Pre-Game Talk: WCF: Anaheim Ducks vs Chicago Blackhawks

[Gurth]

Again, I don't necessarily disagree with you, I would just argue that by far the bigger issue was Shaw being moved off W on the 4th to C on the 3rd.

Which happened because Nordstrom was jammed into the lineup.

There was a domino effect to Q going full r_tard.


It's not personal against Nordstrom.

 

[Illinihockey]

I'm still so hot about what Q did last night. I know the series isn't over but now we're facing a must win on Saturday.

 

[BobbyJet]

Desjardins looked excellent earlier in the playoffs, but aside from that stretch I really don't see a significant difference between him and Nordstrom since he has become a Hawk.

11 is stronger on the puck and plays a more patient game. He's simply a smarter and better player. Nordstrom tries to apply the body but it doesn't accomplish much against players who outweigh him by 25+ lbs.

 

[Kurtosis]

Maybe this is just some ploy by Q to add some adversity into the mix which as a result will propel the team into the SCF. Other than that I got nothing.

 

[Kurtosis]

11 is stronger on the puck and plays a more patient game. He's simply a smarter and better player. Nordstrom tries to apply the body but it doesn't accomplish much against players who outweigh him by 25+ lbs.

Try 50+. I probably have 20+ pounds of muscle on him and I am a couple inches shorter. The guy is a ragdoll.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

The Ducks may be better than the Hawks and we may be destined to lose the series no matter what the lineup is. It could be that simple. That being said you don't do what Q did last night and I can't believe any other coach in the NHL would have pulled something like that. That move was all ego, trying to do something no one else would do and if it works take a bow and tell everyone how smart you are.

If the Hawks lose this series the Q hate in here will be beyond belief. Even if he goes back to the old lineup and they lose you will get many in here who will point to the game 3 changes and blame the whole series on that. It will be unbearable..........

 

[Nothingman*]

Apparently the other team knows this and is clogging the neutral zone effectively. This is what I expected the Wild to do, frankly.

I agree with whoever said earlier that losses are not just the Hawks beating themselves. These are two of the four best in the league. The other guys are helping the Hawks look bad just as the Hawks are helping them look bad at times.

But the agenda around here is that after every loss, the blame game starts to assuage the raw feelings. Expecting a cup is indeed ridiculous, and smacks of a spoiled fan base.

The 'feelings' were evident before the puck drop last night with the two stumps brought in. And when those are brought to fruition by stupidity of the coach, then that is to be expected.


Nobody expects a cup every year. We would like the coach to help us get there by making smart hockey decisions. Neither of those were smart decisions hence the pissed off fanbase. Same as last year's WCF when Q thought he was so ****ing smart....he smarted us out of the finals.

Keep on kissing his wrinkled old ass beef. Q never makes a mistake and when he does, it is the 'spoiled' fanbase that is to blame and that are unreasonable. Ok. I have your agenda now.

 

[Kurtosis]

The Ducks may be better than the Hawks and we may be destined to lose the series no matter what the lineup is. It could be that simple. That being said you don't do what Q did last night and I can't believe any other coach in the NHL would have pulled something like that. That move was all ego, trying to do something no one else would do and if it works take a bow and tell everyone how smart you are.

If the Hawks lose this series the Q hate in here will be beyond belief. Even if he goes back to the old lineup and they lose you will get many in here who will point to the game 3 changes and blame the whole series on that. It will be unbearable..........

The move definitely reeked of "smartest guy in the room" syndrome and I said it at the time. The Ducks very well may be better and we will eventually see.

When the Hawks don't ice their optimal lineup it becomes a little harder to tell.

 

[Nothingman*]

The Ducks may be better than the Hawks and we may be destined to lose the series no matter what the lineup is. It could be that simple. That being said you don't do what Q did last night and I can't believe any other coach in the NHL would have pulled something like that. That move was all ego, trying to do something no one else would do and if it works take a bow and tell everyone how smart you are.

If the Hawks lose this series the Q hate in here will be beyond belief. Even if he goes back to the old lineup and they lose you will get many in here who will point to the game 3 changes and blame the whole series on that. It will be unbearable..........

If they lose in 6/7 games, then the hate will be pretty strong. If they lose in 5 then the Ducks are better for sure.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

Apparently the other team knows this and is clogging the neutral zone effectively. This is what I expected the Wild to do, frankly.

I agree with whoever said earlier that losses are not just the Hawks beating themselves. These are two of the four best in the league. The other guys are helping the Hawks look bad just as the Hawks are helping them look bad at times.

But the agenda around here is that after every loss, the blame game starts to assuage the raw feelings. Expecting a cup is indeed ridiculous, and smacks of a spoiled fan base.

