Blackhawks Celebrate Jonathan Toews, Lose at Home to the Worst Team in the NHL
Sunday was a significant night for a few reasons for the Chicago Blackhawks organization. Sadly, none of the significant came from the game being played against another bottom feeding team, the Arizona Coyotes.
Before the game began, the Blackhawks celebrated Jonathan Toews reaching 1,000 regular season games played on the recent trip to Florida. There were a few great old faces in the building for the ceremony and in the suite enjoying the game.
Even though the Blackhawks made an effort to start Tyler Johnson in his return to Tampa and both Henrik Borgstrom and Riley Stillman in their returns to Florida against their former employers, for Sunday night’s game coach Derek King sent out Dominik Kubalik and Sam Lafferty with Toews for the start of the game. With Stillman and Erik Gustafsson on the blue line. Apparently at least giving him the first shift of the night with someone like Patrick Kane was too much to ask.
Anyways, the Blackhawks scored the only goal in the first period. Alex DeBrincat set up Dylan Strome, who reached the 20-goal plateau on the year.
Strome’s goal came only 75 seconds into the game.
Chicago held an 11-6 shot advantage after 20 minutes and a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard.
Between the first and second periods, the Hawks announced that Chris Vosters has officially been named the play-by-play replacement for Pat Foley.
The second period was a debacle, as many second periods have been this year. Arizona out-shot the Blackhawks 15-5 in the middle stanza. Michael Carcone and Travis Boyd scored to give the Yotes a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Mind you, the Coyotes came in dead last in the NHL in shots on goal per game at only 25.7 per game — three per game fewer than the 31st-ranked Blackhawks. So Arizona putting 15 shots on net in a single period isn’t ideal.
Chicago was 0-for-2 on the power play in the first two periods but got a third opportunity early in the third period when Kyle Capobianco went to the box. The Hawks made them pay this time, and it was Kane ripping home his 22nd of the season.
DeBrincat picked up his second assist on Kane’s goal. Seth Jones established a new career-high with his 42nd assist on the season as well.
After a couple flurries on both ends of the ice, you could hear someone on the ice bark at Caleb Jones to “just hold it” behind the Hawks’ net for the final 10 seconds of regulation. So everyone stood and looked at each other as the clock rolled to zero and we headed to overtime.
Have I mentioned that Gustafsson was in the lineup over Alex Vlasic again? Gustafsson was credited with one shot on net in regulation; every other active defensemen for the Blackhawks was credited with at least two shots on net over 60 minutes of hockey.
In regulation, Toews won 15 of 19 faceoffs. Strome won eight of 14 with his goal and five shots on net. Kane was credited with a team-leading six shots on net before the start of OT.
Kevin Lankinen made three incredible saves with about 60 seconds left in overtime and he made a couple more on a subsequent rush. Phil Kessel missed a wide open cage as well. Kane was stuck out on the ice for a marathon shift and ended up heading to the box after another huge save from Lankinen with 47.5 seconds left on the clock.
Of course the game would then end with a pass attempt hitting the skate of a Chicago player and redirecting perfectly into the net with 14 seconds left. And the Arizona Coyotes — who came into the game dead last in the NHL with 47 points in 68 games — left with a win.
It doesn’t matter. Cleaning up the clubs for summer.
Was out and about. Caught the last :47. lol
Tim W I’ll switch this OTL and make the last game a W so I’m still on track.
What I saw was is indicative of the season.
Kane gets called for a high stick for someone high sticking himself.
Don’t know if a clear all the way down the ice by the Captain himself on his night would have taken :14 to take the game to a short out.
The the goal goes off the Captain himself to end his night.
Also where was Soup Campbell celebrating the Captain’s night?
Everyone should acknowledge captain serious bringing 3 cups to the Windy City ! That’s his Dad and Mom there in the pic ! Be happy he came and played and for the city and got Chicago back in the lime light for a decade ! Now it’s over and it’s time to move on with a few new kids ! Let’s get going on a new group of players to carry the torch into the 100th season ! Best , POPS 4
On this celebration night some of us witnessed the very end of a career and the play that has expedited that. Yes there was the unfortunate bounce off of the skate to finish the game but there was also the familiar Stat line of 0 Goals 0 Assists. 0 Hits 0 Blocked Shots while on the ice for 19 minutes. Was there anytime at all that Toews looked offensively viable tonight? This team is in total beyond bad and it is not all Toews fault. Besides Raddysh,Lafferty and the Kane line there is just no fast twitch or jump to the play of this team. Great to get Gus lots of ice time. Whose next?
