While the Hawks are 3-0 in the shootout this year I still don't like the shootout. Even watching Patrick Kane roof another SO goal isn't enough to change my mind. But, it's what the NHL wants so I'll take the second point. Let's recap the actual game itself....
0 for 6 on the PP is completely unacceptable. Actually they were -1 for 6 as they gave up their 4th shorty of the year! Passing a problem most of the night again and nothing came out worse than Kane's pass that got picked off resulting in that shorty.
Here is a note to Quenneville, "Put the $%&*@# defense back together again." There is chemistry between Keith and Seabrook and Hjalmarsson and Oduya. van Riemsdyk and Rundblad were also getting things together. Rozsival just seems too inconsistent at this point. Let's just hope Oduya does not miss any games here.
Was anyone at that game last night? I am wondering what Morin is doing to agitate the other teams. He did it again last night and gave the Hawks another PP. Not that getting a PP matters at this point.
Couldn't be better than to play the Redwings on Friday night. Time for a game of Deetroit sucks! For you new readers here are the rules... Each time one of the announcers says "Detroit" you must respond by saying, "sucks!" (Yes, with enthusiasm please.) Failing to do so means to take a shot or a 5 second beer chug. It gets harder as the game goes on.
Nyquist top scorer to date for the Wings with 8. Datsyuk and Abdelkader with 5 each. Zetterberg with the lead in assists (12) and total points (16). Jimmy Howard with a 2.03 GAA and .923 SV%. That save percentage a problem for the Hawks struggling to find the back of the net. Detroit will be coming in after a four day rest having lost, in none other than a shootout, to, none other than, the Lightening on Sunday.
#Blackhawks
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
Practice and retraction....
First let me start with a retraction. I have to say that the video reply in the NHL is out of hand. As a result of Toronto reviewing all goals well into the night after the games, TVR will now need to continue to look for his first ever NHL goal. Awarded, instead, his first NHL assist.Come one NHL!! Let's let this stuff go after the first review during the game and move on. Recalling this is stupid. BTW - Versteeg was handed the goal.
On to this mornings practice:
Missing from practice were Hossa, Richards and Carcillo. [Sharp we already know about, right?] Hossa and Richards "are fine and will play tomorrow," according to Q. I stayed late and never saw Carcillo come out to skate. He has skated for the past couple of days and may be planning something later in the day.
Raanta was the first on the ice for some early warm ups. He also stayed after the half hour official practice working with Waite. Andrew Shaw was the first skater on the the ice and the last to leave. He did a lot of shooting practice but no tip-in practice.
Q conducted a lot of practice that entailed multiple passes. After last night's second period I am not surprised. What did surprise me is that there was no board battle practice. This could be tomorrow before the game.
After the official practice Raanta and others stayed about for almost the rest of the hour. Shaw, Smith, Regin, Kruger and Morin spend a lot of time working with Kevin Dineen on picking up pucks and shooting. Rozsival and van Riemsdyk worked with Kitch on point shot practice.
Lines for today were:
23 - 19 - 88
29 - 65 - 20
28 - 16 - 32
(Rozsival in for Hossa. Likely out for tomorrow.)
11 - 65 - 12
(Shaw working REALLY hard today double shifting to fill in for Richards)
So the Quenneville blender has been turned off for the moment.
It was pretty hard to put together any defensive pairing due to the drills that were being run. Q did indicate that Seabrook and Keith "could" be together again tomorrow night. Put that through my Q secret decoder ring... They WILL be together tomorrow.
#Blackhawks #TrevorvanRiemsdyk #ChrisVersteeg #MarianHossa #BradRichards #DannyCarcillo #AnttiRaanta #AndrewShaw
On to this mornings practice:
Missing from practice were Hossa, Richards and Carcillo. [Sharp we already know about, right?] Hossa and Richards "are fine and will play tomorrow," according to Q. I stayed late and never saw Carcillo come out to skate. He has skated for the past couple of days and may be planning something later in the day.
Raanta was the first on the ice for some early warm ups. He also stayed after the half hour official practice working with Waite. Andrew Shaw was the first skater on the the ice and the last to leave. He did a lot of shooting practice but no tip-in practice.
Q conducted a lot of practice that entailed multiple passes. After last night's second period I am not surprised. What did surprise me is that there was no board battle practice. This could be tomorrow before the game.
After the official practice Raanta and others stayed about for almost the rest of the hour. Shaw, Smith, Regin, Kruger and Morin spend a lot of time working with Kevin Dineen on picking up pucks and shooting. Rozsival and van Riemsdyk worked with Kitch on point shot practice.
Lines for today were:
23 - 19 - 88
29 - 65 - 20
28 - 16 - 32
(Rozsival in for Hossa. Likely out for tomorrow.)
