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Early Reactions: How do the Hawks stack up in the Central Division

Chris Hansen

Chris Hansen

THESE LEGS ARE FRESH
Aug 17, 2007
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wladyslaw said:
Agree. Most goalies are over-rated! Look at King Lundquist- bad w/ a bad team in front of him. Quick was all world til he ran into Hawks. That said- CC contract to me was too long- Money would/should have been saved for the Hossa replacement that will be needed sooner that later.

I can't name more than 2 Avs D-men off the top of my head- which leads me to think that what ever strings Roy is pulling - well they are working- and Roy's system has only let up 4 or 5 golas in 5 games... and Ducks aren't offensively challenged.

Avs are for real my friends.
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If by "for real" you actually mean "fringe playoff team," then you're right.
Deep and talented set of forwards but their defense is still horrible and the great start is attributable to great (read: unsustainable) goaltending. Not going to last. Still, they're good enough to compete for a low playoff seed.
 
zac

zac

Registered User
Apr 29, 2009
8,484
42
Our first matchup with St. Louis couldn't have been more even and I think it will come down to those two for the division win. I fully expect us to lose the season series to Colorado, but their defense isn't good enough to contend over the course of the entire season.

The edge as far as who wins the division may come down to special teams. I think we're the best 5 on 5 team in hockey but our PK is atrocious right now (fundamentally flawed tactics) and while our PP has been "more successful" we still haven't implemented the schematic changes to allow for long term success (movement without the puck, sliding our pointmen down as we cycle to create better shots, moving our pmen away from their shot side). Ultimately, without some changes, I think our PP will be middle of the pack at best. It's up to our PK to figure things out to avoid a regression and allow StL to take the division.
 

Illinihockey

Registered User
Jun 15, 2010
24,521
2,846
Remember last year when St. Louis ripped out to a 6-1 start largely on the back of an unsustainably high PP% (34.6%)? Well right now they are sitting at 37.5% after 4 games. That isn't going to last.
 

Retail1LO*

Guest
Nearly at the 10 game mark, and the top 5 teams out west collectively stand at 34-5-4.
That is UNBELIEVABLE. The Hawks, with 6 wins, are in a 4-way tie for the 3rd most wins in the conference.

Of our 9 games played, 44% have required a shoot out to determine. I am surprised, however, that only 6 teams have given up fewer goals. We have the 9th best goal differential. That's saying something with the 3rd worst penalty kill in the league. Fortunately, only 4 teams in the league are more disciplined than the Hawks. If we spent any more time in the box, we'd be screwed.

It'll be interesting to see where things sit at the quarter and halfway points.
 

Retail1LO*

Guest
zac said:
Our first matchup with St. Louis couldn't have been more even and I think it will come down to those two for the division win. I fully expect us to lose the season series to Colorado, but their defense isn't good enough to contend over the course of the entire season.
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Right now Colorado's giving up a league's best 1.33 goals per game. lol
 

Retail1LO*

Guest
IU Hawks fan said:
Yeah, I'm sure that'll last...
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I'm sure it won't. But anything under 2 is significant...and both of their goaltenders are looking outstanding against very good competition.

Right now their GAA is top in the league, as is their penalty kill. Meanwhile they're sitting at 8th on the power play, and in goals per game. I wouldn't be quick to discount them.

So far they beat Anaheim 6-1, Toronto 2-1, Boston 2-0, Pittsbugh 1-0...
That's 4 losses (nearly half of ll losses) they've given to teams that right now are a combined 26-9.
 
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Retail1LO*

Guest
I can't believe our longest homestand all year is 4 games, while we twice go on the road for 7 straight.
 
zac

zac

Registered User
Apr 29, 2009
8,484
42
Retail1LO said:
Right now Colorado's giving up a league's best 1.33 goals per game. lol
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Does entire season ring a bell?

They are giving up a lot of shots and getting ridiculously good GT. I doubt that lasts.
 
zac

zac

Registered User
Apr 29, 2009
8,484
42
Retail1LO said:
I'm sure it won't. But anything under 2 is significant...and both of their goaltenders are looking outstanding against very good competition.

Right now their GAA is top in the league, as is their penalty kill. Meanwhile they're sitting at 8th on the power play, and in goals per game. I wouldn't be quick to discount them.

So far they beat Anaheim 6-1, Toronto 2-1, Boston 2-0, Pittsbugh 1-0...
That's 4 losses (nearly half of ll losses) they've given to teams that right now are a combined 26-9.
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I just checked the stats and they have given up the 6th most shots at 33.8 per game. Their GA is not sustainable while giving up that many shots.
 

BronYrAur

Registered User
Nov 29, 2011
4,275
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zac said:
I just checked the stats and they have given up the 6th most shots at 33.8 per game. Their GA is not sustainable while giving up that many shots.
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The Avs will need to improve their peripherals significantly. At this point I am not worried about that team. Minnesota, Chicago, STL are the class of the division.
 

Nothingman*

Guest
How do you go from making the playoffs for the first time in four years the last day of the season to class of the division in one year where Cooke was the big addition?
 

BronYrAur

Registered User
Nov 29, 2011
4,275
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Hawkaholic said:
They have done nothing for me to think they are the class of our division. Winning hockey games is one thing I base that claim on.

They have won 4 of 10 games this season.
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I would bet Minnesota will have more points by the end of the season than the Avs. Disagree?
 
zytz

zytz

lumberjack
Jul 25, 2011
7,285
2
Varly is a good goalie, but I actually think it's pretty outlandish for him to be considered top 3. As far as potential in goalies is concerned, Lehtonen is the one to beat in my book.

I don't think the Avs will sustain. Roy is making magic there right now, but that roster still has the same problems it always has. When they hit a string of injuries or hit a few game losing streak I think it shatters their confidence and the team doesn't quite recover.

I feel like Minny and the Peg and Dallas should all be doing a little better than they are.

Blues are doing what they do, but some of their guys could be doing much better. If Tarasenko, Stewart, and Schwartz can pick it up, then Blues could easily take the division.

I like our chances overall, but we aren't converting like we should, and the 3rd period is killing us.
 
Pepe Silvia

Pepe Silvia

Registered User
Jan 2, 2012
8,915
0
Chicago
BronYrAur said:
The Avs will need to improve their peripherals significantly. At this point I am not worried about that team. Minnesota, Chicago, STL are the class of the division.
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The Wild are not the class of the division. It's just the Hawks and Blues, even though St. Louis never lives up to the hype.

I don't think the Avs will keep this up, but they're pretty fun to watch. Duchene is a beast
 
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CertainAffinity*

Guest
If the Hawks continue to play as they've played so far, they might be lucky to finish in 3rd in our division.

We've been blessed with an easy schedule thus far. We've faced only three teams with a record above .500 (and in the case of St. Louis, 2 of their 5 wins are courtesy of our bumble-**** collapses).

The quality of play demonstrated thus far is not acceptable and will not result in even close losses to the likes of San Jose, Boston, Detroit, ...hell, the Avalanche could kick our ***** at the rate we're going, and they got outshot 2:1 the other night.

A lot of things need to pick up and fast, starting with the team-D. The relentless puck-pursuit that defined this team last year is completely absent, replaced by half-assed efforts and a complete lack of attention to detail. They're playing like a junior squad at times.
 
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