Blackhawks Blanked On Home Ice By Blues
Chicago scored eight times on Friday. So how many would they put on the board Sunday in a matinee against a division rival?
Zero.
None.
Nada.
Zilch.
The Blackhawks have had shown a willingness to completely crap the bed for a period (or two… or three) over the past few years. Sunday was one of those afternoons.
The Hawks out-shot the Blues 12-8 in the first period and looked competitive. In fact, one might even say the Blackhawks out-played the Blues for stretches.
Unfortunately, the first intermission was when the game effectively ended for Chicago.
St. Louis started the second period with Brandon Hagel in the box for the Hawks. They weren’t able to score on the power play, thanks to a couple exceptional sequences from Marc-Andre Fleury.
Unfortunately, Fleury couldn’t carry them the entire period.
Jordan Kyrou scored 2:26 into the second to give St. Louis a lead they wouldn’t give up.
Pavel Buchnevich added a goal at 6:56 to extend the lead to two. And David Perron scored a power play goal at 18:08 to give St. Louis a three-goal lead heading to the second intermission.
St. Louis out-shot the Hawks only 13-11 officially in the second, but they dominated almost every shift of the period. The Blackhawks were on their heels from the jump and never got a whiff of momentum.
You hoped the Hawks would come out of the room with energy and maybe a little snarl to start a Sunday afternoon game against the hated Blues. But the first goal of the third period came from… Perron. His second of the game extended the lead to four. The Blackhawks were stuck in neutral. Fleury was doing his best but the skaters in front of him were happily turning the puck over far too often to sustain any offense, much less ignite a comeback from a deep deficit.
Sunday marked the sixth time in 54 starts this season the Blackhawks have been shutout. Last year, with what was clearly an inferior roster on paper, the Hawks were shutout once in 56 games.
This game could have easily seen St. Louis score six or seven goals, but Fleury was that good. He deserves better than this team. Hopefully the Blackhawks make a decision soon on their general manager hire so that individual can get to work sorting out the future of this roster.
22 days left
Nuthin’. There’s nothing to add to Tab’s article. Oh…wait!!! No…I got nuthin’. I hold no hopes that the team will pick the Tampa’s Mathieu Darche. They’ll settle on who they currently have and circle their wagons…yet again. This team will never get better as long as the Wirtz family thinks they know what they are doing. Dale Tallon was the one outsider that made this team a cup contender. He wasn’t perfect with all his picks, but he had a far better percentage than Stan.
I’m waiting to see how the GM show turns out and then the TDL. This actually feels worse than the 90’s.
Fleury was great and still gave up 4
With a few exceptions 88, 4, 12 everyone else panics with the puck with the tiniest of pressure – What do I do? What do I do? …
Just brutal passing from tha vast majority of the team but today Murphy in particular- he was driving me crazy even before he coughed it up on the Blues 1st goal
Did the Hawks win a board battle today?- they were completely schooled by a very good team that barely broke a sweat
Phillips is nowhere close to being NHL ready – Regula looks like he’s close though so that’s a positive – Slavin looked like an AHLer so that is negative – Entwistle still looks good in his role – Borgstrom can win FOs so why isn’t he used at centre more often
Their PK is a joke – no one on the PK can win a D zone FO without Toews in the line up
Chances are good they’ll pick the wrong GM if they ever get around to filling the position
It’s not a good day in Hawk land
unwatchable
Murphy on the ice for all four goals, Caleb Jones on for three. He was in the penalty box for the fourth.
As Tab said looked like they might be competitive after 1st, then terrible puck management, took them out, Murphy very lackadasical on 1st goal, no pressure on him either. Just no tenacity throughout the lineup except for a couple mentioned by others and MAF carrying them.
