GDT: Game 6 - Coyotes @ Blackhawks 7:30 PM (CT) NBCSCH - Heeeeeeee's Baaaaaaaaack...I think

[piteus]

Here's an idea for your kids on Halloween. Put a "44" sweater over Edward Scissorhands. Place a "23" sweater over Herman Munster.

No Hands Rutta and Snowshoes Manning are house of horrors on the ice.

 

[AmericanDream]

Rutta has just been so blah...and that sucks because you can see the upside he had last year. A groin injury does linger, I get that, but if he can't be the player we need him to be, when Murph and Forsling come back, he needs to sit until he is fully ready...

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Regarding Gus...makes you realize just how inefficient the NHL is when Rutta and Manning make double and Gus is basically the same defenseman he was year one in Chicago. Always had good vision and playmaking ability. Was the D zone he was typically lost.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

Should he be ahead of guys like Sikura or Highmore, or Noel, or Ejdsell? Personally, I don't think so.

I don't know the minors beyond what I read, and I've only seen a few games of most of these guys, so I can't say.

I don't think it's crazy to want to have a vet who knows how to play a roll on the bottom 6 though, general speaking. Of course the idea of having a vet as a depth forward over a kid is to specifically avoid the kind of plays like the one last night. If that sort of thing continues, than of course he shouldn't be out there. I guess I haven't seen enough for him to be high on my list of problems. Seems like others are there already, which is fine.

 

[TLEH]

Honestly I think this is just a real average team with no depth scoring. I hate to beat a dead horse but how the f*** does Dineen still have a job. It’s a miracle we won anything with this guy behind the wheel of special teams.

 

[Pez68]

I agree with that, it just seemed like you were really *****ing on Kunitz and saying the players are going to despise a guy who plays with his heart for pennies on this team...Q ****ing plays him on a line he doesn't belong on, that's not his fault at all and nobody should be angry at Kunitz for trying to continue his career...which you are saying as well..

Hopefully this is all moot as by December Sikura and Edjsell are ready to roll and jump up here and knock Kunitz out of the lineup...

Except....Q.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Honestly I think this is just a real average team with no depth scoring. I hate to beat a dead horse but how the **** does Dineen still have a job. It’s a miracle we won anything with this guy behind the wheel of special teams.

Because he's Q's designated driver.

 

[RayP]

I dont know. I wasn't a fan of the Kunitz signing, but outside of the awful turnover last night, I think he's been fine. My fear is that "fine" is probably his ceiling at this point.

Relative to what he makes Kunitz hasn’t been nearly as bad as people here make him out to be. That’s not me saying he’s good, but he’s a 4th liner making near the minimum.

Manning on the other hand, that contract never made any sense at all. He’s awful.

 

[piteus]

Rutta has just been so blah...and that sucks because you can see the upside he had last year. A groin injury does linger, I get that, but if he can't be the player we need him to be, when Murph and Forsling come back, he needs to sit until he is fully ready...

Was Rutta's hands always that bad? I understand he is coming back from injury, but the puck just bounces off his stick at times. Pair that with the heavy hoofed Manning, it's devastation. Forsling would make a much better pairing with Rutta. I guess Q has no choice at this moment ... but stop playing them so much!

 

[piteus]

Relative to what he makes Kunitz hasn’t been nearly as bad as people here make him out to be. That’s not me saying he’s good, but he’s a 4th liner making near the minimum.

Manning on the other hand, that contract never made any sense at all. He’s awful.

My feeling with Kunitz is relative. There's no reason for him to be on the third line bringing down Anisimov. Play the young guys.

Kunitz plays on the 3rd line and hasn't been scratched once. What's the point?

 

[Section88]

The speed of AZ exposed the Hawks.

They should prepare white jerseys for 8, 20, 23 and 14.

Kunitz alone shouldn't touch the ice for the next five games for that turnover. For as much as people praise how hes a veteran he looked like a dumbass rookie there

 

[piteus]

Regarding Gus...makes you realize just how inefficient the NHL is when Rutta and Manning make double and Gus is basically the same defenseman he was year one in Chicago. Always had good vision and playmaking ability. Was the D zone he was typically lost.

Gus' issue is his 1-2 brain farts per game. If Gus stops doing that, he's a decent NHL DMen with good offensive upside.

 

[nmgrbhfn]

Let's keep it simple. If you are Torts with the Bluejackets looking at the Hawks what are you telling your team? We gotta do damage whenever the Hawks third line and third pairing are on the ice, and hold the Hawks top line off the board and stay out of the box. The Hawks top line is the Hawks top + line. The Kane line is missing a finisher and can be defensively weak so exchanging goals (or better) with that line is acceptable as long as we stay out of the box. The fourth Kruger line is a D line and is playing ok so you gotta keep them off the board, they can't be the ones that beat us. So, the third line is the weakness of the Hawks. That's where we have to do our damage, especially if we catch the third line with the third pairing.

From that perspective turning to the Hawks, Saad isn't a BIG problem compared to those identified, and if he or his line chips in a goal or two from the fourth line he can be a killer. The Hawks need scoring from the bottom six. Maybe the management is mind-effing with Saad to get him to accept a bottom 6 slot - preferably later on the third line. Eventually he gets a promotion to the third, and management hopes he accepts it.

