Red Wings Embarrass Blackhawks in Detroit
With the NHL trade deadline now fully in the rearview mirror, the Blackhawks needed to settle in for an important stretch of games. Two games in Detroit followed by three games against Nashville represent the (relatively) easiest series of games left on the schedule for the Blackhawks.
If Chicago wants a piece of the playoffs, they need to do damage over the next eight days. And they started their quest against a Detroit team that made one of the biggest trades at the deadline, acquiring Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik from Washington in a package for Anthony Mantha.
The Hawks were without Adam Boqvist and Calvin de Haan, both of whom were out because of injuries. Nikita Zadorov and Ian Mitchell returned to the lineup in their places, both with something to prove if they want to stick in the NHL lineup.
The opening 20 minutes weren’t great for the Blackhawks, but they escaped with a one-goal lead. At 14:47 into the first, Duncan Keith put his goal scorer skates on and rifled a shot home for his third of the season.
Other than Keith’s goal the first period was pretty flat from Chicago. The Hawks were credited with three shots on net in the entire first period; they limited Detroit to seven shots but the offense wasn’t consistent at all for the Hawks.
When you show up flat, even the worst teams in the league can hang around and make things more interesting than they should be able to late in games. The Blackhawks have not been good enough over the past six weeks to show up flat, and Detroit has been playing better hockey recently.
So it wasn’t a surprise when the Red Wings tied the game at one. Troy Stecher scored his second goal of the season at 4:49 into the second to bring Detroit back to even.
Chicago stayed flat and Detroit continued working harder. Vrana came out of the penalty box and found himself all alone accepting an easy exit pass. He gave the Red Wings the lead at 8:55 into the second period. Kevin Lankinen was under fire and was not getting much (any) help.
At 11:15 into the second, Stecher scored his second of the game to give Detroit a two-goal lead. Keith was falling over Lankinen and Wyatt Kalynuk had a good view of the pass being accepted wide open on the doorstep. Overall sloppy play was killing the Hawks.
This was the first multi-goal game in the career of Stecher, and the first multi-goal game from a Detroit defenseman since October of 2018.
Remember the other night when the wheels felt like they were falling off and Jeremy Colliton called his timeout to tell the team to get their act together? No impact speech happened in this one.
The Blackhawks desperately needed some emotion or momentum but it wasn’t happening. Late in the second period the Red Wings took a penalty for too many men on the ice but the Hawks fell into their pass-happy “attack” that produced nothing. Colliton tried rolling out a five-forward lineup for a power play and it didn’t help/change anything.
Chicago had three power plays in the second period and got nothing from any of them.
Lankinen gave up an ugly goal to start the period. Then lack of communication and concentration cost the Hawks a second goal – and a third. When the horn finally sounded ending the second period, Chicago was looking up at a two-goal deficit against a team they have to beat if they want to be in the postseason. Detroit had an 18-14 shot advantage after two penalties.
When we got a television timeout in the middle of the third period, Detroit had a 7-3 shot advantage. The Red Wings were completely clowning the Hawks, skating circles around them for extended periods of time in the Hawks’ defensive zone. When Colliton threw his lines in the blender to find a spark, Patrick Kane found… Philipp Kurashev as his center.
If there was one team on the ice that was fighting for a playoff spot, one would have thought it was the Red Wings.
Michael Rasmussen added a fourth Detroit goal with 87 seconds left in regulation.
There was zero sense of urgency from the Blackhawks, and the coaching staff did little to spark a change. Emotion was lacking, execution wasn’t existent and the Red Wings happily took the two points.
Making matters worse, Nashville lost. The Blackhawks could have closed the gap but they failed to even get off the bus in Detroit.
FLAT!!! Overconfident for some reason?? I don’t get it.
They played poorly, but it really hurt when Lankinen gave up the softest goal he has given up all season. The PP was abysmal. If you are tormenting the other team and their goalie is great, that’s one thing. These PPs did not resemble that and the constant perimeter passing was really, really annoying – and ineffective.
Dach is young and is surely not in complete game shape yet, but at some point he needs to score on these golden opportunities or we are going to have to hang the “no finish” on him. It is not time yet, but he had a chance to score some big goals that could have changed things and drew iron with one and the side of the net with another. They weren’t necessarily easy, but a top notch player in the NHL needs to convert at least one of them.
Ever since ER lambasted Keith, Keith has been scoring some goals. Start lambasting Dach, ER. We need some big ones from him.
This performance tonight was completely uninspiring. When turning off the set after the empty netter, you just kind of felt like shrugging and saying “They got what they deserved and they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.” You know what Jim Mora would say.
Perspective: The Hawks were “gifted “ a playoff birth in August and had a fantastic series win over McDavid, Dreisital and Edmonton before being thumped out of the playoffs by Vegas.
We wound up with Lucas Reichel in the draft instead of Askarov(the goalie). At this time it appears to be working out fine for the Hawks.
This year, the Hawks won’t be so lucky with the playoffs. Nashville or Dallas will nab the 4th spot. However, the Hawks will pick in the top 15 in the draft. We are going to get a fabulous prospect. Add to that more draft picks added at the trade deadline and suddenly things look pretty optimistic. Win. Win.