This roster has first rounders a 1 goalie MAF 1st overall, defense, a 4th S. Jones, 20th Murphy and McCabe 23rd overall with 2 late 1st rnders under contract in system Beaudin and Allen. Forwards a 1st overall Kane, three 3rd overalls in Toews, Strome and Dach, a 6th overall in Connelly with a 16th Reichel and Borgstrom 23rd overall. Also traded Nylander a 12th overall, just hard to believe they can be that bad, doubt another team in the league can claim that many 1st round picks under contract, but maybe there is.
yawn.
lets beat the dead horse some more!!!
same problems, same d-list players, loved the chants for the blues! brings me back to 1999-2006
cant wait for woke ole danny boy to choose KD as GM!
anybody know what Beach settled for amount? think he could buy the hawks with his settlement?
Hawks without a doubt the worst passing team in the league. Somebody said panic, nailed it with that statement. Fill the management spots and play the kids the rest of this god awful season. You can tell Foley has had all he can stand, there might be a Karpotsev type rant his last game.
In the 2nd period where they were outscored 3-0, they were somthing like 10 and 3 up in the fos.
@ Ian
Maybe Stan used the wrong analytics? And KD helped with it all so when they
announce KD as the new GM, look out below. This could get worse.
I don’t think there was a Blues player anywhere near Murphys “Red Zone” on that brutal
giveaway.
Does everyone still love Dylan Strome, he’s reverted back to the old Dylan Strome with
the exception of being able to win a faceoff
Outclassed by a good St. Louis team that passes really well, is big and fast, and competes.
Lots of scouts in the stands.
Pregame show had a banner saying that Seth and Caleb Jones are the first set of siblings to ever play for an NHL team at the same time.
That’s how bad the day was.
I guess the Sedins and a whole slew of others just looked a whole lot alike.
The dynasty team of the last decade is really finished ! Now there’s no Toews ! I watched with many other hawks fans here in Canada coast to coast shown on several T.V. Stations ! Goaltending was superb , but the rest was just a skate by a Sr. A club at best going through some shinny scrimmage ! I watched the whole game and the only thing good about it was the Molson export Ales I was consuming ! The Hawks are a joke just like the owners and the Management ! Best , POPS 4
I am reduced to having fun watching MAF audition for Cup teams that think he might be the makeweight this year. I thought he did well for himself this afternoon. What a pathetic excuse for a franchise remains in Chicago.
I’m from Canada and remind the people that put up the banner about the Jones siblings about a few other siblings that played for the Hawks at the same time ! Maybe because I’m ancient ! Here you go : Bentleys , Hulls and Espositos and there were likely more ! It’s like when I wore a Larmer signed shirt to a game and a lot of people didn’t know who he was ! He’s really grouchy now living back in the Kawartha lakes near his hometown of Peterborough ,Ontario ! He can tell stories about the Hawks , 1000 pts in 1000 games ! As I say at the games once in a while “ learn the rules “ , POPS 4
No big surprises this afternoon. This team as constituted should not be on the same ice as the Blues. Scared Soft,Lazy,Passive,Lethargic are just a few words that describe this team and coaching staff. If you own the Chicago Blackhawks and watch them take the ice against the top teams of this league the only conclusion that you should come to is that this entire woke front office and coaching/scouting staffs have to be all fired as soon as the final horn sounds to end the season. The legacy of their 3 Cups has been severely tarnished and minimized. This is a disaster beyond words.
There seems to be a lot of outrage on the board. Who expected anything different? This is what happens when a bad team meets a good team.
People are griping about “bad coaching” but is it the coach’s fault when players pass the puck in to their teammates’ skates? Is it the coach’s fault that Murphy was on for all 4 goals and looked really, really bad?
I was wondering if anyone would mention Strome and DollarBill did. Strome was noticeable but could not get it done early before it got out of hand. That is his pattern. Dylan “never when you need it” Strome. That streak he was on has been over for 6 games now. We can call him Dylan Perlini. Tab’s Seinfeld GIF could be referring to Strome the last 6 games as well as the Hawks this game.
On the positive side, the pre-game and intermission cast is good. Cody in small doses is decent and insightful and Caley is articulate, concise, pleasant to listen to and has a really good grasp of what is transpiring on the ice. It is a must to keep Cody out of the broadcast booth. That is a massive overdose of him.
