Blackhawks Fall 2-1, Face Elimination On Sunday
After Saturday night’s game, Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat talked about not being frustrated. The Chicago Blackhawks fought hard against a deeper Vegas team but came up short, again. This time, the Blackhawks managed just one goal – and lost by one.
Are there positives the Blackhawks can take away from Game Three? Maybe. DeBrincat was clearly committed to getting the puck on net and it showed; he was credited with a team-high eight shots on net in 17:32. As a team, the Blackhawks out-shot the Golden Knights in the game.
But Marc-Andre Fleury, getting the start in place of Robin Lehner, looked like the Cup-winning netminder Pittsburgh fans loved for so many years. Yes, he allowed a soft goal to Olli Maatta in the third period, but the rest of the night belonged to Fleury. He was terrific, stopping 26 of 27.
Corey Crawford held up his end of the bargain. He made 24 saves and came up big a few times to keep his team in the game.
But the offense just couldn’t find the holes in Vegas’ defense and finish.
So where did the Hawks fall short?
Surprise! The power play left a lot to be desired. Again. After complaining about not getting enough advantages in the first two games (rightfully), Chicago had four opportunities to score with an extra skater on Saturday. They failed on all four.
Three of those power plays came in the first period (the third carrying over into the second). Reilly Smith went to the box less than four minutes into the game and again with 19 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Chicago couldn’t convert.
The other issue is one we’ve seen throughout these playoffs, but will hopefully be a footnote at the end of strong career. Adam Boqvist got pushed around and struggled again on Saturday, perhaps the most obvious issue came on Vegas’ second (and, ultimately, the game-winning) goal.
The kid has a lot of skill and a ton of potential, but he’s getting it handed to him by Vegas in this series. He was a scratch for Game Two. These are hard lessons, but good ones for a young player the organization is high on.
Kirby Dach did not lead all Blackhawks forwards in ice time in this one. But his 19:43 on the ice was 17 seconds more than Toews got. Dach put four shots on net, blocked one shot and was credited with two hits in another good performance.
For as much as Boqvist has looked like a young rookie, Dach continues to impress.
Chicago is building a strong list of needed improvements for the general manager to consider when the offseason begins, and most of them are up front. When Alex Nylander fails to put a shot on net in 10 minutes and Matthew Highmore is limited to less than six minutes on the ice, your depth becomes an obvious handicap.
Game Four – a potential elimination game for the Blackhawks – is on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks have shown a great deal of grit and determination in this series, but they’re fighting an uphill battle against a better, deeper team. Chicago will look to extend the series to at least a fifth game with continued pressure and hopefully a few more fortunate bounces of the puck.
They’re due for some puck luck
Obviously they’re over matched but one win would go a long way with the young guys
That’s the best we can hope for at this point
The shorty right off the bat was a killer – chasing the game again – not one second have the Hawks lead in this series – if they have any chance on Sunday they have to score first
On Sunday maybe DCat will score and all those pucks that have been hitting posts will bounce in – for as hard as they’ve tried they deserve one win
Crawford w some outstanding saves to keep the game close. Solid effort in the 3rd period.
Good point by Tab — Highmore playing a handful of minutes and Nylander being worthless, might as well dress Kurashev who has a high end offensive skillet and Hagel who isn’t a sissy like Nylander.
Lastly, of the 16 playoff head coaches, which of the other 15 teams would trade their coach for Colliton?
Thank you and good evening.
Well it has been entertaining.
This team has some talent.
Some pieces need to be moved out and better pieces brought in.
Only this time it needs to be done successfully, not ineptly like we have seen in the recent past.
Once that is done, it needs to be coached successfully, not ineptly like we have seen in the recent past.
Both points above have to start with changes to…….well by now we all know the individuals in mgmt that need changing.
Side bar: Did anyone else catch Doc Emerick and Edzo openly question some of the Four Feathers coaching decisions in game 3?
If Boqvist is going to play, Colliton must let him free lance. If his upside is an Erik Karlsson type player, then forcing him to learn to play more defensive, as a 19-year-old in the playoffs is counterproductive.