This game was just bad. Bad line combos, bad PP Units, bad FO%, I’ll even say bad coaching. Debrincat, Dach, and Strome had 0 SOG…ZERO!!! Kane had 1 SOG. Kubalik led the offense with 4 SOG. That’s just pathetic. These are the big guns. They were SHUT DOWN ENTIRELY!!! The PP? What PP? The team got bigger, through trades, and didn’t clog the net. As for the PP…no defensemen in the beginning then 2. Why? Detroit was having great luck paying attention to the clock and making the Blackhawks pay for not paying attention. The last game started flat and Colliton had to fire them up by using a Time Out. He tried the same thing tonight. No bueno, coach. I’m not upset with the defense. I’m not upset with Lankinen. He had one bad goal. The offense was entirely absent in all facets of the game. Your best FO guys were Kampf and Kurshev. Dach, Strome, and Suter were just pathetic. Maybe the team should start Hardman. This team was better when they didn’t think they were. They played hard and worre teams down. Now? Now they think their better than they are and have stopped doing the little things to get it done. Hagel can’t do it all. Even he has been kind of average. Perhaps some kids, on offense, need to have a seat. I just don’t know who. I thought that the Debrincat-Dach-Strome line would be better. Maybe Hinostroza at Center and Suter at RW with Kubalik at LW. This was just a tough tough game. Line combinations are the question.
Lastly, I need to eat some crow. Boqvist was missed out there. Yep.
Next game.
I would like the Hawks to sneak into the top 10, still. Not sure it’s possible given the remaining schedule, but picking top 10 each round is a huge Win Win.
Glad someone other than me and a couple of others missed Boquist – could have used him 5 on 5 and on the PP
Uninspiring someone before me said it – that’s the truth
This unfortunately was the game from the Hawks that I was expecting – they’ll be better next game although that’s a low bar to get over and it may not be enough to win – let’s hope it is
Another year wasted.
It’s the first year of the rebuilding and really happy to see the kids having good games and I expect them to have bad game also and that was the case tonight.
So far we had a better year then I was expecting
Yes Boqvist was miss today and I would like to see Beaudin replace Mitchell for next game .
Next season will be the second year (Rebuilding) and a few other rookies will be available . It will be another interesting year .
Iff Vegas loose in the second round of playoff then we will have 2 nice pick in second round. And 2 more in fourth round. ( Vancouver)
Morrison will be very happy with so many picks. ;)
Watching tonights game it appears that Detroit is the team heading in the right direction and playing a harder game by winning board battles,controlling the puck,and blocking shots. Besides the Keith Goal in the 1st which of those other 2 Shots on Goal were your favorite? Yes 2. They got horsed in the circle by a large margin,turned the puck over like Pez Dispensers,and regularly lost board battles. Which one of the 9 Hits that the Hawks laid out were your favorite? Other than that How did you like the play Mrs Lincoln? Dach,Debrincat,Strome,Kane= 1 SHOT ON GOAL FOR THE GAME???? Think about that for a moment. Kamph,s stick is where Offense goes to DIE. Dachs game better start showing improvement soon or maybe a pulse. I am waiting for that elite skating of his that I heard about. He looks slow and tired to me as he reaches with his sticks and leans his way up and down the ice. The entire Defense was scrambly and weak. And to cap it off in the post game ZOOMER,Colliton,Keith,and Strome felt that the Hawks played a good game with lots of effort. WOW! Tonight is as bad as you can get for this team. Well maybe Saturday could give it a run form its money.
UGLY!
Someone done took the ugly stick to that game. Mercy!
How many games has it been since Kane scored a non-empty net goal?
The Blackhawks are like a bad house league team that is only as good as its top 3 players: Kane, DeBrincat and Lankinen. Fortunately, it has a brilliant coaching that plays the hell out of them and can squeeze out a few cosmetic wins.
As I said before, watch out for Dallas to take the 4th playoff spot.
Big chance missed to gain 2 on the Preds. I guess it’s easy game to play from behind our keyboards and be mistake free. Hopefully better results Saturday and next week against Preds, see what where they are then.
The Hawks looked like a team that came in expecting to win. The team didn’t come mentally ready to play and the game result reflected it. As a great sports philosopher once said, the game is 90% mental, the other half is physical. This team needs to come ready to play every night, it doesn’t have enough talent to win otherwise, and when they don’t come mentally ready, a klunker like this one will be the result.
Would love to see Kane play more in the middle of the ice instead of being trapped on the boards. And force feeding him the puck on the pp when he has two defenders on him is getting old.
Detroit is playing with a bit of a chip on their shoulder lately and showing some energy and having fun-not much pressure–sounds like the Hawks of a month or two ago.
Saying this is a waste of a year is pretty pessimistic. Who from the young D will be good enough to be in the top 4, who might be a 5 or 6? And where are they going to find a number 1 like a Hedman or a Weber? Size and skill.
And will Lankinen be more like a Crawford, Raanta or Passmore in the NHL? They need to get better and hopefully are moving in the right direction.
Hawks are an embarrassment. After a great first half, they do what the Hawks do….fall apart. Such a joke.
This was the worst game of the year for the Blackhawks. In fact, I had to turn after they went down 3-1. There was no fight in the team. To me, it really showed that deHaan and Boqvist are really important pieces to this defense.
Ratings:
Entire Team (4)
re: “Another year wasted.”
If your position is honestly that this has been a wasted season, we honestly can’t help you.
In December, the Blackhawks were projected to be a top-3 lottery team. There was little hope for the playoffs WITH Toews & Dach. When they went down, there was no hope.
The 2021 season’s entire purpose was to be a learning curve year. Yes, it sucks that they’re effectively burning a year of 2 & 88 in the process, but the Blackhawks wanted/needed to evaluate what they had and start turning over the roster to younger players. Bowman rented veterans for the purpose of using them to add assets at the deadline and did precisely that.