This is becoming unwatchable. One night, one of the contributors for another blog said, “This will be short tonight. I am going to put as much effort in to this blog as the Hawks put in to this game.” It would not be shocking if Tab put up a banner saying, “See you next year.” I surely hope not because his summaries are great, but everyone on this board must feel the same. Unwatchable. It’s not even fun watching the young guys anymore.
MAF deserves so much better. He says he likes playing in Chicago but it has to be getting really old. It would be surprising if he is here after the TDL.
Those real D men are gone , 2,4 and 7 , and whole lot of others that really knew how to play the game ! I was in Zurich in ‘09 to see the club and knew then that they were going to carry the hardware around the ice ! Things change in a decade and now it’s a total rebuild but it’s all about money and the owners and management need to get focused if they want to fill the U.C. It’s a disappointment lately , POPS 4
DollarBill only hope that the moves to undo some of Bowmans moves he made already are a sign he has his own mind. Moved Nylander, Subban, also another 1st rnder on roster this year, plus Gaudette who is getting 4th line minutes and pp time with Ottawa as they are rebuilding. Produced a little but hasn’t morphed into the one that got away yet. Just another, to use your words no contact guy who likes it when he has the puck on his stick but not alot else. Nylander still in Ahl and Subban struggled in a few starts and injured for year. If it is KD as new Gm and he can move out some deadweight, put a roster that has some tenacity and respect on the ice, while sticking with and developing some youngsters next year, certainly be an improvement i will welcome.
Ian every move KD has made anyone on this board could’ve done and I apologize
to the board for saying that. Nylander should’ve gotten a few games w/Kane to improve the
return, maybe a 3rd or 4th round pick would’ve better than Lafferty. So if the moves he has
made are the anti-Stan moves well only time will tell. I just don’t see a Stan/Danny protege
turning this sinking ship anytime soon.
But thanks to Smith/Tallon we had those golden years!!
DollarBill time will tell i guess, but to be fair, ever since Gabriel went to Rfd and started playing regularly, haven’t heard any horror story about the young prospects there getting run all over the ice. Lafferty is one of the few with a bit of tenacity on this roster and hustles hard every shift, likely gets another contract and may turn into a serviceable 4th liner type for few years. No not building blocks but didn’t move any either, but still got something in return. Gaudette and Subban didn’t draw anything on the market not hos fault.
I think giving Nylander a couple of games at this point to up his value is probably more wishful thinking than reality. See Strome still don’t hear alot of interest yet.
I do enjoy the sport bitching about trading Nylander for Lafferty – nothing short of a heart transplant was gonna make the return anything more than a serviceable NHL 4th liner (who has proven to have some heart and drive, as a bonus) – which was more than the bag of pucks Nylander had shown as his true NHL value
Even Chiarelli wouldn’t have been hoodwinked into giving up anything more, regardless of how much window dressing you tried to put on Nylander
In the Toronto paper, the sources are saying it’s down to the current GM or the baseball guy. And there isn’t consensus? Please tell me there isn’t a better choice-someone confident, smart, respected in hockey and no Blackhawk baggage.
If that is true then maybe, although not what we are hoping, maybe Greenberg take a Vp role and bring his strengths 8n scouting and development, baseball miles ahead of hockey in analytics an area somebody mentioned could be lacking, plus all around experience in running an organization. Obviously as been stated often, KD has the backing to run the on ice roster issues from the owners regardless of our opinions. Anyways just get it over with.
Bring in a baseball guy, bet he knows tons about hockey talent…..NOT !!
As for this game, perhaps some of you should watch the game again and see how many times S.Jones turns the puck over…..as well as Kane…. y’all are SUPERSTAR blind when it comes to this subject. It’s always the lower paid players making mistakes….SUPERSTARS don’t make mistakes that lead to other teams goals do they ? ……no no no…
@POPS4 – I love reading your posts! Old Time Hockey – like Eddie Shore, Eddie Shack, Toe Blake and Punch Imlach! Hey – are you from Canada??
