back of the net, since all Top Cat wanted to do was try to center Sharp. Nonetheless, credit where it’s due, as David Struggle had no trouble shrugging off a checking attempt from EA Sports–generated name Matt Benning behind the goal line to feed Top Cat. Kampf has looked pretty alright in his six games up, and he’s made that third line work somehow, as he, Top Cat, and Sharp had respective CF%s of 57+,61+, and 64+ today. It doesn’t have to make sense for you to take it.

– We got a taste of vintage Toews on the Hawks’s third goal. After Vinnie Hinostroza horsed Darnell Intern, both by skating by him and dropping a beauty of a backhand pass to Toews, Toews did that thing that makes me hope they retire his number with a “C” someday where he overpowers a defender and makes a one-handed pass to a drooling Brandon Saad. While one play does not a season make, it was nice to see Toews see a result for all the strong underlying numbers he’s had this year.

– Saad had a goal and 60 CF% at evens, but the eye test was a bit more mixed. He got pantsed by McDavid in the first and Draisaitl in the third, and he knuckle-pucked a nice pass from Vinnie in a high-danger zone in the third. Not to say that Saad isn’t a brute force, but today looked a little less godlike than I’m used to. I get he was up against the McDavid line, but he looked a bit more janky than normal.

– Gustav Forsling had a 61+ CF% at evens spending almost two-thirds of his time in the offensive zone. IT’S ALMOST AS IF THAT’S WHERE HE BELONGS.

– Aside from the weak Nurse goal, Forsberg looked good today. His rebound control is a much needed salve after watching Good Story Glass Jeff bounce biscuits off his pads for far, far longer than is acceptable for a team looking to vault into a wild card spot. Still, without Crawford, this team is going to run in place.

– I’m glad Eddie O. is healthy enough to do games again, but the way he toed the company line today made me look forward to Konroyd’s opium-den droning in Ottawa on Tuesday. Between blowing kisses at StanBo for signing Bouma and Wingels while the Hawks sit in last place in the division, lauding Seabrook for tapping on Forsberg’s pads after a bad goal, and chiding Kempný for an aggressive pinch in the second period (despite the fact that that’s what Kempný is good at doing), it almost made me miss Konroyd at home. I’m getting awfully tired of this SEABROOK IS A LEADER justification for his shit performance, and Eddie O. is the prime evangelist.

Oh, Jordan Oesterle had an unassisted goal today. To piggyback off this feat, the mantra of the upcoming week of hockey can only be KEEP FIRING, ASSHOLES!

Beer du Jour: Two Hearted

Line of the Night: “I love that play from Brent Seabrook.” –Eddie O. commenting on Brent Seabrook tapping Anton Forsberg’s pads after a soft goal, which is neither a play nor a way to justify Seabrook’s piss-poor performance anymore. It’s 2018, not 2013.

Everything Else

The Thinking (Or Drinking?) Man’s Awards

By Sam Fels 2692 0

I like to do this every so often. I’m not sure it makes total sense, and it certainly would make more sense to do it in a couple weeks when the season is half over. But I’m here now and it’s rattling around in my head so let’s do it and circle back in a month or so.

Some of the NHL awards, or more to the point the criteria that are used to pick the winners, are borked. There’s no other way to put it. MVP… that’s usually easy to figure out as long as you don’t get too mired into what “valuable” means and really just pick player of the year. I suppose this year, at least so far, we could get a real dumb debate about how Kucherov and Stamkos are actually vaulting each other and hence aren’t as valuable as say, John Tavares who’s doing more with less. Fine, whatever. Pick any of the three and I don’t think you’re wrong.

Vezina is usually pretty easy, though can get muddied by win totals much like pitcher-wins used to be the defining characteristic for Cy Young winners in the past (like last year. Fucking Rick Porcello?). Still, with save-percentage and GAA are the best we have, and this year it’s Corey Crawford and if he keeps it up and doesn’t even make the finalist list I’m going to go kick several people in the shins and not explain why to leave them in the same fog of confusion I will be in. By any measure it’s Crow, as he’s got the best GAA among starters, the best save-percentage among starters, and the best difference between his save-percentage and his expected save-percentage, given what the team in front of him is surrendering. Good god, he’s been so good.