This Blackhawks team has outperformed expectations by a lot this season. And I think we should all be comfortable that there are pieces in the organization that can help them return to success sooner than later. And Bowman added pieces over the past couple weeks that should help them into the future.
That being said, it does suck when the team shows they could be a playoff team and then the wheels fall off. And a big part of said falling apart is on the coaching staff.
Lankinen had a solid year and makes goaltender position look set for next season, other options in preseason, Lehner slowed by injuries looks to be no. 2 in Vegas right now although either him or Fleury will have a short leash on no. 1 the rest of the year. Matt Murray who Bowman made an offer too, hasn’t had a very good year at all and quite likely could be exposed in draft. Crawford of course retired, so hardly a wasted year. Debrincat has taken the next step and become a ingrained part of the future core, Dach coming back from injury and should be a force next season now. Lots of promise from Suter, Kurashev and Hagel development in the forward group and Kubalik showing again this year he can be very good top 6 or 9 player. Boqvist showing good progression this year and the other youngsters Kalynuk, Mitchell and Beaudin showing lots of potential in their rookie campaigns. Long way from wasted year. Still holes to fill but a good compete level and work ethic shown this year for a team playing with depleted, raw roster this season. Is there room to improve, obviously, but that is just taking the steps of this process.
this is not a playoff team and should not be looked at as a playoff team. for the hawks to be just a competitive team they have to bring a total team effort every night, have the pp clicking, and have the keeper on top of his game. it just isn’t realistic to expect that to happen every night. and that is the effort needed to compete with detroit, much less the real teams in the league. tab summed up the season pretty well. a lot better than we expected and most of us feeling better at this time of the season than we thought we would.
a lot of young guys……. young in terms of little experience and not physically mature. it will be fun to see which players grow into solid nhl players when their bodies have developed and they have 150/200 games under their belts. nice to see the growth this year in the 200 foot game of kane, de brincat, and kubalik. i believe this is the best kane has ever played defensively. good start to the rebuild, but a lot of work to be done. likely a year from september half of this roster will turn over. looking forward to continued progress.
those of you upset or angry what about the play of the team in the last month or so should look in the mirror and ask the question….. what were you expecting in january?
While I agree that the Hawks have exceeded expectations I disagree that that they have shown this year that they could be a playoff team
This is the time of year when if a team could be a playoff team it shows it not at the start of the year when you can take teams by surprise or catch them napping a bit
How many games have the Hawks played a 60 solid minutes and won a game and not because either their PP was hot or their goaltending was great – I’m going to go with zero
That’s not a playoff team – the real playoff push IMO started with those two games at home vs NSH a couple of weeks ago – that was when they could have shown that they could be a playoff team but didn’t and since then they been sinking in the standings
It’s very possible for this team to continue to exceed expectations and still not be a playoff team – making the playoffs shouldn’t be the measure of their season – development and asset acquirement should be and if they’ve exceeded expectations in those areas then I think it’s hard to blame the coaching staff or management for not making the playoffs – the reality simply is that they’re not good enough yet
ya da ya da . . . Lankinen looks tired as he’s had a long stretch of starts. As mentioned good teams (Wings not one of them) will go back door on him, let him drift out of position and wait. Wings did it about seven times last night. Lankinen likes to cut the angle which is great but he tends to drift out too early and often drift out of postion, even going post to post he seldom holds the post.
Was the season a waste? Just about . . .not making the playoffs AGAIN in a shortened season in Chicago is not acceptable. YIKESSSS all ya gotta be is like 4 or 5 games above 500 . . . talk about average. All this blog chatter about who’s who and BO-Quit and draft choices is rather meaningless until THEY GET INTO THE PLAYOFFS, bars are full of chumps talking sports and smack on players, but until a NBA Guard or MLB Shortstop or NFL corner back is toe to toe, in the playoffs, under pressure, vs great team, playing for everything, often in a seven game set, THEN and only THEN do I ever try to really access a players true skill set and value. This was like the AHL this year, so all bets are off on those young dudes some of us are / where so high on.
Most of the young guys got off to a good start early, sneaked up on teams, looked pretty good early and have definitely totally leveled off. Not one of them except Hagel is guaranteed to be on the Hawks next year.
BUT Lankinen is the one true bright spot. Played pretty good, not exceptional but with a average defense in front of him he had a respectable year, consistent effort every night. But our defense upon closer inspection has not cost him many goals or games. Last nights “end of penalty kill” is an exception..
Brandon Hagel is the next bright spot. Keep him sign him.
Dominik Kubalik + Cat have had exceptional years.
Neurology more likely than not will NOT be back next year IMO – it looks like to me it’s similar to Bryan Bickell struggles. Fatigue, weakness, nervous system, neurological issues. complex stuff, Hence the wall of sience from the Black Hawks. I would be shocked to see him back. Season tickets sales foe next year a full season, would be hurt if they gave us chumps a clue as to what’s going down.
Dach was a bright spot but just because he returned to the ice nothing else. He still looks very tentative and is beginning to mimic Kane’s floating, pausing with puck, drifting, reach, lots of perimeter play NOT GOOD! Dach needs to get stronger and faster and tuffer and drive to the net and be much more physical. From day one on Dach, I have never seen a forward go down so easily, watch him, spends a lot of time on his butt, my dad calls it light on his skates. He gets rubbed off the puck easily, and for his size and apparent skill set he’s gotta get much more physical. LOOK at what CAT has become, he is the MVP, just for his defense and fore check and psychical play. If Dach played with that intensity he’d have 30 goals easy. You get what you earn and work for.
