Blackhawks Fail In St. Louis
Sadly, this was the only fight from the entire Blackhawks lineup on Tuesday night.
When the dust settled, the Hawks had lost 5-1 in an ugly game, erasing any positive momentum they had created with wins in Ottawa and Detroit.
Andrew Brunette scored Chicago’s only goal early in the third period on a nice redirect of a Brent Seabrook shot.
But that was all the Hawks did right, or well, on Tuesday evening.
Sami Lepisto left the game with a lower-body injury that looked too much like the fall that ended Daniel Carcillo’s season.
Marian Hossa was credited with zero shots on goal in over 22 minutes of ice time. Patrick Sharp was credited with one shot on net in over 21 minutes on the ice. In total, Chicago only put 20 shots on Jaroslav Halak in the game.
Ray Emery allowed all five goals on 31 shots. He wasn’t sharp, but didn’t get much help from the skaters in front of him.
The power play once again stunk as well, failing on five opportunities.
This was another clear case of the bi-polar Blackhawks that have frustrated fans all season. After dominating efforts against the Sens and Wings, they didn’t show up at all against a Blues team that, when the final horn sounded, had the best record in the NHL. The Blues outplayed the Blackhawks in every aspect of the game.
Chicago hosts the New York Rangers on Friday night.
Umm, 2 – 1 is a dominating effort? With a couple posts and a crossbar in the 3rd period saving us from the Wings tying it up?
The Blues have to play like a bunch of headhunters to be effective. They got away with it tonight because the Blackhawk power play didn’t make them pay for it. Also there were so many interference calls that could have been made against the Blues that I think the officials got tired of calling them. The Blues style clearly affected Hossa. Also anybody else annoyed by Steve Konroyd. He has zero passion for the Hawks. Hypothetically if there was an incredibly bad unfair play or call against the Hawks Konroyd would probably say “thats a tough break for the Blackhawks”. As a fan that gets into the game I find him annoying.
I guess maybe the sad reality of the past 2 seasons is that any win is dominating because they are getting harder to come by…. 112 points to 97 points to what, maybe 93 or 94 this year?
Anyone with me on this Konroyd thing. I mean they should get him a blue helmet like a UN observer somewhere.
I dunno Pete. I hate homer announcers. My favorite example is when Hawk Harrelson, in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and an o-2 count, called Juan Uribe a “great two strike hitter”. At the time, he led the Sox in strikeouts, and went on to strikeout in that game too. Juan Uribe may be many things, but he has never been, nor will he ever be a “great two strike hitter”. And why a professional announcer would ever declare such a thing on air is beyond me. Commentators who think their teams’ crap doesn’t stink just make then look stupid.
True but when I’m yelling at the TV on a bad call or a dirty hit this guys like “boy thats a tough break for the Hawks”.
Anybody find it annoying that these coaches can’t have this team ready to play in a game this important ?
I am finding it hard to accept .
We have some very skilled players and it is very aggravating to see then coast through a game like they did tonight nd have done over Andover this season and last .
First Goal,Olsen decides its lunch time.Second goal Hossa takes a break after giving up the puck.The rest Emery just wasn’t playing.Is Crawford ready yet? I doubt it.The passing n passing n passing on the PP is so old to talk about,but does Hav n Kitch get them ready for keep away? If so there failing at that as well giving up a short handed goal like that.Kane returns to this seasons form which sucked.Sharp only had 1 shot on net? I’d bet it was more.Him n Stali looked like they were shooting for the chest n not the net wtf??Blues look dominant and might have what it takes this year.That physical style,great defense and damn good net minding is hard to swallow.Hope there ready for New York.
As I stated a few games ago, this team only wins games now, when their goaltenders steal one for them…tonight, Ray Emery was average and the Hawks lost…its that simple…and when the “talent” does show up to the rink, it won’t even be close for the Hawks, and such was the case tonight…Kane was looking out for his head all night long.
I think the Hawks are fundamentally bad at checking. You watch St Louis, every single one of them finishes their hits with solid body contact carried by their momentum. Watch the Hawks, they’re reaching with their body and arms just to get a piece. It’s like watching bad tackling in football. Every now and then Bickell (not to pick on Bickell) lights someone up, but he misses on a lot too. Maybe some of their players are fatigued? Maybe it’s not being coached properly?
