Crawford to play Thursday?

AmericanDream

Thank you Elon!
Oct 24, 2005
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Chicago Manitoba
these are the numbers that goalies used to consistently have in the 1980's and early 90's...and which is what it truly should be, only elite goalies should actually have elite numbers, but for the past 15 plus years, goalies have benefited from stellar defensive system play in front of them while their equipment morphed in size as well as their own average size did too..

the players are finally catching up and this is what we should be seeing from now on. your Devyn Dubnyk's of the world shouldn't be posting shutouts left and right in this league..your top 8-10 goalies will still be elite goalies (they are the ones that have been arguing for the equipment to get tighter/smaller because so many goalies have inflated numbers which hurts their skill/pay).

I hope this continues and the cream rises to the top and the rest just show how much they have benefited over the years by looking like Sherman tanks behind Berlin Wall defenses...
 
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ChiHawks10

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Jul 7, 2009
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How many points do the Hawks have with Ward in the net? I really don't care if his GAA is 100. If he gets points and the team wins who cares. The games have been exciting to watch. Too many complainers on this site!

There's really only like 2-3 that complain on a regular basis.

The rest of us discuss things going on with the team, players, their play of late, and other assorted things. Since it's... you know, a discussion board? :thumbu:
 

Flahawkfan

Registered User
Apr 24, 2017
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Forsberg would be better IMO.

The Hawks have only been in evcery game because our offense is clicking right now. How many games would the Hawks be in if it wasn't?
Yes, when the backup is in, its nice to just be in the game, but it's also nice to have a goalie that can win you a game by himself every once in a while. Which is why a lot of people are excited to get Crow back. None of the goalies above were really wanted here, as the majority of them were already signed. Bernier had too many years, Pickard sucks, Subban wasn't available, Mrazek sucks, Grubauer wasn't an option, and Niemi sucks.

Not to mention, Cam Ward has sucked for years upon years, not just the 5 games he has played this year.

Hawkaholic, What changed in 6 weeks? Here is a quote of yours from 6 weeks ago. "Q gave Forsberg plenty of time to work through his ****. He was absolutely awful, and Q is going to play the goalie who is going to give him a chance to win. Forsberg wasn't doing it, and Glass was on a run for a bit getting wins. No NHL coach should be forced to play a goalie who gives a team less chances to win, unless that goalie is young and the team is fully rebuilding. Glass is not and NHL goalie,and neither was Forsberg last year."
 

AmericanDream

Thank you Elon!
Oct 24, 2005
36,959
26,274
Chicago Manitoba
How many points do the Hawks have with Ward in the net? I really don't care if his GAA is 100. If he gets points and the team wins who cares. The games have been exciting to watch. Too many complainers on this site!
I actually care. If his GAA is 100, then my 11 year old should be in net instead of Ward.

And it actually becomes a problem because we all know the scoring will slow at some point, so Ward having a GAA 100 is not going to win games...you cannot ride this wave forever, we need to sustain solid defense, special teams, and goaltending..suggesting who cares how many goals a goalie lets in is absurd...and I have not bitched on Ward, I defended in a sense his signing and thought he has done just enough to keep us in the game..all you can ask for in a backup really.
 

LordKOTL

Abuse of Officials
Aug 15, 2014
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768
Pacific NW
My only worry is that we have a few core core skaters on this team that I fear will look at Crawford coming back as a reason to lapse their already prolapsed play and expect him to not miss a step in bailing them out while they're busy playing grab-arse, as opposed to stepping it up so he can shake the rust off.
 