Go Hawks
The play over the last 6 weeks has confirmed where this team stands. It is not a playoff team and there are several gaping holes. I posted recently that the 3 big positives this year are Lankinen, Hagel and the growth of Dcat. I also believe Boquist will be a top 4 d-man. That leaves many more question marks. The team must improve from a size and grit perspective. While Suter has been good, our forward group is way too small so I don’t see him in the mix long-term. I also don’t believe that Boquist, Mitchell and Beaudin will ever play together for an extended period. They are similar types of players and a successful d-group has to be able to handle a more physical style particularly in the playoffs. The question will be who goes and when is the right time to maximize value. The d group as a whole needs major upgrade. This will likely take a few years and i question whether the team will compete for a playoff spot during that time. Perhaps we can sign a couple of defenseman similar to the Janmark signing that could steady things a bit until we can sign a top free agent like Jones or Werenski. For the forward group I believe there is more to work with, we have a decent amount of skill but again need to find several more players that can make us tougher to play against. So while I believe that progress has been made this year it is clear to me that we are still early in the rebuild process.
If these guys don’t want to bring their lunch pails, let’s find guys who do. Play Gaudette, play Hardman. While we are obviously still trying to make the playoffs, the key thing remains identifying guys who want to earn jobs with us for the years to come so there shouldn’t be any hesitation about getting as many guys as possible into games.
The sky is falling!
We suck (again)!
Fire everyone!
Being negative is fun because it’s easy. It’s much easier to tear down than build up.
Nice bright sunny spring day today.
Go Hawks.
MS, very good post.
MS– 2nd the good post
positives-
keep losing (and moving up the Draft order)
Lank /Hagel/Suter– drafted Reichel- who WILL be very good
Borgstrom trade– Kid has filthy hands- Highlights – shows good edge work
Don’t know speed or IQ or work ethic
This still is a very soft team that does not play well on the walls,does not finish plays, does not exhibit any puck control whatsoever and plays a man to man system that they are physically incapable of playing. Sorry guys but there is a lot wrong here and it’s not trending in the right direction. I see this glass as definitely half empty. I believe the best course of action is to bring in a new coaching staff and continue to search and work on a top 2 D pairing along with a top Center.
Most of the comments I read here stem from unrealized expectations.
We expected the Blackhawks to suck this year. When they started better than expected there was praise. ‘Colliton for Coach of the Year!’
Then we expected them to continue overachieving. When they fell back to reality there was acrimony.
Some expect Boqvist to be the next Brian Campbell. When he doesn’t meet that standard he gets ripped. Fair? Not fair? I don’t know. I don’t care.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
I still don’t like Bowman or Colliton. That is my prerogative. I have not changed my opinion when they had flash in the pan moments. But, I did give them credit when they deserved it, although that doesn’t mean I dislike them any less. We all have our likes and dislikes. I don’t care to argue with anyone about mine or theirs.
que sera, sera
Agree WIJG. All the bitching and moaning is misplaced, IMO. This team was not supposed to be a payoff team this year, and they won’t be. Speaking of expectations, I don’t expect that we will be ready to compete with the top tier teams – Tampa, Colorado, Vegas, and their ilk – for another few years. Now, that could change with a choice free agent or two and with the maturing of our youth, but it will be tough. No mater what, this season has been a great incubation for the kids. And make no mistake, we have a bright future with the talent we currently have in-house.
I don’t give a fancy f#@* if we lose to Detroit or anyone else from here on out this year. Rebuilds are painful. Take two Tylenol and call me in the morning.
I remain bullish on the future of this team – definitely a glass half full perspective
There’s still lots of work to be done as many have accurately said but we’re discovering some pieces that project to be here when the Hawks contend again amongst the young players – obviously DCat and Dach but also Hagel Kubalik Boquist Lankinen
Add those to vets Toews Kane and Murphy maybe Kampf and there is the start of a good team
Others may be end up being long term pieces such as Kurashev Kalynuk Mitchell Beaudin Stillman Zadorov Suter Borgstrom Reichel Hardman Entwistle Barrat Strome
Slavin Nylander etc
That’s a lot of options and some will survive to be part of a contending team some won’t but the trajectory IMO is undeniably up – the odds are in the Hawks favour that at least 3 or 4 or 5 of these players end up as keepers maybe more
Other players can be added via draft UFA or trade – in the 2022/23 season CHI will ice a much better team than currently as all these strands come together
@Tab: I have no problem with you calling me out on my comment. The reason we are in this “”rebuilding” can be traced right to the doorstep of the GM. SIX years now and counting since we last won the cup. I almost barfed reading some these comments after the trade deadline with the “attaboy” Stan comments, we’re here because of him and while the team played well during the beginning of the season, we are no closer now than we were before, and Kaner is now 32 years old. Yes StanBo didn’t screw the trades up, how could he??? We just don’t have the talent to spare to make a decent deal. This GM nor this coach is the answer for getting us where we need to be, its just not happening. And while we hope and pray that it will get better and its “promising” that the youngsters are gaining experience and yada, yada, yada, the result once again is that this is still a soft mediocre team that gets dominated by physical teams and THAT wont change as long as StanBo is in charge. The proof is watching this and yes this is another WASTED year.
