Blackhawks: Toews Regular Season Over
Coach Q: Toews will sit out for the remaining regular-season games but is expected to be “100 percent” for the playoffs. #Blackhawks
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 2, 2014
Comfortable with the three seed in the Central Division? Ready for Game One in Denver in two weeks?
No rush for him to return. Looks like they are shutting Tazer down to get healed and much needed rest. A good idea, and let’s hope he and 88 will be ready to roll in the 1st round. Bicks too.
Lets Go Hawks!!
It is what it is. Hopefully he and Kane will be 100% and if they are I like the Hawks chances regardless which team has home ice.
Just thought about playoff hockey and got butterflies. Regardless of who wins, Hawks vs Avs in the first round is going to be awesome hockey. Sharks vs Kings as well. Eastern conference is mostly a snoozefest for me, but I’m interested in watching the Flyers. They’ve actually been fun to watch lately.
cautiously optimistic
Who says we are locked into playing the Avs. Could Minnesota pass the Hawks? What if the Hawks lose out the rest of their regular season games? Everyone is assuming that they are locked into playing the Avs. I’m not so sure given all the people out with only 6 games left.
Tab !
you really trying to excommunicate me here? Have been black listed ever since you posted Qs video over top of one of my comments in the JT/Orpik thread
say it aint so
RyanDale
Pete- Minnesota would have to go at least 5-0-1 and the Hawks would have to lose out. Don’t see it happening. Hawks win in regulation tomorrow and their matchup is set.
Pete- If we win thurday, then MIN cant catch the 3 seed. if they win, they would still need to win out (all in regulation) and hope the hawks dont win a game… even this roster as is should win 1 game.
I think the 3 is about as much as a lock as possible.
I still like our chances vs COL assuming 19 and 88 are truely 100%. Even at 85% I think we can win 1 series (now that Duchene is out too), but it wont last much longer than that, unless Crow channels his inner Jacques Plante…
I don’t have a problem with playing Colorado even if they have home ice. Duchene is out in the first round. They are vulnerable. Even with the Hawks having so many key players out I have to think they win at least one game and or the Wild lose a game. The Wild do play some very good teams, but those teams may be coasting towards the playoffs i.e Boston, Pitt and St. Louis. It would be great if the Hawks played well without their stars in these last 6 games and then added Kane and Toews 100% and rested for the playoffs. The Hawks would be very dangerous even in the very unlikely event they are an 8 seed.
There’s a 10 point difference, Pete.
Welcome back, RD. I fully anticipate my posts stopping one day and it not being an accident.
Pete- worst they can finish is 7th. Dallas and Phoenix can’t pass them.
JS, this is unrelated to this discussion, but since you’ve been enjoying the (fun to watch lately) Flyers, a hypothetical – if Brooks Oprick delivered that very same *clean hit* to Claude Giroux (instead of Toews), what sort of (re)action do you believe Claude’s team mates would have taken? I’m just curious.
Win the next game, secure the spot, rest some players….especially in the away games.
Dickie- they would have lost their minds and killed someone on the ice, most likely. Their temperment has worked really well in the playoffs over the past 5 years.
…yeah, but fun to watch?
Tab, thank you. JS- keep your eyes up!
JS- Are you really Dan Bernstein? You sure sound like him. Next I assume you will be talking about how only SMART PEOPLE!!! should watch the game. Anyway, you are at least his parrot…and a total goober. If you had watched or played hockey before april 2010, you would understand where a lot of fans are coming from in calling for retribution.
Hawks will win enough games in final 6 (and Minny will lose a few), so I figure 3rd spot is close to a lock as possible. That said, even if 19/88/29 return to form, if CC continues to let in easy goals (like the 1st 2 against PIT), this team is too fragile/burnt/beatup to get through COL. The KEY to regaining momentum in the playoffs will be Crawford returning to his 2013 SC form and giving the team a lift and some confidence. I do not care about his save %, etc- it’s the easy one’s that deflate a team. If Crow can stand up strong and stay away from the softies, we have a good chance to get to rnd #2. Just sayin…
I like the take Negzz.
