Post-Game Talk: Game 2: Friday Night in Music City! - Hawks VS Preds - 7:00PM CDT

[Salvaged Ship]

We will have to see how the team responds. Blame the rookies all we want, in the end Toews and Kane need the production of nearly 4 players. They don't get it done, we will lose. It is a formula for failure at some point.

Our 4 goals have been scored by Panik, Hartman, Kruger, and Hammer. The established veterans on the team have done jack crap, that and the PK is why we are 0-2. The stars of this team have done nothing.

 

[BK]

That surgery was 5.5 months ago.

A non factor.

He is really struggling at the dot.

Not a non-factor at all.

8 weeks of no activity then a month of rehab is a lot less time then having 5 months to work on it.

 

[BK]

Kempny's strength in the corners and on the wall makes Leddy look like Scott Stevens.

This is not true at all.

Kempny has been solid to good so far and is not weak in the corners. Do you mean Forsling?

 

[Salvaged Ship]

I would rather have Kane, Panarin, or the guy selling beer in the stands to take a face off instead of Anisimov. I do not understand at all if he is this bad at faceoffs why he keeps taking them. I get he is centering a line but if he loses the faceoff almost every time there is no point in him taking them at all. When he is taking a faceoff on the PP it is almost automatic the puck will be back in our zone in 5 seconds.

 

[Marotte Marauder]

This is not true at all.

Kempny has been solid to good so far and is not weak in the corners. Do you mean Forsling?

Nope, saw Kempny (6) ragdolled a bit and once a forward was even (shoulder to shoulder) 6 could not hold them from taking it to the net.

 

[Marotte Marauder]

Not a non-factor at all.

8 weeks of no activity then a month of rehab is a lot less time then having 5 months to work on it.

There was no 8 weeks inactivity he was cleared for full hockey at that point. So 3.5 months to work on his game.

 

[Hawks4life]

Our 4 goals have been scored by Panik, Hartman, Kruger, and Hammer. The established veterans on the team have done jack crap, that and the PK is why we are 0-2. The stars of this team have done nothing.

This is exactly my point. When 2 guys get paid that much money, they will bury you fast if they don't produce every night. We are seeing the greedy contracts kill the depth. They will get on track but its a scary thought.

 

[BK]

Nope, saw Kempny (6) ragdolled a bit and once a forward was even (shoulder to shoulder) 6 could not hold them from taking it to the net.

No. This is just not correct.

I will rewatch the game but I am fairly sure this is not true and Kempny was not an issue at all tonight.

 

[hawksrule]

I would rather have Kane, Panarin, or the guy selling beer in the stands to take a face off instead of Anisimov. I do not understand at all if he is this bad at faceoffs why he keeps taking them. I get he is centering a line but if he loses the faceoff almost every time there is no point in him taking them at all. When he is taking a faceoff on the PP it is almost automatic the puck will be back in our zone in 5 seconds.

This really bothers me too. There's something called playing to a player's strength…

 

[BK]

There was no 8 weeks inactivity he was cleared for full hockey at that point. So 3.5 months to work on his game.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...em-anisimov-wrist-surgery-20160503-story.html

I was wrong on the rehab but not wrong about the inactivity. What is a bigger number 3 or 5? (sarcasm)

 

[1420]

I'm surprised that anyone here is surprised by our lack of puck possession/offensive production. In the last 18 months, we replaced these forwards:

Sharp
Saad
TT
Shaw
Vermette
Versteeg
Richards

with these forwards:

Panarin
Anisimov
Schmaltz
Panik
Hartman
Hinostroza
Motte

That is a substantial downgrade in talent, not even taking into account Hossa's decline and Toews' poor play over the last year. BWC isn't too far off saying we have three top 6 guys (I'd probably say 3.5). Imagine how bleak it would look if Stan hadn't been able to sign Panarin.

 

[BK]

I would rather have Kane, Panarin, or the guy selling beer in the stands to take a face off instead of Anisimov. I do not understand at all if he is this bad at faceoffs why he keeps taking them. I get he is centering a line but if he loses the faceoff almost every time there is no point in him taking them at all. When he is taking a faceoff on the PP it is almost automatic the puck will be back in our zone in 5 seconds.

This is why you play 8 with him.

 

[JaegerDice]

I would rather have Kane, Panarin, or the guy selling beer in the stands to take a face off instead of Anisimov. I do not understand at all if he is this bad at faceoffs why he keeps taking them. I get he is centering a line but if he loses the faceoff almost every time there is no point in him taking them at all. When he is taking a faceoff on the PP it is almost automatic the puck will be back in our zone in 5 seconds.