Sorry,I don’t care if its only Detroit or if it was a preseason game,when 4 of your star players(Kane,Dach,DeBrincat,Strome) play the whole game and contribute 1 SHOT ON GOAL that does not mean you are trending in the right direction. To get continually horsed in the circles when in this COVID Division setup you do not face the top centers in this league,tells me there is a problem. When your team continually finds itself in the single digits for HITS that may be a problem. Counting on Toews to comeback, Reichel being a wonderkid , Dach turning into an active dynamic player ,and Boqvist to evade concussion problems,he is going on #4 now and he is 20 years old,is not looking at this teams immediate future realistically.
Watching Hawk games from day to day is like riding on a roller coaster….and the way DET is playing….they will be in the #5 spot and Chi, Dal and Cbj will be duking it out for the bottom rung.
Wings had a 5-1 win over Tampa lately then won 2 games in row against Carolina..so for me it’s not embarrassing to loose to a team that is really playing good games lately. Young Hawks just need to readjust and get those next 2 pts tomorrow.
Now let’s try to play Beaudin or another young Dman .
Would love to see Regula for 1-2 games.
It’s been 6 years since the Hawks won the Cup. Oh the humanity! Any other GM would have won at least one more Cup since 2015. Yep, it’s all Stan’s fault. Lay that shameful blame right there at his doorstep.
So by that logic, every fanbase except for PIT/WAS/StL/TB should be laying blame at the doorstep of their GM for not winning the Cup in the last 6 years.
Circumstantial considerations are well known but easily ignored to cast blame.
Tim – we’ll have to agree to disagree
When the Hawks are good again I’m sure you’ll say it’s because they addressed all the concerns you have and I’ll say that it was the continuation of the rebuild process that has now started
Maybe we’ll agree when they win another Cup that they are then a good team
Turning the puck over, Not playing position on defense, and not shooting more in offensive zone from “right down the middle”… area will cause you to lose more than not. Kane shooting from right boards at weak angle works less than works more. Hawks aint playing “as a unit” on offense either…
We’ll see on Saturday, no excuses…
Go Hawks!
Way to go Blackhawks! Big picture thinking let DET win some meanlingless games to us/overall and we play meaningfull games agsint top 10 teamss in hunt. Big picture top 8-12 pick get us to top 5 team roster. Top 19th pick keeps us at a mid tier team for a decade. Who the F wans that. Waste garbage fools gold timing just a guy anything else cliche. No. Better not be.
Take it like a man or woman if your girl. So we can be a real team. You have to realize when its time to suck and get the better players or heres eomething wrong with something. 77 cant do it alone he needs a 88 and 4 and a ufa 81 11 27 16 67 you know what I mean.
Sure its wonderfull to win some games and a few meaningfull games/lotgs of them actually.
Now lets do the absolute Fing most important thing in being a top 5r team and that is another top 5r/10 calibur quality player.
Lets go top 8-12 before pong pong balls.
@EB: Yes its been SIX years since we won the cup and if you remove Kane and Keith(who StanBo didn’t draft and now are being ridden into the ground) who on this team would you consider players that you can bank on right now as “established” players you could count on to make this team “great” again???? You got Murphy, the Cat and a couple of up and comers: Dach maybe, Hagel looks to fill the part, maybe they found a goalie in Lankinen. The rest??? We have to give them years?? so they can maybe develop into being players?? And Kid Coach is going to develop them??? What do we have down on the farm??? Not much to see down there: They can’t score either or play defense from what I’ve seen so far so where we are right now with this organization is a lot of hope and prayers. And that’s basically it. But everybody’s giving attaboys to the great job StanBo did at the trade deadline. But the great StanBo is going to turn this around and get us back to our winning ways. Suffice to say that many of us will probably be dead and gone before we ever see that happen. Until we guy a Hockey guy in here to Captain the ship.
I still hold out some hope that this organization will go out and get a General Manager,maybe before Stan dives into running the olympic team,and implement an entire new coaching staff with much different on and off ice philosophies. This entire organization has not had a sharp edge to it in a very long time. MO,I have officially hopped onto your train and hope that they can now secure the highest draft pick possible in the hopes of getting a shutdown top defensive pairing at the least. Maybe a top line Center would be nice also. A GM and staff with a wrecking ball to the softness would be great.
Tab you should have the song ” I want it all and I want it now” playing in the background here lol. Mo the players aren’t gonna quit, hope they give it a good run because they still believe they can reach their goal of making the playoffs this year, it’ll be what it’ll be.
The issue of being a soft team is clearly being addressed, look at last 2 drafts, and recent signings, acquisitions. That won’t be an issue when they decide on which skilled players are long term, the role players will be ready. Agree next year there is questions at center position, Dach will be one the top 6 guys, Toews return and Borgstroms development along with defensive specialist Kampf who can win more than half of his fos as a serviceable 4th, would go long way to making it a position of strength. Obviously if things don’t work out with Borgstrom, possible internal options, with Toews likely need an external option to address his void whenever it happens. Also next year seeing these young defensemen becoming capable top 4 guys, not just roookies impressing in a few games is something to look forward too as well. Really interested to see how far this team progresses next year, could be alot more than people are thinking.
In my opinion:
1. Toews is NOT coming back.
2. Danny Wirtz’s priorities do NOT include winning a Stanley Cup.
3. We are NOT going to be rid of Bowman and Colliton for years to come.
4. For all the above reasons we are NOT going to see a Stanley Cup in Chicago any time soon.
I have come to accept these realities and am emotionally divested. My expectations have been reset so that I can now enjoy the games and be at peace with whatever happens.
