Patrick Kane A Go For Game One
Patrick Kane was medically cleared on Monday, and after Tuesday’s practice the team indicated that the star forward will play in Game One of the Blackhawks first round series against the Nashville Predators.
Patrick Kane was medically cleared on Monday, and after Tuesday’s practice the team indicated that the star forward will play in Game One of the Blackhawks first round series against the Nashville Predators.
woot
Ok… so that puts that to rest… Let go Hawks! Is it wednesday night yet?
What I Want
20/19/81
29/80/88
10/91/65
11/16/86
What i think Q will do
20/19/81
23/91/88
29/80/10
11/16/65 (maybe TT in for 11 on home ice when Q can dictate his matchup)
I would like
29-19-81
86-91-88
20-80-10
11-16-65
But I’m sure it is going to be whatever coach pulls out of the hat.
80 appears to be out entirely, at least for game 1 based on the practice lines. I’m not sure 80 is worse than 91, 29, 23, 86 or 65 so surprising that he’s the one sitting out. Guessing Q won’t be shy with the hook if guys don’t perform (looking at you Bickell).
Tim I think you’re right on the “what Q will do” but with 80 out, does that move 65 back to the 3rd line center? If so the bottom two lines might be 29/65/10 and 11/16/86?
Meanwhile Nashville continues to embarrass themselves by throwing a toddler tantrum over Chicago fans getting into playoff games. If they want to shut up the hawks fans they could, you know, beat them. But clearly anthem changes and tickets-matching-credit-card-number schemes is the best way to go here…
Vermette sitting? saw a tweet he wasnt in the main line rushes… I know he hasnt been scoring, but why would he sit? hurt? Maybe just getting a maintance day prior to playoffs? Q sending a message but still gunna play him? Last i saw it was top line as usual 23/91/88, 29/65/10, 42/16/86…
Also Nordy over 11 is a little suprise…
Tab, you hearing anything on this?
Operation Dinner Out, is a go.
You just never know…….Q playing some head games with the Preds……and maybe his own players. Put the fear of Kane in them, and don’t worry about Vemette, he’s sitting…….then Q turns on the blender……No Kane, No Nordy, Shaw at wing, Vermette at center. Wow shear genius.
Seems KANE coming back is the “secret sauce” I believe it will have an immediate impact on Power Play but it will be short lived. Pred’s are BIG on the defensive end and Mr. Laviolette has said it’s open season when the puck drops, he hates the Hawks and so does Nashville. Laviolette is not one to let skaters dance, unlike the fluke goal in the Stanley Cup where if KIMMO TIMONEN takes KANE body and rubs him out instead of a lazy poke check who knows what would have happened?
Hawks with or without Kane are a dangerous team!
Go Hawks, hoping Kane stays healthy.
Genius Mike the Mook! If more defenders just took the body on Kane he could be completely negated by everyone! Never has it ever happened that a defender tried to take the body to get beaten badly by one of the most elusive super stars in the game.
P.S. Kimmo made the right play by forcing him to the outside, just so happens that Michael Leighton isn’t very good at goalie and Patrick Kane has a sneaky fast release.
Vermette sitting doesn’t make sense to me. I can only hope it’s gamesmanship.
Sitting Vermette is foolish. No, sorry, not foolish…stupid. Hope it’s not true.
Sure sounds like Vermette is out of the mix for game 1, hopefully this will light a fire under his ass for game 2. Sitting Vermette sure makes Bowman look foolish especially considering what they gave up to get him.
Guess what? Vermette sits. Versteeg is in? Versteeg must have compromising Coach Q photos. Only explanation I can think of. I know Vermette hasn’t been great since the trade but he’s had playoff success, he is responsible defensively, and is vg in the face off circle. Versteeg is a liability on the ice who plays with little effort.
I like Vermette, but fact is he has been hugely disappointing for Chicago. Either his game doesn’t fit the Q style, or he just doesn’t get what he has to do in this system. But it really has been awful.
Just a hunch but I think if Tuevo has a quiet game 1, he’s on the bench for game 2 and Vermette gets back in. Nordstrom has earned his spot with his contributions on the PK, Joel has used the forth line for PP and PK guys like Tuevo and Nordstrom.
AGREE…Vermette and Teivo have to play through the series. I’ve seen enough of Versteeg…he needs to find the press box.
I like the idea of Vermette and what he brings, but it seems to me that his compete level is not there. It doesn’t seem to me that he’s bought in at the level you need to win a cup.
Sitting Vermette is stunning. so a first round pick for a guy who can’t crack the top 12 forwards ? wow.
Put another way, wasn’t it just last June that all the analysts were raving about how strong the Kings were up the middle at center and that was a major reason why the Kings won the Cup and now Vermette is now(theoretically) Chicago’s #5 center to start this series.
