Andersen, Ducks Win Game 1
The Blackhawks did a nice job of controlling the puck, but the Anaheim Ducks were able to make their shots matter and took an early lead in the Western Conference Final with a 4-1 win on Sunday afternoon.
Chicago dominated much of the first period, out-shooting Anaheim 16-7 but looked up to see a 1-0 deficit after the opening 20 minutes. David Rundblad coughed up the puck and was then cross-checked right in front of Corey Crawford as a Hampus Lindholm shot made its way past the Hawks’ netminder for the only first period goal. Even with the score not in their favor, there was a lot to like about the Hawks play in the first.
At 4:17 into the second period, Rundblad was not able to clear the puck and the Ducks took advantage. Kyle Palmieri scored his first of the postseason, beating Crawford as he was falling to extend the lead to 2-0 in favor of the home team. The Hawks once again carried a great deal of the puck possession in the second, but weren’t able to get a shot past Frederik Andersen.
Until Brad Richards made an outstanding individual play.
Richards took the puck away from Francois Beauchemin and beat Andersen with 40 seconds left in the middle stanza to give the Blackhawks a goal on the scoreboard and some momentum heading to the third period.
Also in the second period, the Joel Quenneville Line Blender went into overdrive. He mixed up his left wings, moving Bryan Bickell up to skate with Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews and skating Patrick Sharp with Richards and Patrick Kane. Brandon Saad saw action with Antoine Vermette and Teuvo Teravainen.
Chicago had two power plays in the opening eight minutes of the third but failed to convert on either; the Hawks finished the game 0-3 with an “advantage.”
Quenneville continued to mess with his lines, including a few shifts that had Teravainen with Toews and Kane, but the Hawks weren’t able to beat Andersen again in the game.
In the late stages of the third, Duncan Keith had a puck bounce over his stick and the Ducks were off to the races. Crawford was able to make the initial stop, and Brent Seabrook took care of the initial trailer on the play but Nate Thompson followed the play and was able to deposit the rebound to extend the lead to 3-1.
An empty net goal from Jakob Silfverberg put the final tally on the board. The initial attempt hit iron, but Silfverberg and Toews got mixed up and went to the ice and the puck appeared to bounce off the two (three?) bodies and found the empty cage.
Crawford finished the afternoon making 23 saves against 26 shots in the loss. Andersen was strong the entire afternoon, stopping 32 of 33 to earn the victory.
With Michal Rozsival out of the lineup, the Hawks needed more from their bottom two defensemen and it just wasn’t there. Rundblad was on the ice for the Ducks first two goals, and finished the game with three hits in 10:47. Kimmo Timonen was once again stapled to the bench, skating only 11 shifts and 5:15 in the defeat.
Keith skated a team-high 28:25 and, though the game’s opening faceoff had him paired with Seabrook, spent too many shifts baby-sitting Rundblad. The reigning Norris Trophy winner was minus-three on the afternoon. Seabrook skated 26:57 in the game and was credited with three hits and team-leading three blocked shots.
Bickell led the Hawks with seven hits but failed to register a shot on goal. Bickell, Rundblad and Timonen were the only three Blackhawks skaters to not get a shot on net in the game.
Richards was ultimately the one player who had a “good” game statistically for the Hawks, winning 10 of 17 faceoffs registering three shots on net with one takeaway. Saad led the Hawks with four shots on net, while five other Hawks joined Richards with three credited shots on Andersen.
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews only had one shot get on net each in the game, a credit to Anaheim’s defensive approach. The Ducks did a good job of blocking shots as four Anaheim defensemen were credited with three blocks each. Ryan Kesler won 15 of 28 faceoffs while Toews won only 13 of 27; those two will see a lot of each other in games played in California in this series.
Game Two is Tuesday night in Anaheim.
Great job by Bowman to shore up the defense. already had an aging Rosival and brings in Timmo who cant play more than five minutes a game . if the blackhawks lose this series its because Stanley went into the playoffs with the defense being an after thought. Maybe antoine can play a little on the blue line . I hope the Hawks can outscore the Ducks because they will have to. Did you see Nick gasping on the bench. Q had to call a timeout because Nick just went to the bench exhausted . you cant blame Rundblad they knew he was a defensive liability B
Carried most of the play but still lost. Andersen was outstanding and if he plays like that throughout the series the Hawks are in trouble. But, it’s only one game and on the road so I’m keeping a positive attitude that the Hawks will continue to play well and solve Andersen the way they did Rinne and Dubnyk.
