GDT: Game 3, Hawks @ Leafs: 6PM Central on NBCS-CHI and NHLN-US--Don't Upset Evil Saad!

[sugoi88]

Q just said in his presser that they're not telling the centermen why they're getting kicked out. WHAT?!

Interesting! Weird that all of a sudden the penalties and that were piled on. Hawks and ops team were barely called in the previous 2 games. Just a weird game. But it's the 3rd game of the season and Hawks should take note of the issues and adjust.

 

[BrianE]

See some posters who were nowhere to be seen the first two games all of a sudden show up in full force when we lose. What a surprise.....

Not sure if everyone expected us to keep up what we did the first few games, but yes we were thoroughly outplayed by a very good, fast team the last two periods and OT on their home ice. We lacked the speed, aggressiveness, and energy we had the first two games. Might have been a little overconfident. Looked a lot like last years team where we are dominated but somehow come out with points. It was a bad game.

Positives were:

1) Got a point
2) May have found ourselves a good back up goalie

This

Brush it off, Habs up next.

 

[ModryJazyk]

slow AA instead of Schmaltz + not favorable matchup = disaster.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Also underrated side note of this game was Q getting clowned by Babcock on matchups again.

Kind of.

The 2nd line really, really didn't work. However it had as much to do with Anisimov not being a fit due to his lack of speed as it did Kane playing like cat poop

 

[BobbyJet]

Need anyone say more

 

[Salvaged Ship]

Have to admit, Anisimov was looking a lot like Handzus tonight. Was having flashbacks.

 

[deytookerjaabs]

I don't expect the Hawks to give 110% effort every night, which is what Babcock has always expected out of his rosters.

They don't have the talent top to bottom of Bab's better couple years of an elite roster in Detroit and what happened there? 1 cup with what was arguably the best team in the league for a number of years.

Leafs are playing at an elite level of hockey with a good team, but they're far from world beaters and any time some posters see a good team buy into a system they freak out "WHY CAN'T THE HAWKS PLAY LIKE THAT."

Meanwhile, THE HAWKS have fallen asleep countless times during the regular season and post season on the way to 3 cups

......So have the Penguins,

and so was the way of the Kings as well.


Whoopdeedoo, we lost to the team who tried a lot harder in game 3 of the regular season, get back to jumping off the cliff, lol

 

[JaegerDice]

I dont think any of the Blackhawks lacked effort, I just think they were soundly outplayed.

Leafs are going to make a lot of teams look really bad this year and many years to come.

I do think the Schmaltz absence hurt because the domino effect down the lineup as guys have been moved around is the Blackhawks basically have one great line and 3 weak lines.

Need anyone say more[/QUOTE]

slow AA instead of Schmaltz + not favorable matchup = disaster.

Yeah, that's about what I figured the possession numbers would look like.

On the plus side, it's good to have the old possssion-monster JT back so far this season.

 

[ModryJazyk]

Have to admit, Anisimov was looking a lot like Handzus tonight. Was having flashbacks.

true.Handzus in his 16th season.We need replacement until #8 is healthy.And Kane needs to do more in away games, 1/2 of the season he will not play against crap dmen and bottom 6..

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Just hoping the Hawks roll out a different line for Kane tomorrow.

 

[CallMeShaft]

slow AA instead of Schmaltz + not favorable matchup = disaster.

That line sucked, but a lot of the blame has to be on Kane himself. His singular role is to create offense. He's carried a line consisting of a broken down Zeus and a less broken Versteeg in the past. So what happened to him after the first? Did someone die? Was he extremely flatulent?

 

[ColdSteel2]

So much fun, that game, Hawks got a lot to work on to beat that team in a final.

 

[Backyard Hockey]

Also, hilarious that the minute the Hawks don't look like world-beaters, Zac and Backyard Hockey come out of the sewer they live in to complain.

Or it could be that I've been out of the country for the last week, but ok.

 

[Liferleafer]

Hey all, where did Forsberg come from; that kid was outstanding.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I get what you're saying about going all out every game in the regular season, I remember hearing that critique against the Blues and Wild when they'd do that too, I just don't think anyone looked particularly out of it except for Kane. AA was a bad fit for that line and Kieth had some bad moments but I can't think of any examples where guys were dogging it out there.