When it’s over, I was told tonight that Strome better not ask for much more than his qualifying offer.
There was nothing else more than that. So I do not know any more than that. I merely asked about Stromes upcoming contract and the way he has played in the playoffs. It did not sound like he is a key piece of the future.
There is a lot to parse in this game if you want to do that. Yes, Boqvist was brutal on the second goal and Keith was brutal on the shorty. But if you give up two goals per game, you will win a lot of games. It is interesting that a couple other sites have questioned the benching of Boqvist on Thursday. It was not punishment but you have to try your best to win and he has not been an asset. Nobody is mad at him, but there will be plenty of time for him to “grow” later. Dach has grown immensely. What percentage of the time is he coming out of the board battles with the puck? It’s hard to know but it is more than average. He looks poised to the max. Now he needs to go on a goal scoring binge that “opens the floodgates” because it appears they will open at some point.
If you had to choose one thing to attribute this loss to, it would be that the money boys either hit posts or shot it in to the goalie when they had great opportunities. Commenting on DeBrincat is futile. Some day he will start clicking again, but not today. I texted my neighbor and said, “DeBrincat will never score again.” That often breaks the curse but didn’t work tonight.
The PP let the Hawks down. That won’t shock anybody.
They played hard and didn’t give up and this game could have gone either way. But in 50 – 50 games the better team usually wins, especially when the goal scorers for the mediocre team don’t convert. Crawford was stellar. So was Fleury.
I understand playing Nylander only 10 minutes. It’s probably 10 more than he should play. Do not know what Highmore did to only merit 6. He plays hard. Yes, he makes some mistakes but so does Keith, Toews, Kane, Saad etc. Did Saad play tonight? Goodness. Kubi was dangerous a time or two, but mostly invisible.
Where are the announcers located? Is it really that dangerous to let them in the arena? Test them every day if you have to but please let them in. The delays and getting the numbers wrong is annoying. Doc is having a really hard time wherever he is.
I liked the play of DeBrincat,Dach,Kane,and even Strome at times.The glaring problem for this game and series is that the 1st Line of Toews,Saad,and Kubalik provided nothing.They were not dangerous and had no sustained offensive zone time.At the end of the game for empty net time they were benched.No timeout to get them on the ice and their play deserved it.The goofy start to the game by double shifting Kane and sitting Highmore for half of the period was dumb.Boqvist does not belong on the ice.He is being rag dolled and manhandled all over.This is doing him no good.He needs to be bigger and stronger on his skates and at least be able to protect himself.I know I sound like a broken record but I will throw it out there again-GET KURASHEV and HAGEL on the ice.Put Carllson back out there in place of Boqvist.Crawford looked much sharper tonight but unfortunately this team needed him and Toews to be superhuman to steal a couple of these games and it did not happen.
Final Game of the playoff lines-1st-Toews,Kane,DeBrincat. 2nd-Dach,Kubalik,Strome. 3rd-Kurashev,Saad,Caggiula. 4th-Kamph,Hagel,Carpenter. D Pairings-Keith-DeHaan Koekkoek-Maata Murphy-Carllson. Goalie-Crawford.
Boqvist will always be questionable defensively and not always make the best decisions, he will improve and become a very good offensive defenseman as he becomes more comforrable, however long that takes he will get there. That should be a difference Mitchell brings is the way he thinks the game, may not have as high a ceiling talent wise, but his learning curve will less painful to watch.
Interesting take on Strome there Craig, as his QO would only be less than 1m. If they have others they are high on and feel are ready for center behind Dach and Toews then likely they do play hardball with him.
Knew that Vegas was very tough team going in, the players are competing hard and hanging in. When pk has as many goals in the series as the pp and allowed 1 less, that’s not good. With Kampf having more goals 1, than 88, 19 and 12 combined pretty hard to win any games against a team like Vegas. Baffled after the 2nd half of season and play in series against Oilers that Kubalik had, more isn’t being done in this series to try and take advantage of his hot hand. Win one tomorrow.