Would have been nice for the Refs to call that crosscheck on the opening goal, but it’s not surprising that the worst professional league officiating lives down to their reputation. I expect nothing more. The Hawks have overcome playoff officiating before and they can again.
The pseudo “good news” is that the Hogs are 8 minutes from being eliminated and we can only hope Stan is reserving a seat on the next Chicago to LA flight for a certain Icehog d-man … and if not then I ask the hockey gods to permanently etch those two Rundblad plays upon the brain of Stan.
Yes, the deficiency in the D is going to be quite a problem going forward. Timmo is a bust. Hammer had nothing left in the tank. They couldn’t get him off due to 2 icing calls and Q had to use the time out in order to let him catch his breath. That is quite a situation. So now what? This weakness will be exploited. Outside of that I thought we did pretty good although we should have had momentum in spades going into the third but instead were outplayed…probably due to the relentless forecheck and body of the Ducks and plugging up the neutral zone. We can respond to this and will, with the exception of D problem. Cumiskey is left hand shot and can take Timmo’s place but what do we do with Rundblad? Nice game by Crawford and Richards. Keep the faith.
Rockford bowed out today, they were down 5-1 in the 3rd period, mounted a comeback late to get it to 5-3 and that’s how it ended,
Stephen Johns fell awkwardly face first into the boards in the 2nd period; he left for the locker room, returned a few minutes later but did not come out for the 3rd. Maybe they’ve recalled him, maybe he’s hurt, who knows.
The Ross-Danault-McNeill line was broken up for this game, they skated a shift or two together late in the 1st period but then were broken up again. Johns, when he played, had a rough game much like his rough game the other night. He got caught pinching in which resulted in glaring odd man breaks the other way. He was trying to do too much himself – inexperience showing (but hey let’s call him up, he’ll be the answer!).
Tanner Kero scored in the game. Matt Carey was a healthy scratch (say bye bye to him I would guess) as was Wall’s buddy Rasmussen who had a brutal game a few nights ago. Say bye bye to him too. Leighton was yanked after giving up the 2nd goal and Mac Carruth put in, he promptly game up a softie right between the wickets.
So the Ice Hogs season is done. A good run for a very young team with limited depth on defense after trading away 3 of their top d-men earlier. Dent’s contract is up I believe (not certain) so it’ll be interesting what they do there.
Very small crowd of about 1,500 today. I think it’s because the playoff tickets have to be purchased seperately – not sure.
Blackhawks lost a lot of battles against the boards. They had some puck possession, but they should have had more. Yeah, they had some opportunities the first period. But all in all, it seemed to me they were getting pushed around. Anaheim was always first to the loose puck. Power play was awful. They are going to have to be flat out tougher from here on. Not fighting or hitting tough. Scrappy and hard-nosed tough. Anaheim has set the tone. Rundblad wasn’t so hot, that’s for sure, but other folks are going to have to step it up. Statistically Crawford looked okay, but he’s going to have to play a lot better than he did today to keep the Blackhawks in this series. Anaheim’s going to have a LOT of confidence going in to game 2, and the Blackhawks are going to have to ramp it up to put a dent in that. GO BLACKHAWKS!!!
Sorry to hear about the Ice Hogs going down…I know many were hopeful for a deeper run. So who do we have left as Black Aces…Nordstrom, Carcillo, Cumiskey, …from the sound of Hof’s report it does not seem Johns is the magic we need..
Report from Rockford now that Stephen Johns was injured on that nasty spill in the 2nd period and it was determined he could not play the 3rd period.
Not sure what this means for a potential call up, if this is a day to day thing or what.
It’s an absolute shame that the Hawks lost but you could see this coming a mile away after the first goal. Bad bounce off Rundblad’s feet at the blue line, costly first goal.
But then he had the puck on his forehand with plenty of time on the second one and just fluttered 5 feet end over end to ultimately nobody, and the Ducks grabbed it and scored. The hawks just cannot overcome 2 bad plays that result in Goals directly attributable to Rundblad. Almost just as maddening, on the offensive side, he had a couple of chances to wire it from the point and merely gave it to the nearest teammate.
There is no way Cumiskey could be any worse.
I hope Q, Kitchen and Dineen look at the tape realize that just a handful more gaffes like that, by the same guy, and the Stanley Cup dreams are over.