Pez68

Registered User
Mar 18, 2010
18,288
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Chicago, IL
Going to be interesting to see how Crawford looks with the new chest protectors. He always looked like he was using a huge chest protector in the past. As a positional goalie it may have a huge impact on his game.(see other goalies this season)
 

Hawkaholic

Registered User
Dec 19, 2006
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London, Ont.
Hawkaholic, What changed in 6 weeks? Here is a quote of yours from 6 weeks ago. "Q gave Forsberg plenty of time to work through his ****. He was absolutely awful, and Q is going to play the goalie who is going to give him a chance to win. Forsberg wasn't doing it, and Glass was on a run for a bit getting wins. No NHL coach should be forced to play a goalie who gives a team less chances to win, unless that goalie is young and the team is fully rebuilding. Glass is not and NHL goalie,and neither was Forsberg last year."
Nothing has changed. Forsberg still sucks, he's just better than Cam Ward.
 

Flahawkfan

Registered User
Apr 24, 2017
81
49
Without getting into a pissing contest with you, can you explain? Ward won 23 of his 43 starts last year giving up 2.73 GA. His save % was at .906 - Not great but serviceable.

His backup was Scott Darling with 13 of 43 wins, an .888 sv% and a 3.18 GAA - Which many people here wanted to reaquire in the offseason. Both had the same defense.

I guess what I am getting at, is with less gametime then in previous years, Ward seems to have played OK. Which is good enough as a backup for the Hawks. Why all the hate? and why the love (ok mild dislike) for Forsberg who has yet to play to prove he is any better than last season?

(truth be told, I didn't expect anyone to select one of the 4 choices over Ward, so it shocks me that you did)
 
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BobbyJet

I am Canadian
Oct 27, 2010
29,766
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Dundas, Ontario. Can
Without getting into a pissing contest with you, can you explain? Ward won 23 of his 43 starts last year giving up 2.73 GA. His save % was at .906 - Not great but serviceable.

His backup was Scott Darling with 13 of 43 wins, an .888 sv% and a 3.18 GAA - Which many people here wanted to reaquire in the offseason. Both had the same defense.

I guess what I am getting at, is with less gametime then in previous years, Ward seems to have played OK. Which is good enough as a backup for the Hawks. Why all the hate? and why the love (ok mild dislike) for Forsberg who has yet to play to prove he is any better than last season?

(truth be told, I didn't expect anyone to select one of the 4 choices over Ward, so it shocks me that you did)
I watched a fair bit of Canes games last season. Ward had a real good first half behind a porous defensive team. The grade A chances and possibly some fatigue caught up to him in the last few months. So far he has done the job in Chicago.
 

coolhand

Registered User
Jan 20, 2016
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Streamwood, IL
I don't think Ward has been terrible at all. The only problem game was against the Leafs, but that was more on the team defense than the goalie in my view. I was hoping to see Delia get at least 1 game in. I like him over Forsberg. CC has been practicing with the team now and we will see tonight if he can shake off the rust. I just hope the defense doesn't give up any breakaways or too many odd man rushes early on.
 

ChiHawks10

Registered User
Jul 7, 2009
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I don't think Ward has been terrible at all. The only problem game was against the Leafs, but that was more on the team defense than the goalie in my view. I was hoping to see Delia get at least 1 game in. I like him over Forsberg. CC has been practicing with the team now and we will see tonight if he can shake off the rust. I just hope the defense doesn't give up any breakaways or too many odd man rushes early on.

I just hope he doesn't take a Howitzer off the forehead.
 
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Hawkaholic

Registered User
Dec 19, 2006
31,475
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London, Ont.
Without getting into a pissing contest with you, can you explain? Ward won 23 of his 43 starts last year giving up 2.73 GA. His save % was at .906 - Not great but serviceable.

His backup was Scott Darling with 13 of 43 wins, an .888 sv% and a 3.18 GAA - Which many people here wanted to reaquire in the offseason. Both had the same defense.

I guess what I am getting at, is with less gametime then in previous years, Ward seems to have played OK. Which is good enough as a backup for the Hawks. Why all the hate? and why the love (ok mild dislike) for Forsberg who has yet to play to prove he is any better than last season?

