Pre-Game Talk: WCF: Anaheim Ducks vs Chicago Blackhawks Part II - GAME SEVEN

[Any Colour You Like]

Other thread was approaching the limit. Continue discussion here.

Game 4 - Saturday, 5/23 @ 7:00 PM
Game 5 - Monday, 5/25 @ 8:00 PM
Game 6 - Wednesday, 5/27 @ 7:00 PM
Game 7 - Saturday, 5/30 @ 7:00 PM

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[BobbleHeadNight*]

I mean holy ****, I know you love him IB, but he isn't infallible.

I never said I love him or he's infallible. Weak straw man.

I react to the "fire Q, Q sucks, Q is an idiot, they win in spite of Q" nonsense. I dismiss that out of hand as the rantings of self-important fans whose nights were ruined because their hockey team lost a game.

 

[Any Colour You Like]

I never said I love him or he's infallible. Weak straw man.

I react to the "fire Q, Q sucks, Q is an idiot, they win in spite of Q" nonsense. I dismiss that out of hand as the rantings of self-important, butt hurt fans whose nights were ruined because their hockey team lost a game.

Are you still denying that it was an awful coaching decision? Because if so, you are very wrong.

The beat writers (and any posters that hold the same view as you for whatever reason) that say we didn't lose the game because of a lack of TT and Vermette are completely wrong; the bottom six was on a roll and was giving us our only consistent production, and Q decided to mess it up and ruin our center depth. That's a straight up bad coaching decision that everyone has a right to be pissed off about.

 

[ndgt10]

I still can believe a team sporting Beauchemin as their number 1 defenseman have completed neutered the Hawks offense.

 

[Hawkaholic]

I still can believe a team sporting Beauchemin as their number 1 defenseman have completed neutered the Hawks offense.

Ya it's pretty baffling. But it's not just 1 guy. Kesler seems to get under Toews skin for whatever reason. Hossa, Saad, Sharp, and Bickell can't seem to muster up anything, and Kane seems to be floating (in the first 2 games anyway)

Not sure what's going on there, but if they want another Cup as badly as they say they do, they have to start stepping up their game and better the opps or this will be over before we know it. The Hawks will not win a series with Kane, Hossa, Toews, Sharp, Bickell, and Saad scoring 2 goals total.

 

[Kurtosis]

I never said I love him or he's infallible. Weak straw man.

I react to the "fire Q, Q sucks, Q is an idiot, they win in spite of Q" nonsense. I dismiss that out of hand as the rantings of self-important, butt hurt fans whose nights were ruined because their hockey team lost a game.

Sure thing dude. While all of us are discussing decisions he makes you are discussing us.

Hot take in the second paragraph though.

 

[JaegerDice]

I still believe this team has the talent to defeat the talent on the Ducks.

However, I'm becoming less convinced that this team's talent is strong enough to overcome BOTH the talent on the Ducks AND the man behind their bench.

Step 1 would ideally be putting their best players out on the ice every night, but apparently not even something that simple is a gimme.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

I never said I love him or he's infallible. Weak straw man.

I react to the "fire Q, Q sucks, Q is an idiot, they win in spite of Q" nonsense. I dismiss that out of hand as the rantings of self-important fans whose nights were ruined because their hockey team lost a game.

Q was an idiot last night. Yes or no?

 

[JaegerDice]

I still can believe a team sporting Beauchemin as their number 1 defenseman have completed neutered the Hawks offense.

They're not, really.

Andersen is the bigger issue. Blackhawks are getting plenty of good chances, they're just not burying them.

But on the other hand, this Blackhawks team has had stretches where they struggled to score all season. So it's not completely out of character this year.

 

[Hawkaholic]

They're not, really.

Andersen is the bigger issue. Blackhawks are getting plenty of good chances, they're just not burying them.

But on the other hand, this Blackhawks team has had stretches where they struggled to score all season. So it's not completely out of character this year.

Plenty of good chances? I didn';t see last nights game, but the stats picture doesn't show plenty of good chances.

 

[Nothingman*]

Q was an idiot last night. Yes or no?

I say yes. Why mess with something that had the bottom 6 performing well while the top 6 stay put? That is called an idiot...moron....whatever you choose.

 

[kuzy]

I never said I love him or he's infallible. Weak straw man.

I react to the "fire Q, Q sucks, Q is an idiot, they win in spite of Q" nonsense. I dismiss that out of hand as the rantings of self-important, butt hurt fans whose nights were ruined because their hockey team lost a game.

Are you serious? The outrage for Q's horrible roster management is warranted, no matter how butt hurt or self important you think we are. What pisses people off the most is that this isn't the first time Q's decisions have defied all rational thought.

 

[LordKOTL]

As hawkaholic said in the previous thread:

At the end of the day, you can complain about Q putting 3rd and 4th line players in and out of the lineup all you want, and with good reason. But as long as Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp,and Saad continue to not score, this team isn't winning anything no matter who is in the lineup on the lower lines.

I get that the Ducks aren't a bunch of pantywaists like Edmonton, Phoenix, or Buffalo, so it's completely not out of the realm of possibility that their top shutdown lines can nullify our top offensive lines...

