There is much wrong with this team that you dont see because you dont follow them up close like most of us. Read my earlier post and you'll understand:
This team has a lot of problems. Our forwards are overall not skilled and creative enough which hurts our passing through the neutral zone and we have a hard trouble entering the offensive zone. That's also the reason why we dump and chase the puck every ****ing shift, because they can't do anything else. And also, we have ONE natural goal scorer: Tarasenko. We have ZERO natural playmakers. There is no ****ing way you will achieve anything in the playoffs when your team is built this way. Look at our center depth, its a ****ing joke for a contender. Forget about the Bruins comparison, they are deep AND have playmakers and goal scorers.
Our defense is atrocious at defending. I really dont understand why our defense gets a lot of credit throughout the league, I think we let in a few goals because of the playing system and our many two-way forwards. We let other teams cycle and dictate in our own end while we watch passively, we give them too much space and sooner or later it'll cost us. We have one of the leagues worst second pairing defenseman: Jackman. I can't stand this guy, he's awful in his own end and brings nothing offensively. Leopold and Polak are also below average defensemen. I can live with Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester and Shattenkirk, but honestly im not too confident with them either, they play like prima donnas on defense and are not physichal at all which is really worrying in playoffs. Especially Pietrangelo worries me, he gets paid like an elite defenseman but he is far from playing like one. I know he is a fanboy around here but I myself wouldn't mind trading him because I think he can be a problem years to come. Btw Look at LAs second and third pairing defensemen, a bunch of nonamers but they are rock solid on defense and play tough.
Our PP is a total joke. We are the only NHL team that are unable to enter the offensive zone without dumping the puck every ****ing time. I don't know how many times I saw Bouwmeester dump it in when there's no Blues players even close to Chi defenders, and they just clear the puck. Watch how easily other teams enters our zone WITH the puck.
PK is laughable at best. Chicago enter our zone with the puck without much effort, then we back in on Miller and let them do whatever they want with a lot of space while all we do is screen our goalie, and when they score we blame Miller.
This team needs a makeup, not much but something has to change. Hitchcock is wrong for this team, he can be a funny clown somewhere else, we need a coach with attitude who advocates offensive hockey. We have too many gritty players that lacks skill, need to trade and get rid of some and upgrade with playmakers and goal scorers so we have a good mix like Boston.
