Hawks By the Numbers

[JBM73]

By the numbers: Blackhawks after 15 games - Chicago Blackhawks Blog - ESPN Chicago

 

[gmalis1]

Basically, Hawks have five less points than last year at this point. Hawks have given away 3-4 points so far, in my opinion.

Hawks penalty kill stinks. Does it compensate for the improvement in the power play? Maybe.

To me what's disconcerting more than anything has been the parity of the entire Central Division. I probably do too much scoreboard watching, but it seems like each and every night all the other Central Division teams win. Puts a ton of pressure on the Hawks to keep the foot on the gas peday, so to speak.

Remember, only the top THREE teams in each division are guaranteed a playoff spot. The two remaining spots are the teams with the seventh and eighth highest number of points from the conference combined.

 

[anotheridiot]

I know the hawks were off a while, but leading 3-0 going into the third I would hope the third and fourth lines and Rosivol get more ice time. Each team in the central is one injury away from becoming mediocre, the hawks on D maybe even more than most. Morin was sat after a turnover in the first last game, but in the third he was doing his thing getting the puck to the net. Then he is a scratch. I dont know about this beat down of these young guys. one bad period and they are off to rockford. Much rather see them turn it around in the next game here.

 

[HockeyDoug]

The WC is absolutely destroying the EC and racking up points. It won't last. Colorado was going to come out hot no matter who the new coach was, too many guys in big contract years (prior to their extensions) were going nuts in the offseason getting ready. Their blueline still sucks and Varlamov hasn't done anything yet.

Minnesota is dangerous but they don't know which goalie to play when both are healthy and until Granlund and Dumba show they're serious about making the next step, they'll be a few steps behind of Chicago and STL.

STL still needs a full year out of a any goalie and they still need a first line. They'll rack up the points with 3 very good lines, but they'll continue to face the same issues that they've had the last couple years, they have a really tough time scoring consistnently. They still can't afford blueline injuries.

Nas and Dal just don't have the depth and WPG is a mess.

All is well so far in terms of overall health, depth, and current rosters. Plenty of time to unscrew the PK and clean up some of the turnovers. I'm still pretty happy with the group.

 

[anotheridiot]

we will see if Rosie is out for a while, this Brookbank playing forward seems to be losing a chance to get a scorer in there. Hayes, Morin, somebody please.

 

[gmalis1]

Roszival in need of some dental work. Hawks off until Thursday. Plenty of time to heal up for him.

I agree. Brookbank on the wing is a waste. He is solid defensively, but he has no offensive upside. Besides, Kane gets double shifted the last 2-3-4 games. Sometimes he's playing with Saad and Pirri (which in my opinion isn't working out either), sometimes he plays with Shaw and Bickell (much greater upside).

I'm thinking as time goes by that Kane-Shaw-Bickell winds up being the second line and Saad-Pirri-???? winds up as the third line.

I'm not sold on Morin, and I'm even less sold on Jimmy Hayes. I don't know what they do with that open wing position. Morin and Hayes are not good enough defensively for Q's liking (and put Brandon Pirri in that group too). Just maybe you move Ben Smith up to take Brookbank's spot, as Smith has played well the past two games.

I'm guessing the Hawks are just biding time until Michal Handzus gets back, but according to reports today he is at least two more weeks away.

Hawks off for three days, then start a really busy schedule where they play 10 games in 17 days. One game every other day, plus a back to back to end things. The last seven games are all on the road. Should be a difficult time. Mainly need to stay away from injuries. And I don't know what you do with the backup goalie situation. I'm thinking Habby gets the start in Nashville and then see from there. What if he lays yet another egg?

Overall Hawks are rolling along. With all the wins, you would think they could put some distance among them and the other Central teams, but it's not happening.

 

[anotheridiot]

I really thought this game was a chance for Khabi to get back on his game, a team with only 4 wins. But I guess if he didnt beat them, the backup situation would look even worse.

Raanta was on a hot stretch, cooled off lately. Gave up 3 goals on 17 shots in a game after Simpson gave up 2 goals on 3 shots. back to only giving up 1 in 25 shots last game. Pretty sure they are gonna let him keep playing in Rockford to keep seeing shots. I do think there is value here just seeing shots against our offense in practice, but when he comes up its gonna be the end of the road for Khabi. They need to make sure the time is right.

As far as that last guy, I really would like to see McNeill get a shot. I think he can run a point on the powerplay as well. I think he can provide a spark to ultimately see what this team really needs. You know stan likes to make a move before the deadline. Just would rather they see enough of the kids to make the right decision.

I love Kane playing with Saad. I really think they need to keep a balance of saad and bickell with toews and kane, with sharp and hossa filling out the top 6. Shaw has been making some nice feeds and hammering the net to keep playing second line center for now, but he has game on the third line too. When Saad was on the third line he was like a top forward playing against the other teams third and fourth lines, but he definitely is more active on the ice when he is on with toews or kane. So its not impossible to consider one more center stepping up and they can pretty much run three lines and go back to that fourth line pestering teams for 10 minutes a game.

So if they were to give McNeill a shot, I think keeping Toews, sharp and hoss until they cool off, Kane, saad and McNeill, Bickell, Shaw and Pirri/ smith could be the third. Sharpie also plays great with Kane, so swapping Saad and Sharp when the first line cools off would be a good move.

Handzous can play the game, but not the pace of PK and second line center, he just cant stay healthy for long stretches. I expect if PK keeps showing improvement that Zeus will not be on PK anymore.

 

[Baseballnut77]

Either morin or hayes on a line is better than brookbank. Q just has to let them stay in the lineup for a period of time to get used to their linemates, something that he has shown in the past that he does not have an ability to do. Also it should be saad on the line with kane as he has a nose for the net and kane loves to find the open man. To me bickell will always be a third liner no more no less

 

[gmalis1]

Nice night for the Blackhawks tonight...and they didn't even play.

Colorado loses. St. Louis loses in OT. Nashville loses. But Winnipeg won...but they beat the Red Wings, so that's always a plus. LOL...

 

[averagejoe]

Thanks JBM. After winning the Cup I knew that teams would be playing the Hawks tough. They took some hard losses, but I like that they blew out the Jets (twice) since they should have.

I hope that trend continues. Even in the 2010 Cup year, they may have been the more dominant team in many games, but they didn't score in dominant fashion. Was nice to see a 3 goal jump on Dallas too.