11 - 65 - 12
(Shaw working REALLY hard today double shifting to fill in for Richards)
So the Quenneville blender has been turned off for the moment.
It was pretty hard to put together any defensive pairing due to the drills that were being run. Q did indicate that Seabrook and Keith "could" be together again tomorrow night. Put that through my Q secret decoder ring... They WILL be together tomorrow.
#Blackhawks #TrevorvanRiemsdyk #ChrisVersteeg #MarianHossa #BradRichards #DannyCarcillo #AnttiRaanta #AndrewShaw
Sunday, November 9, 2014
A good 30 minutes
That was a good 30 minutes against the Shaaaaarks! I am not sure what happened in the locker room between the first and second period, but let's hope that does not happen again. Hawks came out forgetting how to pass, forgetting how to fight on the boards and just basically running around like keystone cops. After 20 shots in the first period they get 6 in the second? Oy. They recovered for the last ten minutes.
For the record, I think Seabrook is one of the top defensemen in the league. I actually have his jersey and overall he had a fantastic game. But did you catch the play late in the second where the Hawks offense got caught on a line change and Seabrook basically stopped in his own zone as the Sharks came charging in? Rundblad saved his butt by breaking that one up or Q might have been calling him out again.
It will be interesting to see what happens at practice tomorrow. I will be there and post a brief report tomorrow afternoon.
So let's talk about the good parts of the game. TVR with his first NHL goal. Great shot and a well deserved first star in the game. I get Pavelski getting number two but thought that Bickell deserved number 3. What a great play he made coming out from behind the net and finding a way to spin and shoot. Great work by big Bick.
And I just have to say, as a former D-man myself, it was great to see 3 goals by the defense.
Next is the Lightning. This will be a team to recon with that has started the season with an 11-3-1 record. This team has scored 4 or more goals in their last seven games. Stamkos leads the team with 10 goals and Tyler Johnson comes in with 18 points. Ben Bishop will likely be between the pipes with a 2.44 GAA and .910 SV%
#Blackhawks #BrentSeabrook #TrevorvanRiemsdyk
For the record, I think Seabrook is one of the top defensemen in the league. I actually have his jersey and overall he had a fantastic game. But did you catch the play late in the second where the Hawks offense got caught on a line change and Seabrook basically stopped in his own zone as the Sharks came charging in? Rundblad saved his butt by breaking that one up or Q might have been calling him out again.
It will be interesting to see what happens at practice tomorrow. I will be there and post a brief report tomorrow afternoon.
So let's talk about the good parts of the game. TVR with his first NHL goal. Great shot and a well deserved first star in the game. I get Pavelski getting number two but thought that Bickell deserved number 3. What a great play he made coming out from behind the net and finding a way to spin and shoot. Great work by big Bick.
And I just have to say, as a former D-man myself, it was great to see 3 goals by the defense.
Next is the Lightning. This will be a team to recon with that has started the season with an 11-3-1 record. This team has scored 4 or more goals in their last seven games. Stamkos leads the team with 10 goals and Tyler Johnson comes in with 18 points. Ben Bishop will likely be between the pipes with a 2.44 GAA and .910 SV%
#Blackhawks #BrentSeabrook #TrevorvanRiemsdyk
Saturday, November 8, 2014
A Capital offense
Well, all was going well. A first period lead, a PP goal to start the second and then late in the second the Hawks turned into zombies. Did anyone catch that play where Richards came in on a 2 on 1 with Kane and just stopped at the hash marks? What was he thinking? He is going to stay on the fourth line if he doesn't start thinking differently. He blew a great opportunity.
But what of that late 2nd period rush. The Caps have an explosive offense. And if your defense starts making stupid mistakes they will, as they did last night, "Capitalize" on the situation. Seabrook, again, really? I am not sure what is on his mind lately. Q responded by giving Rundblad and van Riemsdyk some extra ice time in the third. Both of them looking great. Rozsival is going to spend a lot of time watching from the stands in the near future.
So what did Q think?
"We played a perfect 35 minutes and then we basically shot ourselves in the foot with mental mistakes."
"A couple of plays were totally unacceptable."
"No reason to come in off the point there on that situation" (Ref: Seabrook. Up two goals late in the second.)
"We've gotten scored on too many times in the last or first minute of periods. We need to do better in those times."
"Note good enough." In reference to the 7-6-1 record.
Right now the Hawks are 4th in their division and 9th in the conference. Would miss the playoffs at this point. The good news, Brovada still has the Hawks taking is all at 7-1. So let's not give up hope yet.
