Post-Game Talk: Hawks have one good minute in a Wild loss, surprisingly not enough

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Watched the replay this morning.

Holy hell. Nordstrom was bad. Like, really bad.

Not sure what Bollig did to earn his promotion to the top six.

Morin looked alright. Glad he potted one.

Versteeg was a mixed bag at center, but he's kind've the definition of mixed bag.

The PK cannot seriously operate around a 70% clip if this team wants to go anywhere.

At the end of the day, I thought the call ups were weird and they ended up showing. If you want to give Pirri a wake up call, replace him with an actual center next time? LeBlanc, Danault, McNeil?

 

[hisgirlfriday]

All I can figure with Bollig is that they love that he shoots and maybe him bumping up to Top 6 was about the fact that other guys were being way too tenative and passive but Bollig is never really those things even though skill-wise we may think he should be.

One positive to take out of the game was that the Hawks pretty much owned Harding in a way most other teams haven't. He was .842. Only one other game had he been below .900 and he got pulled. His average has been .935.

 

[BobbyJet]

Yeah, but this is about as good as Minny can play against us. They are nowhere near as talented.

And that's whats so frustrating. We get 2 gorgeous goals by Saad, then Hossa and proceed to let the inferior team win.

I see a Hawk team that plays like it will come easy. Perimeter play, virtually no net presence, looking for the pretty plays, lacking committment (in our own end especially) - unable or unwilling to out hustle the ops. Mix in our average goaltending and dmen that play the puck only, and we have another loss. Lose tonight and we will be officially into our first "losing streak" of this season.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

And that's whats so frustrating. We get 2 gorgeous goals by Saad, then Hossa and proceed to let the inferior team win.

I see a Hawk team that plays like it will come easy. Perimeter play, virtually no net presence, looking for the pretty plays, lacking committment (in our own end especially) - unable or unwilling to out hustle the ops. Mix in our average goaltending and dmen that play the puck only, and we have another loss. Lose tonight and we will be officially into our first "losing streak" of this season.

Are they lacking effort/intensity/hustle or are they just dead tired from Q's lineup roulette?

Toews had 21:16
Kane had 20:34
Sharp had 20:00
Saad had 19:59
Hossa had 19:24

Koivu had 19:49
Parise had 19:40
Pominville had 18:28
Brodziak had 18:15
Heatley had 16:26

 

[BobbyJet]

All I can figure with Bollig is that they love that he shoots and maybe him bumping up to Top 6 was about the fact that other guys were being way too tenative and passive but Bollig is never really those things even though skill-wise we may think he should be.

One positive to take out of the game was that the Hawks pretty much owned Harding in a way most other teams haven't. He was .842. Only one other game had he been below .900 and he got pulled. His average has been .935.

Sharp would surely disagree.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

This is about a 35 year old Rozsival ($2.2 million cap hit) versus a 25 year old Frolik ($2.33 million cap hit). If the Chicago Blackhawks experience salary cap difficulties next season, Rozsival will be the first to go.

IMO - it's abot Rozsival's role (d-man getting about 20 minutes a game during a Stanley Cup season) and production (looked good doing it) compared to Frolik's role (PK specialist who turns into a legit offensive threat the P/O's). Then factor in that there were a number of forward prospects that needed an opportunity at the NHL level, and it was a slam dunk that Frolik was the odd man out. It has nothing to do with the fact that their salaries are close, and everything to do with the roster.

Actual comparison: Roszival & Smith vs. Brookbank (in the #5 d-man role) & Frolik

Seems pretty obvious why the Hawks went with Roszival "option" over the Frolik from a salary cap perspective IMO.

 

[MTP]

DEC 5 '13 CHI @ MIN L 4 23 19 .826
DEC 3 '13 DAL @ CHI L 4 18 14 .778
NOV 29 '13 CHI @ DAL W 1 29 28 .966
NOV 25 '13 CHI @ EDM W 1 25 24 .960
NOV 23 '13 CHI @ VAN W 1 37 36 .973
NOV 21 '13 CHI @ WPG W 3 25 22 .880
NOV 19 '13 CHI @ COL L 3 7 4 .571
NOV 17 '13 SJS @ CHI W 1 24 23 .958
NOV 16 '13 CHI @ NSH L 5 22 17 .773
NOV 14 '13 PHX @ CHI W 4 30 26 .867
NOV 10 '13 EDM @ CHI W 4 23 19 .826

Crawford's last 11 games

232 SV/263SH = 0.88 save %

4 games over 90%
7 under 90% including 5 under 83%

Not only does he not bail the team out when needed but just flat out loses games for them all by himself (Colorado/Dallas)

I dont know how anyone can defend his performance, even the games that he has a great save percentage, he has been mediocre minus maybe two games max (Vancouver/Dallas) which can be considered good but not by any means amazing.

Conclusion:

Last 11 games

2 good games
4 average games
3 bad games
2 horrendous games

This right here ladies and gentlemen is a basic entry level NHL goalie. Definitely not worth 6 million a year for the next 6 years. This is a 3 million dollar goalie locked up for 3 years max. I would give my left nut that Raanta can do a much better job, I have zero doubt about that and anyone who does is not in their right mind.

Nitpicking here, but Crawford wasn't the reason they lost that game against Colorado. The team just didn't show up defensively that night, and has been the case for stretches this year. Not saying that Crawford is free of blame, but both him and the defense needs to step up if they want to win back to back cups.

Oh, and the PK sucks.