WCF: (1) Anaheim Ducks vs (3) Chicago Blackhawks

[duxfever]

You definitely make a good point and I think (at least for me) that it's more of how good Q is for the Hawks than about how "bad" BB is for you guys. We have confidence in our coach that has done it before and is a future HOFer.

Which is very fair. Don't get me wrong. Quenneville clearly has a better playoff tenure and is more proven, but being proven has little bearing on this series here and now in my opinion. Will Quenneville maybe be more prepared and familiar in certain situations? Sure, of course.

Boudreau has taken teams with very little and pushed them far beyond their limits. Anaheim's defense last year in the playoffs was Beauchemin, Fowler, Lovejoy, Allen, Lindholm, and Vatanen with Gibson in net. Obviously 4/6 are back, but of the four, three were experiencing their first real run and the other two might as well be out of the league at this point. Gibson was in the AHL for most of that season.

Boudreau has a legitimate contender now and it is a real opportunity for him to show what he can do and so far he has passed with flying colors. The Blackhawks are a huge challenge, but there is no reason to use his past playoff "failings" to determine his future playoff success.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

The thing not being considered is that it's probably Kruger's line matched up against the Getzlaf or Kesler lines. That line is truly where Chicago gets their matchup advantages from. They break even or slightly lose constantly vs the top lines of the NHL.

So Q would probably have it:
Kruger vs. Getz- loss
Toews vs. Kesler- win
Kane vs Rakell- win
Sharp vs Thompson- win

What Q does is sacrifices the Kruger line. He puts them out to be slaughtered (but they don't get slaughtered) so that he can get big wins elsewhere in the lineup.

Too many coaches playing the Hawks are fine with it. They say "lol this dude is rolling their 4th vs our best line?! Good luck with that..." That's when they've lost because before you know it Kane or Sharp are out vs. the Tim Jackman's of the NHL and it's a wrap.

It's coaches like Babcock who realize this and they force the Zetterberg-Dats/Toews matchup even though Q is giving him a Kruger vs Zett/Dats matchup.

This is actually dead on accurate as far as using the Kruger line to get matchups for the other three lines.

 

[duxfever]

The thing not being considered is that it's probably Kruger's line matched up against the Getzlaf or Kesler lines. That line is truly where Chicago gets their matchup advantages from. They break even or slightly lose constantly vs the top lines of the NHL.

So Q would probably have it:
Kruger vs. Getz- loss
Toews vs. Kesler- win
Kane vs Rakell- win
Sharp vs Thompson- win

What Q does is sacrifices the Kruger line. He puts them out to be slaughtered (but they don't get slaughtered) so that he can get big wins elsewhere in the lineup.

Too many coaches playing the Hawks are fine with it. They say "lol this dude is rolling their 4th vs our best line?! Good luck with that..." That's when they've lost because before you know it Kane or Sharp are out vs. the Tim Jackman's of the NHL and it's a wrap.

It's coaches like Babcock who realize this and they force the Zetterberg-Dats/Toews matchup even though Q is giving him a Kruger vs Zett/Dats matchup.

Great points and I agree.

I hope we see:

Getzlaf-Toews
Kesler-Kane
Thompson-Vermette
Rakell-Kruger

Straight down the board.

 

[kaner23]

Which is very fair. Don't get me wrong. Quenneville clearly has a better playoff tenure and is more proven, but being proven has little bearing on this series here and now in my opinion. Will Quenneville maybe be more prepared and familiar in certain situations? Sure, of course.

Boudreau has taken teams with very little and pushed them far beyond their limits. Anaheim's defense last year in the playoffs was Beauchemin, Fowler, Lovejoy, Allen, Lindholm, and Vatanen with Gibson in net. Obviously 4/6 are back, but of the four, three were experiencing their first real run and the other two might as well be out of the league at this point. Gibson was in the AHL for most of that season.

Boudreau has a legitimate contender now and it is a real opportunity for him to show what he can do and so far he has passed with flying colors. The Blackhawks are a huge challenge, but there is no reason to use his past playoff "failings" to determine his future playoff success.

