You don't need to be Captain Obvious to say the Hawks needed to win this game. Little is working for this team right now, especially defensively. I say I'm not a Q defender, which probably makes me one by default, but my biggest complaint with him tonight is that his teams power play sucks ass. At a crucial point when the game was tied 2-2, the Hawks got two power plays and didn't do jack with either. Aside from that however, I can't say the Hawks looked unprepared. I can't say they didn't hustle, they didn't go to the net, they didn't fight for pucks. They did all those things and still lost. Just to rub it in, I have to say that watching the Avs reminded me of the Hawks on a good night. The Avs were aggressive with their forecheck, but what they absolutely excelled at tonight was forcing turn overs and creating a wicked fast transition up ice for odd man rushes. The Hawks were pushing and were aggressive with the D, and got caught multiple times. Emery looked pretty good, I thought, and on the first two goals he got burned by two very well executed two on ones. The second two were a little questionable, but still came on plays where defensive coverage fell on its ass. I tip my hat to the Avs for playing a good game, but again, this was a game the Hawks needed to win and should have won.
Kane got off the schnide with a real nice backhand and Seabrook buried a one timer into a wide open net after Giggy lost the puck. Before and after these goals, the Hawks actually had quite a few nice chances and just about every line had a play where they moved the puck up the boards and got it to the slot in front a breaking player. I thought the line combo's of Sharp/Bolland/Kane, and Shaw/Toews/Hossa looked a little weird, but it's not like they weren't getting chances and Q actually left them that way for quite a while. Another head scratcher was to see Leddy moved to third pair with Montador, only to still his ice time finish up at 16 min to Mondtador's 9. Yes, 9 minutes. Keith, again, had 27. Keith and Seabrook tonight factored large in both of the Avs first goals. But, all of the Avs goals were the result of at least one D partner not being in position. The last goal was pretty much just par for the course. With Emery pulled, the Avs started to move the puck up ice and one of their D was just trying to dump the puck in, which instead went off a Hawks player and straight into the net. That's the kind of shit that happens when you are in a slide.
Time for more captain obvious. This team does not have what it needs defensively to compete. Despite having a five game skidmark, the Hawks are tied with the Nucks for goals scored and are just one or two behind the Wings. In goals against, however, only the Jackets have allowed more goals. Ouch. The goaltending has not been dominant by any stretch, but the defensive breakdowns have been brutal. Short of turning the Hawks into a trap team, I don't know what coaching change can fix what is going on here. Ultimately it will fall on Q, but it's also time to admit SB's gamble on Montador and belief that Leddy could seamlessly replace Campbell have not panned out. Assuming Campoli stayed and didn't get hurt, that's probably an improvement over Montador. Would he have addressed the real problem of this D? Probably not. If SB can still pull a trade for a legit second pair guy, perhaps this team has a change to catch lighting in a bottle. Otherwise, Meh. Offensively, this team is not perfect, but there is no team in the league that they can't score on.
For tonight's game, there really doesn't seem like much to discuss and with the skid at five, the only thing that is starting to matter is stopping it before it hits ten and they allow themselves to be passed in the standings.
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I did not see a second of the game yet, but was walking out of a place that had the score of 4-2 at some point, and me and my wife both said ouch at the same time.
Im glad you mentioned Campoli though. I sort of look at that move and the inability to keep the goaltender who won you a Cup around some big blunders by the administration. 2 mistakes IMO that seem to be having larger consequences today.
Nope, things are not good. We are seeing the opposite of what transpired in the beginning of the season. The luck has run out, and the Hawks can't pull wins out of their butts anymore. We all saw it coming based on how they were playing, so I can't say I am surprised.
What magic ingredient is going to turn this terrible slide?
Vegas, you're the eternal optimist. I saw nothing to lead me to believe this slide will end any time soon.
How many odd man breaks did they concede last night? Defensively, you are right, there's nothing that can right the ship. This is a soft team that can't rely on the speed transition game any more. This is why the Oil and Lanche have an easy time with the 'hawks. They flat out can out-skate them. Q seems to think he's got his 2010 squad and keeps playing the same way.
Disagree about the coaching change. If you look at the body language this team is not into it plain and simple. You can say they're tired, BS, or they're playing hurt, but the fact is there's no passion. A coaching change, will only be to promote Haviland and maybe fetch an assistant ,but it will clear the stagnant air and maybe give the players roles that they can grow into—grow is the key word here. More importantly it will send a message that management means business and maybe be the stun gun that this team needs to wake the 'f' up. Q is as good as gone in the players minds now, why prolong the inevitable.
HH, don't bother to watch unless you've got some serious time to waste.
I was going to use an analogy to septic shock last night. The cause of septic shock is always an infection of some sort, but the infection itself is not what causes the real damage. Instead, it's the body's response and overreaction that kills you. Q might be the infection, or maybe it's the lack of personnel, or maybe it's belief of invincibility after winning the cup. To some degree, the cause right now is moot because this team is in shock. Treating the infection is crucial, but the most immediate thing is to stop the shock. Generally, we add things to stop shock. We give fluids, we add drugs that bring your blood pressure back up. I would agree for the most part that this team lacks passion and though addition of passion from the outside is only a temporary measure (like a hit of adrenaline), I think it's really the only intervention left for this team.