I will say this – I really like the defense with SJones, CJones ARegula with IPhillips (very nervous yesterday until he got hit) JGalvas IMitchell WKalynuk and Stillman – we can now trade Murphy-McCabe-DeHaan-Gustafson…I don’t really care about the return, just take their contracts and inconsistent play off our team.
Nylander is a Nylander! We can’t say P**SSy on this site, so we just call it a Nylander!
I just hope we make some deals and shake this team up a bit! By the way – I would be able to win a faceoff against Borgstrom…they must have Dach practice against Borgstrom which is why The Clown King keeps thinking he’s a good face-off guy!
Beer League – most fans, and that includes many if not most here, take their evaluation of a game and team talent from cues given by announcers. If Pat and Ed won’t trash a player, fans won’t hear that the player makes mistakes and should be held accountable. Thus, those fans think the players are higher in caliber. So many times we hear that the HAWKS turned over the puck instead of Kane or Jones, while there never is a problem saying Kurachev turned it over or Kneelander turned it over. Listen closely and you will hear who the announcers want us to dislike, or like. Hey – they work for the team, so they have opinions that need to be heard to help them get loved by the organ-I-zation.
Listen to a national broadcast and Edward has to be a bit more honest in his evaluation and critiques. Everyone watching the game can see the obvious turnover and coverup by the announcers. Not a good look for Edward on a nationally televised game.
Hey Silent Spot, if Eddie bad-mouths any Hawks player, Rocky will be in the booth so fast and scold Eddie…..we all know who pays his bills. My issue is some of the bloggers here do the same, pile on the low end players for mistakes but give passes to the SUPERSTARS on their poor play…..that’s all I am saying.
BTW….this team just plain stinks, coaching down to the last 4th line player, getting S.Jones and his 9.5 mil contract is and was a huge mistake, he doesn’t make a difference at all in the play of this team.
@Silent Spot, I am not sure I agree with your take on the announcers calling a game.
If Kane was lazy, or a bad team mate, or showing up a team mate, or something like that, I think that is when a home announcer has the liberty and quite honestly the duty to call out his play/behavior. It’s not the same thing as a once great player not being as great as he once was, which seems to be what you are lamenting in your post above (please correct me if I misinterpret what you are saying…). Or are you saying that Kane and Jones are the reason why the Hawks suck right now?
Guys like Kurashev have quite honestly not done enough to warrant having their mistakes overlooked. Look at it this way, Kane was coming off a hat trick from the previous game, the next hat trick that Kurashev gets will be his first in the NHL… They are not in the same league.
When Kurashev makes a bad play that leads to a goal, who is more likely to pick him up with a great play later? Kane? DeBrincat? Jones? When Kane makes a bad play, who is more likely to pick him up with a great play later? Kane? DeBrincat? Jones?… I didn’t hear Kurashevs name being called there…
Bottom line, players are not equal on the ice, some have earned the right to make a mistake and not be hung out for it. Kane and Jones are not the reason the Hawks are not winning right now, getting fans to dislike them isn’t helping anything, it’s rabble rousing at best and tearing down a great player at worst. The announcers are not doing a bad job, the product on the ice is just bad, and there isn’t a lot that can be done to change that from the booth.
Just one mans opinion.
Miro – thanks for your comments.
My opinion on this topic is really pretty simple – all players should be treated equally by announcers, who should simply call the game. Because you are a veteran player should not grant you any special exemption from being called out when playing poorly. I understand your point of view, but I think we run into the problem of everyone seeing the level of greatness and achievement through different lenses, based on our own personal biases. A player making $10.5m should be held to a standard at least equal to a player making $800k. It affects the game the same. A player making $800k shouldn’t be expected to be as good as the $10.5m player, simply because the perceived value of that lesser paid player is lower than the higher paid player. Or not??