Kane is far worse than Anisimov at faceoffs. I don't even want to see Panarin try.

 

[BK]

I'm surprised that anyone here is surprised by our lack of puck possession/offensive production. In the last 18 months, we replaced these forwards:

Sharp
Saad
TT
Shaw
Vermette
Versteeg
Richards

with these forwards:

Panarin
Anisimov
Schmaltz
Panik
Hartman
Hinostroza
Motte

That is a substantial downgrade in talent, not even taking into account Hossa's decline and Toews' poor play over the last year. BWC isn't too far off saying we have three top 6 guys (I'd probably say 3.5). Imagine how bleak it would look if Stan hadn't been able to sign Panarin.

If you think this then you are delusional.

Hossa is still a top 6 talent (he was good tonight) and so is AA. 5 of 6 are Top 6 then you plug in Schmaltz with the intention that he grows into the role.

 

[JaegerDice]

I'm surprised that anyone here is surprised by our lack of puck possession/offensive production. In the last 18 months, we replaced these forwards:

Sharp
Saad
TT
Shaw
Vermette
Versteeg
Richards

with these forwards:

Panarin
Anisimov
Schmaltz
Panik
Hartman
Hinostroza
Motte

That is a substantial downgrade in talent, not even taking into account Hossa's decline and Toews' poor play over the last year. BWC isn't too far off saying we have three top 6 guys (I'd probably say 3.5). Imagine how bleak it would look if Stan hadn't been able to sign Panarin.

Toews
Kane
Hossa
Panarin
Anisimov


That's at least 5 out 6 top 6 players.

Panik has hardly been the issue in the top 6. Panarin's disappearing act has been a much bigger issue.

Hino is all speed and nothing much more, which doesn't make him useless, it just makes him a bum-slayer at best unless he's willing to pull a Frolik and dedicate himself entirely to the defensive end, in which case his speed could make him a mean piece of business on a shut-down line as far as flipping the ice is concerned. That would require some actual player coaching and development though.... uh oh.

Schmaltz is showing more flashes and for more extended periods each game. I'm still not sold on him as a top 6 guy long term on a contender, but for a transition year he could rotate with Panik on Toews' wing or even AA as the C for the 2nd line between Panarin and Kane. He cannot be on a line with Jordin ****ing Tootoo anymore.

Speaking of which, swap Tootoo for Ras immediately. Ras was one of the better shot suppression players on the team last year. If you need a defensive element on the bum-slaying line, he'd be fine. He's just 'a guy', but that's an upgrade on Tootoo.

Motte and Hartman have both looked good as bottom 6 guys.

We need Kane and Toews to impact the score-sheet, and we need Crow to enter Based God Mode, as his goaltending was what pretty much dragged the Blackhawks into the playoffs last year behind a defense that could generously be described as a garbage fire. On paper this defense is better, so even if he takes a dip down from 930 or whatever ungodly level he reached, it should theoretically be enough.

 

[clydesdale line]

Nope, saw Kempny (6) ragdolled a bit and once a forward was even (shoulder to shoulder) 6 could not hold them from taking it to the net.

Eh.. he'll be fine. Don't know if you saw the first game, but it's nice to see someoneother than Seabrook who can take the body on the backend. Surprised how gritty he is.

 

[Putt Pirate]

I don't think Hossa is top 6. He is 3rd line material like he should have been last year.

 

[JaegerDice]

I don't think Hossa is top 6. He is 3rd line material like he should have been last year.

Hossa may not be a top line producer anymore, but he's still a top 6 possession juggernaut, which we sorely need.

 

[hawksfan50]

Cue up the lottery pick...actually we did play well in the 3rd period...I think our best period of the first 2 games..we did get pressure and chances generated though no production to show for the effort..The pk is a mess..Have to do a better job either challenging tge point shots up higher or blocking more shots if we collapse down..cannot let both point shots and screens be successful have got to eliminate 1 of those 2 reasons pucks going in past CC on the man down situations...
To me we got into penalty trouble with unforgivable sins of our 2 top centres both taking stupid lazy stick penalties in the o-zone plus Anisimov also got that stupid delay of game clear attempt over the boards ...You cannot have such dumb penalties due to lazy play s like tgey did to incurred tge penalties..Costly and unnecessary.
Q HAS TO CLEAN THIS UP...Pronto. .so not just the kill issues but taking these types of infractions in o-zone and neutral zone in tge first pkace. ..The kids were not doing these costly penalties..but our vet top 2 C's who did tge dastardly sins...Shame on them..cost us a loss ...