I'll give you that the Leafs skaters were going balls to the wall but I think it's disingenuous to suggest the Hawks lost because they "didn't try hard enough". They were outplayed every step of the way after the 1st period and after watching them get swept I don't want to see that crap again against good teams.

 

[JaegerDice]

That line sucked, but a lot of the blame has to be on Kane. His singular role is to create offense. He's carried a line consisting of a broken down Zeus and a less broken Versteeg. What happened to him after the first? Did someone die? Was he extremely flatulent?

He was up against a really good Matthews line. Maybe Q should have tried to get him away from it harder? Babcock had home ice, so he did a good job dictating the matchup, letting Kadri and Toews battle it out while Matthews destroyed Kane.

I must admit, I assumed we would get a Matthews-Toews and KAdri-Kane matchup game. Guess Babcock trusted his boy to do the job.

 

[Rooh]

Hey all, where did Forsberg come from; that kid was outstanding.

Yeah he was great, acquired him in the Saad-Panarin deal.

 

[JaegerDice]

Hey all, where did Forsberg come from; that kid was outstanding.

Came in the trade with Saad.

Bowman has always had a knack for finding good, cheap backups nobody has heard of. Raanta, Darling, now it looks like Forsberg could join the club.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Hey all, where did Forsberg come from; that kid was outstanding.

Got him in the Saad/Panarin deal. Jackets picked Korpisalo (spelling?) as their back up, which made Forsberg expendable.

 

[deytookerjaabs]

Are you fellas gonna have Nashville flashbacks every time we get outplayed now?

Awe c'mon, we got swept deservedly so but it wasn't 'Nam.

 

[CallMeShaft]

He was up against a really good Matthews line. Maybe Q should have tried to get him away from it harder? Babcock had home ice, so he did a good job dictating the matchup, letting Kadri and Toews battle it out while Matthews destroyed Kane.

I must admit, I assumed we would get a Matthews-Toews and KAdri-Kane matchup game. Guess Babcock trusted his boy to do the job.

Still expect something from Kane. Doesn't have to be points, but a couple good chances. Guy had nothing. Not even Bergeron has been able to silence Kane as much as he was tonight.

That line really needs Schmaltz. He's so fast that he just pushes opposing defensemen back and gives Kane more room out there.

 

[MJ65]

I think you guys are pretty harsh and critical on your team - they thoroughly dominated 1st 2 games and kept this one pretty close (and got a point out of it)

I have always looked up at this Chicago team and used to wish to have a team like Black Hawks - nothing but a praise for a franchise like Hawks

 

[Salvaged Ship]

Or it could be that I've been out of the country for the last week, but ok.

So when you come back they suck

 

[JaegerDice]

Still expect something from Kane. Doesn't have to be points, but a couple good chances. Guy had nothing. Not even Bergeron has been able to silence Kane as much as he was tonight.

That line really needs Schmaltz. He's so fast that he just pushes opposing defensemen back and gives Kane more room out there.

It needs a change certainly.

I mean, the whole point of having Hartman up there, as I read it, was that he was more of a north/south guy that would barge to the net and create room for the other two play-makers. Well now there's just one playmaker and a center that excels most at playing net-front, and I'm not sure Hartman fits on a line with Kane and AA.

Assuming they're not going to kick AA out of that position, I'd swap Hartman and Debrincat next game. Give the line two playmakers, put Cat back on the left wing. AA has experience playing center between two skill guys, Hartman can still do his north-south cannon-ball act on the 3rd line with Kero and Sharp or whoever.

 

[BK]

Nah. They tried, the other guys were better.

People seem to ascribe a lack of effort every time our guys get soundly outplayed. Heard the same nonsense during the Nashville series.

It was primarily the other guys making the Blackhawks look bad, simply by playing so much better around and through them. The Leafs werent given anything. They simply took what they wanted from players that didnt have the ability to stop them.

This was not the case at all. The Hawks effort after the first was not there. Anyone with eyes could see this. I ascribe it to a lack of effort because it is very obvious that is what it was. The Leafs were fines but the team that showed up the two prior games would have fared much different. You can't track effort with numbers but it shows up in how they compete and very much in the how they backcheck. This game our backcheck was terrible for lines 2 and 3.