Thanks, POPS 4, I always enjoy your comments. I agree about Toews and think it will fun to watch a new team being built and growing. Davidson is looking good out-of-the-box.
Good game by Lank again ..
Hawks will have a good chance to get a lottery pick .
Still love my Hawks ..
Nice well deserved tribute for Toews, agree should had Kane at least out there for 1st shift. Good to see all the old teammates there to support him, crappy ending but thats hockey.
On the ice, Lankinen was outstanding, the Jekyll and Hyde versions of the team in front of him showed up as usually happens. No point getting frustrated as this roster won’t be around when the team are contenders again. If 2 or 3 make it great, if none are around shouldn’t be a surprise. No point getting upset with King, he should be gone after 12 more games anyways.
KD said he is going to start hiring for some front office positions this week. With Jaime Faulkner taking over the PR area that McDonough looked after, MacIvor and Campbell seemingly in KDs inner circle, wonder what positions he plans to fill and how.
McCabe on the 2nd ARZ goal – oof!!
Every game it’s something like that
Notice on 1st ARZ goal Caleb throws the puck away and Seth takes a minus – for those wondering why Seth has a large minus – he has no one no one to play with on the back end
Leading to Kane penalty Dach in OT has to make a better play – either a harder pass – his was lazy- or carry it himself – Kane was not that open that a lazy pass was going to work
His lack of on ice awareness as an offensive player is beginning to concern me – it was like he thought ‘I have to pass to Kane I have to pass to Kane’ – he forced it and telegraphed it – Ghost read it all the way – the pass really wasn’t there -maybe a hard pass and he gets away with it…
TW – agree with your assessment of who has any jump although you forgot Seth
Quickest comment: This is a long term rebuild. KD needs to make many more smart moves like he did with the Hagel trade. Too much dead wood remains after the tdl.
Wrap, Yes you are absolutely right. I forgot to include Seth. He has definitely been impressive given the massive minutes that he has had to play against all the top lines with a weak partner for the most part. If we could only get his BlueJacket partner Zach Werenski here. He is their only D Man who can carry the puck end to end with efficiency. I would have rather seen Ian Mitchell or Vlasic play as his partner and learn on the fly as many other young D Men around the league do. Hopefully they clean house on the backend and get some young quality in here.
You can sum up this entire season with very frustrating. I am looking forward to next Sunday when Pat and Dale are reunited for one more shift.
Ian – I sure hope it’s pointless to bitch about King but until he’s officially not brought back as CHI HC I’m going to anyway
So…what was the point of taking Raddysh off of Toews’ line? There seemed to be some chemistry there and both players (and even Kub) seemed to be benefiting from it
I know Dach needs some more skilled wingers so maybe that was the idea but by moving Raddysh down the Hawks effectively went to a one line offensive team
Sure they got outclassed in Florida but this was ARZ – no need to panic with line juggling unless you’re not NHL coach material
Wrap think the adage players and coaches want to win, only Gms want to lose is some of it. If King is back it will be a decision that is strictly cost saving move for the organization. Then the next contracts of Toews, Kane, if they agree too, Cat and even Strome will be decided by that as well. Does it cost more in lost revenue( empty seats, merchandise sales etc.) to lose them, than it does to extend them.
TimW the days of hurry up and get it done are over, this is going to be a drawn out process with no urgency to get youngsters into the lineup. Which could play into the bottom line priority, keeping next contracts to a minimum.
I must say that the Coyotes looked like a playoff team against our band of misfits. They out-muscled us, they out-skated us, they out-passed us, and they out-classed us. To me, besides Kane, Strom, and DeBrincat was the play of Raddysh. One more thing, just a few more weeks of King!
Hawks2010…….CBJ will get the top 10 pick not CHI…..and I doubt the Hawks will be lucky enough to get the #1 overall pick, just isn’t going to happen.
So the Hawks with 2 future HOF players loses to the AHL Yotes. I
guess you could call that rock bottom, but nothing I see instills any
confidence that rock bottom is the bottom.