Craig I don’t know how you allow Boqvist to play free when his partner is already doing that. Who protects the back end – Crow? One of them needs to be around the back end some of the time. Unfortunately we don’t have a FIXER for either when they are paired together. Seabrook was always the FIXER for Keith. Keith doesn’t want the role – and Boqvist is clearly incapable right now.
It’s a bad pairing. Has been all year. Keith -2. Boqvist -1 for the night. Adjust the pairing to put each with someone who can stay home for Crow.
We need a kid capable of learning to play defense. Don’t know what will happen with 27, but right now defense isn’t his strong suit. I hope his confidence is, because for now he is really out of place, and not looking better.
Silent spot w a great point. Keith & Boqvist together was is and will remain disjointed. It’s a forced pairing. Recipe for disaster. This is a coaching decision, has been all season.
Keith played far better the last game (#2) w Dr Haan. D men have to compliment each other. Bowman advertised Boqvist as the real deal, a difference maker, transcendent player. So far, I call complete, utter bs on that.
Difference makers? How about back in the day Doug Wilson from Jrs to NHL on a dime. Keith Brown, not an offensive force, but same thing, straight to the NHL, reliable D man from day one for many years.
How about recently — McAvoy from Boston straight from college to NHL, into the playoffs no less. Makar from Colorado, same thing. Difference makers from day one. Top 2 D men. Will be for decade plus barring injury. The kid from Vancouver as well. Studs.
Let’s hope Ian Mitchell is the real deal, bc Boqvist either A) sucks bc he sucks, or B) sucks bc of who the coach is. Either way, this is on Bowman. Let’s see a real, professional coach handle Boqvist and hope the answer is B.
I can see that Boqvist has a decent set of hands but I still have not seen this elite skating ability.For his 1st couple of years he is going to have to be paired with a strong stay at home partner.With Mitchell,Kalynuk,Carllson,and Beaudin in camp this year maybe he will be pushed and not gifted a spot in the top 6.The winning trend is having a heavy and physical team.As skilled and fast as Colorado is they still have 3 large d men and some big forwards.As was pointed out on the broadcast tonight,Vegas has 12 players over 6 FT and 200 Lbs.The Hawks have 4.In a 7 game series you won’t survive playing the role of the little train that could.Not only are we the youngest team but we are the softest left in the playoffs.
Havnt seen much of these games based on people here and the scores every game since first game which was what 2-1 in 3rd was a one goal game throughout. That is decent/good for us with a 3/4 full roster agasint a top 5 teamd that has a full roster. This is exactly what we wanted agasint EDM and still get a top 10 pick.
Like winning to much in 2nd 40 games of the 19 season and we ended up in 12th pick we got rewarded with the 3rd pick. Now with winning EDM we were 9/10th pick we get rewarded by other teams picking different players not mocked to go 6-12 so we can get the same player we want at 16th.
Tim W-good point on the first line-20, and 19 didn’t do much. Toews looked very tired all night (out of gas). I mentioned he has a key role each night and even when you don’t notice him he doing the ‘tough’ things but where was the line from the first series-it’s vanished and I watched 8, the best you can on TV, and he looked like a rookie in over his head but he is 24.
Bottom line Vegas a tough team to play against.Good experience about what it takes to win in the playoffs.
Noonan – to your last point hopefully last night was an indication that DCat is starting to see what it takes in the playoffs
He had a lot of chances (finally) so maybe the dam will burst for him today
Strome is playing better as well but to Craig’s point I can’t see the Hawks offering him much (in dollars or term) especially in this flat cap world
Noonan, Kubalik is not going to play a power type game, he can tolerate the physical part but his bread and butter is finding room in the slot. He did at times but 20 and 19 weren’t getting the puck to him or by the time they did Vegas’s defense closed on him and negated his shot. That was why i stated earlier with the hot hand he has had in late season and against Oilers that more wasn’t done to try and get him going this series. Vegas obviously focusing on that line with their big shutdown pair out against them continually.
