Blackhawks Lose Jeremy Colliton’s NHL Coaching Debut
Game One of the Jeremy Colliton Era is now officially in the books.
And, 20 minutes in, Colliton may have felt like he had jumped into the deep end of the pool and needed a life raft.
Goals by Andrei Svechnikov, Jaccob Slavin (on a power play) and Phil Di Giuseppe handed Carolina a 3-0 lead in the first period. The Canes out-shot the Hawks 16-13 in the first and the team wearing the home red sweaters looked like a team that had been punched in the gut a couple days ago.
When Calvin de Haan scored 80 seconds into the second period to extend Carolina’s lead to four, the United Center faithful were understandably vocal with their displeasure.
Scott Darling looked good. Teuvo Teravainen had an assist on the de Haan goal. And nothing appeared to be any different for the Blackhawks than the team that hadn’t won in more than a week.
But as we have seen so many times in the past decade, Patrick Kane decided it was time for the offense to wake up.
Kane’s 12th of the year sparked a little life into the crowd.
Six minutes later, David Kampf cut the Carolina lead to two.
Brandon Saad picked up an assist on Kampf’s second of the year, a much needed point for the forward who has struggled since returning from Columbus.
The Hawks out-shot the Canes 14-10 in the second and were able to cut the lead in half.
Nick Schmaltz scored his second of the year at tree-turdy-tree into the third to make the score an uncomfortable 4-3.
Chicago hung around until Corey Crawford was pulled with just under two minutes left in regulation. With around 30 seconds left in regulation Jonathan Toews took a de Haan stick to the face; the stick got inside his visor and cut Chicago’s captain enough that he left the bench and headed to the room for additional medical attention with 20 seconds left in the game.
The clock ran out on the attemped comeback and the Chicago Blackhawks handed Scott Darling his first win of the 2018-19 season.
Self-inflicted mistakes were the back-breaker on Thursday night for the Blackhawks. The first half of the game was, to be kind, ugly. But the team rebounded and showed up over the final 35 minutes. Unfortunately, the hole they put themselves in was too deep to climb out.
Kane skated 27:43 and put three shots on net for the Blackhawks; he had five more shot attempts miss the mark. We’ll see how much Colliton skates him going forward, especially if the team struggles to score goals around him.
Marcus Kruger left the game early because of an injury, skating under seven minutes in the game. Andreas Martinsen was limited to 8:10 but he was credited with three important hits (note: sarcasm). And Chris Kunitz wasted 10:22 on the ice.
Corey Crawford stopped 30 of 34 in the game.
My God. Eric Gustafsson is bad. I harped on it last time I was here and Eddie O was showing the evidence this game.
The camera did a close up of Colliton’s face after the Canes made it 3-0 and he looked like he now realized how bad it is with this roster
I dont foresee any changes right now unless players go on IR. I think players will be assessed right now and Im betting Barry Smith will be the one handing the report cards back to Bowman as he’ll see the character that is in that dressing room.
Changing coaches didn’t change the Hawks d-zone sloppiness. Seabrook and Gustafsson were especially “offensive” in their d-zone ineptitude. Was there a good play made by any Hawk player in their d-zone tonight (other than CC who was outstanding when his teammates weren’t hanging him out to dry).
There were some positives in the other areas of the ice but Darling made some big saves and it just wasn’t enough to climb out of a 0-4 hole. I thought Colliton made some nice adjustments in the game, including playing Kane 27:43. I liked what he said in the post-game presser and I’m looking forward to see how the season moves along.
The coach is terrible, it was all his fault. Just like the prior coach who was dismissed. The general manager assembled a top flight group of forwards 1 thru 14 (well, at least 1 thru 5) that any coach off the street can win with. Not to mention the defenseman #44 who the GM couldn’t wait to re-sign. Next game, look for the GM’s summer gift to the former coach to play again, #23.
?????
This is a complete rebuild and expecting a different result with the same exact players is the definition of insanity.