(truth be told, I didn't expect anyone to select one of the 4 choices over Ward, so it shocks me that you did)
Explain what? Ward hasn't been a good NHL goalie in a long time. Canes fans were happy to see him go, and didn't want him back the year previous to last year. The only reason that they may have wanted him back this year was because they had no faith in Darling. 906 is not servicable, it is well below the league average.

I did not want Darling back, at least not straight up. If we could have sent Carolina Hossa in a deal, then I would have understood the move.

Ward played OK, in 2 games. The other games, he wasn't good at all. I don't hate Ward, I just think he's a bad goalie. And IMO, Forsberg last season was better than what we have seen from Ward this season. (Forsberg had a better sv% than Ward did, on a worse defensive team FYI) I certainly don't love Forsberg, but I believe he is a better option than Ward right now.
 
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LordKOTL

Abuse of Officials
Aug 15, 2014
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Without getting into a pissing contest with you, can you explain? Ward won 23 of his 43 starts last year giving up 2.73 GA. His save % was at .906 - Not great but serviceable.

His backup was Scott Darling with 13 of 43 wins, an .888 sv% and a 3.18 GAA - Which many people here wanted to reaquire in the offseason. Both had the same defense.

I guess what I am getting at, is with less gametime then in previous years, Ward seems to have played OK. Which is good enough as a backup for the Hawks. Why all the hate? and why the love (ok mild dislike) for Forsberg who has yet to play to prove he is any better than last season?

(truth be told, I didn't expect anyone to select one of the 4 choices over Ward, so it shocks me that you did)
Simply put: our team D is still hot garbage on wheels. while IMHO Ward hasn't been horrible, he hasn't been that great, either. He'll make a few 10-bell saves effectively saving the team D's bacon only to let in a complete softy. In other words--Schizo--and if I might offer an observation--very similar to Crawford's 2012 campaign. That's not a recipe for success. It wasn't in 2012 when the 'hawks actually had a damned good defense. In 2019 with the abysmal team D we have? Not even close.

Either Forsberg or Ward are not the answer. As a back either could work, but the 'hawks need an elite goaltender to mask the team D's buffoonery. That's Crawford's career average at the base minimum.
 

Callidusblackhawk

Registered User
Feb 15, 2012
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The Hawks are winning, but the goaltending is crap? It's worse than last year right? Proof is right here in the stat sheet as Cam Ward has a .879 Save percentage and a 4.07 goals against. These numbers are worse than every goaltender we had on the roster last year and I would still take Ward over each and every one of them (except Crawford). With a straight face please share which of these goalies would be better in net for the Hawks?

Forsberg - .908 2.97 gaa
Jeff Glass - .898 3.36
jf Berube - .894 3.78
Colin Delia .889 3.96

*last year and this year combined for Hawks.

If you are looking at save % as THE measure then review a few of these:

Matt Murray .831
Jonathon Bernier .833
S. Bobrovsky .860
Calvin Pickard .868
M. Subban .871
P Mrazek .874
B. Elliott .874
Tuukka Rask .875
Jake Allen .877
Martin Jones .880
P Grubauer .882 (1 game)
J. howard .883
j. Reimer .885
A. Niemi .893
C. Talbot .895
M-A Fluery .896
B. Holtby.898
F. Andersen .899

My argument is the Hawks have been in every game. That's what you want from your backup goalie. We have been spoiled by watching the Raanta's and Darling's play at a very high level and then be scooped up as soon as their contract expires. We got the guy at the end of his career now, and if he keeps us in games, that's all we should be asking. Its funny on how we complain about the guy on our roster and how bad he sucks, but how many of the suggestions that each of you wanted as a backup goalie are on the list above? Bernier, Pickard, Subban, Mrazek, Grubauer, even Niemi ring any bells?
I would prefer Forsberg due to what we saw in the preseason. IMO Forsberg looked like a decent backup in pre season while Ward looked like a complete dumpster fire. It's worked out okay so far but I don't think its a stretch to think we might have one more win with Forsberg in net assuming the offense stays the same.
 
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