At the game, on top of the Ducks goal 1st & 3rd, I saw 5 pucks glide through the Ducks’ crease. It would have been nice to have someone in the crease for 1 or 2 of those. Some cool things you may not have been able to see on TV were Hoss trucking whoever tried to light him up in the first, and Kruger pissed off with a linemate, I think 11, for soft play. Hate to see your team lose a winnable game in the playoffs, but that is what happened today. 5 is overmatched and chooses taking the puck over his man, stood tall like a scarecrow on the ice, was about as effective as one in his weak moments. The criticism of Bowman is apt at this point, if the Hawks can’t cover up any mistakes by the front office and their 5th D man they’re going to lose to this team.
Was at the game and the Ducks fans were acting like they won the Stanley Cup. We will respond our stars will shine. This game to me didn’t seem as physical as last year’s LA series. We have to win 4 before they win 3 and I like our chances. Go Hawks.
We all know going beyond Four Core defensemen has been a challenge ALL YEAR this is not new news. Rundblad played horrible he wasn’t closing out physically and his “stick” skills are not equal to the core four. So he must get physical and he often hesitates and it cost the Hawks. He can only be paired with Keith, maybe Seabrook anyone else like Oh-do-ya is a mistake they cant cover his mistakes and he is young and he will make mistakes. I hope he stays and gets better and begins to get more physical. We have no one else really that is any better.
Richards continues to impress and Toews has to win the “dot drop” or we’re in trouble. Not sure Vita-Mix of the lines was a good idea but it does show Ducks that it really don’t matter we have 4 good lines, THAT 4th LINE AGIAN IS OUT PLAYING EVERYONE ELSE! Good for them bad for the top 2 lines.
Crow did well to play the pcuk behind the net today, normally a train wreck but his ability to slow the puck down and disrupt the Ducks Timing is why such good puck possession over all.
Hawks will win this series . . . Ducks will give up goals and the Hawks just need to continue to push as they are, good speed to the puck really all day! Ducks will make you pay for mistakes as all good teams do.
No worries, Hawks will get the next one, Ducks did not show a lot today. IMO
I refuse to believe a few things after 60 mins of hockey. 1St i cant see anderson playing this well throughout the series. I also cant imagine Bruce out coaching Q throughout. Our stars were quiet i cant imagine that continuing. The results were difficult but the on ice play was good for the Hawks. Im sure the boys will have a better game on tuesday.
The power play was obviously again an issue just like going beyond our core four defensemen. We must get better on the PP or the Ducks will FLATTEN US, knowing that they start taking a few cheap shots and not worry about Hawks scoring with the extra man?
KRUGER is a stud and that 4th line even with Dezi not playing great really gave the DUCKS Fits . . . Marcus is amazing what heart . . . and that 4th line deserves a lot of praise.
Ducks D blocked a lot of shots today . . . Hawks not so much,
go hawks
Jones and Milbury wondered why Q doesn’t give Timonen more minutes. Jones then said how Kimmo had a great career. HAD. The poor guy was in the hospital not too long ago with blood clots.
More on Stephen Johns from Chris Block, he left the arena with a soft cast on his lower left arm. Unavailable to chat with the media.
Runbad- will cost the Hawks a shot at the cup???
I hope we are seeing Pokka- Dots in Chicago… cuz Runbad- sucks monkey balls-
and most people see this… why can’t SB???
^ Now we’re back to Pokka
Stan knew going into this season that we only had 4 dependable proven d-men. Our vaunted farm system produced nothing. To make matters worse he makes a horrendous trade for Timonen. If Q has so little confidence in 44( which I don’t blame him) why is he playing? Cumiskey has got to be better than 44. Runblad had a tough start but got better as the game went on. To blame this loss only on Runblad is laughable. Kane and Vermette had subpar games. Toews was neutralized. When will Bickel earn his 4 mil? The Ducks had 4 grade a scoring chances and Cashed in on 3 of them. Crawford was mediocre. As a result of 44’s limited minutes our core d- men were out of gas at the end of the game. Kudos to 91, 16, 10 and 65 who came to play. The core d gave it their best. I expect a bounce back game Tuesday. It is a must game.
Well it was a long shot to think Q-Stan would play Johns anyway and now that he’s hurt we can put that thought to rest.