So on to the Sharks on Sunday. Maybe we can gets the two Antti's in goal? Would that be a first? The ever chatty Burish will certainly be chattering at the Hawks bench all night. Hawks will likely laugh all that off. #classclown. Sharks may be tired after a game on Saturday with the Stars, but it is a short trip to Chicago from there.
#blackhawks #BrentSeabrook #BradRichards
But what of that late 2nd period rush. The Caps have an explosive offense. And if your defense starts making stupid mistakes they will, as they did last night, "Capitalize" on the situation. Seabrook, again, really? I am not sure what is on his mind lately. Q responded by giving Rundblad and van Riemsdyk some extra ice time in the third. Both of them looking great. Rozsival is going to spend a lot of time watching from the stands in the near future.
So what did Q think?
"We played a perfect 35 minutes and then we basically shot ourselves in the foot with mental mistakes."
"A couple of plays were totally unacceptable."
"No reason to come in off the point there on that situation" (Ref: Seabrook. Up two goals late in the second.)
"We've gotten scored on too many times in the last or first minute of periods. We need to do better in those times."
"Note good enough." In reference to the 7-6-1 record.
Right now the Hawks are 4th in their division and 9th in the conference. Would miss the playoffs at this point. The good news, Brovada still has the Hawks taking is all at 7-1. So let's not give up hope yet.
So on to the Sharks on Sunday. Maybe we can gets the two Antti's in goal? Would that be a first? The ever chatty Burish will certainly be chattering at the Hawks bench all night. Hawks will likely laugh all that off. #classclown. Sharks may be tired after a game on Saturday with the Stars, but it is a short trip to Chicago from there.
#blackhawks #BrentSeabrook #BradRichards
Thursday, November 6, 2014
A Saad day for the Sharp dressed man
Last night the Hawks unveiled the jersey that they will Don for this year's winter classic. Scheduled to take the runway was every girl's favorite Patrick Sharp. But instead it was Brandon Saad, the 1st runner up, that made the appearance. [More on this in a bit.] Sharp is out for about month with a lower body (knee) injury he suffered against Montreal. We should hear today who gets called up from Rockford to fill the void. I am not sure that they Hawks are prepared to have Teuvo play in the NHL on a regular basis. If it was only a week we would probably see him. My guess is Mashinter unless Q wants to try Regin out again but he would need to be a wing man. Regin does shoot left.
So we should see more shifting of line, if that is possible, from Q. Morin now in a position to play more and make or break his destiny. As I noted before, I think he is getting his last chance with Q. In recent games he has looked pretty good. All in all, it will be interesting to watch how this plays out on Friday night when the Caps join us on the UC ice surface.
Now, back to our jersey. A 1957 "like"jersey will be used on that throwback Thursday on Jan 1. I like the letter/number look but thought the tomahawks looked kinda funky. Here is Brandon sporting the look:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/blackhawks-unveil-jersey-to-be-worn-at-winter-classic/
Compare that to an actual 1957 jersey:
http://www.hhof.com/htmlSpotlight/spot_treasurep197504.shtml
Hawks marketing department chose not to go back to that old Indian head on the front. I wish they had to complete the effect. But in any case, it will be great to see this game come the new year.
#Blackhawks #PatrickSharp #BrandonSaad #Teravainen #BrandonMashinter #PeterRegin
So we should see more shifting of line, if that is possible, from Q. Morin now in a position to play more and make or break his destiny. As I noted before, I think he is getting his last chance with Q. In recent games he has looked pretty good. All in all, it will be interesting to watch how this plays out on Friday night when the Caps join us on the UC ice surface.
Now, back to our jersey. A 1957 "like"jersey will be used on that throwback Thursday on Jan 1. I like the letter/number look but thought the tomahawks looked kinda funky. Here is Brandon sporting the look:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/blackhawks-unveil-jersey-to-be-worn-at-winter-classic/
Compare that to an actual 1957 jersey:
http://www.hhof.com/htmlSpotlight/spot_treasurep197504.shtml
Hawks marketing department chose not to go back to that old Indian head on the front. I wish they had to complete the effect. But in any case, it will be great to see this game come the new year.
#Blackhawks #PatrickSharp #BrandonSaad #Teravainen #BrandonMashinter #PeterRegin
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
The Price is wrong
Carey Price got shelled tonight. It would be really hard to blame him for any of the Hawks goals. Each of the 5 goals were beauties. But none better than the Toews to Kane goal. Toews gets his 200 goal and 250th assist.
Corey Crawford with the shut-out and well earned I might add. He certainly made a few great saves.
I'm not sure if this was Q's plan but he really shortened his defensive bench for most of the game. About 5 minutes into the 3rd Rundblad and van Riemsdyk only had about 7 minutes of ice time. They both finished with more than 12 so they got regular shifts late in the game. Overall it was a fairly easy game for the D-men as Montreal looked week in the offensive zone. That might be the reason he was able to rely mostly on this top 4.