Obviously Crawford sucks. They could never win a Cup with him. Only one shutout over 23 playoff games last year was super deflating. What are they going to do!?
Woohoo! Stephen Johns just signed 2 year contract with the Blackhawks!
A goalie crapping the bed would doom pretty much any team in the playoffs – CC and Hawks are no different. If you had to choose between Varlemov and Rask – which would you choose? Assuming you made the right choice, recall Game#4 where Boston put 5 past Crawford, with at least three of those high glove side and what many would say were not good goals to give up. He ended the game with a .848 save percentage. The Hawks put 6 past Rask and won the game. Just sayin.
No ER! Crawford is the ONLY GOALIE EVER to let in a soft goal! Rask didn’t let in 6 that game, you are imagining it.
Dickie, I thought we were burying that conversation! I like the way Philly plays hockey. They are an entertaining team that plays a pretty fast paced game and they battle hard. They also consistently implode during the playoffs because they are mentally weak. Doesn’t mean they aren’t fun to watch.
Gus- I wish I was Dan Bernstein. He makes a lot more money than I do. How long I’ve been watching hockey is irrelevant, but I can tell you my first sports memory was crying as the Hawks lost the Cup to the Pens. Sorry I think points are more important than retribution! I’ll just sit in a corner with the Hawks coaches and we’ll talk about different ways we deal with our monthly cramps, since we are obviously women and not manly enough for a sport like hockey.
@ER: Seriously? So you’re taking the “any goalie could crap the bed” approach? Fine, here’s the deal- I liked the fact that CC came back from a back breaking post season in 2011-12 vs. Phoenix and delivered in ’13. I gave him his props and thought he was a serious CS candidate. But if the choice were provided to every GM in the league to have either Rask or CC as your goalie moving forward, our guy would be #2 on that list. Varlemov will be given the oppty to address that same question this year..
JS – I didn’t get the burial memo….
It’s not a strictly A or B choice — the Hawks could retaliate AND be “mentally strong”, that is play their game – team defense in three zones/transition/possession.,,,and you can add “battle hard” to that.
Oh, and btw- the Hawks outshot the B’s 47-33 in that game and CC let in 2 goals on 8 shots in the 3rd period.. Just sayin…
Hey boys……let’s not jump off the ledge!! JS……man, I am an old school “an eye for an eye” guy……..”let’s take ’em down with fists if not on the scoreboard” guy. 5 years ago I am screaming for someone to just drop Brooks Orpik or cheap shot Sidney Crosby.
However, I have to agree with you on this one. It was a clean hit on a player who had his head down and was not expecting that type of ferocity.
The Hawks did the right thing. Put it in the holster for next time. Detroit waited a year in ’98 to get Claude Lemieux after he almost de-faced Chris Draper. This is not over.
I am upset that this is what the NHL has come to. Orpik won’t fight anyone. He proved it against Boston. The league protects players like him, now. My belief is that players have lost respect for each other. It’s too bad, but that’s what it looks like to me.
Jesus Dickie, just read what the coaches said. They thought winning was more important than some silly retribution for a clean body check. This conversation is getting ridiculous. It was 4 days ago and the coaches have said they liked the teams response. That is all that needs to be said. The blood hungry eye for an eye people just need to get over it.
I like the way Philly plays hockey (note, this meant actually hockey. Not the fighting and all that other hoopla). I also think it’s hilarious when they get knocked out because they lose their minds at the drop of a hat.
Reg Dunlop- thanks! But do you think someone should be forced to fight while playing within the rules? Seems silly to me. Hockey is the only sport that has this “they hurt us, now we hurt them!” mentality.