The little we saw Cumiskey with the Hawks this year leads me to believe he would get forechecked into a body cast within a game or two. I figured Rundblad isn’t good but at least he has more body mass to withstand the pounding of the behemoth Ducks. But after seeing Rundblad today, I’ve changed my mind. I mean, what difference is there if it’s a little guy coughing up the puck or a medium sized guy coughing up the puck. At least Cumiskey has a chance to out-quick the forecheckers which could be better than the deer in the headlights, AKA Rundblad.
Kinda like choosing which method of execution you prefer them to do to you.
Oh well, only one game. All is not lost.
Brothers. Lets get game 2. Stick to them sont ta bitch’s.
The Ducks didn’t show much today. This was not an intimidating victory by any stretch of the imagination. They got some puck luck and we didn’t. We played great in the first, good in the second, and okay in the third. We have our d-problems and there’s no way around it, our top four will be tested and must step up, and Q has to coach the best series of his life cause that’s what it’s gonna take to overcome the disadvantage. But I say we need to come out the same way in game two. We were inches away from a 2 goal lead of our own, so I don ‘t share any of the doom and gloom. It almost seemed like we were winning, even when we were down two goals. Call me fucking crazy, but I liked the effort and know we can break through on this team.
Hof, thanks for keeping it real for Johns. (as of now)
Wall/Hof, guys we are in between yr (n0t 10 days between NHL history between game/round). I am moar pissed about the League being a F*** disgrace then anyone else, and Tab knows by my language/Hockey fashion shows.
You guys.
The good news? The Hawks came out strong in the first period, after a LONG layoff, they were on the road on the west coast and it was a day game. There was a LOT to like about the first period and if the Hawks continue to play that way it will be a long, entertaining series.
Now the bad news, as I said at the beginning of the first two series, in the playoffs you need to start by winning the goaltending battle and be strong down the middle. We lost the goaltending battle badly and ANA showed that they are as strong as we are down the middle of the ice. So while this series is far from over, it is going to take everything that Hawks have to win the next 4 out of 6 against a very big and deep ANA team!
The game could have been a different affair had the Hawks scored on ANA in the first (as they should have), but they didn’t and then Crawford gave up a BRUTAL goal. Runbad caved at the line to give ANA possession and yes was crosschecked in front of the Hawk’s goal, but Crawford was beat with a weak shot from the point on the short side because he was ON HIS KNEES, again! This goal was THE killer in the game as it shouldn’t have gone in and had the effect of taking away our drive and giving ANA hope. This is what caused so many problems for CC in the NAS series, he spent most of those games with partial vision and quickly dropped to his knees giving up weak goals. The same with ANA’s 2nd goal, CC held the post and without traffic fell backwards into the net (because he was down again) and allowed the puck to go where he fell back from. At this level of hockey, against a very hot goalie at the other end, Crawford simply cannot give up goals like this. You can blame Runbad (who simply will NEVER make a regular NHL DMan) and Timmonen all you want, but they were barely on the ice. The fact is, Crawford did not “man the fort” when he needed to, and the Hawks fell behind.
What will the Hawks do in game 2 on the road without the last line change??? Play Runbad and Timmonen EVEN LESS! This series is going to be tough for the Hawks because in the remaining 6 games, all ANA has to really do, is play a conservative dump and chase game and wear down the Hawks top 4 DMen (and Keith and Oduya don’t like to be hit). And if we continue to lose the goaltending battle, then this will be over before it started.
If the Hawks can come out fast and hard again in game two, and go more to the net, giving Andersen a lot more to think about, then it could be different, but if we fall behind again, watch out, because ANA knows the recipe to keep the Hawks in their own end.
Finally, to all those that were “poo-pooing” the notion about the Hawks signing FA Ryan Kesler two seasons ago, you were served a healthy dose of humble pie today. Kesler outplayed Toews significantly, and was very strong at the dot to lead the Ducks. If the Hawks have any chance at coming back in the series then their stars have to be the best players on the ice, and that includes a goaltender that is being paid $6 million dollars a season! It’s not time to panic just yet, but ANA won in a way that should concern all Hawk fans.
Tony, excellent post. We only need 1 on the road boys. Despite the loss, Nashville and Wild both played the Hawks tougher than the Ducks played them today.
Rundblad does suck. On this board we were discussing/debating the 3rd d pairing issues last October. No excuses for being in this position right now.