How about the Hawks getting all three stars in Montreal. But really, did any of the Habs stand out?
Now on to the Canadians. I watched a lot of the NYR/MTL series during the playoffs last year. There was so much diving in that contest I thought I was at a swim meet. Both Mike Weaver and Brandon Prust get embellishment calls tonight. That puts coach Michel Therrien half way to getting fined for his players actions.
Subban, Subban, Subban. Over 25 minutes of play. I have read so much of his greatness. In the NYR series he was ho-hum. Tonight, much of the same. Really did not see a lot from him. But then the team he was playing with was pretty much half asleep it seemed. One day maybe I will get to see this guy, who is making $72M over the next 8 years, play like a guy who won the Norris trophy in 2013.
So it is on to a preview of the winter classic on Friday as we play against the waning Ovechkin.
#Blackhawks #JonathanToews #PatrickKane #DavidRundblad #TrevorvanRiemsdyk
Corey Crawford with the shut-out and well earned I might add. He certainly made a few great saves.
I'm not sure if this was Q's plan but he really shortened his defensive bench for most of the game. About 5 minutes into the 3rd Rundblad and van Riemsdyk only had about 7 minutes of ice time. They both finished with more than 12 so they got regular shifts late in the game. Overall it was a fairly easy game for the D-men as Montreal looked week in the offensive zone. That might be the reason he was able to rely mostly on this top 4.
How about the Hawks getting all three stars in Montreal. But really, did any of the Habs stand out?
Now on to the Canadians. I watched a lot of the NYR/MTL series during the playoffs last year. There was so much diving in that contest I thought I was at a swim meet. Both Mike Weaver and Brandon Prust get embellishment calls tonight. That puts coach Michel Therrien half way to getting fined for his players actions.
Subban, Subban, Subban. Over 25 minutes of play. I have read so much of his greatness. In the NYR series he was ho-hum. Tonight, much of the same. Really did not see a lot from him. But then the team he was playing with was pretty much half asleep it seemed. One day maybe I will get to see this guy, who is making $72M over the next 8 years, play like a guy who won the Norris trophy in 2013.
So it is on to a preview of the winter classic on Friday as we play against the waning Ovechkin.
#Blackhawks #JonathanToews #PatrickKane #DavidRundblad #TrevorvanRiemsdyk
Sunday, November 2, 2014
We can now officially call this a slump
I know its only two games but the Hawks should have gotten 3 points out of this weekend, minimum 2, but instead they got zilch.
I'm not sure what is up with Seabrook. Lot's of mistakes in the early going. He starts the game by missing a poke check letting the Jets into the zone and then a few seconds later mis-played Frolik to give the Jets the lead. I guess the game could have just ended there.
Richards at it again giving the puck away on that first power play. He really needs to stop that. That first PP was really weak. Much better on the second power play. Both shifts were all over the Jets but the closest they got was a post.
Not sure why Q started shortening the bench in the first and second. Morin had only 1:11 in the first and 1:32 in the second. Bickell and Shaw not too much more.
It was a definite roller coaster ride for this game. The Hawks continue to miss the openings. They are also failing on their primary objective of puck control. The only guy that could do it today was Kane. Everyone seemed to be trying to give the puck up too early. Results: 19 give-aways for the Hawks. This has been a problem for the past few games.
No surprise that Rozsival sits this one out. After his performance the night before.
#Blackhawks #BrentSeabrook #BradRichards #Rozsival #JeremyMorin #AndrewShaw #BrianBickell
I'm not sure what is up with Seabrook. Lot's of mistakes in the early going. He starts the game by missing a poke check letting the Jets into the zone and then a few seconds later mis-played Frolik to give the Jets the lead. I guess the game could have just ended there.
Richards at it again giving the puck away on that first power play. He really needs to stop that. That first PP was really weak. Much better on the second power play. Both shifts were all over the Jets but the closest they got was a post.
Not sure why Q started shortening the bench in the first and second. Morin had only 1:11 in the first and 1:32 in the second. Bickell and Shaw not too much more.
It was a definite roller coaster ride for this game. The Hawks continue to miss the openings. They are also failing on their primary objective of puck control. The only guy that could do it today was Kane. Everyone seemed to be trying to give the puck up too early. Results: 19 give-aways for the Hawks. This has been a problem for the past few games.
No surprise that Rozsival sits this one out. After his performance the night before.
#Blackhawks #BrentSeabrook #BradRichards #Rozsival #JeremyMorin #AndrewShaw #BrianBickell
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