SSHM- SB should be blamed for these “weakening” of the system by sending Picks for Trash… and for those who might reply- “80 helped the Hawks when Kane was out”…
Danault could have provided the same (Zero)…so SB gets 40 year old, and 80… Ironically, the only trade that seems to be doing his job is… 11
And- Q is going to sit 80… for years – some here have stated that Q/SB don’t get along…
This benching of 80, well it kinda makes me a believer of that.
I actually like the way 80 has played/passes/and has looked (just can’t score)… BUT the Hawks gave up too much for so little production/for rental- thus far…
Wall, SB gave Q what he needed down the stretch, 3 veterans and projected help up the middle. 80 has played better than 91 in my opinion. 11 has done a nice job and brought some physicality to the lineup. So its not just young players Q has a problem with, it seems to be anyone SB brings in, haha. I think the hawks can beat Nashville but only if the switch is in the ON position.
80 has done nothing since his arrival. 86 is faster, quicker, at least as defensively responsible and has the potential to score on a team that has been offensively challenged lately. I can see why Q would sit 80 and play 86.
Whatever 80 has done up the middle has been better than what 65 does there. Maybe he has a knock. That isn’t beyond the realm of possibilities. Especially since the playoffs and not wanting to give anything away there. He isn’t like Kane or Toews or Hossa where some explanation is needed for him to be out of the line up.
Another possibility is that Q is just loyal to a fault and wants to give Shaw first dibs on a bigger role. Not dissimilar to the first dozen and a half games this year where he insisted on not playing Kane with Richards.
Either way, Kane is back in the line up and that is really all that matters.
To be honest I wouldn’t mind seeing 23 on the bench and 29-80-65 on a line or something like that.
Whatever. Drinks at Swig in Wicker Park for the game for anyone in the city or burbs that wants to get rowdy.
I have not been thrilled with Vermette’s compete level either and he has struggled with the 200 ft. system since coming to Chicago. They moved him to wing to make things simpler for him and Bowman himself said Quenneville likes players with versatility. But he’s a pro, a long time veteran, so he’ll take this in stride.
It’s a giant jump to conclusions that Q and Bowman don’t get along because Vermette is scratched for Game 1. Conspiracy theory stuff. I am quite sure they discuss playoff line up decisions, particularly for Game 1. I think (but don’t know) the whole staff is a little disappointed Vermette hasn’t caught on / blended in as quick as they thought he would.
Vermette will get back in there, and if things go as we all hope, will play a key role deep into the playoffs. The time to judge those three trades is later, although I will say I’m never much in favor of giving up high draft choices for rentals. But again, that analysis is for later, and I see why the front office did what they did.
Remember that the trade for 80 was widely lauded on this site as the search for 2C has been going on since Sharp move to wing following the ’10 cup. Zeus did a passable impression in ’13, less so last year. The trade for 80 seemed to mirror the trade for Zeus before the ’13 cup run.
80 has been, without question, a disappointment. Makes me wonder why so many guys (80, Pirri, Leddy, others I’m not recalling I’m sure) struggle so mightily with the Hawks style but go on to/have been successful with other teams. Not that I want to rehash the Pirri carnival again but the kid couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat while here but pours in goals in Fla. Is the Hawks style really THAT much different? Or was the leash too short? Any thoughts?
Of course, had SB not made the trade for 80 we would probably be lamenting the fact that we still don’t have a solid 2C going into the playoffs.
I guess it’s a dilemma for Q as he likes defensively responsible forwards so you would think Vermette would be in over Versteeg, but with the Hawks struggling offensively he may think Versteeg turns it up when paired with Kane. Question is…… will Versteeg contribute to the offense and be an asset or continue to turn over the puck for odd man rushes and be a liability.
Haven’t played the first game yet, so let’s see how this works out with Vermette apparently sitting game 1. Q I believe is a pretty good match-ups guy. Whatever he puts out there is for reasons he feels will best help the team compete at a high level. Vermette knows he has not played well and has underachieved since coming over to the Hawks. As playoffs deepen I still believe he will find his game within Hawks system and be a solid contributor.
Special teams on Hawks can only improve from the depths they were at last week or so of the season. In tight playoffs that tends to be the difference that tips the scales one way or the other. 88 with 86 still seems on paper to present big problems to opposition PK. Do we see that next few games? I hope so.
Preds blogs strangely seem more concerned with Hawks fans, anthem issues, than the matchup.
As AJ and JS on another thread mentioned we will be at Swig 1469 N Milwaukee this evening for the game to root the boys on. Come on over and join us. Our record for Hawks road games has been pretty good there. Hope to keep it rolling tonight. I’ll be there around 6 or so with Shaw shirt on.
Lets Go Hawks!
I thought SB did well to land Vermette at the deadline. The guy through his career has been a good player, and the Hawks needed some help down the middle IMO. The Hawks are in the window where there is a legit shot to win a Cup. I thought the Timonen deal was much more of a gamble, since the guy had not played in so long and was pretty darn long in the tooth.
