I hope we don't have to play the Wild again, just because law of averages they may finally find a way to win against Chicago in the playoffs.
- breadbag

Crazy were even talking about playoff picture, butttt......

I would like to see the preds on the other side of the bracket. The only thing that scares me about the Wild is how unbelievably confident I would feel going into that series... Wont have had that much confidence going into a series since the 2013 Detroit series or the 2012 Phoenix series...

Best to avoid Nashville altogether. By comparison the Avs and Wild are a picnic.
- RickJ

Them too...

It really comes down to when you catch teams...For example Minny may be a tough out this time, if they get in.

As far home ice not mattering...I agree to a point. But it could be different this time.

The series that really made the Hawks who they are was when they came back versus Detroit down 3-1. The reason I didn't write them off is they had 2 of final 3 at home...if they got that far.

Thinking about Game 7 which was epic-I'm not sure the Hawks win that game if it was on the road.

EKB13... I'll be at the Grand Rapids Griffins game tonight watching them play your Hogs... Should be a good game. Rockford is a very good team this year. I'm always stoked to watch these teams play. Does Rockford still have that St. Johns guy on defense ? He was impressive last time I saw him play.

I am bummed Andreas Athanasiou is not in the lineup... but you may as well consider him a Red Wing now... (part of the new core). Dude has some serious wheels. I'd say he's at least as fast as Larkin...
- Vladdie_Kon1

Those two kids will cause a lot of matchup problems with their speed.

They can carry the puck in or dump, chase and bang with the beef they added.
- furso27

Yes, it will be great to see some lunch bucket with that new guy from Montreal, Dave Weesh...

If Desi-TT-Flash looks good again tonight, do you think Q keeps them together and puts Weise on the 4th line?

JJ or Mex,

Is there any rumors of groundwork being laid down for off season moves? With the cap "reportedly" going down, I figure we'll be making some changes because of it.


- gifman

I'm definitely not JJ or Mex, but from my wild speculation, there is almost no chance that the cap actually lowers.

Stagnating would be the worst thing that could happen. I don't think as a business they could allow a downgrade in cap without making the entire business looking weak. If the Canadian dollar doesn't rebound by Jan 2017, I'd start to worry, but I can't see them lowering the cap.

If they ever do though, I'd imagine there would be some sort of amnesty towards high cap teams, so maybe some compliance buyout(s)?

THX for quick fix Quicky


Ehrhoff will see time on the pp according to Q and he does fit well there.
Big shot, good passer.

I guess 57 is dinged. He could used a night or two off though, just to freshen and heal up.
- philco28

I'm anxious to see his shot from the point...Not sure it is what it was....

I'm definitely not JJ or Mex, but from my wild speculation, there is almost no chance that the cap actually lowers.

Stagnating would be the worst thing that could happen. I don't think as a business they could allow a downgrade in cap without making the entire business looking weak. If the Canadian dollar doesn't rebound by Jan 2017, I'd start to worry, but I can't see them lowering the cap.

If they ever do though, I'd imagine there would be some sort of amnesty towards high cap teams, so maybe some compliance buyout(s)?
- the_dough_boy

Before worrying about if going down it has to stay the same-Which hasn't happened either.

Issue is more money has to be thrown into the pot stateside.

Remember the haters who said the Hawks weren't going to be able to put together this type of roster depth with 2 guys making over 10mil(not to mention another guy making 4mil who's buried in the AHL).

They can carry the puck in or dump, chase and bang with the beef they added.
- furso27

Yes and the bottom 6 production is bound to help CHI wear down foes

I am becoming more firm in my belief that until they move him to the right side, expect more of the same.
- John Jaeckel

and think that helps, but he has to be better with the puck and with decisions.
That minus two begining I am sure, did nothing to enstill confidence in him or visa versa from the organization.

Let's make no bones about it.

The guys has nine NHL goals and arrived with eight.
He never had what could be called a marquee year in the Slovak league except when he was 17 and that was 18 goals in 28 games and included lots of dumb penalties.

I had him going in the early fifth round in my mocks, its's still up as proof of my opinion.

A lot of hockey fans like to put stock in when guys were drafted. That certainly tells you some NHL staff thought highly of his chances to make it in some capacity as an NHler.
It might essential to get a perpective on his GM at the time of his selection.
Jarmo Kekäläinen resigned in St. Louis Blue staff as head of amateur scouting when he wasn't selected to GM the Blues over Doug Armstrong, and became the GM of Jokerit in the Finnish elite before accepting the Bluejackets offer.

I am not saying he felt new pressures in Columbis,but they had secured THREE first rounders by way of trades and past history suggest when a team has that many they are always willing to shoot for the fences on one of them hoping that the last of the three is a home run.
Sidenote: last draft the Bruins with three first rounders in a row surpise all with the "reach" of Zach Senyshyn form the Soo. Everybody & their mother expected that American one ay offensiev player would be that last pick...but the bigger, Senyshyn was a draft climber who showed high compete levels...now, back on track:

I think that Kekäläinen saw Dano as a sleeper who could be a thumper, and scoring presence in close, and Marko had a good handle on the defensive side.