All this you are saying has nothing to do with the lineup changes last night. I agree we may be up against a team better than us and no matter what the lineup is we may lose. We may well have lost last night with the same lineup as game 2, we will never know. Still doesn't excuse the idiocy in the changes. We only lost by a goal last night, who knows if we kept the same lineup we may have won the game. The bottom 2 lines were our best in game 2, maybe last night they come through with a few goals if no changes.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

If they lose in 6/7 games, then the hate will be pretty strong. If they lose in 5 then the Ducks are better for sure.

If they lose in 5 there will be people in here who will blame the game 3 changes for losing the entire series. Book it.

 

[Kurtosis]

Like what is the reasoning in this...

The team's best two lines game 2 were the 3rd and 4th lines. The top 6 was pretty bad. So in Q's infinite wisdom he keeps the top 6 EXACTLY the same and changes the bottom 6.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

I just want game 4 to start right now. The way everything unfolded immediately prior to and during game 3 is too unpleasant for me to keep contemplating.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I know this is going to be pretty much two days of Q bashing but,

Toews, Sharp, Bickell and Kane to some extent. Earn your damn contracts!!!

 

[PRGeno]

I don't even really disagree with you. I guess I just don't feel that Nordstrom played particularly poorly or that, even if Desjardins is better (which I am not exactly convinced), the drop off to to Nordstrom is a significant one. I think there are plenty of things to take issue with in that game, the play of Nordstrom, to me, is near the bottom of that list.

His play wasn't terrible, the fact he only played 7 minutes is nothing but head scratching if the intent was to bring in fresh legs. So you just have to ask WHY?

Q wanted to play the genius and he outsmarted himself.

 

[PRGeno]

Again, I don't necessarily disagree with you, I would just argue that by far the bigger issue was Shaw being moved off W on the 4th to C on the 3rd.

Exactly!

 

[Gurth]

The 'feelings' were evident before the puck drop last night with the two stumps brought in. And when those are brought to fruition by stupidity of the coach, then that is to be expected.

This.

It took anyone with half a brain about half a second to know that these were unbelievably stupid and unnecessary changes and that they'd most likely cost us.


How a coach of his supposed stature couldn't see it is beyond understanding.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

And those who are saying game 4 isn't a must win are nuts. In the 2013 Detroit series and 2014 LA series we had home ice, meaning 2 of the last 3 games were in Chicago. We only needed one road win in the last 3 games of those series. We go down 3-1 here we need to win once in our building and twice in Anaheim. Forget it, that won't happen. Game 4 is a must win.

The core of this team has been through so many wars, will be interesting to see if they have it in them to make one more push. Game 4 will be very interesting. And if Q keeps Verstink and Nordscrub out there he should be fired, and I have been a supporter of Q for the most part.

 

[Kurtosis]

TT and Vermette will be back in. Their legs will be fresh.

 

[Gurth]

I was at my son's lacrosse game last night and was tuning in through streaming and hadn't heard about the changes.

I hear "Nordstrom" and I'm like, did I hear that right? Did he take out Desi?

Then I hear "Versteeg" and I about lost my mind.


The wife is like, what? What's wrong?

Q went full r_tard.

 

[Gurth]

Game 4 is as much of a must win as a non elimination game could ever be.


Gotta get it.

 

[dbridge]

TT and Vermette will be back in. Their legs will be fresh.

Rundblad and Carcillo are looking pretty fresh too.

 

[Kurtosis]

Rundblad and Carcillo are looking pretty fresh too.

New lineup after hours of deliberation from Q:

Carcillo-Toews-Hossa
Versteeg-Richards-Kane
Bickell-Shaw-Nordstrom
Saad-Kruger-Desjardins

Keith-Timonen
Seabrook-Oduya
Hammer-Rundblad

SCF here we come.

 

[PRGeno]

We watched a different game, then. Hawks were losing battles all over the ice. We did get some great chances despite that, but a lot of it was dump and change and the Ducks were back in our zone. The Hawks rarely have time and space, always a Duck in their shirt.

Yep! The Hawks were losing battles all over the place, they couldn't receive a pass or control the puck. They were horrible in their own end with the Ducks having several extended stays in the Hawks zone. They didn't play a team game with too much one on 3 stick handling turnovers and the guys without the puck were just standing around and not making themselves available as an outlet.

The Ducks on the other hand played an excellent road playoff game. They played as a team and cycled well. They played great in their own end taking away the passing lanes and blocking tons of shots. They were always accounting for their man defensively, and pressuring offensively. And Andersen played great.

The Ducks over all played a great game, and the Hawks didn't. Yet the Hawks still could have easily won this game. That's the issue I have. There are no give away games at this point.

You have to ice the best players you have, you have to put them in a position to succeed, and you have to lay it all out there. The Hawks didn't do any of that.

 

[Nothingman*]

Game 4 is as much of a must win as a non elimination game could ever be.


Gotta get it.

For sure. Go down 3-1 it is pretty much over.