Pre-Game Talk: The Blues Game

[hisgirlfriday]

Sounds like Allen will start for them but they are very close to signing Brodeur.

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[No Fun Shogun]

Coming off a hot road trip, so has the makings for a letdown game. Would be damn nice to beat three top tier teams in three straight games, though.

 

[EmeticDonut]

I want Blues to play Fatso, who they are very likely to sign.lol

 

[EricRealm]

The hawks look great but both la/ana/edm were playing like ass with significantly more depleted rosters then we were and Vancouver/ brought a much tighter game than either of them. We just won the game we had circled on our calenders but this is a game STL always circles on theirs. Wednesday will tell us more about our team than the wins in socal. First game back after huge trip, division rival. This is going to be the toughest game yet

 

[HLLYWD99]

Somebody cream Backes again!

 

[sverige]

Hope we beat the **** out of them. I really hate the Blues.

 

[BobbyJet]

The hawks look great but both la/ana/edm were playing like ass with significantly more depleted rosters then we were and Vancouver/ brought a much tighter game than either of them. We just won the game we had circled on our calenders but this is a game STL always circles on theirs. Wednesday will tell us more about our team than the wins in socal. First game back after huge trip, division rival. This is going to be the toughest game yet

I agree. Against Kings/Ducks, we looked fantastic, but deceivingly so, as the ops weren't very good at all. TBH, I will be hopng Hawks don't have the inevitable letdown back home after a fine road trip but if it was offered right now, I'd take a loser point.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Lol so even when we win we shouldnt be too excited...

Got it

 

[hawksrule]

We've also beaten Tampa Bay and Nashville, and looked good doing it. Hawks have a lot of good wins. To intimate otherwise isn't accurate.

 

[Kurtosis]

I agree. Against Kings/Ducks, we looked fantastic, but deceivingly so, as the ops weren't very good at all. TBH, I will be hopng Hawks don't have the inevitable letdown back home after a fine road trip but if it was offered right now, I'd take a loser point.

Sometimes I wonder how you come up with this stuff.

I'm sure none of it had to with the fact the Hawks made them look bad. And contrary to popular belief a letdown isn't inevitable.

 

[Kurtosis]

The hawks look great but both la/ana/edm were playing like ass with significantly more depleted rosters then we were and Vancouver/ brought a much tighter game than either of them. We just won the game we had circled on our calenders but this is a game STL always circles on theirs. Wednesday will tell us more about our team than the wins in socal. First game back after huge trip, division rival. This is going to be the toughest game yet

The Hawks always have Blues games circled on their calendars seeing as it is now arguable their biggest rival. The Hawks also had a depleted roster for the trip.

I love how some of the fans on this board cannot help but to make excuses for other teams but refuse to extend that line of thinking to the Hawks.

 

[x Tame Impala]

It's true in all sports, good teams take advantage of beneficial situations and use them to win. It's an 82 game season Bobby, nobody here is saying the Hawks are a lock for a cup win because we beat LA and ANH in November. It's okay to be happy about our team looking freaking fantastic against some of the best teams in the world.

Sometimes I think people get a little too invested with the Hawks. Seems like some of you can't take a step back and realize that we have over 50 games left to go this year. That it's a long season, and we'll be seeing the many successes and many failures of this Hawks team over that time period. We're fans of a great team man, enjoy when they do well and don't get too cranky when they don't.

 

[Kurtosis]

We are on a Hawks message board where most of us discuss every aspect of the team and organization as well as every game. We aren't normal run-of-the-mill fans so I don't think most of us will ever take that approach to the team (i.e. not getting too invested because face it, almost all of us already are).

That being said it would behoove of people to tone down the negativity.

 

[Hawkaholic]

If we lost to the Kings or Ducks it would mean the world and shows the Hawks aren't a good team.
If we win against the Ducks or Kings, it doesn't mean much at all, and we still have to prove ourselves vs the Blues.

//Bobbys world.

 

[x Tame Impala]

We are on a Hawks message board where most of us discuss every aspect of the team and organization as well as every game. We aren't normal run-of-the-mill fans so I don't think most of us will ever take that approach to the team (i.e. not getting too invested because face it, almost all of us already are).

That being said it would behoove of people to tone down the negativity.

It shouldn't be THAT hard. I'm on this board all day, i'm even delaying my homework while i'm on it right now

We all obviously spend a lot of time discussing and watching the Hawks, but that's what surprises me most. I would imagine the guys who spend as much time as they do being immersed in this team would understand basic concepts like "It's a long season" or how great of a team we really have.