It’s easy to criticize and tear down, to sit back with 20/20 hindsight and play armchair GM. I get it – it’s a part of the life blood of hockey blogs. For some it can be cathartic or even therapeutic – a way to feel better in some fashion. That’s all well and good because we all employ coping mechanisms to one extent or another. Opinions are our agent and act in our behalf and as such frame the argument to our benefit, over facts and nuance when necessary. Such is life.
I’m thankful for the fun ride of the past 14 years. I think things are heading in the right direction – not perfect, but I’m not expecting perfection. In general I’m very pleased with my life as a Hawks fan.
Go Hawks!!!!
WIJG:
1. Unfortunately I share that opinion – based on nothing, which is what we have gotten, which is the point.
2. Don’t share that opinion because it’s based on nothing, which is the point.
3. Probably, but I’m OK with that for the foreseeable future.
4. Probably, but that’s kind of normal, isn’t it?
ER/Wijg
It’s fine to have an opinion based on nothing except that means by extension your opinion means nothing
We have no idea what’s going on with Toews and whether he’ll be back – we all just have to wait patiently to find out opinions notwithstanding
Bowmans commented on hockey show he expects, Toews, Nylander, Reichel and Borgstrom as players who will in the mix that weren’t available this year. Also said he expects to get Zadorov signed after the season. Some stats on twitter this am comparing the Zadorov Murphy pairing to leagues top pairs in goals for and against differential, they were near the top in the league. Seems to suggest unless something changes before then, that next year could be Murphy Zadorov, Keith Boqvist as top 2 pairings to start the year. With Kalynuk, Mitchell, Beaudin and Stillman as 3rd pair and depth. See how that plays out at end of next season.
Well, the good news is that there are plenty of people on this board qualified for those 30 open GM and coaching spots in the NHL coming this summer. Enjoy your few months of employment, at least 29 (or 58 actually) of you anyway. Some won’t last that long because posters on their boards will demand they be fired because the new GM/coach isn’t winning the race to the cup next season. But the good news is the next year will again offer 30 more new GM and coach job openings!!
Maybe some of the recycled recycles of coaching and GM prowess from this board can move on as GM of the Bears, Bulls and Cubs. Almost certainly those team will fail too. After all, it’s not like you aren’t qualified. I’m sure you ARE qualified – I don’t need to ask!
I don’t care about the White Sox. They can stumble back to oblivion with LaRussa. Who was it that fired him again? Be careful what you ask for in a GM. He may just be a big mouthed announcer. Oh wait – this board tried to hired that version for the Hawks last off season. That was actually funnier than the current conversations.
And I can’t wait to have Pat Foley for our Head Coach, though personally, I would prefer he learns what too-many-men-on-the-ice is in hockey. Ah, I forget this is his first year of announcing games.
INSERT – SARCASM SIGN. Except about the Sox!!
SS – ditto, except insert “Sox” where it says “Cubs” and “Cubs” where it says “Sox”. :-)
@Wrap
re:ER/Wijg
‘It’s fine to have an opinion based on nothing except that means by extension your opinion means nothing”
Thanks for sharing your opinion.
WIJG – you’re welcome
This.
When people were talking about easier/harder sch sure I see moslty thats its ‘when’ you play teams sometimes no matter if its top 10 mid tier bottom 10.
Were not top 10 yet were somewhere in mid tier team without 19 77 whole yr. We earned that 11-2-5 stretch by playing good and we also earned the -6 games over .500 since. It couldnt have been that easy to justo go from 0 to4 to get back to 4 and be tied with NAS again/it looked like it though sch wise.
Were where we should be +1 and it would be better for team/roster wise which is the only thing that matters to me to get to that -3 -2 -1 0 area and have a very good chance % at top 8-12 before ping pong balls quality player.
Draft is a crapshoot and the better players do come from top 10 picks and in the 30-45 area not the 46-60 area. Lets get another good player like Reichel/a better one then him with a top 10 pick.
Load young wave! This lose is a huge win for being a top 5/10 team again.
HAWKS2010
April 16, 2021 at 4:55 pm
Wings had a 5-1 win over Tampa lately then won 2 games in row against Carolina..so for me it’s not embarrassing to loose to a team that is really playing good games lately.
Sorry to break the chain of vitriol
Subban in goal tonight with Delia as backup. Colliton says this has been plan for 10 days. Not clear how many days-off Lankinen gets, but *my interpretation* is at least a couple games
Was looking at the remaining schedule an the optimistic person in me sees 16 more points. Giving us a total of 61 points. I also played out the other teams in my eyes and see Nash at 61 Dal at 58 Colum at 47 Det at 46. So the reg wins will come to play as tie breaker. The realistic person in me sees half as many points ending at 53.
EB my Lowry signed for only 3.25mil but for 5yrs. would have gone 4mil for 3 max.
Would like Cizikas or Goodrow as a 1yr, 2yr max for some sandpaper. Landeskog for a JT replacement if he is out. Colo wins The Cup it’s gonna take minimum 4-5yrs at 7-9mil
Would you spend $4,363,095 and lose a second for either Sanford, Copp or Poink?
In 22/23 our #1 UFA DPair is Werenski/Nurse
Speaking of Dmen. For what ever reason Z doesn’t sign or get’s offered I think a good replacement could be Oleksiak and on the cheap Tinordi.
Inquiring minds want to know. Could Zach Hyman be our Hoss for 21/22 and beyond?