@ McKay – It’s because they are “Mavericks” kings of the fly-by……..
The PP is sooooooooo!!!!!!! bad!
At one point all 4 Blues players were on the side board battling for puck on their PK…
if Hawks simply station a Player in center of ice and WIN a board battle… it is essentially a break-away for Hawks…. But the league has figured out that the Hawks can’t win most board battles (especially PP guys Kane, Bruno too slow) so the league attacks us on the boards… league also realizes we don’t have anyone strong and good enough to station in the middle of ice or net area, so the league is basically laughing at our PP and knows it can get away with attacking our PP… especially w/out our C.
Our 2nd best Power Forward is Kruger… this team will go nowhere!
Hayes will not fix problem now… however, Hawks need to invest more ice time to him and see if he may be a long term fix… unless they know he is not allready… and plan on addressing this Major Issue next year!
I always get a kick out of comments after the game. When the Hawks wins its…
“Great game! They came out and played hard.”
then we lose and its…
“Same old same old. They simply suck. We don’t stand a chance!”
lol
Anyways, Pete: I’ll take Steve Konroyd over Ed Olczyk anytime! Eddy is so repetive “Gotta get those active sticks” “Hey, where his stick?” “Keep those sticks down and…” Blah blah blah. And if he isn’t talking aboot active sticks he’s laughing aboot Pat’s dumbassed jokes that he says over and over!! “Tirteen Tirty Tree seconds” “They’re playing the ShaaAArks!.” You’re not funny, Foley! Especially when you say the same jokes every damn game!
Sorry, sorry. Ranting there.
Anyways…the Blues look fantastic. 36 wins and 11 losses with Hitchcock in charge? Wow.
Bollig fight. It was a good scrap but pointless like all staged fights are. I saw the John Scott vs. Cam Janssens fight too last night. I really think Scott holds back because he doesn’t want to kill anyone. But once again….pointless.
So next up…John Scott and those Rangers who have slumped a bit. Hope Emery is in net. I think he will be.
To Logan’s point, I don’t see anyone giving Quenneville credit for having the team ready to play when they go into Ottawa or Detroit and come away with a win, but the minute they look like crap everyone’s got their pitchforks and torches ready to run him back out of town. Funny how the Fire Q parade apparently only works on certain days, isn’t it?
If you want to be in the game with St. Louis there must be commitment to the physical game. Last night is was clearly not there for the Hawks. There was some push back at times, but it was spotty at best. Why not try and run Mcdonald or Oshie? The Blues show no quarter to our guys. The Blues play the same game every time out, highlighted by discipline in their own end and packing it it in around their keeper. No wonder their shots against is the lowest in the league. Watching this Blues team makes me think they practice border line crosschecks just to see how far the refs will let it go. Never mind the interference on every shift that almost rivals the Wings for consistency. As stated here by other astute observers, this Hawks team just keeps playing a few good games and then a few clunkers follow. Maddening. We clearly need #19 back in the worst way. The apparent Lepisto knee injury means we also need # 4 as well very soon. Pity about Lepisto as he had been playing decent the past few weeks. We need to bring some passion to the UC come Friday night as the Rangers will be looking for some payback after we blind sided them in the Garden. Who knows which Hawks team will show up?
After losing Lepisto (even if he has only been relevant for about 3 weeks), I just dont want to see any more injurys. Get healthy… hold the 6 seed. That’s all I want. Once we get Toews and Hjalmersson back, I think we have a good team. Are we as good as the cup team? I don’t think we are. But I do feel we are good enough to get hot and make a run. When we play to our potential, we have 5 top 50 NHL players (Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Keith). We just need to get there.
Phil and Logan, I am sure its heresey but I prefer the national announcers who just call the game. Konroyd is so milktoast and Foley has the stupid Canadian talk(tirteen tirty tree) jokes and he blabs on and on about some story that nobody cares about while the game is gong on back and forth down the ice. There have been times that he is literally telling a story for like 3 minutes of ice team missing scoring chances etc. St Louis basically plays a game of committ interference and cross check constantly and so often that it just can’t be called. I don’t think they have the skill to play any other way. We let them get away with it because we can’t score enough on the power play.
Hossa was mia again, any rough stuff and he might as well stay iiiin the dressing room. Worst show of ineffective big bucks player this year, no effort.