It’s the Norris and the Selke that always have the cloudiest parameters. The Selke has basically become “What center do we all know who scores a lot, wins faceoffs, and we’re pretty sure has good metrics but don’t check?” And that answer is always Patrice Bergeron. And you could hand this award to Bergeron from here until he retires, take Nick Lidstrom’s last Norris away because that was just stupid, melt it down, turn it into another Selke, and give that to Bergeron, and you wouldn’t really be wrong. But I think we can do better. Let’s see:

So if we’re looking for best defensive forwards, one place we can start is the best forwards at restricting attempts against so far this year. We won’t use goals, because that’s too dependent on the goalies behind these forwards which is out of their control. So you’re best forwards for corsi-against per 60:

  1. Adam Lowry – WPG
  2. Taylor Leier – PHI
  3. Brandon Tanev – WPG
  4. Mikko Salomaki
  5. Pierre-Luc Dubois – CBJ

I can assure you that none of these players will get a Selke vote. But when they’re out there, their teams surrender the least attempts, which has to account for something.

If we go a bit deeper, we can use xGA/60, to not only use pure attempts but the types of chances against that these forwards are on the ice for.

  1. Lowry
  2. Tanev
  3. Jason Zucker – MN
  4. Oskar Sundqvist – STL
  5. Mikko Koivu – MN

Again, we see Lowry and Tanev at the top of the list, and as they play on the same line together, that makes sense.

But it isn’t so simple, is it? Because you’d want to suss out who are doing really dynamo defensive work and who is just benefitting from playing on a great defensive team. So, you’re relative CA/60 leaders are:

  1. H. Sedin – Van
  2. Tanev
  3. Evgeny Dadonov – FLA
  4. Marcus Kruger – CAR
  5. Lowry

And Relative xGA/60 leaders:

  1. Ondrej Kase – ANA
  2. Lowry
  3. Mitch Marner – TOR (ain’t that some shit?)
  4. Zac Rinaldo – AZ (what?)
  5. Carl Hagelin – PIT

So if anyone actually used these numbers, you’d have a pretty convincing case for Adam Lowry this year, yes? The problem of course is that Lowry is skating third line shifts, with Scheifele and Little taking on the harder competition. Yes, Lowry is kicking aside everything he’s seeing, and that shouldn’t be discounted, and he’s also starting the most shifts of anyone in his own zone. So even though he has to start in his own zone the most, he’s making sure the least happens there. So yeah, right now, if the world made sense, Adam Lowry is your Selke front-runner. Don’t sit on a hot stove waiting for any voter to actually say this, though.

The Norris is a bit harder. Or it’s easier, because you could just hand the thing to Erik Karlsson, along with the three others he should have gotten but didn’t because voters were either MJ’d/LeBron’d out or they’re fucking xenophobes or both. But unlike the Selke, you do have to consider the whole package. Karlsson hasn’t won as many as he should because every so often voters decide merely scoring from the back end isn’t enough, and conveniently forget that Karlsson just pushed everything to the other end of the ice all the time and made life easier for everyone.

If this went how this normally went, John Klingberg or Tyson Barrie would get it because they’re the highest scoring d-men. But again, we know better now. We don’t get to vote, but we know better.

So if we wanted to find the overall best d-man, Corsi-percentage would be a good place to start. Who’s preventing attempts and generating more at the same time? Don’t worry, you’ll like this. Your top five d-men in CF%:

  1. Connor Murphy – CHI (funny, don’t hear Mark Potash complaining about the Hjalmarsson trade at the moment)
  2. Noah Hanifin – CAR
  3. Mark Giordano – CGY
  4. Zach Werenski – CBJ
  5. Dougie Hamilton – CGY

Man, that feels good. But like we did with the forwards, let’s go with xGF% too to see the types of chances that are being surrendered and generated as well:

  1. Brandon Davidson – MTL/EDM
  2. Tim Heed – SJ
  3. Roman Polak – TOR (No, I’m serious)
  4. Jared Spurgeon
  5. Yohann Auvitu – EDM

So this is no help. Aside from Spurgeon, these are four d-men who are skating third pairing minutes and are heavily sheltered. And they play on possession-dominant teams for the most part. So let’s do the relative thing again. First relative Corsi-percentage:

  1. Hampus! Hampus! – ANA
  2. Spurgeon
  3. Josh Manson – ANA (He’s mad… he’s glad…)
  4. Werenski
  5. Giordano

And relative xGF%

  1. Hampus! Hampus!
  2. Spurgeon
  3. Christian Djoos – WSH
  4. Murphy
  5. Drew Doughty – LA

Basically I want to hand the Norris to Murphy because… well, because. And if we’re going strictly but non-points and non-goals, there’s a case. There’s probably a stronger one for Spurgeon or Hampus, and you can throw Giordano and Werenski on the list, but you see what we’re doing here. Both Hampus! Hampus! and Murphy have the best relative corsi-against as well, if we’re going by straight defensive metrics as that’s in the job title. I’ve never thought that was fair, because d-men shouldn’t be punished for contributing offensively, but it’s fun to mention. Murphy also has the best relative xGA/60, and Hampus! Hampus! is 3rd.

Basically, Connor Murphy has been fucking excellent, and if hockey had a Fangraphs-like site that people paid attention to, I would spend all my time making his Norris case and dealing with the laughter. And Hampus! Hampus!’s, because I like saying, “Hampus! Hampus!”

Also, you should be pronouncing “Connor Murphy” just like Chappele’s Rick James said, “Charlie Murphy!” right before he punched him.

 

 

Everything Else

Game #32 – I’m Gonna Hit That Line Like Old Dick Trickle – Hawks 5, Jets 1

By John Pullega 2694 0

Box Score

Hockey Stats

Natural Stat Trick

Like a frozen Reese’s with an Irish coffee, this game was good, especially coming against one of the better teams in the West. To the bullets.

– The Hawks marveled us with the best period of hockey they’ve played since Game #1. First, on Sharp’s steal at the oZ blue line, followed by a perfect pass to a thirsty Hinostroza. The obscenity of Vinnie’s release will make it impossible to analyze, since it shouldn’t be allowed on television again. The second goal was a bit more avant garde, with Bouma fat fingering a pass from behind the goal line, only to recover his turnover and hit Wingels in what Steve Konroyd and Pat Boyle continued to call “a quiet spot on the ice,” which I guess is the new preferred nomenclature for the high slot. Then, to spite the Fels/McClure motherfuck, which is the hockey equivalent of a Lennon/McCartney these days, Schmaltz took a Keith laser by the foreskin and just snipped by an overmatched Hellebuyck. Between three solid goals and devil’s food 66.66 CF%, this looked like the Hawks of old.

– I know the last time you and I talked about a Hawks postgame, I made a comment about Schmaltz needing to take more shots. After the sorcery he conjured on Kane’s goal in the second period, I won’t be upset if he never tries to shoot again. You simply can’t teach that kind of awareness. When he does things that flood the blood into all the fun parts of your body, it makes it hard (GET IT?) to remember that he’s just barely old enough to drink.

– The most fun thing to watch about this game was Connor Murphy’s unbridled confidence. It was his big shot that rebounded off of Hellebuyck and led to the Schmaltz–Kane connection. It was Murphy standing firm at his own blue line several times to break up potential odd-man rushes. It was Murphy moving back to the right side after his unforeseen success on his off side so that Kempný could slot back in. He’s turning into a best-case scenario right in front of our eyes, and it’s a joy to watch.

– And how about that Michal Kempný? He was the only Hawks D-man on the positive side of the possession ledger, though that’s probably a bit misleading, as the Hawks packed it in after the first period, with respective 39+ and 28+ CF%s. But he managed to make Brent Seabrook look good out there, which on its own should warrant more playing time. And that unapologetic slapper to put the Hawks back up four is the kind of thing that makes you tear your hair out when you think about how he’s sat in favor of Franson and an increasingly tired-looking Rutta. Hawks beat writer Mark Lazerus posed a question along the lines of, “For everyone clamoring for Kempný, who do you sit for him?” Sample sizes be damned, you go ahead and let Rutta and Franson heal up for as long as Kempný stays noticeable.

– I made fun of him a whole bunch at the beginning of the year, but if Jordan Oesterle wants to keep playing relatively well, I’m fine being wrong. I still think Murphy belongs with Keith, but I get not wanting to futz with what works. I don’t see Oesterle as a long-term answer to any question, but he was fine tonight. You’ll take that from him.