TimW, Keith and Seabrook were already in league a few years, well on their way to becoming a top pair in the league when 19, 81 and 88 and rest of forward were ready. Didn’t have a number of low years to reset the defense first with this group and developing skilled defensemencan be a slow process. With Regula and Vlassic coming in another year or 2, there should be some decent size available on blueline to maybe help top pairings, plus there is Gilbert, possibly Moberg who was a pleasant surpise in his development this year who can add some bottom end size. Wouldn’t be a bad thing if 1st pick this year, which seems destined now to be 16th or 17th, they add a Dylan Holladay type player, with speed, size and plays a power forward type game.
A valiant effort on Saturday, but Vegas is a top 5-7 team in the NHL and are, simply put, superior talent and depth wise. The differences between these two teams on defense is stark. Boqvist has no business being on this roster right now. He is horrendous defensively and I don’t really care that he’s only 19 years old. Sure looks to me to be yet another error by Bowman.
If this team is to take the next step then Colliton needs to go. But he’s not going to be replaced. Danny is going to rubber stamp Bowman’s faith it this strange and non credible international style hockey play of a coach. Sucks.
Hawks are in the crosshairs in the offseason. Salary cap issues, talent level still not close to where it needs to be in order to be a legitimate playoff contender next season and seismic decisions to make at goalie. All the while Toews, Kane and Keith tack on another year to the age column. Yeah, I have skepticism right now and where we go. At a minimum Bowman needs to be shot into the sun if he doesn’t get rid of Nylander and Strome.
Focusing on each and every little thing is important but without perspective, the big picture can be obscured or misdiagnosed. It’s premature to give a postmortem before the patient has passed, but so far through 3 games against Vegas I see many positive signs that bode well for the big picture going forward.
Can’t wait for the puck to drop tonight and hopefully it will still be premature for an obit to be written.
The Hawks did well but it didn’t change the result because the Hawks in not a playoff team yet.
Maybe the Hawks should try Hagel and Kurashev for the Game 4 and play them again in their last game next Tuesday . That would give the kids some nice opportunity to really feel the playoff games
Hopefully the Hawks will make a trade to move back in the top 10 in the next draft
I also think that Strome will be trade before the next season start.
Nylander should be move also because he can’t contribute enough,he is trying but maybe he will never be the player he was supposed to be .NHL is not a small league to play .let see iff Colliton will try 1 or 2 kids for this afternoon game.
Last night was one of the best team efforts of the playoffs. The shortie hurt badly – we have played from behind the entire series. Dcat was really good, too bad he couldn’t get one past Fleury who looked terrific. Dcat had a play late in the game where he skated his ass off although he was not going to win the race but then delivered a hard hit on Theodore. I mention this only because a play like this is very rare from Hawk forwards. Vegas had great structure to lock the game down over the last 10 minutes. Lots of questions for the future but if we could give that kind of effort most nights it would be very positive.
You can sum it all up in four words: “close but no cigar”. The scores may be close but the truth is we were never really in it. No complaints with the boys effort; this is a roster problem, with a sub-standard coach to boot.
Ian Mitchell will not be the saviour. Top 4 potential for sure, but he is not a Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar level talent.
Dach is the biggest reason I am still watching. His foundation is so good (maybe we should hire Saskatoon’s coach). How many times does he do something good on defence and then end up getting involved on the ensuing offence. Whoever questioned his skating was nuts – he gets redline to redline in about three strides and at speed too. Too bad it’s still going to take a few years to get a team around him.
The Hammer trade really sticks out in these playoffs. We need that reliable, shot blocking, physical D-man. Not to mention a center or winger who can hold the puck in the offensive zone. If you watch Boston – players like Kuraly, Coyle, Nordstrom (former Hawk) – they’re hard on the forecheck but have enough skill to keep the puck in their zone and make the opposing D work. Conversely, nothing scares opposing D-men with our forwards. Hawks can’t seem to keep the puck in their zone and (or) are easily outworked. That limits the smaller players like Kane or DCat who are dangerous when the puck stays in the offensive zone.