With so many players appearing to be already on the golf course
this year has been totally wasted. Why wait to search for the “new GM”
and now search for a “new coach” while still not changing anything in
the scouting dept, etc.etc.etc
Having Corey on the ice w/Toews and the A’s would’ve been class, something
this organization no longer has……Ask why Corey also wasn’t given a “legacy night”?
Lastly why is everyone “great” in both Foley, Edzo’s eyes?
Retaining Interim Coach King or any of that staff that is currently there should not be considered going on the “Cheap” . It should be considered going on the Stupid and Irresponsible. Your move G.M Davidson.
Tim+W… I am all in for keeping King for one more year and moving out as many Of the incumbent D men on roster to:
Guarantee highest pick in next years draft
Get the young D men in system as much Playing time and experience as possible
Stock away as many picks as they can for the Turds like deHaan/McCabe/Murphy/ $ Jones ( probably not gonna happen)
I’m all for clearing out veteran deadwood like McCabe DeHaan Gus Kubalik
Murphy is better than that but too old for the rebuild – trade him if you can get a decent return – is a 1st possible?
I’m not in favour of trading Seth – he’s a #1 D and I think he will continue to be for a lot of years yet – keep him
Just playing young guys on D and in goal should be enough to get a lottery pick next year – I don’t think they should bring back King to put an exclamation point on the tank – get a good coach in here to teach these young’ guys how to play NHL hockey – another year of King would do more damage than good
wrap
murphy belongs in your first group. although he is marginally better than those in that group he still would at best have been a third pairing guy on any of the cup winners. getting out from under his contract in exchange for a pick/picks/prospect/prospects is better than having him around taking up playing time from a younger guy.
i have seth on the trading block as well. they don’t have to give him away, but if they can get the equivalent for seth that they got for hagel that is a trade that must be made. don’t forget, there was the “no way you trade hagel” group and it looks like at first blush that has turned out to be a pretty good deal
Jones is a top D guy, unless somebody develops into that role he is a void that can’t be filled. You keep him until then, that’s a given. I hope they don’t load up roster with a bunch of their younger hopefuls getting their ass kicked as a way to try and get best odds at a lotto pick. No way to develop them and can ruin them. Keeping veterans around for that is not hurting anybody if you want to lose anyways.
If they are looking further down the at a rebuild, maybe some of the D ready in Rfd. now might bring more return than some of those vets. Then let one likes Kaiser, Del Mastro, Vlassic, Allen and others they may draft come along. Having the guys you mention moving as the sacrificial lambs until that happens, if this 5+ year process as was indicated it could be. No real indication how they are actually approaching things yet, lots of options available.
I don’t think Murphy’s going anywhere but if you can get a good haul for him…………
Hammer agree if you can get a big haul for anybody right now they should take it. It doesn’t appear they will be in position to compete again any time soon.
Bluto, Ordinarily I would agree with keeping Interim King around as the roster is built but with the condition of this organization I don’t think you can afford the damage that he does with his ineptitude all the way around from in game bewilderness to the lack of structure and discipline. This team is still physically inferior on most nights and looks out of shape comparatively. Yet “Optional”skates and days off are still the way. We have to get a new way of running a team in here immediately.
TimW, you may have a few years of a team that sucks to post daily about. Trading Hagel could be just tip of the iceberg in trading whoever young or old brings back best draft picks down the road. Kane and Toews may have already seen the message your welcome to stay around and lose if you want too. The current roster sucks bad enough to be players in the lotto pick game for a few years, don’t see any indication that KD wants to change for a few years.
I think the more important coaching decision right now is Rockford. We are likely to put all our apples in that basket, and we need a teacher who can gain respect and instill a work ethic missing terribly on this team for 7 years past. Everyone in Rockford needs to learn that a HAGEL effort is EXPECTED, regardless of your personal talent. Period. Or go work somewhere else. Period.
That’s the basis for a strong organization. 2 words come to mind – Darryl Sutter.
The NHL level is about protecting young players as they take on the speed of the game, not just in paly but in thought. Protected from failure and allowed to make mistakes. They learn at the NHL level when they are ready to be in the NHL. Not like Dach. Not like Boqvist. Bring them up for a drink – sure. But don’t bring them up to be destroyed physically or mentally.