Agreed don't think BB should be seen as a disadvantage, us Hawks fans might see Q as an advantage without that being a knock to Boudreau.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Great points and I agree.

I hope we see:

Getzlaf-Toews
Kesler-Kane
Thompson-Vermette
Rakell-Kruger

Straight down the board.

More likely at the Honda Center, obv.

 

[Taze em]

Great points and I agree.

I hope we see:

Getzlaf-Toews
Kesler-Kane
Thompson-Vermette
Rakell-Kruger

Straight down the board.

That is ideal for the Ducks. But a lot of coaches just can't say no to the free cheese that is Kruger vs 1st line. It's a trap they fall into that gives the Hawks advantage. We'll see if Boudreau knows this.

At home, Q would never let the lines play out like that.

If we see Kruger vs. Getz, paradoxically Q is winning the matchup battle. If you see the lineups you put out then we are playing strenth on strength and we'll see.

 

[Duck Off]

Has anyone gone off on Chicago style deep dish pizza, yet?

Okay, I'll just keep how disgusting it is to myself.

But seriously, I feel like everyone is this thread is talking out of their *****. Can't we just listen to what the other teams fans have to say without trying to one up eachother? It's kinda pathetic and pointless.

100% this. If this just continues, the mods should just close this thread. There's literally zero reasons to say "well they haven't shown that against us" or something along those lines.

 

[190Octane]

If Toews is so awesome defensively, why wouldn't you want him out there to shut down the top scoring line of the playoffs and let your depth shine?

 

[Not So Mighty]

I think the difference will be the defense as well.

Just to be clear though...The Hawks will likely at no point in this series have a "bottom pairing" on the ice. Rundblad and Timmonen will be playing with one of Keith, Seabrook, or Hjalmarsson when they are on the ice.

That's better for the Ducks. Please do put your 5th/6th on the ice with Keith so that he has to babysit rather than be effective.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

If Toews is so awesome defensively, why wouldn't you want him out there to shut down the top scoring line of the playoffs and let your depth shine?

Depends what you think the incremental fall of is from Toews to Kruger and what incremental value it adds offensively by matching up the top line against the bottom 6. Clearly Q thinks the incremental value added offensively outweighs the defensive falloff. Kruger is great in his own zone.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

That's better for the Ducks. Please do put your 5th/6th on the ice with Keith so that he has to babysit rather than be effective.

They been doing it all playoff...And they go away from it later in games when they get the minutes they need from the #5/6, assuming the game is tight.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

If Toews is so awesome defensively, why wouldn't you want him out there to shut down the top scoring line of the playoffs and let your depth shine?

So his offense, as well as Saad and Hossa's, can shine...

Kruger knows his role and is excellent at matching up against top lines. No point having Toews, who's much better offensively, do this when Kruger can.

 

[Kathryn Tappen]

please win Hawks

ugh this is going to be a scary series. I have a good feeling though

 

[hisgirlfriday]

If Toews is so awesome defensively, why wouldn't you want him out there to shut down the top scoring line of the playoffs and let your depth shine?

Because he's also awesome offensively and Marcus Kruger isn't.

 

[camshaft]

So if the bottom 6 edge goes to Chicago like you said, where are you making that up? Gonna shut down Saad/Toews/Hossa or Kane? No one has shut down Kane, ever. Odds are good that Saad/Toews/Hossa are breaking even with Getz/Perry.

You guys have Getz/Perry/Kesler, we have Toews/Kane/Sharp. The difference is our talent is spread out over three lines, yours is over 2. That means (to me) that you HAVE to have Getz/Perry beat the Toews line and by a pretty wide margin.