ER, yea good to go over things and fun to usually. Need to take a bunch of steps back/zoom out when looking at the mid/long term big picture and who we have coming and who we need to add by the time were really ready. Thats when it matters building for that.
We donot have the luxury to develop the group of Defense before the FW come this time. Its the FW that will be ready to roll once the Defense is deep again/goalie. Thats fine theres no set pattern for that just get to the finnish line before 19 88 are 40. Thats important to me.
This way the FW will be in there prim yrs once the Defense is really ready.
2010, good thought and wasnt thinking that because no team will trade the 3 4 5 6 7 pick but to trade up to 10 11 12 from 16 can be done and that way we still get our guy there same as getting him at 9/10. Good thought.
In two games Keith is minus 6 lets call like lt is, isn’t all on Boqvist
Lazerus has an article in TheAthletic where he writes “I just don’t understand the vitriol so many fans seem to be directing at this team during this series: the hate, the snark, the bizarre twist on schadenfreude in which they seem to be reveling in their own misery.” Ain’t that the truth. Some personality types are more negative than others – it’s just the way it is.
One of the more frustrating aspects of the negative perspective is how rigid it can be. People (players, coaches, GM’s) can change and learn and improve but too often the perceived reputation is locked in amber with no possibility of reassessment. It’s another casualty of lazy and shallow absolutism – just pigeon hole a player and then never have to think anymore about it. Again, it’s just the way it is.
Noonan/MS/Jordy, well its where were at roster wise for the younger players. This might be big for the development for them to see what it takes just to play and win. Then next time see what it takes to win like we did in 2009. That yr was the first time we had a full roster the yrs before that we were like now 1/2 to 3/4 full.
Besides full we want HHNL quiality deep. To do that we are drafting good and getting good players from euro. Now make adjustments to certain players and add those elite ufas when the space is there when caphits are all reset. Then in 3 yrs the salary cap will go up again. So the timing of that looks good.
Be nice to see more help/more complete roster for 77 now but might be a good thing to see him get good like 2 7 10 did then once the team is deep look out/tram wise.
Lest I don’t practice what I preach – I submit this edit from my previous post:
People (players, coaches, GM’s) can change and learn and improve but too often the perceived reputation is locked in amber with no possibility of reassessment.
Should have been:
People (players, coaches, GM’s) can change and learn and improve but too often the perceived reputation is locked in amber with very little possibility of reassessment.
:=)
I struggle to understand why there is so much negativity on here over Boqvist. He is still a kid learning to play defence in the NHL…not many d men come into this league at 19 and adapt right away. Tons of examples of guys that took 2-3 years to learn.
To say he will never be strong defensively is just ridiculous to me as he hasn’t had a chance to learn yet
Chuckie, i guess i shoulda said defense won’t be the strongest part of Boqvist’s game. Certainly he can be a capable finesse defenseman but as you see his style is a gambler and that will not likely change. So some times his gambles will fail and look like bad decisions, and limit his ability have good positioning. When gets more comfortable with Nhl style of play his skills should still make him a very good offensive defenseman.
Mixed feelings about this game. I like that they have been playing hard during these playoffs. Better than what I saw from my seat during many abysmal home efforts throughout the regular season at the UC. Also frustrating to see them play just good enough and just poorly enough to lose.
I’d like Colliton gone but that’s just my broken record. More realistic is the question of if the Nylander grace period moves on. The question has been raised that Nylander = Stalberg (sp?). I would say Stalberg offered a little more.
It would appear that Boqvist has been getting schooled by Brian Campbell from what I can tell. Hopefully that will pay off down the road because Campbell was a steady player and I’m hoping that a combination of regular season play and teaching will help him. Don’t know who is working with Dach, but that guy has a great motor, great tools, and shows confidence that seems to be growing.
I want to see them fight like hell in game four. I wish I had a better feeling about the whole bunch that will be moving the chess pieces going forward.
Hi Chuckie …the Hawks have traded away about 5 young d men in the past 3 years .
Boqvist will be the next to be let go for a bag of pucks and an over paid has been.
