Post-Game Talk: Hawks sweep Western Canadian leg of the Circus Trip, down Flames 3-2!

[Marotte Marauder]

Well it was the worst play of the night. By far. But I didn't say anything other than it being one bad play. Nobody's calling for him to go to Rockford over it. Relax.

I think I recall Sharp missing a couple of wide open nets early on, just as bad IMO.

 

[Nothingman*]

Sharp......he had a few sitters he missed or whiffed on.

 

[Hawkaholic]

I think I recall Sharp missing a couple of wide open nets early on, just as bad IMO.

I'd rather a player miss the net, than cough up a puck resulting in a GA.

 

[BobbyJet]

Re: Pirri’s benching.

It doesn’t matter what posters call for, it is what Q thinks and does that matters …. and a forward will need to sit eventually. Players make mistakes. On the first goal Toews gambled by exiting our zone too quickly. Kane, even Hossa make dumb decisions at times but their good play far outweighs their gaffes. Especially when it’s 150 feet from our net, Pirri needs to get some slack from Q. My sceptical side says Q may be looking for an excuse to send Pirri back down, or sit him out… it would be an easy way out when BB returns. Q will obviously let him know in no uncertain terms each time he blunders. Did someone say yesterday that Q was good at handling his players? …. Hmmmm. I hope he’s talking with Pirri and not just beating him down by benching him and staying mute about it (which seems to be more Q’s style).

 

[Central PA Hawk Fan]

Can someone tell me why people outside of the local Chicago broadcast area (I'm in western PA) get this crappy LOW DEF broadcast on occasion when the hawks are playing some of these Canadian teams? Same crap last night as it was when they played in EDM! Doesn't TSN use hi def?

wtf?

If was really unwatchable.

Anyone?

It was horrible. I'm not sure the reason, but I notice on alot of the canadian feeds on center ice are standard def only, coupled with the fact that center ice doesn't get the WGN feed = crappy viewing experience.

 

[RFIP]

It was horrible. I'm not sure the reason, but I notice on alot of the canadian feeds on center ice are standard def only, coupled with the fact that center ice doesn't get the WGN feed = crappy viewing experience.

Not to mention I had to wait until the Pens game ended so I missed the start of the hawks game to boot!

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Leddy wasn't even on the ice. That play was all on Pirri.

I must have missed when Pirri and Oduya switched jerseys and he got caught puck watching instead of picking up the trailer.

 

[Hawkaholic]

I must have missed when Pirri and Oduya switched jerseys and he got caught puck watching instead of picking up the trailer.

Oh please, there wouldn't have been a trailer to pick up if Pirri didn't fumble with the puck going towards our end.

Pirri wasn't fully to blame, but he takes the majority of it on that play.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Terrible game all around.

Outside of a few guys, I thought everyone played like crap. I don't think it was the make up of the lines, or any other Q factor. I don't know if they took the Flames too lightly or what, but you could tell once the 3rd period started that the Hawks were a different team than the 1st 2 periods showed us.

Toews was partially to blame for the first goal. Pirri and Oduya are to blame for the 2nd goal. (both players were benched after that I believe, and rightfully so)

Even though our PK rank is terrible, I thought it has looked pretty good for the last 5-10 games. Meanwhile, our PP seems to be heading in the opposite direction, I guess it's against the law to have both of them doing well.

An OK game from Raanta, not sure why he is getting so much love from his teammates, but maybe just giving him an extra boost in confidence? He was good, but he wasn't outstanding or anything.

If Q isn't going to use Pirri, I really think they should use Shaw as the #2C, he seems to play really well with Kane. That's wishful thinking though.

He only benched Pirri. Oduya saw 12 more shifts after the goal. Only the kids are held accountable.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Oh please, there wouldn't have been a trailer to pick up if Pirri didn't fumble with the puck going towards our end.

Pirri wasn't fully to blame, but he takes the majority of it on that play.

Absolutely. He also took a stupid needless interference penalty in the second. If it was an isolated incident with Q it'd make sense.

But it's not, and blaming Pirri and Pirri alone for a goal when they had a 3 on 3 rush the other way isn't really fair.

 

[wladyslaw]

Saad was such a weirdly-awesome case. He had the size, skill and speed to play in the NHL at the time of the draft, as well as the two-way acumen, the only question about him in my mind was finding his confidence at the NHL level.

Teravainen's not big, and he's not as well-rounded defensively. He'll also be in a position that's much harder to play at the NHL level (centre). In saying that, I'm still really confident he's going to play games for Chicago next year. He's just so skilled, and I think learning how not to take a beating every night from a guy like Kane will help him a lot. The biggest question for him, IMO, is not how he'll transition from the bigger ice, but how he'll handle playing centre consistently and that's what will decide how much time he spends with the big club because it's the only spot up for grabs.

Following TT last year in WJC- He is an extremely gifted, High IQ offensive player, great on PP. But watching more in Hawks camp- TT can back check, steal/skate from behind. Only noticeable weaknesses- were exiting Own zone (slight on boards like Nordstrom's biggest fault) and like Saad in 1st year- tried to pass/shoot probably too early/fast, too much. TT and Saad both - don't really understand how good they are yet, nor how much time they really have - cuz they are that good. Saad has improved big time on understanding the "patience/time" thing... TT will too!