We need to be signing 1 year “flip” players for the NHL, like we did 2 years ago. TDL – thanks for your time and efforts. Move along now, as you bring us back a 3rd rounder, or maybe a 2nd. Be they goalies, Dmen or forwards – they aren’t here for the long term. They are here to rehab their game and hold places as we teach players in Rockford how to play the game.
When Rockford has a stable of young and hungry players, then we need the right coach in the NHL. I don’t think 2022-2023 is as critical as 2024-2025 and beyond. Doesn’t mean I want King here (clearly in over his head), but maybe a veteran HC who also needs to rehab his resume.
Suck it up time. And it’s about time. Had a nice rebuild start after last season and puked it up for an ass-kicking in the playoffs this year. Instead we get kicked all year.
I think KD gets it. Nothing indicating otherwise. Yet.
Painful game to watch . . . debacle covers it. I have had doubts about McCabe but he is playing better on both ends of the ice. Still believe Caleb Jones has a big upside over his over rated brother. We have to remember that the Hawks D-men are not embedded into the SYSTEM like Bolts, Avs, Rangers etc. where d-men have a role in the offense. Sooooo it is very hard to criticize there “lame attempt” in the O-Zone. Hawks don’t play a system where the d-men have a structured role in the O-zone, so it’s sporadic at best, when they do get the puck up ice, everyone is shocked, included the wingers and center ice dude. In the NHL 2022 defense men are the MONEY, it is not an option to be offensive minded, or when the Hawks are down 2 or 3 goals. But in the so called REBUILD we’ll need 2 or 3 new defense men who can get up and out of the zone, pass with precision, hit hard, run guys off the puck, clear the front of the net and fill the gaps and drop down into scoring position. This is not hard, all the top six teams play this
way. Lank is horrible at best, Hawks need a legtimate goaltender next year, cant rebuild and rebuild confidence with shaky goal tending and defense that seems to be chasing the puck all game long. Lucky the Hawks are built on defensive minded forwards, that play both ways and cover up this weakness. Even Strome is getting back . . . just like the Captain. go hawks . . .so much to rebuild.
SS agree a good coach in Rfd. is something that needs to happen. Even there with committments to Ncaa, Chl players normally not eligible 1st 2 years after draft before going to Ahl and European players drafted prefer not to play in Ahl at 18 but hone their game closer to home for a few years, building a group there takes some time as well. Alot of the ones there now are getting close to the ends of elcs so in another year will see moves there.
We can dress this up how we want but this right direction for this organization is twofold. It allows the organization a few years of lowering the costs from a business standpoint. Plus they are also giving KD the time and trust to build a top product of his own on the ice with no ties to Bowmans acqusitions to get it done it would appear.
No shame to get beat by coyote…after all they beat Toronto, Colorado 2 times ,Vegas ,Winnipeg, St. Louis, Kings, lately and not in Overtime. .
We all know we have a weak team so it’s not like we thought we would win easily.
And Lank was really good . Toews win FO 80% i think …not to bad .
Ian, I think if they don’t address this country club/open skate type of atmosphere that this organization has been operating with,they will never get to where they are competitive on a nightly basis. We all watch some pretty bad teams in the NHL record wise but still are able to appreciate their disciplined system and work ethic. A recent example is a young Montreal team the other night against the Bolts. They were in shape and continued playing hard competing with the champions until they were able to pullout the victory. I know it was back to backs for the Bolts but still Montreal looked like they belong on the same ice with them and provided a much more entertaining game for fans to watch. I don’t mind watching a losing hockey team in the midst of restocking but lets not continually get outskated and beaten up on a nightly basis because we have no systems and do not prepare hard enough and end up going into the turtle when things don’t go our way.
TimW, like i said in earlier post, these players won’t be around when team is ready to be competitive again and these coaches won’t be behind the bench. Like to see them want to play with puck more and little harder at times, with a more sandpaper sure, but this bunch will have no effect on team that is on the ice when they want them competitive again. I watched some of that Tampa game vs Habs. Bolts pretty much cruised through regulation and tried to turn it on last few mins and ot but ran into a hot goalie in Allen. Montreal played with puck quite a bit more than Blackhawks did against them, but weren’t playing back to back either and Tampa was.
Hossa getting his night Thursday with 1 day contract.