I think Hossa and Sharp had horrible games last night!!!!
Does any one agree with me?
Kyle – I think mentioning their combined ONE shot in almost 44 minutes of ice time is a strong indication of where I stand on their performances last night.
Tab, are you with me that St. Louis is playing a style that is predicated upon pushing the envelope on interference and cross checks and if they can’t play that way they lose their effectiveness. Its sort of like a strategy in football that they can’t call holding on every play so you get away with it more often than not. Then we play into that strategy by being unable to convert on the power play to make them pay for it. I dont think St Louis is going far in the playoffs. I think Nashville’s better than them.
re: Pete – St. Louis reminds me of Boston last year, but younger. They do push the envelope, but it works for them because that’s their style. I wouldn’t say the failure on the power play is “playing into that strategy,” but it certainly doesn’t make them think twice about taking a cheap shot.
Do you think Nashville is better than St. Louis?
Also I thought Bolig won the fight with Reeves. It was close but I thought he got more shots in. It was the highlight of the game for us.
Tab: They do remind me somewhat of Boston…but they also remind me of the 2010 Hawks too. Scott Nichol was talking aboot taking huge pride in the penalty kill. That reminded me so much of Adam Burish back in 2010. He used to say that exact same thing too when Chicago was very dominant when shorthanded.
The best way to slow down a punishing team like the Blues is to convert on the PP.
If the Hawks scored 1 or 2 PP goals, the Blues would have been forced to lay off
the interference penalties, and play an honest game. We can’t score on the PP, so
teams can tee off on us. We looked afraid out there at times.
Tab- I was thinking more about their turnovers, bad plays and defense.
Everyone on this post makes excellent points and observations. As a retired referee, I notice 2 things about the Blues: 1. They finish their checks. 2. They play “through the whistle”. Which means they hit everything that moves, even after the play is over. Example: Kruger on the PK at our blue line clears the puck and gets leveled by a Blues player. Interference? Maybe. Finishing a check? Absolutely!
The ref’s know when it’s clean and when it’s dirty. They are ALL ex-players, believe me. They called a good game, last night. They allowed the Blues to “push it to the limit”, which is good hockey.
No matter what people think, this team has slowed down a bit from the Cup team. In 2010, we overwhelmed teams with our speed and size. Byfuglien, Ladd, Burish and Eager all had size, speed, youth and desire. We’re a little slower and a little smaller and teams are seeking us out and beating us up. We don’t need players to fight, we need players to hit and play with grit, determination and desire. So far, Mayers is the only guy I see who plays like that, but he is 36 years old, too.
What I don’t understand is Sami Lepisto. Why did this guy sit for over half of the year? He is a very good skater and a solid “D” man. Did you see that pass to Sharp in the slot? He see’s the ice very well, too. Maybe “Q” and Bowman don’t see the same things, I don’t know.
Let’s see what happens on Friday. The fact is, we’re getting down to the last few games, we need some consistency in our game and in the “win” column!!
As I was saying around the trade deadline, the Hawks are not equipped with either the size, heart or attitude to engage teams that are physical and that also posses some skill. Add a good goaltender (ex/Rinne and Halak are having good seasons), and we are not able to compete. Detroit and Ottowa are good teams to be sure, and the Hawks played them tight and admirably on the road, but they are not big and tough-minded physical teams like the Blues and Preds. Further, there is noone on the Hawks (other than Bollig, who I am growing to approeciate), willing to step up and defend teammates. When Backes went after Krueger in the 3rd (typical cowardly nonsense from him targeting a non-fighter), noone even looked willing to talk to the guy, let alone confront him or made another Blues player pay. Pathetic in my book. Agree that your PP must make them pay (which we’re unable to make work this year), but even so, I strongly believe this offseason we’re going to need to add some meat and attitude or the Hawks will get shoved around for years to come…
Pete,I’ll take Konroyd any day.Last night I I had to Listen to Darin Pang for the Blues!He is su7ch a homer!I don”t need an announcer to tell me how great one team is!I need an announcer to call the game without bias.
Darcy: I had to listen to St. Louis broadcasters too. Darren Pang is one of the worst. I muted them after that first goal.
@ Tom. Honest question is Clutching and Grabbing unofficially back in the game?