Sorry to hear about Johns. The guy is snake bitten with injuries. Put him in a bubble until October.
I thought the Hawks looked good for the first two periods and were unlucky. Nevertheless we have a 40 year old playing 5 minutes and another in his first game and he looked way out of place-so you have 4 d-men playing big minutes against a heavy, confident team.
I still have hope, they are resilient–but one of two things should have happened-getting a younger, puck moving defenseman at the deadline like a Petry-Oh yah and he’s 6 ‘3 or getting one of the Hog players more time in the regular season.
As for the comments about Stephen Johns, I think that awkward collision into the glass will make everything a moot point, but to the person that said Johns “struggled” over the last two games, that just isn’t correct at all. You can’t look at a boxscore and think you understand the game. Johns was aggressive on the ice the last 2 games as he was trying to give the Hogs a much needed spark in a series where due to GOALTENDING they were behind and without momentum. Johns played incredibly well these playoffs, he was the Hogs very best player, even better than Danault and Ross who both excelled. He was a leader, he was physical and yet kept his composure for the most part, and he was the one giving the Hogs a spark in each game. He didn’t “look like a rookie” at all during the series and made very few mistakes. I think had Johns not been injured, he should have been called up and perhaps given a shot as the 6th DMan, he absolutely, positively would not have been any worse than Runbad or Timonen!
If the Hawks don’t make it to the finals, Bowman needs to be called out on his unnecessary decision to swing for the fences with the Timonen trade. All the Hawks really needed was a solid, non-flashy DMan capable of playing 15-18 consistent minutes a night. There were at least 6 DMen that fit the description available at the deadline! To my mind that suggests that Bowman and Q had little confidence in both Roscival and Runbad.
Uh oh,
V E R N.
Last batch of postings starting with Ebony…laughed so hard ..wife looked at me like I was nuts. Great stuff!
I would be worried if the Hawks sucked (or were even outplayed). It was just the first game.
It’s easy to blame Rundblad – he did make two mistakes that lead directly to goals, but I also blame Quenneville for not playing him more during the regular season – especially the last month. It’s not like Rozsival was playing at a high level during that time (and yes, he did raise it during the second round).
I believe that, unfortunately, no matter WHO it is, somebody other than the Top Four must play the 17-18 minutes Rozsival was getting, or fatigue will (again) become a significant negative factor.
Like some of you said, it’s just one game. Hawks were realistically looking to take 1 in Anaheim. They had a strong game for the most. Hawks seemed to dominate at the dot (by the eye test, not the stats). 16, 65, 10 looked good. While it is understandable Kane was slowed down for the first time, Saad and Bickell were even more invisible. It’s so frustrating to see Toews throw the puck in the crease and no ones at the doorstep.
I believe I mentioned this before, Rundblad played his worst games against the Ducks (and the Jets). Too many turnovers and plays shying away for the hits. I really don’t see anyone else filling in for him – especially if Johns is hurt. My solution would be for him to take most of Keith’s minutes on the powerplay. It’s not like they’re lighting it up out there. This would limit his ice time and utilize 5’s strengths: strong puck movement and heavy shot from the point.
(FWIW Versteeg played some of his best hockey against ANA but I doubt we see him. Who’d you take out? Desjardins? Teuvo appears a lock in the lineup. Vermette is invaluable at the dot.)
Let’s go Hawks!
B&B, (or is it your son posting on your account again?)
Seeing as I saw both the Hogs games, you might want to re-examine your clueless comment about evaluating players via the box score. Then again, that’s your strong point, so I should have expected it.
If you’d seen the games, which perhaps you didn’t, you’d realize Johns was playing out of control. Can’t do that in the playoffs. Then again maybe you wouldn’t realize it. I don’t know.
Many were calling for Johns to be called up, I simply noted my observations about his struggles (yes, struggles) in playing a team game the last two outings, sorry that bothers you because you’re frustrated and you wanted him called up. Then, I noted he got hurt and left the rink in a soft cast last night. So, it appears it’s a moot point anyway, at least for the time being unless he’s a quick healer,
He may be trying to be a leader, but pinching in multiple times and causing odd man rushes the other way isn’t the way to do it. Playing a team game is.
Okay boys…….let’s back off the ledge a bit and understand that after a 9 day layoff we fought it in our own zone, slightly. Although we made some good plays and outskated the Ducks, Crow looked “out of sync” and our defensive zone coverage looked a bit loose.