But the problem comes when you have a 2010/2013-esque 4th line that was blown apart for no good goddamned reason. I could deal with Sharp being completely milquetoast last game saddled with ballast like Nordstrom and Versteeg, but that still gives you 3 lines that cancel out/perform against the Ducks--if you keep Shaw/Kruger/Dejardins together.

Q also had the means, motive, and opportunity to renuite that line in the 3rd when everything was on it's way to hell in a late-model handbasket. He didn't. He kept lines 3 and 4 as effective as an epilleptic manatee on the ice, thus giving Budreau ample opportunity to completely shut down the only 2 good lines we had.

It's not so much the Budreau outcoached Q, Q outcoached himself. The only positive (besdies Cumiskey being pretty okay) of all this--and it's more of a Magic Johnson positive, is that Q's boneheaded roster moves, unlike game 7 last year didn't (as yet) cost us the series.

 

[JaegerDice]

Plenty of good chances? I didn';t see last nights game, but the stats picture doesn't show plenty of good chances.

I meant over the series as a whole, not only last night.

Last night neither team was generating a whole lot, as you can see from the expected goal totals at the bottom.

Both team's looked exhausted.

 

[Hawkaholic]

I meant over the series as a whole, not only last night.

Last night neither team was generating a whole lot, as you can see from the expected goal totals at the bottom.

Both team's looked exhausted.

It's not pretty for the other 2 games either.

This chart is for Game 2, basically 2 games...


This is Game 1

 

[LordKOTL]

They're not, really.

Andersen is the bigger issue. Blackhawks are getting plenty of good chances, they're just not burying them.

But on the other hand, this Blackhawks team has had stretches where they struggled to score all season. So it's not completely out of character this year.

It's deeper than that. The Ducks are crashing the net and getting screens in. Aside from Shaw (and to quote Strother Martin) the 'hawks last night played like, "a buncha goddamned p***ies!!!!!!"

Even a blind man can see what's needed to score in this seires--traffic in front of the net and go for goals as filthy as the sediment of a septic tank. The ducks are doing so. The 'hawks last game didn't. Could Q's lineup screwup have been a factor? Maybe, but at this point it shouldn't matter what your star status is--if you don't have the puck get open or get to the front of the net.

 

[CptnSerious]

I still can believe a team sporting Beauchemin as their number 1 defenseman have completed neutered the Hawks offense.

We'll see what happens in games 4-7. This is usually when the Hawks play their best, mostly thanks to Q finally fixing the lines to the way they should be. Hopefully it continues.

 

[JaegerDice]

It's not pretty for the other 2 games either.

This chart is for Game 2, basically 2 games...


This is Game 1

So in all 3 games the Blackhawks scored fewer (if only slightly in game 2 and game 3) goals than their shots/chances would suggest (expected goals), and the Ducks only did so in one game (Game 2).... not really seeing how that paints a picture of the Ducks smothering the Blackhawks chances, vs a hot goalie stopping said chances.

 

[Hawkaholic]

but that still gives you 3 lines that cancel out/perform against the Ducks--if you keep Shaw/Kruger/Dejardins together.

But that's the problem, our top 2 lines aren't cancelling out the Ducks top 2 lines.

ANA 1st line (+4)
ANA 2nd line (0)

CHI 1st line (-3)
CHI 2nd line (-5)

Anaheims top 2 lines have been a combined +4 in the first 3 games, Chicago's have been a combined -8. That is hardly cancelling each other out.

 

[Hawkaholic]

So in all 3 games the Blackhawks scored fewer (if only slightly in game 2) goals than their shots/chances would suggest (expected goals), and the Ducks only did so in one game (Game 2).... not really seeing how that paints a picture of the Ducks smothering the Blackhawks chances, vs a hot goalie stopping said chances.

The Hawks expected goals/60mins are somewhere around 1.97 goals, and you don't see how that paints a picture of the Hawks not getting enough good scoring chances?

 

[DontToewzMeBro]

The coach got cute, maybe all this Babcock talk got in his head. Lol

 

[JaegerDice]

The Hawks expected goals/60mins are somewhere around 1.97 goals, and you don't see how that paints a picture of the Hawks not getting enough good scoring chances?

Well, when you put it that way.

On the up-side, Anaheim's expected goals are pretty much dead even with the Blackhawks.

 

[BobbleHeadNight*]

Are you still denying that it was an awful coaching decision? Because if so, you are very wrong.

The beat writers (and any posters that hold the same view as you for whatever reason) that say we didn't lose the game because of a lack of TT and Vermette are completely wrong; the bottom six was on a roll and was giving us our only consistent production, and Q decided to mess it up and ruin our center depth. That's a straight up bad coaching decision that everyone has a right to be pissed off about.

Awful? Questionable at best. The beat writers are correct. That wasn't the sole reason they lost.

I love it when they tweet emails from the Q Derangement Syndrome crowd. Those are always good for a laugh.

 

[G0AT]

Ugh woke up for work today thinking I'd be over the loss, but no. I'm still pissed. Well game 3 is a must win now IMO. I'm just glad we pulled game 2 out of our ***** or it'd be 0-3 right now and we'd all be panicking even more.

This is when the core of this team has stepped up in the past, let's see if they can do it again. Hawks offense needs to break Andersen and drop a 5 or 6 spot on him.

 

[BobbleHeadNight*]

Hot take in the second paragraph though.

If the shoe fits.