If you agree with the analysis, is it acceptable for Q to ice the same lines and pairings against the Jackets as he did against the Yotes? Is it too early to swap Kunitz and Saad? How about calling up a d from Rockford? The better d prospects are underperforming early so how about calling up Raddysh for a cup of coffee to shake things up?

 

[RayP]

My feeling with Kunitz is relative. There's no reason for him to be on the third line bringing down Anisimov. Play the young guys.

Kunitz plays on the 3rd line and hasn't been scratched once. What's the point?

Kunitz on the 3rd line is bad, but can only blame our wonder coach there.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Kunitz on the 3rd line is bad, but can only blame our wonder coach there.

People need to start blaming the GM for signing players like this. I mean we all knew Q would play him above where he should be played, yet the genius Bowman keeps signing guys like this.

Make me think they both think he can fill a role anywhere in our lineup, or is Bowman that clueless that he thinks Q is going to use him on the 4th line only?

 

[RayP]

People need to start blaming the GM for signing players like this. I mean we all knew Q would play him above where he should be played, yet the genius Bowman keeps signing guys like this.

Make me think they both think he can fill a role anywhere in our lineup, or is Bowman that clueless that he thinks Q is going to use him on the 4th line only?

You don’t think Q has any say at all in who we sign for him to deploy?

They’re both at fault.

 

[Hawkaholic]

You don’t think Q has any say at all in who we sign for him to deploy?

They’re both at fault.

Q doesn't see enough of players on other teams that he should have a say, so if I were GM, he wouldn't get a say, no. Especially when he is on the hot seat.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

While I think Stan does try to appease Q with some of the signings, I think that there should be a clear delineation when it comes to credit/blame.

Stan signed Manning, not Q. Maybe he did because he seemed like a Q kind of guy, maybe not. The blame falls on Stan for that, not Q.

 

[RayP]

Q doesn't see enough of players on other teams that he should have a say, so if I were GM, he wouldn't get a say, no. Especially when he is on the hot seat.

You don’t think Stan consulted Q whatsoever on the signing of a guy linen Kunitz or asked for his input whatsoever?

I’m not saying Stan doesn’t deserve blame, because he absolutely does. What I am saying is that Q doesn’t get a free pass either IMO like others are trying to give him.

 

[piteus]

While I think Stan does try to appease Q with some of the signings, I think that there should be a clear delineation when it comes to credit/blame.

Stan signed Manning, not Q. Maybe he did because he seemed like a Q kind of guy, maybe not. The blame falls on Stan for that, not Q.

What kills me is seeing Kunitz, Manning, and Rutta on the ice TOGETHER in third periods. It's like giving the opponents a free power play.

 

[Rick C137]

Honestly I think this is just a real average team with no depth scoring. I hate to beat a dead horse but how the **** does Dineen still have a job. It’s a miracle we won anything with this guy behind the wheel of special teams.

I think we’re past the point where we can keep letting Q’s guys take the fall for his systems. No matter how many new guys have come in to fix the special teams, the main structure rarely changes. That falls on the head coach.

 

[Hawkaholic]

You don’t think Stan consulted Q whatsoever on the signing of a guy linen Kunitz or asked for his input whatsoever?

I’m not saying Stan doesn’t deserve blame, because he absolutely does. What I am saying is that Q doesn’t get a free pass either IMO like others are trying to give him.

I'm not saying give Q a free pass. But as a GM, he should know Q is going to overplay a guy like that, like he has done almost every single year, so he shouldn't be even suggesting a player like that to Q. He's the GM, he signs the players, Q plays them. Every player thats bad is blamed on Q.

 

[Pez68]

I'm not saying give Q a free pass. But as a GM, he should know Q is going to overplay a guy like that, like he has done almost every single year, so he shouldn't be even suggesting a player like that to Q. He's the GM, he signs the players, Q plays them. Every player thats bad is blamed on Q.

Maybe he's making a point to management, that he can't bring in ANY kind of depth or insurance, because Q is going to misuse them. Mission accomplished.

They absolutely should be blamed on Q, because HE DECIDES THE LINEUP. If a parent buys a kid a baseball bat, do you blame the parent if the kid smashes a car window with it, or blame the kid for using the bat in a way his parent never intended?

You are ridiculous.

 

[BobbyJet]

People need to start blaming the GM for signing players like this. I mean we all knew Q would play him above where he should be played, yet the genius Bowman keeps signing guys like this.

Make me think they both think he can fill a role anywhere in our lineup, or is Bowman that clueless that he thinks Q is going to use him on the 4th line only?

You're getting there.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

People still trying to piece together some magic line combos and defensive pairings like it is going to make some big difference.

News flash, its not the line combos and pairings. This idiot coach has tried damn near every mathematical combo possible the last few years. The issue is not who is playing with who, its who is playing. The talent level and depth on this team is nowhere near good enough. When a small percentage of your players are aging and taking up a large percentage of your cap and you have to fill the remaining spots with low level talent and guys who aren't shaving yet this is what you get.

We are paying for winning 3 cups, the resulting annual cap dumps, and also paying for some pretty lousy decisions by management. Then you add a coach who is 2 years past his expiry date and you have what we have now.