Post-Game Talk: Calgary at Chicago (10/24/2016)

[BobbyJet]

Unbelievable right? ONE aspect of the game has blown just under half of our games this year and yet we are smack dab middle of the pack.

Just shows how many facets there are to a hockey game and team. And given they're only 7 games into an 82 game marathon with 5 rookies, the strength and weakness of the team are bound to change. Special teams will improve, Anisimov isn't going to keep up 100 point pace, and Panik not going to keep up 70 goal pace.

Yep. After a rather slow start the Hawks dominated when they got behind on the scoreboard. I see some real good potential with these forward lines despite the influx of new faces and youth. Elliott stole this game.

Back to the PK. Once again both goals on the PK were the result of shabby coverage near the blue paint. Actually no coverage at all. Flame players just standing around waiting for a loose puck. I suppose the good news is that Hawks have until Friday to work on it, however it will take a fundamental change to start covering ops near CC/Darling. I'm not holding my breath that this will happen however as they all do it, hence it is the system that needs to change more than anything else.

Some other observations:
- Soupy is playing like his old self when it comes to his offensive leadership from the back end
- Ras looks like he is getting more comfortable and is using his good size to establish net presence He should stay on the roster for a while
- Motte took a few careless penalties but I like his hustle and puck pursuit
- Schmaltz continues to progress at the NHL level

 

[Kshahdoo]

Well, if he's frustrated with his linemates, he has to know that his mega contract is the reason he doesn't have the supporting cast he once did.

But I think it all boils down to your last sentence. At that kind of money, he needs to produce. We cannot have one player take up such a huge chunk of the salary cap and not produce.

Exactly. He probably loved playing with Saad, but Saad isn't on the team right now mainly because the team gave $21M to its two leaders...

 

[BK]

Some other observations:
- Soupy is playing like his old self when it comes to his offensive leadership from the back end
- Ras looks like he is getting more comfortable and is using his good size to establish net presence He should stay on the roster for a while
- Motte took a few careless penalties but I like his hustle and puck pursuit
- Schmaltz continues to progress at the NHL level

Agree on all of these.

There were a few moments where Schmaltz started to assert himself and dominate the puck. This will be important as the season goes along.

Moose is turning out to be a good 4th line player.

Motte took a few bad penalties but I like his game.

Hartman played under control but is clearly not 100% yet.

Soupy was really good last night.

Rosi can barely skate but he will be fine for 15ish games this year.

Crow was good.

72-15-88 looks dangerous again.

The team is 3-3-1 and if they had even a 25th ranked PK they would be 5-1-1.

The biggest concerns to start the season (young pups) is turning out to not be an issue. This team is not perfect but the potential is clearly there.

Solution: Find a way to add 1 forward and fix the PK (aka fire Kitch and hire Barry Smith).

I would start with recalling McNeill and sending Hino down to find his game then running these lines. McNeill/Hartman can grind and score which will take some of the burden off of Toews and let him play more of a sniper role. I also think Toews is starting to press a lot because he knows he should have more goals/points.

41-19/14
72-15-88
64-8-81 (Hossa seems to have a lot of activity playing with these two)
38-16-70

2-7
4-51
42-6

 

[Salvaged Ship]

I thought Kero was pretty good on the PK last year and was pretty aggressive overall. Maybe get him up and give him a try.