Must win tonight!
GO HAWKS!
I’m still waiting for a full 60 minutes played game. Inconsistencies run wild. Kaner back to his quitting on plays so he doesn’t have to take a hit or play defense. Everyone looks confused all of the time with some sudden bursts of energy. If this is what rebuilding looks like you’d think they would have learned something by now.
Is it coaching? Players? Front office? All of the above? They need to get excited as coach Q used to say!
This.
We were lucky to get taht good of a player at 17th and the goalie thing worked out well. Lucky is right on both.
We need another top 10 quality draft player and then by adding two elite ufa players in summer of 22 for 23 season. If we donot draft a top pair Defensemen in this draft with the 2nd 3rd 7th 8th 9th pick then we need to add two ufa wise.
Be nice if we can get one of the 5 top Defensemen in this draft that way we can add a Hoss type player with one of the two elite ufa add.
CRAIG NIGRELLI
April 15, 2021 at 9:51 pm
Perspective: The Hawks were “gifted “ a playoff birth in August and had a fantastic series win over McDavid, Dreisital and Edmonton before being thumped out of the playoffs by Vegas.
We wound up with Lucas Reichel in the draft instead of Askarov(the goalie). At this time it appears to be working out fine for the Hawks.
OMB …Beaudin not playing tonight….
Tim, yea I am not routing to lose just really want to get to -3 -2 -1 0 area so we can get a better player.
When you think about it we already got the experience in playoffs and winning a round last yr so we donot need that this yr. Next yr sure ok this yr no. Get the better draft player because my thought is where to good next yr to have a chance % at top 10 draft player or any yr after that.
So this draft is the draft.
4 seed
NAS 4
DAL 2
CHI 1
CLB -6
How about a GM that has 10 players scheduled to make 66 mil next year. Is it a 23 or 25 man roster? So minimum of 13 players to sign for 15 mil. Oh and that team has never won a Stanley Cup. The GM has been there probably 15 years. Can’t image that fan base if it’s like this one.
Amazing what happens when a team takes the body . Stillman is a keeper along with Kalynuk. Hinostroza looks reborn. 3 primary assist game. Another solid game by Hagel. Solid network by Subban. Only negative I have is Dach. He has to get much stronger and active. He is making himself way too easy to check and take off the puck. He has to learn to protect himself and put himself in better positions.
Nice rebound game , Hino was a player that JC really like in Rockford and he knows how to play the JC game. The result is there in the last few games.
Really surprise to see him back and glad to see him play with the energy Hawks need.
We need more players with Hagel style and DCat is really showing that is 40 goals season was not just luck . Wow… a second round pick like Keith .
This year we will have 2 second round pick . Who knows what kind of players we can get.
Hino playing himself into another contract, couple of real nice feeds and a helper on the empty netter capped off his offense for the night. Is Strome playing himself out of the picture for next year, i have defended him but seriously did he have a meaningful shift last night, his contribution was basically nothing to the win. Good win last night, like Stillmans defense sending a message with a couple of nice checks, Detroit not nearly as physical after that, now see if they have what it takes to take 2 or 3 against Preds.
We just won 3-1 in games to get to tied with NAS DAL. Knew NAS would lose a few since they won 13 of 15 that always happens. For awhile now DAL is ‘playing’ how good they really are. Yet were still there and tied for 4 seed.
NAS 3
DAL 3
CHI 2
CLB -7
The thing with 12 that ur was that was ‘really’ his sophmore slump yr. I expect to see him just like Sharpy and 30 sometimes 40 goal sniper and if he gets as good at D as 10 was then thats exactly what we need for the Sharpy player for next decade after Sharpy. Remember it was Saad who ahd to play agasint BOS top line that no other team could stop.
20 19 81 walk in the door bang that was the end of BOS. Shutdown.
Have to have a top pair Defensemen and a high end shutdown line with head to head power like that. Thats in addition to the checking line/4th/Bolly/Krugs lines.
This is post game comments from Jeremy Laura who is the blog writer here at HockeyBuzz for the Redwings. Gotta wonder what he’s smoking.
“Detroit and Chicago are in vastly different situations. Chicago is clinging to the final vestiges of the championship powerhouse. They have added high power forwards to the mix and look for “adequate” goaltending. I’ve never seen this team care so little about their own end of the ice. All energy is spent on offense and tonight, it worked.
Detroit’s situation will continue to improve, slowly. And, Chicago on the other hand, will continue to degrade. At some point, big decisions will be made by Wirtz and Co that will start more of a full rebuild. They certainly have some impressive offensive assets to create that foundation.”
Not very well informed for a blog writer at the esteemed HockeyBuzz. :-)
The person who said DAL is the team because of goal diff cant always go by that but looking at that more closey its the GA the team defense is the difference between the three teams. Going by stats only.
Funny thing there is were the best offense team of tha three. DAL is the much better defense team.
Can see NAS blowing too early then DAL doing the same now and watch DAL lose a few right before game 55 and NAS get the 4 seed right at the end.
Funny thing is we keep getting wins here and there we could be the 4 seed against CAR.
Edit to my previous post: replace “here at HockeyBuzz” with “over at HockeyBuzz”.
Thank you. Please return to normal programming. :-)
Donot get me wrong I want whats best for the Blackhawks and that is another top 10 draft player like 77.
We go nowhere like EDM with 19th picks every yr.
Have to Have to cash in while we can and thats this yr. Were going to be too good every yr after this yr/stats wise.