Ask homer announcer Steve Stone of the Cubs how well it works out when you describe a crappy bullpen as being crappy. He ended up on the Sox announcing team!!! (a little fun here)
The names I used were just pulled off the top of my head and were not meant to assign guilt or innocence to Kurachev or Kneelander. Jones and Kane were used in the post to which I responded. But as to your point about who is more likely to fix a mistake on the ice – of course it is your superstars. That is why they get paid the big bucks!
Oh – and NO. I don’t think the Hawks are a bad team because of Jones and Kane. I think Jones is an excellent Dman and Kane is an exceptionally talented player. But they do both make their share of mistakes each game, impacting the game negatively. And I feel it isn’t wrong to take note when they too have bad games and stretches of play, or a critical play that makes a difference in a bad way. Being a top talent shouldn’t give you a pass on your poor play, just a bigger paycheck.
SS fans are watching young players to see if they can be part of the future, we already know what the superstars are. Pointing what young players are doing right or wrong to help viewers understand how they are progressing is doing their job. Calling out superstars just to call them out is not part of their job. I don’t see that as a conspiracy against younger players just the nature of the job.
I can’t wait to hear the comments from the “advisors” (Hossa, Sharp and Olcyk) if we hire the baseball guy. “Well it was between a guy who played a serious role on cup winning teams in Tampa and this putz who helped the Cubs continue their latest run of mediocrity.” I’m at least hoping the baseball guy can find a third base coach to take over for King. Good thing we brought in the consultant to identify the best candidates – that guy is laughing all the way to the bank.
Just imagine if the flower had any type of team in front of him that scored goals and actually played like a professional hockey team! I know I’m dreaming but hopefully the new gm can rip this team apart(if given the reins) and make a contender out of it. I know it won’t happen for a while but one can dream. I like coach king but he’s not the answer but will the hawks pay for a name brand coach? I doubt it. Too much turmoil with this organization especially after the Kyle Beach debacle! I’m so thankful that we won cups in 2010,13 &15 because it’s certainly going to be a long time until the next!
Given the final 3 candidates for the G.M. spot,I have lost any little bit of faith that I had in the advisory committee. Where is the shining star in that group? Where is the experience/resumes? How many candidates did Edzo,Hoss,and Sharpie actually recommend or sit in on their interviews? Given that its Mardi Gras week,I would anticipate the Interim Davidson announcement to happen on Thursday morning ahead of the big night against the OIL and the legend #4 night.
Frank Seravelli reporting that KD will be the new GM.
Also reporting that Brian Campbell will take on a front office role. Nothing like going all-in on a lack of experience. I wish them well but have very low expectations.
It’s all about talent folks. How the Hawks franchise has allowed itself to become so diminished compared to its conference rivals has got to be a huge embarrassment for the Wirtz family. How they will get out of this hole is the big question. It will be interesting.
@Silent Spot, Eh, this sounds like communism to me (just kidding…)
I might be persuaded by your argument if I felt that announcers were able to accurately express all the things these good players do that go unnoticed ore at least unacknowledged during a game and a call. I would argue that the best players on a bad team get the worst of both worlds. They often make great plays that go “unrewarded” by the announcers because there is not enough skill among their team mates to finish a play. I can think of several times that Jones deftly avoids checkers as he exits his zone only to have the play sputter out because a team mate couldn’t accept a pass from him…
I’ve listened to Pat Foley call enough games since Orval Tessier was coaching this team to recognize that when he goes easy on a player it is for good reason and when he calls one out, it is also for good reason. Is it “fair” or “equitable?” I don’t know, but wanting it to be sounds a lot like what Colliton was trying to do to the Hawks roster by treating everyone “the same.” Put fourth liners on the top line, skate skilled players on the fourth line, everyone is the same, everyone is interchangeable. Umm, no they are not.
Edzo was a player and he played with and against the best ever. He recognizes the goods, if he cuts a guys some slack, again, it is for a good reason.
But hey, you be you, I just happen to not agree with it is all.