– It’s probably getting old, but I’m trying to make up for all the undue shit Crawford has gotten over his career: Corey did just about everything right tonight. He kept the Jets from getting back into it in the third with two huge saves in high-danger zones. I’m not even sure you can blame the one goal on him, though I suppose you want anything on the short side stuffed. Still, with Seabrook inadvertently screening the shot and being on the PK, it’s a bit more forgivable.

– If you want to be a stickler, you could easily say that Forsling didn’t look great in his own zone (a revelation, I know). He got beaten on iced pucks twice in the first, once by Perreault and then again by Tanev. Perreault blew by him again at the beginning of the second, and then he had a horrifically putrid dZ turnover late in the third in a high-danger zone. But this isn’t anything new. It was just especially noticeable tonight with everything else clicking so well.

– While the power play didn’t score (against one of the worst PKs out there), they weren’t a complete flaming bag of dog shit either. The last two PPs had sustained pressure but nothing to show for it. I guess you take that as a positive.

Eight points in four games is a streak. A win against Minnesota on Sunday goes a long way in the slog toward a wild card spot. If Kempný isn’t in the lineup, I’ll scream.

Forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, Twirling, TWIRLING toward freedom.

Beer du Jour: Tommyknocker Blood Orange IPA

Line of the Night: “He would purposely hold on to [the puck] to let the boos go. He looked like a WWE villain.” –Foley on Kane getting booed by Jets fans years ago.

Everything Else

Game #31 I Can’t Promise I’ll Try, But I’ll Try to Try – Hawks 2, Panthers 2 (Hawks Win Karaoke Contest)

By Rose Rankin 2932 0

Box Score

Corsica

Natural Stat Trick

They needed two points tonight, and it certainly didn’t come easy but hey, it came. To the bullets:

– Through two periods the Panthers were beating the Hawks in nearly every measurement — shots, scoring chances, CF%, high-danger chances, faceoff percentage, you name it — except, of course, for the one that counts. Despite looking like gerbils on meth, the Hawks managed to only give up one goal in the second, largely thanks to…c’mon, you know who it’ll be…Corey Crawford. Up until the third, one dominant shift by the top line had been enough to at least keep it tied, until Keith got caught up with ‘ole Wide Dick’s package, and Trocheck and McGinn were able to get by them and score. It was certainly frustrating, but given how the Hawks had been playing, it wasn’t exactly surprising.

– But then, the top line! In the first period, they had said dominant shift that gave the Hawks the lead (and probably contributed to the coasting for a while), but let’s look at that: Top Cat was working behind the net, and all three of them were digging pucks out of the boards and keeping continual pressure, until Saad was able to bury a quick shot from the top of the crease. It was exactly the type of shift they need to have consistently — and until mid-way through the third it looked like that one shift might have been the only one they had in them. Their possession numbers were better than decent all night, but no other finish. Fortunately they pulled their shit together when it was needed and Toews tied the game in the third.

– Jan Rutta got his head dented in during the second period and left the game. I’m not happy about this, and I will not celebrate someone’s injury, even if he has been kinda sucking lately. What’s more interesting is 1. Will this finally lead Q to #FreeKempny? Will he be forced to? One would think so, and 2. How will any resulting reshuffle affect the defense? Franson skated in practice today, so it’s possible that Q hates Kempny so much that he’ll put an injured and aging bag of crap in instead of him. Barring that, would Kempny pair with Forsling? Or would Murphy move up to be paired with Keith and Oesterle moves elsewhere? Stay tuned.

– Speaking of  Connor Murphy, he basically saved a goal with a smooth sweep of the puck out of the net before the refs saw him do it. It takes a village.

The Hawks needed to take all six points available in these last three games, and they pulled it out of their ass. This is their first three-game win streak this year, which is good news and yet sad that it took this long, right? Next up is Winnipeg, which stumbled a little recently but beat the crap out of Vancouver last night, so they may have their mojo back. I don’t know if I’d count on any momentum, but maybe some faith that they can polish a turd when necessary? Onward and upward.