The came out in the 1st and looked like tgey were going to run us out of the building. ..we looked like deer in headlights chasing the puck but never getting out of our end...CC under seize. BUT somehow we got up 2-1 anyway before they capitalized on more man advantages...2nd period we played a bit better except for more penalties and once tgey got up 3-2 tgey started to take their foit off the gas ...so we liked a bit better...In period 3 we finally competed our hardest and looked like a competent team for a change ...Panarin Toews and Hossa line started to gel with some chances ..Kane played with more mission..still ...no.production came from the better effort.

QUESTION is..did we look better only because tgey exhausted themselves due to such an energetic and dominant effort they gave in the first and early 2nd ...such that tgey faded I their 3rd period energy and effort...Or did we actually show signs like we finally Wanted to compete after 5 priornperiods of poor to.meh work effort?

I guess we shall have to see if that 3rd period effort example carries forth to the next game...or not.

So ..slow start but starting/hoping we will pull it together ,OR is it a mirage ...just that they made us look better in the 3rd by running out of gas by then?

Q can hope to build on the momentum we got from our best effort by period do far ...but unless we bring desperation to our next game it may be short-lived momentum..and in any case Production has to result with the effort else it gets us nowhere fast.Yet I liked our play in the 3rd period and would rather get that kind of compete than the horrible display we saw the 5 prior periods of the season.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Our PKs need to show up if we're going to win games. And by PKs, I mean Penalty Kill and Patrick Kane.

We have gotten some offense from our depth. It's a shame Hartman, one of those depth scorers, will likely have to sit a few weeks due to injury.

Schmaltz needs to be moved to wing. Put him with Kane. Put him with Toews. I don't care. Winning faceoffs is hard enough with Anisimov's lack of skills at the dot, we don't need Schmaltz making matters worse.

Which brings me to the guy who'll likely take Hartman's place in the lineup tomorrow, Dennis Rasmussen. He did well at winning faceoffs in the preseason, and looked overall better than he did last year.

And while we don't have many options to switch out a guy like Hinostroza if he can't improve, Kero is rotting away in the AHL right now. Did very well in a checking/PK role up here last year and he's a relatively fast player in his own right.



We have some options to further help the roster in the near future. But right now, the bigger issues seems to be one with the core's lack of effort (dammit, do something on the PK DK!). This team can get better.

 

[1420]

If you think this then you are delusional.

Hossa is still a top 6 talent (he was good tonight) and so is AA. 5 of 6 are Top 6 then you plug in Schmaltz with the intention that he grows into the role.

Yikes. It seems lately that anyone who disagrees with you gets a snarky response back.

Hossa scored at slightly above a .5/game mark last year. At his age, that number is very likely to continue to fall. Do you really think his play last year was that of a top 6 player on a championship level team?

I know I'm in the minority, but I consider AA a below average 2C/above average 3C. I find his defense highly overrated and his lack of ability to win faceoffs is especially hurtful for a puck possession team like the Hawks.

Perhaps 3.5 wasn't entirely accurate, but I think we have three high level top 6 players and two guys who aren't top 6 guys on a championship contending team.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

You can argue Hossa still being a top 6 talent but with our current roster he is. Maybe NHL level he has slipped but with our current lack of quality depth he is without a doubt top 6 with this group. It speaks more to the poor quality of our forward group then Hossa.

 

[JustABlackhawksFan]

I would rather have Kane, Panarin, or the guy selling beer in the stands to take a face off instead of Anisimov. I do not understand at all if he is this bad at faceoffs why he keeps taking them. I get he is centering a line but if he loses the faceoff almost every time there is no point in him taking them at all. When he is taking a faceoff on the PP it is almost automatic the puck will be back in our zone in 5 seconds.

I have been advocating starting Kane, Panarin, and TOEWS as the forwards on the first PP unit.

When they start with Anisimov you just know he is going to lose the opening faceoff, a huge chunk of time will be shaved off the PP, and the Hawks spend the rest of the PP time struggling to enter the offensive zone.

I know this affects balance or whatever on the second unit. But with Anisimov on the first unit it's pretty much guaranteed the first unit won't score anyway as it is.

 

[CallMeShaft]

I just want to point out that while Hossa isn't generating a lot, and his shot is damn near gone, he does have 2 assists after 2 games so far this season.

Assisted on Panik's goal against the Blues and assisted on Kruger's goal tonight (he made the pass to spring Hartman). His ppg is literally 1.0 at the moment.

 

[Fortyfives]

Hard to get mad at the young kids when Hartman and Kruger have half the production this season. How about the top six put some goals on the board.