Colliton will develop as a Coach over the next 65 games or so and he will learn who is with him going forward and who is useless.
Hard to believe Stan survived. We can only hope Other GMs are willing to overpay at the trading deadline and a few deals fall into his lap.
I wish I could have heard the conversation when Stan explained to hockey illiterate McDonut that this was a roster that should make the Cup playoffs.
Watched Entwistle play in ohl vs Russia game last night also. A big guy who can skate as he used his speed coming in to create a situation where he forced dman to take a penalty and was awarded a penalty shot. On the penalty shot he picked the corner with a wicked big league calibur wrist shot. He plays a strong defensive game already, although on rw last night has played alot of center and takes 20+ faceoffs a game and out for important ones is close 50% on them. Hard to believe he won’t step in and help next season unless injuries happen to slow his progress, looks nhl ready in alot of ways now, stepped up level of competition last night without an issue.
One game down with Colliton, bad and good as expected.
Well at least we should get a very high draft pick, maybe by then we’ll have someone new to make the call. I still think this Coach will be fine.
Apparently McDonough and Wirtz were under the impression ( maybe from what Stan told them?!) that coaches can score goals , play solid defense, block shots, pass the puck effectively, etc
Deers in the headlight – when are we going to let the youth play – Hayden, Highmore, Johnson, Sikura… by playing the same pilons night after night does anybody really expect a different result??
Here’s where Colliton can leave his mark- hell he’s coached these guys already in Rockford
In the defensive zone Gustafson is a giveaway machine…….my god. After the third giveaway I was sure that he would sit the bench for awhile, but he just took his regular shift. Let’s bring up Forsling and see how he looks.
When Collotin was talking to Saad and Schmaltz on the bench, Foley and Edzo made it sound like he was the next coming of Al Arbour, like NO other coach ever leaned over and spoke to a player before, give me a break!
Also, you heard Edzo say that he knows “exactly how Q feels”…….no he doesn’t!! Q is a 3 time Stanley Cup winning coach with the second best record in NHL history. Edzo was a first time coach with NO resume and no history to back it up. He was a HORRIBLE coach!! It was a gift to fire Edzo!! Q has a right to be upset AND confused as to why this happened!
Sorry, I will now go back to my regularly scheduled breakfast. Thank you.
Colliton’s name was NOT mentioned over the PA at the game last night. When they usually announce the starting lineup, it’s followed by stating the name of the coach of the Blackhawks. No such announcement for Colliton. People were waiting for it, and it was just bypassed. Clearly a move to avoid the fact that there would be a mixed response with plenty of boos.
As for the game, pretty awful first period, obviously. In the post-game Colliton said that every one of the things they did wrong could be easily corrected. That’s great optimism but, well, ….. sigh.
From where I sat at the game there were good things going on with the Blackhawks in terms of some better passing. They made it interesting. But they don’t look like a top flight team ready to break out into consistent winners. The defensive play is just not there. Looks like Crawford will continue to have the puck put on a tee without any help in front of the net.
Nice to hear on Entwistle… agreed from P Camp- kid had a heavy wrister
I really love Kurashev…. Nordgren’s numbers are suggesting – he has DCat instincts.
Barratt- putting up some nice numbers too…
All of the above mentioned – can replace Bottom 6 roster players as soon as tomorrow-imo
Hawks add– Top 6 2019 Forward– like Kakko or Kaliyev or???
+ sign UFA… could make playoffs next year…
BUT- this year- Common Stan/McD… who you Crappin????
Gus- Sucks in D zone!
Didn’t watch the first so missed a lot of the bad stuff-so it was nice to see the push back.
There was a lot of discussion about Crow being the difference maker-not enough for this group of players, and he will get worn down physically and especially mentally. Love Seabs but he must make any coach nervous at the point handling a pass-his foot speed in five years will be interesting as the NHL gets faster-lol
THIS is the number one contract of concern. (the other contracts had to be done-this one is very baffling and short-sighted.)