Chicago does a piss poor job of nurturing and developing ALL young players who require it .
Some posters here say the N.H.L is not a development league….When you are in rebuild mode like the Hawks are you have to develop !
Not saying BoQ is a hybrid or rover position but to have someone who is that skilled on Defense is a difference maker as he can do things most Defensemen cant. Now he has to deveop into a good Defensemen to get to that point otherwise. Thats why I like him because he can if he becomes a good Defensemen at Defense.
Another thing is and I havnt seen every period so I am not sure but BoQ is 19 a yr early for his draft yr and on any playoff team he should be 3rd pair and sitting the pine like Leddy did when its that time of the game. They got him out there learning on the fly because we donot have to pair Defensemen right now. We do have 6 NHL quality Defensemen which we didnt last 2-.2.5 rys but thats what I mean.
Unless your trading players I wait until the 200 game mark to be and were not playing a 6-16 playoff team this is prob the top 4/5 team right now because league is watered down. When league gets back to having a normal amount of real top 5 teams like it did from 2007-2015 yea then VEG is prob your 9-12 kind of team. But they are build to play that style team game so you have to be better or as deep to beat them.
SJ was better then them and not as deep. They are good because they are deep. And with league watered down right now those kind of teams stand out. Its why PIT WAS STL didnt win/couldnt compete per say from 2010-2015 thats how good the top 5 teams were then CHI LA BOS ANA STL. I mean STL was pron 5th best team but they couldnt win then they gave LA CHI a wicked 7 games and every yr who ever played SL didnt win that yr (LA and CHI) but won on the yrs they didnt play STL.
Those yrs WAS PIT other were top 6-10 teams. Then watered down those teams statr winning. Now virus salary cap you see VEG emerge and others who are deep where top 6 elite is getting doubled teamed because they are not deep. That could bold well for COL next 3 yrs.
Then the league get back to having 5 real top 5 teams again and rosters are quality deep and we see the good hockey we did with LA/CHI.
I see us winning game 4 and maybe game 5 as VEG hasnt lost a game yet. The start time sometimes makes a difference with.
77 is going to be a monster by the time the roster is deep again. 200 gmaes for these 17 old draft players.
We have had the lead for exactly ZERO minutes in this series. If on the off chance we do get the lead today, let’s see how long we can hold it for (not long would be my bet). The only way I can see us winning is either CC stands on his head (and he’s not at his best) or we stay close and get a winner late or in OT (in other words steal it).
I’m not knocking our boys – the effort is mostly there – but we don’t have the size, talent, or coaching to compete against a solid team built for the grind. That said, if we do somehow manage to win today it will be a nice reward for them and a bit of a positive to take into the off-season.
Reality check. A GM that can’t balance a check book every year. Long term high priced contracts ! Evaluate talent sucks. Makes piks & trades m away. So you have a young team stay young! Crow Seabrook Keith Toews Buy out with trade and dump m ! Capt cry baby got saad to replace Hossa cuz cry baby sucked 2 years straight and now saad nothing and that was huge mistake !!! If you want Lehner he’d be there cuz knights can’t carry 2 huge salary and if you clear the others you now the extra cap space gives u options ! And Cry baby u can get u 2 guys ! Send him home to Jets ?
Hmm. I’m hearing some of the “veteran” posters sound like they would be thrilled if Boqvist could up his defense to the high bar previous set by Gustafson. Unfortunately, Gus skated much better than 27, was more physical than 27, recovered better, and was able to run a power play some/most of the time. Yet, this is the difference maker we hope to get out of 27 when fully developed.
Wow.
Kid needs some time where he can grow physically and mentally. That has not been in the NHL, simply based off of this current season. Take the pressure off of him and let him reset his career in the AHL, where he can compete and learn without costing us games. And, hopefully he grows into the next Gus, and then actually becomes competent at defense too.
We need a higher bar for our prospects.
Lol, Vegas had never scored less than 4 goals a game in round robin and this series. Don’t think when you lose 2-1 the defense is where the blame should be when targeting what cost the game, pretty sure alot mistakes were made by alot of players. Anybody expecting Boqvist to be physical presence must have just started watching. Give him time the comments of not belonging will go away just as the ones that Dach shouldn’t be in Nhl this year have.