To Chevy’s remarks, I agree Zus was a good add in the 2013 run because he could still skate well enough to help on both ends of the ice. It was last year when he fell off the ledge from a speed standpoint and became a liability (see Rozy this year). I still think Vermette will give something positive, but talk is cheap before the puck drops.
Lets Go Hawks!
Vermette sitting has nothing to do with a rift between Bowman and Q, he’s the odd man out because the current matchup with the Preds lends itself to Versteeg and Nordstrom. 42 is in the lineup for one reason only, James Neal and the Preds top line. Q knows that if he shuts that line down the Hawks have a great shot as the rest of the Preds have struggled to score since the break. Nordstrom’s size, speed and tenacity with the body should neutralize Neal, Versteeg’s connection with Kane was magical from December through January. If these two moves do not pan out, then you will see both Vermette and Desjardins back in the lineup. These decisions simply reflect the Hawks coaches thoughts on the series. Q knows that the Hawks are in tough these playoffs and he is leaving nothing to chance.
For the Hawks to advance and go deep in these playoffs the Richards, Kane and Versteeg line will be the key…they MUST be plus skaters for one thing, and they must generate offence to take the pressure off the Toews line who will face every team’s best. If they can’t do this, Toews can be neutralized (see Kopitar), and then the Hawks 3rd D pairing becomes the central issue!
As for Bickell potentially sitting, he has arguably been the best Hawk forward over the last two post seasons! He stepped up his game over the last two weeks and appears ready to have another great post season!
I am thinking what AJ/Hof and Phil are about Vermette. Hes fine/going to be fine and like Bolly had a off 82 game yr he had some big plays that made a difference and helped in the playoffs. I see 80 doing this. He is a good player and it was a good trade to have another good center. Remember 36 didn’t play center because we were deep.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/sportsnet-stanley-cup-playoff-predictions/
It was interesting to see what the hockey experts in Canada had to say about who they thought would win the cup…
Lots of them said the Hawks would go far… Some even predict we will win the cup… AGAIN!
Go Hawks!
“Defensively responsible forwards who can skate” has been the backbone of the Quenneville system in Chicago. 7 straight years of playoff hockey and 2 Stanley Cup Championships…yet the idiot brigade wants to subliminally RIP Quenneville?!?
Q is amazing. Extremely stubborn. Trying to skate outside on ice pond in 80 degree weather b/c he says it’s the right thing to do. The Vermette situation is one thing; not playing Desjardins instead of Nordstrom is even worse based upon their play. There is no comparison b/w the two guys, a veteran, steady, gritty versatile player v. a young player w/ zero offensive skills; it’s not like Nordstrom is a +15 either, he is -5 in half the season that he played. No goals. Desjardins has made Teavo a better player, he is more of an offensive force w/ Desjardins on the ice. It was a perfect match for Teavo considering he is on the fourth line. Desjardins has the skillset and mindset to play w/ Teavo. More important, he gives Teavo breathing room out there, opposing players do not like to play against Desjardins. This is just a plain ignorant decision by Q. It weakens the team without question. There is not one valid point to be made in favor of playing Nordstrom instead of Desjardins. Bollig II, and we saw how that went last year.
Iceman, is set in stone for tonight’s game that Nordstrom skates instead of Desjardins? While I agree in game 1 I would rather see Desjardins than Nordstrom, lets see who skates tonight.
Lets Go Hawks!
^^The valid point is the coaching staff likes Nordstrom on the penalty kill. I too would like to see Desjardins in there, but there is a valid point.
The penalty kill has been below average, at best, since they traded Smith; Nordstrom took Smith’s spot on that unit. Granted, Smith’s even strength play offensive play was below par this year, but facts are facts — the PK has suffered significantly since he was traded. And the guy they traded him for has proven himself far and beyond a better all around player than Nordstrom; last I checked, Nordstrom is not Bolland, Frolik or even Handzus circa ’13 playoffs. It’s nice to see we will have eleven forwards dressed tonight, including Nordstrom. Thanks Q.
27 wasn’t in there for a wk or so of those after the trade deadline and that makes a difference as well. We have a 90% quality PK and at times it will be 97 and at times be 83. It took 20 or so games for 28 to get into the PK after having the constant 67, so I want to see 80 do the same once hes going. I am sure we will have 42/11/86 split games throughout and keep certain things when we have momentum. With having moar depth then last yr we can use it for match ups.
Only about 3 hours to puck drop – WOOT! Can’t wait … but I giess I’ll have to :)
Vermette eating popcorn and Timonen with a little over 8 mins in 3 periods. Well done Bowman. Well done. What a brilliant hockey mind you are.
Hope you’re on the Chiarelli bus soon.