We can get bombed ib next yrs playoffs 1st round and leanr from that then. Donot need to do that this yr. We already did that last yr and half the roster will be different for the 22 season anyways so last yr was for the older guys who will stay and next yr is for the young wavers.
Then 23 season and its on. No we wont be as good as top5 teams are in 23 season though we will be coming and getting better each yr then have our 5-7 prime yrs while those top 5 teams will be wearing themselves out for the last 5 or more yrs of playoffs and be on the otherside of it.
Let those teams wear each other out last few next couple and then we ll come in and say hello remember us. The only salary cap dynasty team. Were back.
IN it to win it. None of this stinking root one hit wonder beer.
hawks2010, your right there was a few others from 2nd round that were gems.
To add to my list of 1st half of 2nd rounds gems and the very few 2nd half of 2nd round gems are these players.
Others I ddint list from 2000-2010 drafts that were gems from 1st half of 2nd round.
Bolland
Bicks
Note that theres only 1 so far fro mthis decade and 2 from last decade that were gems from 2nd half of 2nd round.
2010-2020
Mitch/other still depending
2000-2010
Crow
Dunks
Point being is only Dunks and Crow from last decade and Mitch from this decade are the only gems from 2nd half of 2nd round.
In 20 yrs/hey thats how old Boq is.
We have this many and maybe more gems from 1st half of 2nd round in same 2 decades.
1st half of 2nd round gems by Blackahwks
Bolly
Bicks
Saad
Debrincat
Vlassic
Blackhawks have 3 against Preds and then host Bolts a week from Tuesday, Stars have 4 upcoming against Wings and will be in 2nd half of back to back against Canes next Tuesday so obviously expect the Stars to move ahead in pts. by then. Preds with 3 against Blackhawks and be in 2nd of back to back against Panthers on next Tuesday, so they’ll be scrambling to stay ahead of Stars by then too. Need to win alot of remaining games to make it in. Playoff type experience is now, not in 3 or 4 weeks.
Jesus, lets stack up on 1st half of 2nd round picks.
So for the 2nd round in 20 yrs/2 decades we have gems from
1st half- 6 gems
2nd half- 3 gems
So even though that doesnt seems like a lot of diff for 20 yrs I would rather have 6 then 3.
Ian
Agree that it’s playoff time for the Hawks since yesterday….they need to outperform till the end of the season and it’s against the top teams ….very good way to see the kids desperate to make the playoff…
I know one warrior that will be playing with his heart ….Hagel ….HAGEL .
I wonder if Gaudette will play soon for the Hawks ?
Probably in 10-12 days from now.if he is ready after the Quarantine.
Ian,That has been the tale of Strome,s career. He frontruns and mostly floats and disappears. I think the Hawks management should have a large enough sample size on him now. On the positive side the consistent full ice play of Hagel and Debrincat is found gold for the immediate future. I know Dach has a very different body type but I wish he could absorb some of the energy and fast twitch play of Hagel,Hino,and D Cat.
There could have been 4 assists on Kalynuk’s goal. Great all around play. Kalynuk’s ability to get up the ice continues to stands out.
Gotta feel good for both Vinnie and Subban. I saw the video of Vinnie’s postgame interview and he was very candid about giving everything he has in every game and practice as his time in Florida made it clear there are no guarantees about his future. If only we could transfer that attitude to a few of his teammates. Speaking of Strome I wonder if he will be the guy who sits when Gaudette gets into the lineup.
MS – was wondering exactly the same regarding Gaudette in for Strome – I think Gaudette is another fast skater
Happy for Vinnie and Subban who played his best game as a Hawk IMO – very controlled with positioning and rebounds and athletic when nessecary not because he put himself out of position or gave up a bad rebound – good for him
Hammer and Galt are correct:
Cannot win a Cup with current coach.
His system is derived from a European style which is where he came from.
This is not a man with a plethora of coaching experience, let alone NHL experience.
A few years in Switzerland and one year in Rockford.
Not Cup mettle.
But as poster Steve astutely pointed out, ‘he is taking the club from Point C to point B’.
Hawks will need a coach to take them to point A.
Just like 2008, when Savard got replaced by……..well, if you don’t know by now, you are an idiot.
Remains to be seen if a Cup can be had with current VP of Hockey Operations.
Recent history of very bad deals from 2016 going forward would say no.
(Contender to pretender in 5-6 years.)
But that opinion has to be tempered with some good deals this year.
Next three games are put up or shut up time for the Chicago Blackhawks of 2021.
Just wondering if you know who was the GM that brought 3 Stanley Cups to Chicago? If you don’t know by now you are an ………… I do agree about the coaching situation. Like Yogi said “It’s like dejavu all over again.”.
Must win minimum of 2 of the next three. Win one game and the hill to climb is close to 90 degrees with no rope. Get swept and we are like Wiley Coyote holding an anvil in the air with Road Runner giving him raspberries on the cliff. Beep Beep!
Since we declared reload Bowman has/is doing just fine. Except Buckaroo trade. So were doing what we need and want. More to do. Bowman is adding ufa and tradeline picks/that can be traded up for good draft players. We were still trading to add at deadline not long ago/since then were adding picks. We ll get there and whoever we donot have/we ll add ufa wise.
Have to get a top pair Defensemen ufa wise from any team that wont pay player what there worth. Have to.
Then were good/fill in as needed and were good. Its going to happen.
Coaches/team system can be new just like when Q did it. Same thing. Its going to happen. Patience.