I agree that management needs to send a message that it's serious. Firing Q does not send a strong enough message, especially if they just move Haviland up. We all pretty much agree that SB needs to make a trade right now that likely isn't available to be made, even if he gives up a "core" player. I am generally the eternal optimist, but not with this team as it is constructed right now. Honestly, I believe the skid will hit ten.
So, we're saying, I think the same thing. I just happen to think that SB will circumvent his kitchen getting any hotter by deflecting the troubles to Q and using him as a scapegoat. From a business sense, this may not be the most practical thing to do given SBs propensity for burying salary in europe or in the AHL, but it may be the the only thing to do in order to shock this team out of the funk. But if it comes down to self-preservation, firing Q may be his only option.
Moving Haviland up may not be the strongest message but it is a message that change is needed and I don't think that Havy has the same philosophy as Q. It was evident when he coached for four games last year. Those games were arguably the best series of games they played. It is also a cheap move given that he is already on the payroll. He's been in the organization a lot longer than Q. I agree, to bring in someone from outside the organization now would be a waste of time and a throw in as far as the season goes.
The truth is everybody in the organization is responsible for this free-fall but some wield a bigger hammer. Unfortunately for Q he doesn't really have a hammer. No pun intended.
When the Hawks replaced Savvy, who was beloved, with a seasoned coach in Q, I think that sent a message they were playing to win. Some bloggers have already stuck a label on SB that he is the perfect blend of marketing facade who will not challenge McDonough. I think that's a little unfair. To a fault perhaps, I try to look at context. When SB was blowing up the cup team, he didn't have the option of re signing Niemi at what he was asking for, and ultimately, Niemi received less then he wanted from the Sharks until he beat out the other guy named Anti. SB gambled on Montador, but in doing so established an asking price for Campoli that again the Hawks passed on as did every other team in the league. In hindsight, these moves look stupid and the "core" where a lot of money is locked up, either cannot or will not make adjustments in their game to integrate the much lesser skilled players SB keeps fielding.
On some level, I think SB deserves a little slack to make some mistakes and right now, I am starting to think one of his bigger mistakes has been to commit so heavily in the core to the point of not having a more balanced team. In context, the fan base would have erupted if SB traded a guy like Sharp in order to keep Niemi and perhaps a guy like Ladd. Nobody else let go has set the world on fire on lesser skilled teams and I think that's something to take note of. This year, SB appeased the fan base and dumped Campbell's contract and let's be honest, he got rid of a contract, nothing more.
I can accept a second down year, depending on the lesson SB takes away from this year. If we see a return of the core with nothing but retreads, I will start to consider that perhaps other bloggers are correct and that this team has been taken over marketing. A new coach seems inevitable to me, but in looking at who's available these days, that's nothing exciting to me. I still think a real second pair D man can make a difference in THIS season. Whether it's fair to start really heaping on SB or not, I'm in agreement it's time for him to do SOMETHING to start turning this team around.
Ok—takes a deep breath—I'm one who does believe the Blackhawk Brand Machine or their corporate structure is meddling in the on-ice affairs. I've said it many times in this blog that I think that to be the case, before the other blogs started to chime in. I think you can be a good GM without having actually played the game, and SB could be a good GM given time, but, he's squandering the "golden years" of his beloved core by pandering to, or attempting to pander to, all of that machine. We have the core locked up, and basically unmovable, because of lengthy and costly contracts. Great for marketing. I mean what other team has so many bonafide stars? Great for hockey too, but in a pound wise, penny foolish NHL, not a great way to build a team. Again, what other team can lay claim to so many long-term, no movement contracts? So now that the flotsam is beginning to surface he is hamstrung because he has no moveable contracts. Yes, all is well so long as 88, 81, 19, and 10 are scoring, but as I said months ago they are all somewhat streaky and now that day
is here.
Marketing, I believe, has prevented this group of players from becoming a "team"—heaping untoward pressure on its lengthy list of marketable characters, and in essence causing the GM to back-fill the remaining roster spots with what we're seeing now. So what we have is a bunch of elite athletes who are treated a such and then the rest of the guys.
Next the GM. If you think for one minute that SB has complete control of hockey ops, I think you're mistaken. SB is in this position because of his father who, btw, was terrible GM himself in Buffalo.
The name Bowman is synonymous with hockey, and that hiring was the start of the new regime marketing. Classified as a senior adviser, SBsr is more or less calling the shots and SB is simply parroting. Hands tied by the lengthy contracts and NMCs this goes back to marketing. Cautious accountant probably more concerned with the bottom line than the actual on-ice operations, and in fairness he had to be last year. He also has bought into the brand identity which elevates the core players to superstar status. We'll see in the next 18 days if he has the balls reshape this squad with more than just filler …
Coaching, well what hasn't already been said. Fire the coach. Not because he's the easiest target, but because he has run his course. The young guns of four years ago are now players and his message has grown stale. Clearly they have stopped listening and HH and I have been all over that for some time. His treatment of the players is disgraceful and detrimental to the team and to the individuals concerned. His treatment of the "stars" as prima donnas is in line with the brand philosophy. Whether he wants to do that is one thing, but the reality is, there's preferential treatment here.