 

[BobbyJet]

If we lost to the Kings or Ducks it would mean the world and shows the Hawks aren't a good team.
If we win against the Ducks or Kings, it doesn't mean much at all, and we still have to prove ourselves vs the Blues.

//Bobbys world.

You need to comment more on hockey and less with personal crap.

But I must ask. Forget the Hawks for a second, do you think Ducks and Kings were anywhere close to their best on the weekend? Yes or no?

It certainly would be nice to discuss hockey logically and honestly without some of you folks getting your shorts in a knot.

 

[x Tame Impala]

You need to comment more on hockey and less with personal crap.

But I must ask. Forget the Hawks for a second, do you think Ducks and Kings were anywhere close to their best on the weekend? Yes or no?

It certainly would be nice to discuss hockey logically and honestly without some of you folks getting your shorts in a knot.

Yes I do. They didn't have full rosters but neither did we. You're not discussing hockey logically, just frequently looking for flaws and rarely being satisfied.

 

[Gootie]

If we lost to the Kings or Ducks it would mean the world and shows the Hawks aren't a good team.
If we win against the Ducks or Kings, it doesn't mean much at all, and we still have to prove ourselves vs the Blues.

//Bobbys world.

Pretty much. There's a few snobbish experts that love to lecture about the finer points of the game or whatnot, but they look pretty silly grasping at the thinnest straws to downplay or discredit the Hawks. Every year there's a new flaw, whether it be faceoffs, the PP, PK, holding leads, the 6th D-man, the 4th line LW, not playing someone's favorite pet rookie, effort (LOL), etc that will lead to the Hawks downfall, and when they aren't the 1 team out of 30 that wins the Cup they parade around here about how _______ cost the Hawks the Cup.

Are the Hawks perfect? No. Do they have legitimate weaknesses? Yes. The way the Hawks are dissected and overanalyzed you'd think they are the Oilers. When the Hawks aren't winning in dominant fashion every game, the GDT looks like a Bears GDT ffs. I'm glad I wasn't around here weren't the elite franchise in the NHL because it's hard to imagine this place being even more miserable.

 

[BobbyJet]

Yes I do. They didn't have full rosters but neither did we. You're not discussing hockey logically, just frequently looking for flaws and rarely being satisfied.

Exactly, cause I want to win it all, and not gloss over issues as I see them. I cheer for the Hawks as mush as anyone and (I know I shouldn't but) I take every loss personally.

 

[x Tame Impala]

That's a rough way to be a fan man. We are unquestionably, with ZERO doubt, fans of one of the best teams in the NHL. Despite that, our team isn't going to be perfect. Whether it's over the course of a season or even a single game. I personally don't know how you can watch the games that way and still get enjoyment out of the Hawks.

It's a long season Bobby! Just sit back and enjoy the little things as they come, there'll be a lot of them

 

[Kurtosis]

You need to comment more on hockey and less with personal crap.

But I must ask. Forget the Hawks for a second, do you think Ducks and Kings were anywhere close to their best on the weekend? Yes or no?

It certainly would be nice to discuss hockey logically and honestly without some of you folks getting your shorts in a knot.

I am just happy I get to use that same argument for the Hawks in the future and you have to accept it.

 

[BobbyJet]

That's a rough way to be a fan man. We are unquestionably, with ZERO doubt, fans of one of the best teams in the NHL. Despite that, our team isn't going to be perfect. Whether it's over the course of a season or even a single game. I personally don't know how you can watch the games that way and still get enjoyment out of the Hawks.

It's a long season Bobby! Just sit back and enjoy the little things as they come, there'll be a lot of them

I've enjoyed this winning road trip, especially the 2 weekend games where Hawks finally played some solid hockey for all periods, but I also recognize that ops were obviously not at their best.

 

[hawksrule]

I loved Saturday night's game. Still pumped up from it.

 

[Kurtosis]

I loved Saturday night's game. Still pumped up from it.

Don't be. The Kings weren't at their best.

 

[zac]

Don't be. The Kings weren't at their best.

LOL. The Kings played a lot better than the Ducks did, that's for sure.

One thing that I'm liking this year is that we are being much more responsible in our forechecking which is eliminating a lot of the 2 and 3 on 1s we saw last year. While I think our team defense is better, I think we are doing a much better job when we have the puck in the neutral and offensive zones to curtail the prime scoring chances we were giving up last year.

The defense is better and the Crawford has been great, but it all starts by having awareness and not getting caught with your pants down. The number of elite chances we are giving up, specifically the oddman breaks, are visibly down from last year. Although our record doesn't reflect it yet (though our GD does), we play a lot better when we don't force the issue so much offensively (and yes I know our shots our up). I thought we forced it too much last year, where this year we are letting our defense create our offense. That is when we are at our best.