This team has a way of assessing it’s problem areas and making sure that they improve for the next game. The Ducks should feel lucky since they got outskated and out played for most of the game. Rundblad will be better and the Hawks as a team will be more aware of when to chip the puck into their zone and chase it down.
Remember, the Ducks are SUPPOSED to win the first TWO at their home rink. This series doesn’t really start until the third game.
I can’t fault the effort especially the 1st 2 periods. The guys seemed a little tired in the 3rd, but that game was much closer than the score indicated. A loss though is a loss meaning the game tomorrow is quite important for the Hawks to bounce back and even the series.
Hawks mistakes went into their own net, while on the other end no lucks with bounces and lack of net presence made Andersen’s job easy. Pity Kane could not score in the 1st when he had Andersen down and out. I liked the Hawks lines much better out of the gate and not so much with the mix and matches Q threw out there as the game progressed. Ducks 4th line was very good as they were very tenacious and were rewarded for working hard. Maybe Desi is still getting over recent sickness? Otherwise Hawks 4th line was good as well yesterday. Top 2 lines each team canceled each other out.
To my eyes the ice looked really bad yesterday. Rolling bouncing pucks every shift. This might have helped the Ducks. Refs were bad, but they gave Hawks enough chances on PP to make Ducks pay and it didn’t happen. Key non calls I though very much helped Ducks yesterday.
Anyone see the stat sheet after first? How could the giveaway takeaways be equal? Ducks gave the puck away at will in the 1st and stats even? BS, not that it matters. NBC crew on tv was terrible yesterday. I synced radio up in the 3rd to WGN. Albert is just brutal to listen to. Anyone else chuckle to hear Albert and crew talk up Stoner like he was some sort of super star?
Rundblad played the way he did all year. He is a known defensive liability. Timonen minutes wil stay low. Guy can’t skate. I don’t care how good the guy USED to be. Jones Milbury are buffoons to suggest 44 still has tools to succeed in NHL. Meanwhile, top 4 d men are going to play a lot of hockey. Sorry to hear about Johns. I thought he should have been playing and not Rundblad.
Loved Duncan Keith interview post game. Defiant!
Hawks can and should beat these guys, but this will be a long difficult series
Lets Go Hawks!
Meh. If the next game goes like this I’d expect the Hawks to take it. Win tomorrow and right back on track.
Hammer only skated 20 minutes which seems kind of light to me.
Moving forward now.
re: the revisited hard-on some have here for Ryan Kesler – there are players in the Hawks dressing room – significant ones – who HATE Ryan Kesler. They LOATHE him. And do NOT want him here. Whether or not he has a nice night at the dot against Toews or not, he was never coming here because the team doesn’t want anything to do w/ him. So put that to bed.
if Johns is/was the answer his ass should have been in Nashville/Minny/Cali instead of off trying to win some Cup NOT named Stanley.
If game 2 is a must win and we lose, what does that make game 3?
We played better than I expected, considering the Bettman break we had.
took Perry 78 sec before he felt the urge to injure … dick
What really stood out to me yesterday was Ducks blocking shots. Very impressive commitment by the Ducks in this regard. Blast high and send some chin music to willing shot blockers and Andersen . Andersen looks vulnerable high anyway. Shot by Richards a good example. In general, Hawks need to grip it and rip it. They were a shade late getting shots off yesterday, but with the ice so bad, settling pucks was an issue for both teams.
While he is a good player, the loathsome Kesler with Indian Head sweater….?? I would need some anti nausea meds.
Lets Go Hawks!
Ducks played dirty… that will catch up to them..
I will say when Kane missed that net/ Anderson got the stick on his shot, I got a bad feeling it wasn’t our day…
Sure enough, it wasnt, but we got plenty of time to come back… Hawks in 6 still sounds fine to me.
Pretty sure if Kesler was had that the team would be adults about it. The guys a player and if some roster piece was pushing back on making the team significantly better because the thought of having a former rival on the team makes them mess their diaper then they’re an idiot and don’t deserve to win. Also, fairly confident the players don’t tell Bowman how to do his job. From what it sounded like Kane was campaigning to get him over here after their Olympic chemistry so there’s that conjecture to add to the mix.
Even with all the blocked shots, the Hawks had enough clean chances to put the game away and either missed the net or got stoned. Hopefully Tuesday they can do better in that regard.