Line of the Night: “This Blackhawks power play has been a buzzkill for the last couple games.” —Pat Foley, in the world’s greatest understatement

Beer de jour: Fistmas by Revolution, because holiday-themed beers are only acceptable in the month of December

 

Everything Else

Atop the Sugar Pile – December 11th

By Rose Rankin 1790 0

Since our last installment of Sugar Pile, the Hawks went on a bus ride from hell and the outcome was, well, let’s just say they kinda got kicked in the dick. Crawford in particular actually did sustain a groin injury and then had to rush his return, thanks to a combination of shitty defense, Forsberg’s bad luck, and Q acting like a skittish horse that bolts for safety at the first sign of trouble. Benchings, a call-up from the AHL, really these last couple weeks have had it all. So how does it all look from this vantage point?

The Dizzying Highs

Alex DeBrincat: Against all odds, Top Cat has muscled his way not only onto the Hawks roster as opposed to the Ice Hogs, but also into the top six where he undoubtedly belongs, regardless of Q’s predilections. DeBrincat has eight points in his last seven games, including the popping of his hat trick cherry against the Ducks a couple weeks ago. With a total of 21 points, he’s our second-leading scorer right now, behind only Garbage Dick. And that means (in case you forgot) that he’s leading Toews and Saad in scoring. I’d also like to point out that his last goal even came on the power play, which has been a damn near impossible feat for any of the Hawks (but more about that in a minute).

Up until last week, DeBrincat was on a line with Sharp and Hartman and he still made a difference despite their inability to keep up with him, and in his 4-point hat trick game he took advantage of changes to score with better players than his linemates. All that meant that when Q hit the blender he was eventually forced to land on a Saad-Toews-DeBrincat top line. Now, one would expect that his 22.6 shooting percentage is going to plateau a bit in the near future, but up to this point he’s earned every one of these opportunities, despite the moronic, barely controlled tendencies of his coach.

The Terrifying Lows

The Power Play: I won’t dwell here for long because you know how bad the power play is. But still, I’d be remiss if I left it out because there is no low more terrifying right now than the Hawks on the man advantage. Their power play percentage is 15.83, which puts them at a dismal 29th in the league. What’s worse is that they’ve had 120 pp opportunities, still leading the league here and yet still managing to be so terrible. They’ve had 19 pp goals thus far (remember, that’s out of 5,824 chances), and there’s little evidence to suggest it’ll get better soon. Their zone entries fail constantly, their personnel is ever-changing, and guys are on their wrong side (or, in the case of Kane on the point, just in the wrong role all together). It really is quite the remarkable dumpster fire right now.

The Creamy Middles

Connor Murphy: Murphy is slowly becoming the defenseman we need him to be, and who we thought he could be when we made the Hjalmarsson switcheroo. Seeing as the latter isn’t even playing right now due to injury, we’re definitely on the better end of things. But it was a rocky start, and Q still hasn’t brought Murphy into the circle of trust. But he’s adjusted well on his wrong side (is it really “wrong” if he’s playing well? Whatever), and his puck movement has improved as of late. He’s still taking mostly offensive zone starts (53.5 oZS%), but his CF% is a healthy 57.4. Let’s keep this going.

Everything Else

Game #30 – Coyotes vs. Hawks Preview, Homebrew Sampling – Candy Cigarettes & Cap Guns

By Sam Fels 1941 0

 vs 

Game Time: 6:00
TV/Radio: WGN Ch. 9, WGN-AM 720
I Really Wish Joe Arpaio Would Have Been Brutally Murdered In Prison: Five For Howling

It’s once again time for another tearful montage as a returning Hawks player appears in the United Center in an opposing uniform for the first time, one of the underrated aspects of how this championship window has played out, somehow being actually heartwarming, nauseating, sad, and hilarious all at the same time. Tonight would  have been that for the injured Niklas Hjalmarsson,  and this is the thanks he would have received for the absolute pounding he took while wearing red on West Madison for years, as he returns with the dog-ass (GET IT?) Coyotes.