That is not true. The difference in the game can be determined by the battle between the second lines. Both lines are scoring like crazy, but our second line has two guys on it who are capable of winning the Selke (Kesler and Silfverberg) and is one of the premiere shut down lines in league, while your second line is not known for its defensive ability. But we shall see how the games plays out on the ice, rather than on paper.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

That is not true. The difference in the game can be determined by the battle between the second lines. Both lines are scoring like crazy, but our second line has two guys on it who are capable of winning the Selke (Kesler and Silfverberg) and is one of the premiere shut down lines in league, while your second line is not known for its defensive ability. But we shall see how the games plays out on the ice, rather than on paper.

It's known for scoring big goals. We have three other lines that play 2-way hockey.

 

[ChiHawks10]

If Toews is so awesome defensively, why wouldn't you want him out there to shut down the top scoring line of the playoffs and let your depth shine?

Why bother? Is the reason. If the Hawk's 4th line can shut down the top scoring line of opponents, as they typically do, and get the Hawks a favorable matchup on both sides of the puck for every other line, why would they ever run their #1 against Anaheim's #1?

 

[nbducksfan19]

Great points and I agree.

I hope we see:

Getzlaf-Toews
Kesler-Kane
Thompson-Vermette
Rakell-Kruger

Straight down the board.

I would like similar but id rather have:

Maroon/Getz/Perry vs. Bickell/Richards/Kane
Beleskey/Kesler/Silf vs. Saad/Toews/Hossa

 

[Your Reality Check]

Q won't let Getzlaf line vs Kane line happen, regardless if they're home or away.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

The thing not being considered is that it's probably Kruger's line matched up against the Getzlaf or Kesler lines. That line is truly where Chicago gets their matchup advantages from. They break even or slightly lose constantly vs the top lines of the NHL.

So Q would probably have it:
Kruger vs. Getz- loss
Toews vs. Kesler- win
Kane vs Rakell- win
Sharp vs Thompson- win

What Q does is sacrifices the Kruger line. He puts them out to be slaughtered (but they don't get slaughtered) so that he can get big wins elsewhere in the lineup.

Too many coaches playing the Hawks are fine with it. They say "lol this dude is rolling their 4th vs our best line?! Good luck with that..." That's when they've lost because before you know it Kane or Sharp are out vs. the Tim Jackman's of the NHL and it's a wrap.

It's coaches like Babcock who realize this and they force the Zetterberg-Dats/Toews matchup even though Q is giving him a Kruger vs Zett/Dats matchup.

Well. Babcock and you. Pretty heady company there.

 

[Getzmonster]

I don't fully buy the Kruger-Getzlaf matchup theory. Maybe Q does use his 4th line as a shutdown line that way (Bruce has used Thompson/Cogs in a similar manner), but the idea that they will somehow avoid letting Getzlaf & Co. exploit the mismatch is some pretty wishful thinking. And besides, Anaheim has home ice and controls the matchups. It's Q that has to figure out how to steal a game on the road here, and his best bet isn't going to be offering his 4th line for slaughter in hopes that Bruce takes the bait and let's a Toews or Kane line get regular time against his 3rd or 4th lines.

At HC, I'm fairly certainly we'll see Bruce matching top six with top six. During the regular season he had Kesler opposing the Toews line, but I prefer Kes against the speed of Kane. Can't wait to see how the coaches manage the game within the game.

 

[camshaft]

It's known for scoring big goals. We have three other lines that play 2-way hockey.

All four line of the Ducks are threat to score and also defensively responsible. These are the two most talented teams in the league, and should be a real fun series to watch. The Ducks are the one team that matches up on paper with the Hawks in regard to top end talent and depth. Let's enjoy the games and see who really is the better team.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I'm trying to figure out how this amazing matchup strategy works. Give me an example say, from the Nashville series, where the hawks gave up around 5 goals per game on the road.

 

[ndgt10]

When does this series start?

 

[AngelDuck]

I'm trying to figure out how this amazing matchup strategy works. Give me an example say, from the Nashville series, where the hawks gave up around 5 goals per game on the road.

Kruger is the Adam Lowry of this series. What an amazing job of shutting down Perry and Getzlaf by Lowry. I mean, he was able to hold Perry to only 7 points in 4 games