If the NHL wants to rid of the cheap shots, they need to punish harder, simple as that. How Douglas Murray isn’t being suspended more than 5 games for the elbow he gave Kostka just blows my mind.
In that game we scored 6 goals on Rask, we really never should have had to score the 5th or 6th goal. Only because of a crazy bounce over the top of the net and right to their guys stick.
@Negzz – I probably didn’t phrase it right because you missed my point entirely. My point was that even though the opposing goalie was better than our guy last year, the Hawks still won AND the guy we faced last year is better than the guy we’re going to face this year. Regarding the 47 shots against – yes, precisely. The Hawks often outshoot their opponent and they often win because of it, even when the opposing goalie would be considered better than Crawford.
JS, that’s why I think it should be 40/80/160 games for the real dirty stuff. I know that’s a lot of games but like you said it needs to be more or it wont stop. Make it full pay but your out for those games, etc. Someone shouldn’t have to get killed for the league to get the suspensions to be for the right amount of games… Then all players are playing within the rules.
I’d say escalating without pay, and punish the team. 5 games for first offense, 10 for next, 20 for next, 40 for next. To punish the team (aka preventing the Sabers from sending out John Scott to punch Kessel), take away the roster spot for the amount of suspended games. Murray getting less than 5 games for trying to kill Kostka is just dumb.
Yea, in that ‘etc.’ I want teams to not have roster spot, cant use that cap space, It really needs to punish the team too so teams wont want these guys & if it wont ever stop then at least make them pay the price buy hurting the team (and maybe a team fine for any/all suspensions). Its way too easy to get away with stuff.
When the guy sits for 40 games & is hurting his team, then it will limit it. I think that’s the only way to stop it and if they still do it… 40 games and team punishment.
I want everything, revenge on that/those guys (maybe another time/game for that), those people & team punished properly, keep playing clean to try to get 2pts, the league having the punishment set right, a whole bunch of things. I feel like everyone else, just want justice & revenge, when the time is right. I do not like to see anyone get hurt, but that’s dreaming.
Someone should hip check Orpik right in his knees
JS……..I agree……..a player who hits hard, but within the rules should not have to fight to protect himself. You’re exactly correct. But in another hockey life, star players were left to be stars and there were “unwritten rules” that protected them. If Orpik wants to hit Ben Smith like that, I’m okay with it. Hitting a star player like that would have been “taboo” 20 years ago.
That being said, I’m okay with Orpik’s hit on Toews. Hell, I wish he played “D” on the HAwks!!
Maybe, just maybe, this is all a blessing. Q can rest Toews and Kaner and STILL get Tueravainen, Carey and Regin some needed ice time in case they are needed in the playoffs. Toews and Kaner have logged a ton of ice in the last two years…….let’s rest ’em up and go 10-6 in the playoffs. Then we can forget about the hit on Toews until next year.
Reg – you probably meant 16-6 in the playoffs. 10-6 would have the Hawks losing in the WCF.
Reg, Deytoit waited a year to payback Claude Lemieux because that was the next time he was on the ice playing the Wings.
JS, maybe the coaches claim they like the players’ response because it sounds more palatable than comments that may have included “heartless”, “gutless”, “bunch of pussies” (- Joe Mcgrath, Charleston Chiefs), “the ONLY team in the NHL to do nothing”, etc.? You know – putting a “good spin” on what might possibly be judged a horseshit situation.
There seems to be an obsession with “clean hit” (and “head down” – like it we should blame Toews) – again, if Oprick hit Giroux, Bergeron, or a St.Louis Blue caught in a vulnerable position with obvious intent to injury, who seriously believes any of those organ-EYE-zations would “turn the other cheek”? Jesus, maybe the Hawks should’ve cleaned Orpik’s condo and detailed his car…or at least sent him a case of Cristal…
Raptor…….you’re 100% correct. I’ve had wayyy too many concussions……LOL.