I wish we as fans could get an honest answer from the League. Too many times we see those interference calls called too inconsistently. I don’t care really if they bring it back as long as it doesn’t completely bog the game down, but I wish veryone was on the same page.
Anyone elses opinion is welcome as well
Logan,and the rest of those Bumkin’s
Ryan, no clutching and grabbing is NOT back in the game. I haven’t seen any against the Hawks, anyway. What I see is other teams pinning our guys against the boards so they can’t get to any open ice and skate. They also finsh their checks against us. We’re just not a physical team. We play well against the Red Wings and a few other teams because they are NOT physical teams.
San Jose is not considered a physical team, they are just cheap and dirty. We play well against them most of the time. Most teams have adjusted to us, now we have to adjust to them. That’s Bowman’s job in the off season.
The key for us against more physical teams is to get a lead and continue to skate. We get a 2 goal lead and we just go into “prevent defense”. We can’t do that. We need to keep moving our feet and back check.
Every team has a weakness. The Blues have a slow defense. They’re physical, but slow. Teams need to make them turn and skate and then beat them to the puck and set up in their zone. The Canucks? They’re fast, quick, physical and they can score. Their weakness is in the net.
The team to watch is the L.A. Kings. They have speed, size, quickness and goal tending. If they get into the playoffs they could go deep and do some damage. The same with the Coyotes. I just don’t think the Hawks have it, this year.
Tab, I posted that I was very happy to see the Hawks stick to their game strategy in the face of Ottawa’s physical approach to that game. I’ve never called for Q’s head on this blog.
IMO, last night the Blues looked like a team that will win the Western Conference. Their play style makes my blood boil when it’s against the Hawks (mostly b/c I kept waiting for the Hawks to push back, either with a big hit or a big goal). But that fast, physical style will win 7-game series.
Time to quit bitching and moaning about Q and the coaches ‘having the team ready to play’; what do some here think that they need Knute Rockne to come calling for the pre-game? C’mon…these guy’s are PROFESSIONALS (whether or not some nights they look like it or not) and it’s up to them as professionals to make themselves ready to play on any given night. I just don’t think they’re any better than maybe a 8th-10th best team in the league right now, if that.
And I don’t think it’s necessarily game plan or strategy either. I think they sorely miss 1-2 true and NHL-proven wingers (Ladd) who can work and win in the corners and in front of the net and a real puck-moving, creative blue-liner (Campbell) who can clear the zone consistently in transition and quarterback the PP and offensive zone.
I’ve got no problem with Konroyd; I think he does a nice job. I don’t need to be entertained or informed as I’m more watching the action. Plus, if this team had 90+ points right now nobody would be finding fault with Foley, Olczyk or Konroyd.
And quit bitching about the officiating; that’s as old as the hills.
Fellow Committed Indians, we’re just not that good; especially without JT.
Tom Jarenka: I disagree on the Canucks. Goaltending isn’t poor with Schneider. They now have a weakness elsewhere tho’. The trade for Pahlson stripped away scoring on third line. They really are more or less just a two line scoring team now.
As for Phoenix…good team but playoffs they seem to dry up on scoring. They just don’t have the guns to go deep.
Los Angeles…They are definitely the wild card.
Zebra Greg: Oh, I still found fault with Foley and Eddy-O back in 2010 but the winning made it ‘tolerable’. Now I just want them to shut the hell up and call the game. As someone here pointed out…I’m tired of Foley going off on some story while the action is going on. Call the game!!
Logan who are the announcers that don’t piss you off. It must be a pretty elite group huh?
Pete I am with you. Olczyk over Konroyd any day.
I don’t think Hawks fans realize just how good they have it with Foley and Olczyk. They are a great pair. In fact all the Foley hate in thread made me want to hurl. Doc Emrick and Pat Foley are hands down my 2 fav hockey play by play guys.
Foley rambles on way too much about silly stories while the game is going on. Hockey is not like baseball which is so boring you need those stories to keep people watching.
Ryan: Yes, I admit it is. There’s a handful i like. Pat Foley tho’ is an easy fix. Just stop the rambling stories and the stupid jokes and bam! He’s good again. Better than the guys in Boston…or Pittsburgh….or St. Louis…or HNIC Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Colour commentators…Bob Errey…worst of the worst.