So, we have a fractured team, divided by haves and have nots. We have a coach who can't work with the players he has and can't extract any sort of motivation from his team, can't adapt the system to play with the cards he's been dealt. Vegas, it's going on two years now. The jig is up for coach Q.
As for the others lost in the cap and salary purge, I think you should looks at some stats and watch them play. They have all done reasonably well in their new roles and for the most part are contributors to their respective team in a team game. They bring what the brought in the indianhead. Grit and some heart.
Finally, you can't build a team by numbers in a ledger. That's an accountant thing. The Blackhawks have failed miserably at finding the character they summarily dismissed in the form of Brouwer, Campbell, Versteeg, and Ladd and even Fraser and Burrish. The Campbell trade was, indeed, lauded by most pundits, because it gave SB the cash to plug the holes. He's failed miserably at his attempt and why bother trading him if you're not going to spend the money he freed up. His presence is missed without a doubt. Why, because SBsr didn't like him.
So now SB has plenty of cap space, he has a tortured squad who have quit on their coach and lost confidence in his methods, and you have a team in very real danger of not making the playoffs. It's easy to say they're still in a rebuild except based on the signings that doesn't make any sense. Exhales … and goes for dinner.
The marketing angle is starting to look more plausible. Rocky W has become beloved, but at this point I think he is still primarily a businessman and if I remember correctly, I thought I read a story somewhere that the Hawks organization actually lost 5 million during the cup year. He buried Huet in Switzerland and ate that contract which was a pretty noble thing to do, but he's probably told SB he's not going to do that again. The big exodus of players also had something to do with the paperwork blunder that may or may not have been truly Tallon's fault.
When they traded Ladd, that was the one that bothered me the most. He is a player who is sorely missed. I did follow the other guys for awhile after they left and though I agree some of them brought grit, the cup team is not a team I would call a disciplined group. Cohesive, yes. Disciplined no. Looking at cap geek now, they are showing that only Kane, Toews, Seabrook and Keith have the no move clauses. For the most part, I'm okay with that. (Montador has one too, but no one is going to trade for him anyway at his cap hit) For the record, I believe Q destroyed Brouwer and almost did/may do the same to Stalberg. Bickell, I think, kind of pulled a Buff last year and made himself look huge in the playoffs only to fall into obscurity this year. I don't know what to make of that one.
I'm in with saying it's time for Q to go. Our only disagreement there is in how much instant impact we think it will bring. No matter who is coach, I see a team with a defense that most teams seem to know how to beat. We can blame the powers that be for the hated active sticks gameplan, but at this point, I kind of feel like other teams have set the bar and it is the Hawks who must respond with a combination of trades and change in style. In contrast, a team like the Preds have been doing what they do for so long that they can make other teams play the game the Preds want to play. The mish mash of players the Hawks have now is no where near that reality.
Bringing it back to the marketing and SB, if SB will not be allowed to spend to near the cap, most of our discussion here is moot. I agree whole heartedly with your previous posts on the big difference between the 500k player and the 1.5 player. Setting aside the two no move forwards, directly below Toews and Kane are four forwards who make a combined nearly 15 million dollars while the next eight forwards combine to basically half of that. And next year, Sharp's cap hit goes up 2 million! Q needs to go, but so does this disparity down the roster. If SB's hands are tied to keep the top six forward contracts (ranked by money) I see no improvement next year.
That was a tough one to watch. A couple of quick observations. I don't know about anyone else but when the line juggling starts before the puck is even dropped that is usuallly not a real confidence inducing move. While on that subject, the juggling of Hossa and Kane seemed to work reasonably well, the juggling of 4 different wings to play alongside Hossa and Toews in the third did not. Yes that is correct I counted 4 different wings everyone from Shaw, Stahlberg, Brunette,to Frolik got a crack with Tazer and Hoss in the third. How in the hell do you get any kind of consitency or chemistry with that?No wonder we got get caught in so many bad line changes, nobody knows shift to shift what line they are on.
Also was I the only one questioning why the hell Keith and Seabs were out there down 5-2 with about 1:30 left to play in the game? I understand that Monty was out, but still any chance to give those two a breather should be taken. Speaking of Monty are we ever going to see him actually play the point on the PP? I mean the guy has a pretty heavy shot and I am sure could play the point better than Morrison has to this point.
Last thing did it seem to anyone else that many of the guys were gripping the stick pretty tight, I mean I think I saw some sawdust coming off a few of those things. The Hawks need to stop overthinking and just get back to playing, and for the love of God please find some semblance of a consistent system or style of play. I could go on but we are all busy people. Hopefully the boys can get off the snide on Friday in San Jose.