7 is too slow, 44 too bad and Gus too unpredictable–add in #6/7 guys in Manning and Davidson and it’s a big loud HELP! Thank God for 2 and 28
Very good article in The Athletic today about Hossa and his reflections about playing for Q.
Crow hung out to dry again last night. D zone has to get cleaned up. No excuse for giveaways and poor zone exit passing. Forwards have to help more. Seabrook made multiple terrible passes last night all over the ice. Age should not diminish passing ability. Mental laziness, lack of concentration imo.
Another game Hawks should win against a road weary Canes team. As fans we are going to have plenty of bad to go with the good with this team. Another game Hawks lost after having some extra days off.
Many empty seats again at UC last night.
Lets Go Hawks!
I always found it odd that when Campoli’s error gifted game 7 to the Canucks in 2011 he was gone, but when Gus (a much worse defender) did the same vs the Blows in 2016 we kept him. He should have been left on the curb then and there. Not only that, Stan doubled his salary for this year and signed him for 2 years! Who else would do that?
And what a haul Stanbo had last summer: Gus, Ruuta (I thought he might actually work out), Manning, Kunitz, Davidson (the latter being the best dollar value of the bunch). I’m going to tag them as the Five Guys.
How do our top guys stay motivated when the know that as soon as they come off the ice the keystone cops will be out there? It will be interesting to see – in particular Jonny who wears his heart on his sleeve more than Kane.
My prediction was 30-43-9, 69 points, and 29th overall, but I now feel that may have been too optimistic.
Honestly, I can’t wait to see Stan and his minions gone (and hopefully McD too).
Jordy, the reason that Stan signed Gustafson for another 2 years is simple, his offensive upside is tremendous. That pass to Kane in the Anaheim game for the “one timer” was incredible. You can’t teach that stuff, it is true instinct. Sharpy said it last night, you cannot teach a player to score goals and have offensive skills, that is a gift. But you can teach them how to defend.
The question is always, “does Gustafson have the heart AND willingness to defend”? That is what we will find out as this season goes on.
This season, as we move forward, is going to be a roller coaster ride of emotions and player evaluations.
As always, let’s see where this coach takes us.
Reg, I am aware that Gus can make the odd great pass to go along with the dozens of bad ones, turnovers, lost battles, bad pinches, poor gaps and the like that define his play and have since day 1. As for the question you pose, I think it was already answered years ago.
Gus– sadly isn’t getting better in D zone… getting WORSE!!!
Many guys in Rockford are truly smarter better D guys than Gus… But Gus is way better skater/quicker/ O side passing
Oilers looking for an offensive Dman, swap him for Pulijarvi who fell out of favor there, but who plays Gus’s minutes.
I wouldn’t base anything on this coach, this 60 games.
He should be fine/good, once the roster is more complete/full.
20-playoffs
21-deep roster from then on
I am all for letting Gus learn at this level for the rest of the season. His offense is huge, but I totally agree that his ability to give the puck up is incredibly annoying. I just went to a site https://www.foxsports.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks-team-stats?season=2018&category=DEFENSE&group=1&sort=11&time=0&pos=0&team=0&qual=0&sortOrder=0 that shows personal stats by category for players or team. According to it, after 15 games Gus has given the puck up 13 times, Schmaltz 12 and Keith 10 to lead the team. I wonder if they get their numbers from off-ice officials at the game, which I believe are supplied by the home team. I mean – come on – 13 in 15 games? Keith 10? Is there a more reliable site out there, or are the numbers tilted by the home team? This, by the way, can be argued by many of the stats for any of our d-men, who as a group probably couldn’t turn it over at a much higher rate. And many of the forwards have been doing it at an alarming rate too – DCat most recently. Our offensive zone coverage is horrendous.
I was trying to figure out if we changed from playing zone coverage to man-to-man early last night as everyone seemed to be chasing instead of reading in the d-zone. But It was so chaotic, I never got a clear definition of what they were attempting to do – emphasis on attempting. It did calm down a bit in the third, where some players could actually be seen in front of the net at times.