Everything Else

Game #28 – Hawks 2 – Capitals 6: Love Isn’t Always On Time

By Sam Fels 3231 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Corsica

This is going to sound strange. But strange is what we deal in around these parts. The Hawks really weren’t that bad tonight. In fact, for the first two periods, they were pretty good. It’s just that whenever something can go wrong for the Hawks right now, it’s going to horribly. When you have to lean on you backup goalie for three straight games, he’s probably going to let in a softie. So there’s the Caps’ second goal, which changed the outlook of the game. Still, you’d like to see a team like this respond a little better than giving up another one 29 seconds later, but we’ll get to that. Toss in a power play that can’t hit a bull in the ass with a snow-shovel right now, some players that are being asked to do the wrong things, and you get what looks like an ugly loss. The time for consolation is running out quickly. Hockey remains weird, and because of that there’s no guarantee that things will bend back the way that the Hawks play really suggests it should.

-While the second Caps’ goal–The Fels Motherfuck is on a real streak this season–appeared to be the game-changer, really it was the power play in the 2nd period when it was still a 3-1 game. Actually it was two of them. And the Hawks power play didn’t do anything. Like it’s been doing, or not doing I s’pose, all season.

What’s most frustrating is it’s obvious to everyone, and it must be obvious to the players, that the coaches have no idea where to go. Every power play the Hawks try something different. First we had Kane on a point, though moving down to the right half-boards with Saad on the left. But what good does having Saad on the left do? He’s a left-handed shot. The next power play saw Kane on the other side with Schmaltz where he was. A third power play saw the Hawks move two guys below the net.

We see this every game. The Hawks have new personnel or a new look or both on every chance. It doesn’t suggest that they’ve got a lot of plans. It suggests they don’t have any plans, and that translates to the players. If the coaches have no confidence in what they’re putting out there, why would they? And it’s costing them points, because for the most part at evens, the Hawks are where they need to be. Yes, I know, but it’s true.

-The new lines were… well, the new lines. It’s hard to get a read after one game. Toews’s line looked exactly like we thought, didn’t have a role. Schmaltz made some things happen with Top Cat, but they also could get overpowered down low in both zones.

-The problems are still on defense. All of Forsling, Rutta, and Franson got exposed in ways that the coaches simply refuse to see. Rutta and Forsling cannot handle anything but lower competition, but found themselves out against Backstrom’s line a lot of the night. And the Hawks seemed happy to have it that way. And ti’s not the first time we’ve seen that, because Tyler Seguin’s line spent two games making them look like Glass Joe. The Hawks best d-man right now is Connor Murphy, and it’s about time the Hawks start treating him like that.

For the Caps third goal, which made this hill really steep, came from Franson’s inability to recognize danger and his Snuffleupagus-like feet. Keith had pinched down the boards and no forward had covered for him. But Franson has to recognize that, instead he was sinking down into the offensive zone. So when the go-route was thrown for Wilson, he’s never going to catch that. He needs to be a free safety there. He was also slow getting back into position for the Caps’ 5th, trailing Kuznetsov.

You simply can’t keep asking Franson to take anything more than third pairing assignments, if that. The Hawks haven’t discovered gold here where no one else could see it. Three teams have decided that Franson is no better than a #7. There’s a reason for that. Stop thinking you’re geniuses. You’re not.

-While the Hawks certainly controlled the possession game for the first 40, most of it was pretty much restricted to the outside. This is where the annoying “Annette Frontpresence” discussion always rears it’s ugly head. I don’t know that the Hawks lack guys who can get to the net. Panik can’t buy one right now. Anisimov is Anisimov. Bouma and Wingels are what they are. You would think Saad would be another, but he isn’t really, is he? Most of Saad’s goals seem to come on the rush or elsewhere. He doesn’t score as many tips and rebounds as you feel like he should. And this was the problem the Hawks had with him the first time.

It’s an ugly scoreline for sure. And the 3rd period wasn’t pretty. There are serious problems here, but a good portion of it is the Hawks own making. Things have to turn sharpish, but it’s there. At least I think it is.

 

 

Everything Else

Game #27 – Kings vs. Hawks Preview, Veterinary Appointment – Let Me Ride

By Matt McClure 2037 0

 vs 

Game Time: 6:00PM CST
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-AM 720
He Could Really Make It If He Just Got His Shit Together: The Royal Half, JFTC

As the Freakout Hell Bus Ride of 5 games in 7 nights comes to a close on West Madison tonight, the Hawks are looking to avoid losing their fourth straight game after having gone 1-1-2 so far, with the resurgent Kings now waiting for them as the capper.