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

And I'm gonna disagree with the PP comment. Despite not scoring the puck movement was unreal last night. Moving pieces instead of the static set up we saw early in the year. This team is a legit point shot from Keith away from having a top 5 unit.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Following TT last year in WJC- He is an extremely gifted, High IQ offensive player, great on PP. But watching more in Hawks camp- TT can back check, steal/skate from behind. Only noticeable weaknesses- were exiting Own zone (slight on boards like Nordstrom's biggest fault) and like Saad in 1st year- tried to pass/shoot probably too early/fast, too much. TT and Saad both - don't really understand how good they are yet, nor how much time they really have - cuz they are that good. Saad has improved big time on understanding the "patience/time" thing... TT will too!

He's a teenager playing against men. He'll come up, have a move that works and teams will adjust. It happened with Kane his rookie year. He'd gain the zone, immediately pull a sharp curl move and make himself time and space. Teams adjusted and would pressure him. It took him about a dozen games for him to learn when to blow past the forward and when to hold up.

If TT is everything I keep hearing he is, I'm really excited to see what he does in the NHL. Like Kruger before him, numbers in a Euro league don't mean much to me. Skillset does.

 

[wladyslaw]

I thought 10 could have had 3-4 goals if he was "on" last nite.
10/19 appeared hungover in 1st two periods- nice of them to wake up in 3rd.

Raanta is small by today's goalie standards... but is now the Official backup!!!

Zus- is an "insurance policy"... at this point in career- does nothing well- but everything OK!

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

He certainly does not skate "OK".

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Raanta was fighting the puck early but made the saves when he needed too. He looks tiny in net, but he gave the team a chance which is more than you can say about any other option we have not named Crawford.

 

[BronYrAur]

Not really sure why the Hawks have such a tendency to let teams hang around, hang around, only to turn it on when behind....but, whatever. They really turned it on when they needed to. Calgary had like 3 shots-on-goal + shots missed on the third period. Ouch.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Not to mention I had to wait until the Pens game ended so I missed the start of the hawks game to boot!

I streamed the TSN coverage of this because I get WGN America instead of WGN proper.

Because it was on my computer I couldn't tell any low-def issues, but when first I had on the stream from NHL Network via TSN, they had a thing up saying the game was starting shortly and I didn't even realize the game had started already.

Then I found another stream that had the simulcast on TSN2. As soon as the Pens game ended, even though it was in the middle of action and not a stoppage, they cut away to their anchor desk and announced the game was switching back to TSN. So I immediately pull up the TSN feed, but it was on a commercial break and didn't pick up the action until running more commercials. It was really bizarre.

Guess WGN isn't the only one with problems.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

The Chicago Blackhawks could negotiate a contract termination with Khabibulin once he returns from LTIR, as was the case with Rostislav Olesz and the New Jersey Devils.

Khabby is not going to Europe so this comparision is not at all valid

Khabby has shown no desire to play in Europe since coming to NA with Russian Penguins outside of 05 lockout when he like most legit NHL players played in Europe

If I recall he still lives in Arizona in offseason

 

[BronYrAur]

The Bryan Bickell disaster of a contract is looking so bad when he is really, not missed at all by this team when he is out. Like, that's $4m we could have used elsewhere. Could still have Frolik for another year. We have a surplus of forwards who could play for this team even when Bickell is hurt.

 

[BobbyJet]

TSN’s SD feed is terrible but I refuse to pay extra for HD on a channel that I already pay for. Seems Center Ice has the same principles.

Watching the highlights this morning, nice work by Versteeg on the winner. The Flames player seemed to have the edge after the draw but KV managed to steer the puck toward Hammer at the point. It looked more like a play Shaw would make and for a second I thought it was him. That determination was good to see and the way I’d like to see Versteeg play.

 

[wladyslaw]

He certainly does not skate "OK".

Perhaps you are right, but His IQ is decent enough- to "get him in OK positions"- most of the time... the skating isn't as bad as Bruno or Scott!!!

 

[BobbyJet]

The Bryan Bickell disaster of a contract is looking so bad when he is really, not missed at all by this team when he is out. Like, that's $4m we could have used elsewhere. Could still have Frolik for another year. We have a surplus of forwards who could play for this team even when Bickell is hurt.

No way. Perhaps he's overpaid a bit but that's the price we had to pay to keep him around, especially in the stretch drive and the PO's. He has proven that he elevates his game in the Spring and he uses that big body to get the job done. PO's have a knack of exposing the smaller, less gritty players in this league, and BB is not one of those (that's for sure). We need him.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

The Bryan Bickell disaster of a contract is looking so bad when he is really, not missed at all by this team when he is out. Like, that's $4m we could have used elsewhere. Could still have Frolik for another year. We have a surplus of forwards who could play for this team even when Bickell is hurt.

Disaster of a contract?

Overpaid ,, Sure

But he was on pace for 18 goals and is most physical Hawk + Has always been dependable playoff performer

Nothing I would call a disaster. And given his playoff last year I am willing ot give him plenty of slack

A disaster of a contract is a guy like Troy Brouwer who has proven to be one of the worst playoff performers of last 5 years

 

[IU Hawks fan]

The Bryan Bickell disaster of a contract is looking so bad when he is really, not missed at all by this team when he is out. Like, that's $4m we could have used elsewhere. Could still have Frolik for another year. We have a surplus of forwards who could play for this team even when Bickell is hurt.

Uh...there's this tournament that starts in April. Perhaps you've heard of it?

That's what they're paying him for and all he should be judged on.