In all fairness to Runblad… The kid hasn’t played in a month! He should have been given Timonen’s 5 minutes of ice time while Rozy was playing, so he isn’t (during the WCF) put in a bad position… Pin that one on Q for not having his players ready. And for SB for not giving Q the players “he feels can play” in the NHL and in the post season!
Q needs to make it right and make Kimmo a healthy scratch for game 2 and at least have someone who can skate in his spot.
Or why not have the top pairing from Rockford play 10 minutes per night? At least they would be comfortable playing with each other…?
Is it all gloom and doom? NO…. All we have to do is win tomorrow night. Go Hawks!
AJ – quite possibly the reason Kesler went to the Ducks and not Chicago is that Vancouver was extremely Unrealistic about what they wanted in return… Terevainen AND_______ AND_______ AND ______ AND _____ AND_____
I agree “fairly confident the players don’t tell Bowman how to do his job” (even Kane).
We all know giving Bickel big money was a waste, but at the time the Hawks thought they had a developing power forward who could score. I dont remember the last time he scored but what ya gonna do . My concern now is another mistake in the making , Saad has been hailed as the next coming. yesterday game 1 he was invisible / Has anyone ever seen him finish a check i have not. conference finals and were is his game ,but in my opinion if they let K Hayes go to the blueshirts and keep Saad we can call him Bic Jr. B
Hockey Junkie………good, valid points. You can’t take a kid who hasn’t skated in a game in a month and throw him into a Conference Final game and ask him to play like a 10 year veteran. He will be better in the next game, but he is being asked to do a lot after not playing for a long stretch.
re: AJ – pretty sure if the most important people in the organization say “keep that prick out of this room” you don’t ask them to grow up and be men about it. Sorry.
& thank you Dickie Dunn for reminding those w/ the remaining hard on for Kesler that the price was steep to get him. w/ the cap issues the Hawks will face this summer, compromising the organization’s prospect pool to add another expensive veteran would have handicapped the future of the franchise.
Let’s take the blinders off and stop bitching about the Hawks not overpaying for an asshole. Kesler isn’t here. Move on.
I can do without the blender. I didn’t understand moving Sharp off the TT line when they were so dangerous in the first. TT is ridiculously talented and is only going to get better.
Anaheim was outplayed nearly the entire game. If that should “concern” Hawks fans that Anderson had a career game and Anaheim squeaked one out at home, I’d assume we’d all be jumping off a bridge if the Hawks were dominated.
Rundblad needs to make faster decisions. He gets caught in between quite often and it doesn’t lead to positive outcomes.
Kane had a bad game. Doesn’t happen very often, but when Kane’s bad, the Hawks don’t go. He needs to be better in game 2.
Hawks had 63% of shot attempts after 2 periods. I’m feeling pretty good about that. Not feeling good about how they didn’t have their normal push during the third, but I’ll blame that on Kane being bad and not having his usual number of carry ins.
My thought of Hawks in 5 is no longer looking as likely, but I still have a good feeling about the series.
Cuminsky was the obvious choice over 5. Another bad roster decision costs us the game. It will not change either.
Bronco – Saad was not invisible — he made a good scoring chance on the PK from a faceoff outside the Hawks blue line…hustle/speed into a near breakaway.
Scottie P – possibly right-handed shot figured into the decision to dress Runblad instead of Cumiskey…in addition to more game experience this season (albeit not very much in the last month).
Despite our depth issues on D, we got a gift at the end of the 2nd period and then had two power plays early in the third which were horrendous. Rather than blame Runblad who was put into a very tough situation after not playing for over a month I would point the finger at the PP unit which seemed to be looking for the perfect goal instead of shooting the puck. Having watched plenty of Andersen here in LA this year I am confident that he will revert to form and give up some softies. In the press out here the Ducks keep telling themselves they believe they can beat the Hawks – they seem to be dealing with some self-esteem issues. If we play like we did yesterday I believe we will win more than we lose.
Reg… thanks! The coach is responsible for putting players in a position to be successful… Q didn’t do that in game one.
Does Q recognize that? Will he make adjustments for game 2? Probably.. Will he make the right ones? We shall see…
Scottie P… Cumiskey was the obvious choice? Depends on who you ask… Probably not if you ask coach Q.
