lineups – Page 5 – Faxes from Uncle Dale

Everything Else

Game #37 – Hawks vs. Stars: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 20, 2018 1315 0

Game #37 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #36 – Predators vs. Hawks: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 18, 2018 1019 0

Notes: Arvidsson, Forsberg, and Subban remain out…the Preds have lost six of their last eight road games…Rinne has been a touch iffy the last little bit, giving up 11 goals in his last four outings and getting pulled last night…Smith is on a bit of a heater, with three goals in his last five games…if the Hawks couldn’t handle a fourth line with Ryan Reaves on it, wait until they get a load of this one…

Notes: Well look at this happy horseshit…

Game #36 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #35 – Sharks vs. Hawks: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 16, 2018 1275 0

Notes: We know that looks a little weird, but the Sharks aren’t playing with set lines at the moment. Pavelski will take some shifts at center and some as Thornton’s wing. Meier and Hertl switch all the times. It seems to be they have pairs on the forwards, Pavelski-Kane, Couture-Donskoi, Thornton-Sorensen and then the wingers other than that just rotate…Vlasic and Braun are taking the dungeon shifts so that Burns and Karlsson can run wild, but you’ll see the pairings change a bit too at times…Meier has four goals in his last two games…Couture has six points in his last five…Jones looked to have turned a corner but has given up seven goals in his last three games…

Notes: Again, wouldn’t seem to be much reason to change the lineup with the upturn in play. Dahlstrom certainly doesn’t deserve to come out of the lineup. Gustafsson won’t. Seabrook? That would be ballsy…The third line has been excellent in the two games they’ve gotten, if that continues where would Anisimov fit?…Wouldn’t be on the fourth line, Colliton seems to love it….

Game #35 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #34 – Jets vs. Hawks: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 14, 2018 1309 0

Notes: The Jets have piled up 18 goals in their last seven games, so look out…Byfuglien has five assists in the last two games…Hellebuyck started last night in their win at home against the Oilers so it’ll be Brossoit again for the Hawks and he didn’t look good on Tuesday…the third line produced another two goals last night so they’re cooking, which is all this fucking team needs…

Notes: You’d imagined Colliton would keep as many things the same as possible after the first win in 32 months or whatever…Gustafsson should be healthy so he’s likely to replace Manning or Dahlstrom, but Dahlstrom deserves another chance…Jan Rutta has been punted into the sun, so you won’t see him in a while hopefully…Crawford was stabbing at everything against the Penguins but he fought through it, and generally when he gets rolling it starts with that kind of effort…

Game #34 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #33 – Penguins vs. Hawks: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 12, 2018 1414 0

Notes: The Pens have some injury issues. Patric Hornqvist will miss out tonight and they thought he’d be back by now. Matt Cullen is out with being 109-years-old. Justin Schultz is out long-term. Matt Murray bounces off the injury list just in time for the batting practice that is the Hawks…the Malkin-Kessel combo has been strangely bad this year, and Kessel has spent more time with Crosby this season than ever before, but this was the look they ended the game with against the Isles on Monday…Brassard has been a huge disappointment…and yes, Jack Johnson still sucks.

Notes: Sikura was called up this morning, and there would be no point in anything other than slotting him right in. We’re guessing as the Hawks didn’t skate this morning…every game they start with Strome and Top Cat not playing with Kane, and then get there anyway. So just start there and let’s be done with it…Carl Dahlstrom was called up but he might just be insurance in case Gustafsson is still sick and no one wants to watch Jan Rutta anymore…the pairings might be screwed up anyway because Colliton seems determined to only use Jokiharju as a third-pairing player, so we’ll just list what we think it should be if Gustaffson is healthy…

Game #33 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #32 – Hawks vs. Jets: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 11, 2018 1331 0

Notes: Anisimov didn’t make the trip, which is the reason you’re getting whatever the fuck that Kahun-Kampf-Kane thing is. It’ll be Strome and Top Cat with Kane by the end of the first, you just watch… Ward starts tonight, which means Crow gets the Pens tomorrow…Murphy seemed to flatten out Gustafsson again, as they were the only pairing that Collition kept together for the most part…it’s getting near decision-day on Manning and Rutta, and no one is going to take them off the Hawks’ hands so likely Rutta is headed to Rockford…what was Martinsen doing out there with a minute left on Sunday?

Notes: Perreault is questionable tonight…the second line is one of the few where metrics don’t matter, because Laine will outshoot whatever…we kind of hope Laine ends up with over 40 goals and less than 10 assists and watch HOCKEY MEN lose their mud over it…Sami Niku could replace Kulikov…Connor’s goal against the Flyers on Sunday was his first in the last 10 games…

Game #32 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #31 – Canadiens vs. Hawks: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 9, 2018 1420 0

Notes: Julien has been able to change his ways and this team plays much faster than past iterations. The top-nine here is very quick, which should go well for the Hawks…Weber just returned from injury…if you think Manning is bad, at least the Hawks didn’t sign Karl Alzner…Price has been bad for two straight seasons, which is a worry at $10 million per year…Petry is having something of a renaissance…Domi has three goals in his last 11 and two of those came in the same game…

Notes: The headline is that Connor Murphy returns tonight, for now at the expense of Gustav Forsling, who was informed that he was hurt. The Hawks have been shopping Rutta and Manning to everyone to try and clear up the logjam, and those phone conversations must be comedy of the highest order…Crow was a little better against Vegas, but he gave up at least two goals he can’t and his rebound-control still remains iffy…Collition apparently is going with the “pairs” system in his lines, in that Saad-Toews, Kane-Anisimov, and Top Cat-Strome will always be together and they’ll make up the rest.

Game #31 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #30 – Hawks vs. Knights: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 6, 2018 1339 0

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

Everything Else

Game #29 – Hawks vs. Ducks: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 5, 2018 1374 0

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