I agree with comments about stiffer penalties for not just the player but the team as well and maybe some of the cowards who like hurting other players more than playing hockey are gone. NHL isn’t the only sport which has an eye for an eye. MLB does have a code as well.
A lot of people claim “you can’t just turn it on in the playoffs” and you have to go into the playoffs playing well. A lot of people also claim that TT won’t be able to contribute much this year and the Hawks can’t repeat because its so hard to repeat in today’s NHL. However, IF Toews, Kane etc are rested and 100% and some other younger players like TT get more ice time, maybe the chances of repeating improve no matter where they are seeded in the playoffs and who they play. Personally, I’d rather see the Hawks rested, eager and on a losing streak going into the playoffs if the only alternative was winning, beat up and exhausted. Remember when they lost to Vancouver in the first round in 2011 after being pushed to the limit to make the playoffs. Its obviously speculation, but I always felt that if they had a couple more days off before the start of the playoffs they would have won that series. So this will be interesting to challenge the mantra of accepted norms in sports.
There is no correlation between how you are playing at the end of the season and your success in the playoffs. So I’m with you, Pete. Get in, be healthy, win games.
Reg- I think in another hockey life, stars weren’t hit because they were far and away better than anyone on the ice. Konroyd said on the radio yesterday, “every time I was on the ice with 99 I would try to hit him, but he was so aware it was impossible.” Something like that, at least. With the improvements of hockey athletes, you’re starting to see the skill gap narrow. The 200 point seasons don’t exist anymore because the average player is worlds better than they used to be.
Dickie- Keep fighting the good fight man.
Offpoint here, but… I love how so many people like to state that they were a Hawks fan during the bad years when the UC was empty. And then they make their post…
Does that make you more knowledgeable about hockey? Or do you think it validates your point because you wasted your money on a crappy losing team when others wouldn’t?
If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say that, I’d be able to buy 2 season tickets in the Private Bank seats. (And then I’d act like I know more about hockey because I sit front row). Most people don’t know sh*t about hockey in Illinois anyways, but I will say it is great to see fans of all ages and creeds excited about hockey. And shame on the people that think they are “entitled” because they were fans before the bandwagoners became fans.
Cheers,
FAN SINCE 20ten!!
JS, “stars weren’t hit because they were far and away better than anyone on the ice.” – isn’t this true of any era? That’s what makes them “stars”… No doubt Gretzky had exceptional awareness and Konroyd was no doubt to inept to hit him at times, but there is no denying Semenko and McSorley and McClelland and whoever played that role in a given season had a significant impact in The Great One not being abused. Remember, there is “clean” hitting and there is recklessly attempting to injure.
Oh, and “Thank You.”, regarding “the good fight”….I respect your point of view as well.
JS, “no correlation between how you are playing at the end of the season and your success in the playoffs” – this is interesting. I don’t have the inclination or time to research this – maybe someone here who likes looking at stats will? It does seem that teams that enter the playoffs on a roll do better than those who “back-in” on the last day…? Didn’t LA finish strong and roll-thru a couple of years ago?
I’m with you and Pete — Get in, be healthy, win games!!
http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2014/3/31/5558250/end-of-the-season
Hope Tab doesn’t yell at me for linking another blog, but that’s a good read for the discussion. Basically, cold teams have won, hot teams have won, average teams have won.
JS, thanks for the info.
Are we really surprised by the lack of response from the blackhawks on the Orpik hit? Or by the fake tough guy actions of that guy? Hawks haven’t had a guy willing to stand up for anyone since eager/burish and orpik does this stuff all the time. Remember when Shawn Thornton mugged him? Hawks response was soft, but expected. Orpik’s hit was borderline, but expected. No news here.
as i have said at least three times on this site John Toews will have a short career simply because he is not mean or tough enough to protect himself why should anyone have to protect him , hes a big boy let him fight his own battles one stick across the bridge of the nose of one of the a holes would do wonders in lengthening johns career