I haven’t liked the way our d-men have played in front of the net for years. The hands-off, stand to the side and throw a random stick check at the guy in front of Crow hasn’t proven very affective. I know. The rules have changed in the past 15-20 years. But we simply don’t engage or work for position as d-men. Tie someone up once in a while instead of just being a screen for our goalies. We are however very helpful at removing the puck from inside the net for Crow. Best be careful of flying stick fragments though!
No chance of playoffs unless we can score 5-6 per game for the rest of the season, The beginning of the season was entertaining, but this level of play is gonna be hard to watch every game.
Time to start having Ward earn some of his pay. Save Crow for next season. We need to have 3 or 4 dependable d-men before this season ends. Right now we have Joki getting valuable experience and succeeding, Seabrook getting slower but having some strong games, and Keith looking older and less interested in playing any form of defense, just pinching, watching and avoiding hits. I don’t think we have a pair that can be considered a top pair on any other team in the league right now. I hope the youngsters can stay healthy and get some physical and mental maturity in the minors, and then after Christmas lets start seeing what we have for the future. Get Forsling up as soon as he is healthy and in shape. He and Murphy need to play out the year in the NHL.
I wonder how long before Forsling is up (he’s injured now so it won’t be immediately)
To my eyes Davidson looks better than Rutta and when Murphy is back and Forsling up maybe we can Gus, Manning and Rutta either watching or in RKF or playing for another team
I don’t think Gus’s offence makes up for his defence – it’s shocking how regularly he turns the puck over – he must had 4 or 5 of the Hawks 11 giveaways himself last night
I think he only sees his teammates on the ice – he doesn’t see the other team’s players – how else to explain his consistent passing of the puck to the opposition unless he’s betting $ on the opposing team to win
When Murphy comes back I hope he has more solid play than he did last year. Coughed the puck up a lot and took some bad penalties. Part of the defensive woes last season and I think the organization was hoping for him to have an improved presence this year. I know that I, for one, am as well.
Seabrook has getting heat over the last two years or so but I really do think he wants to be as good as he can be. Also, during last night’s game they were showing the players on the big screen as the exited the locker room and were headed to the ice between the periods. It was Seabrook who was the guy in the hall pounding on each player and encouraging them to go out there and get after it, being the vocal rah-rah guy, trying to show some leadership. His play the last few games has been up and down but he’s been one to get down on the ice, block shots, etc.
The overall defensive lapses are killing this team’s chances of winning. I don’t think Forsling and Murphy are going to make a big impact there. I have hopes for Jokiharju as he develops long term. Gustafson has the offensive upside but everyone’s turnovers have to be diminished. Captain Obvious signing off.
Good news Boqvist not a scratch tonight
I listened to Gus interview; I recall him saying he gave away the puck in some championship game (not nhl) and he learned from it……I’ll say he learned from it alright he does it all the time!!!!!
Wrap, Forsling and Dahlstrom back in the lineup for Rocford tonight.
All these comments about the defense,well defense is a 5 man unit and if one player is not doing what he should then it messes up the whole system,unfortunately the D man are usually to blame as they are the last guy to defend..Nothing wrong with this defense as long as everyone on the 5 man unit is doing his job…
Defending as a 5 man unit is indeed a group effort but turning the puck over especially when there is little to no pressure is an individual mistake and while I don’t let forwards off the hook (for example a forward should have been picking up DeHaan when he cruised down from the point into the slot to score I think the 4th CAR goal) I think that last night both Gus and Rutta were guilty of multiple unforced turnovers
I get that the occasional one is going to happen with any D man or player but with them (and Manning) it’s happening consistently – again there are FWs making bad decisions as well and turning pucks over but no one with the stunning regularity of those three
Stan is a genius !
Get used to it Jeremy. You were hired in the hopes of saving Stan. This is Stan’s team and unfortunately you must bear the burden.