Dach is going to be one helluva hockey player.
36 will be a genuine pain in the rear to play against if the coaching staff realizes his potential.
Murphy will make nobody forget Hjarms.
The 92 flying hair machine makes everyone wish Jokiharu was still a Hawks blueliner..
Just observations of what is on the ice now.
They are not dead yet, but the Undertaker gong is sounding.
Next year, with better mgmt, this team will be fun to watch.
Ebony – spot-on!!
Silent Spot – Yes, Boqvist today isn’t better than Gus, at least not yet, but we sure expect that he will be eventually.
So many people slamming Colliton, yet the defensive issues today are the same ones the Hawks had for the last few Quenneville years, and the PP has improved. Remember that EVERY coach in the NHL was a rookie & 2nd year coach at some point.
Even if they lose today we will have seen good effort for 8 games we didn’t expect several months ago. Enjoy it!!
Go Hawks
I can’t defend or rationalize Boqvist. He is appallingly bad on defense. And I fail to see any physical-ness that’s going to develop. So his calling card is that he “skates well”?!? I guess the next year will tell and I should pump the brakes on the harsh critique.
It’d not Boq’s fault he was called up when injuries to DeHaan and Seabrook left the Hawks short handed and then Gus was traded
He was probably forced into the line up a little early but it’s way too early to give any definitive prognostication on how he’ll be as an NHL D man once he physically matures
I still like what I see regarding his potential but also wouldn’t be disappointed or concerned if he didn’t dress for today’s game – he’s over matched physically right now that’s obvious
He’s still only 19 playing a very physically demanding position – IMO he’ll be more than fine as time goes on
Thats the thing and should rememebr Tervainen being ‘small’ and getting knocked over with 5 mph wind that yr he was 18/19/20. He turned out ok.
Unc Bill,
Re Colliton:
It is not just us bozos on this board questioning his competence
Doc Emerick and Edzo questioned his moves in game 3, and Keith Jones just did it about his team defense after 1 period of game 4.
When bozos and experts both agree on the same thing, it must have some validity.
WOW
…after 1 period Crawford made 20 save …2-1 Hawks with 8 shotsOn goal against Lenner.
I love that Young team and such a good and nice experience for them to get that feeling. I can imagine some of those young guys excited to be there and probably not realizing yet the impact it can have on their future.
Crawford.
Crawford.
Crawford.
My wife asked how come the Hawks keep bumping into one another playing defense?
I told her they are taught to do that.
She did not understand.
Yesssss…nice Game from the Crow
Who knows ….maybe Crawford can blank Vegas next game but for now let’s celebrate a bit for That teamwork .
Almost a 100 shot attempts. 96. 32 blocked. And Crawford credits D. Lol. Omg. Congrats to a one man show CRAWFORD Knights looked like they were on a pwr play the 3 entire 3rd period.
To think that there’s was anything positive in that shooting gallery outside Crawford is just plan ridiculous. I’m watching just wondering when it would get tied and was thinking how much worse it could get when they would pull the goalie. Thank u Crawford and u are the player of the game.
Easy Slammer.
Just enjoy the win.
They don’t get many nowadays.
We all know their team defense is in the crapper and Crawford stole one.
Enjoy it man.
Changes are a’comin.
Don’t EVER HEAR any NHL HIGHLIGHT NEWS on Hjammer since being traded except that he is HURT… Must be another HOF’r…. Blocking shots by standind still and opponents use him as screen.. sometimes they miss scoring a goal and hit him…
Dump on 19 year old Bovquist dman and keep playing 37 year old toad Keith… What is he now in playoffs …. MINUS 8?
Wonder why Hawks rot on PP… Look who is on blueline…Plays whole game NOT to get hit…. Never engages.. real first class hack… Lucky career on Hawks and not Ottawa… Otherwise you guys wouldda never heard of him.
GO HAWKS !