I can understand Bronco about being gun shy on the upcoming Saad contract as a result of the Bickel debacle. However, Saad is no Bickel. He is a much faster skater, has far more of a skill level and is much younger. His upside potential is outstanding. The Hawks need to do whatever it takes to sign Saad to a long term contract. Bickel is a mess. The only thing he can do is hit people. He has terrible hands, can’t pass or finish to save his life. He is an overpaid clod. I hope he is gone next year.
Can someone tell me who Stan Bowman should have gotten instead of Timonen? Everyone says there were other options, but who were the other options for a left handed dman? He took a gamble on a veteran player, it failed, and let’s move on. Not every trade is going to work out for both sides (like Miller with the Blues last year; Yandle with the Rangers this year; Vanek with the Canadians/Wild this year, etc.)
Vancouver are Flatlanders/Keesler is a Flatlander.
Saader is going to be a premier twoway FW in his prime yrs. Nothing against Bicks.
Cumiskey – a left point – “was the obvious choice over” – right point – Rundblad. With 3 other left points already dressing. EA Sports approves of this message.
@ Nick
SB could have made serious offers for the following players, Mark Methot, Jeff Peatry, Andrea Sekera or Keith Yandle. But to opine for these players now is just silly talk. To say there werent options is silly.
As for further reflection, if Crow continues to get out played by Anderson we will lose this series.
If Toews & Kane dont show up we will lose.
If Hammer and Keith continue to be negative players we will lose.
I dont expect these trends to continue which is why I dont think the Hawks will lose.
The handedness of players doesn’t trump skill level. You are the one that ea sports would approve of as you are sticking to some illogical rule. If you are going to sit there and say 27 as a righty couldn’t have done what 5 did as a lefty then u have become as toxic as most your site posters.
We can blame Runblad all we want, but the bottom line is the Hawks did not score other than the one great play on an individual effort by Richards. The goalie for Anaheim had a great game and he deserves credit. In my opinion the Hawks are the better team top to bottom and that will come through in the end. GO HAWKS.
Yeah, again, blaming players like Runbad and Timonen is not going to solve anything, they are what they are, the Hawks lost game one because our best players were outplayed, and they were abysmal on the PP. Will this continue? I doubt it, but as SSHM said, if it does, we’ll lose. Crawford is a SC champion and an “elite” goaltender by his pay scale, he MUST outplay Andersen in this series if we are going to move on. Kesler owned Toews all night, I doubt we will see that again.
Against Boudreau’s style of play, the Hawks need to score first and force ANA to open up and play catch up. Once ANA has a lead, Boudreau has his forwards collapse in on Andersen and his big frame stops everything from the perimeters.
Cumiskey could be in for Game 2, he’s paired with Oduya in practice. Rundblad practicing outside the top 6.
Hawks have no one better than Rundblad, not sure what this “fantasy” is of AHL and College prospect are, even TVR if healthy has some big holes in his game, not very physical and does not have the stick skill either all he has is reach, but he can become very good as can Rundblad but they need to play. I watched the game twice, i see more turnovers that did not lead to goals by all four core defensemen. It is not pretty.
As for Kessler i got news for all of us “experts” Hawks dont make it past the DUCKS they will no longer “tinker” and bring in some bigger names and risk that gee golly some people in the locker room don’t like Kessler, he a steady center ice man, and plays hard and the same every night like ZACK with Wilds. Anyway Hawks as good as anyone, just need to make quicker decisions with the puck in the offensive end, Richards gets it, his quick release was dead on, Hossa is holding the puck too long as is Toews too but they will get it going. As said over and over ANDERSEN in the worst goal tender they will see and have seen. If Kruger was Sharp they Hawks come out with a win and if Kane pulls the Trigger, well the point is sometimes ya get a break and luck but the wrong guy does not have the puck. That is why they beat the WILD the breaks came when our top lines where on the ice. 4th line still the best
we got!
Go hawks
Breaking news – Hawks signed Chelios to start game #2………
Lol. Nbc between periods tonight trumpet headline Ducks Dominate
Bring it boys!
Let’s Go Hawks!!
I think that Rozi being gone had little to do with this game defensively. The biggest problem of the night, was Crawford, again. Anderson was outstanding but Crawford was pitiful. In the second the ducks had scored 2 goals on 10 shots!
That is absolutely terrible.
Now we can say the offense was not doing their job either but that is not so true. Hawks were outshooting the Ducks big time by double for most of the game. This is not the signs of a weak offense, rather, this is the sign of fantastic goal tending.