And most of that still stands true, but there is still a gap in the learning curve-he doesn't play up to the speed of the game and the idea with these kids is eventually you aren't even thinking you are simply reacting and the decision seem to come easier on what you have as options and once you are insticntive answering and not thinking the game gets easier.

I am not saying when a player reaches 32 NHL career goals that he have it together and are now in a position to make their mark...because we have seen here how that is simply not the case-but a lot can be said for guys like Andrew Desjardins - he has 25 goals lifetime.
I would be willing to argue that he is dialed in, the lights turned on and are bright at the major league level on what is his game and how he proceeds to be a factor as a pro.

I am not sure exactly how that happens, but I am pretty sure it's clear that it hasn't happened for Dano.

I'm definitely not JJ but no chance the Cap lowers.
- the_dough_boy

The issue behined the Cap retrating has more to do with the players and their association not wanting to continue to fund things...If there’s a shortfall, then the NHL takes the money from the escrow fund to make up the difference.


http://thehockeywriters.c...hl-escrow-tricky-dynamic/

Remember the haters who said the Hawks weren't going to be able to put together this type of roster depth with 2 guys making over 10mil(not to mention another guy making 4mil who's buried in the AHL).
- SimpleJack

1. Those who voiced those concerns are not and were not "haters"....OK...that was a legitimate concern coming into the season and through the season.

2. They weren't able to put together that depth through the 1st 5 months of the season with about 10 guys rotating through the bottom 6 and almost 8 or 9 of those dragging Toews down.

3. It took the combination of "right" players available/picks for both teams to make the deals work.

4. This "depth" roster will last all of 4 months and lets hope it does.

5. And you can thank PAK and crawford as well as OT heroics by Toews that they are even in this position that acquiring depth in March even mattered.

The issue behined the Cap retrating has more to do with the players and their association not wanting to continue to fund things...If there’s a shortfall, then the NHL takes the money from the escrow fund to make up the difference.


http://thehockeywriters.c...hl-escrow-tricky-dynamic/
- wiz1901

I've been preaching this for some time: at some point, players with contracts will look at the escrow situation and will not want to subsidize unsigned players any more by agreeing to the escalator.

It's nice to think of Kane and Toews being team-first guys (even considering their high cap contracts), but how team-first will they be if the 16% hit mentioned in that article takes (16%x13,800,000) over $2,200,000 away from each of them?

Would you vote for the escalator?

quote's not working:


- Hossa2theHOF[quote=trdbrta]- Bureaucrat Lives Matter!

Lay off our border bureaucrats. They have to fill out forms and stuff. It's hard.

do you have anyy idea how hard it is for the American bureaucrats to translate Canglish into English. it takes them weeks to do so on the simplest of forms. lol

Hey but until 2013 they could insider trade legally.....

Panarin vs McDavid for the Calder ?

True but fluke things happen. Hawks have just been on the right side of the fence as of late.
- Gerk

Going for the jinx factor

1. Those who voiced those concerns are not and were not "haters"....OK...that was a legitimate concern coming into the season and through the season.

2. They weren't able to put together that depth through the 1st 5 months of the season with about 10 guys rotating through the bottom 6 and almost 8 or 9 of those dragging Toews down.

3. It took the combination of "right" players available/picks for both teams to make the deals work.

4. This "depth" roster will last all of 4 months and lets hope it does.

5. And you can thank PAK and crawford as well as OT heroics by Toews that they are even in this position that acquiring depth in March even mattered.
- bogiedoc

Typical response you'd get from a hater.

Most under rated from an attention standpoint on the entire turnaround here is the strength and conditioning coach Paul Goodman.
- Al

Blues employ a fitness guru Nelson A. Sometimes I wonder if his fitness focuses too much on testing rather than performance. Maybe this is in a way like certain advanced metrics?

THX for quick fix Quicky


Ehrhoff will see time on the pp according to Q and he does fit well there.
Big shot, good passer.

I guess 57 is dinged. He could used a night or two off though, just to freshen and heal up.
- philco28

Erhoff seems glad to be a Hawk based on his comments, hoping he can get his game back, he's not that old yet....

Going for the jinx factor
- stljam

my thoughts exactly when the Jerk, I mean Gerk, posted Not nearly as bad as "predsfan" who explicitly wished for Keith or Kane to be injured bc he was still upset about the Predators losing last year....


EDIT:

Keith out 4.5 weeks
Hossa out 3-4 weeks
Kruger out for 4+months

Erhoff seems glad to be a Hawk based on his comments, hoping he can get his game back, he's not that old yet....
- Kewl1

Ehrhoff's O'zone skills intrigue. His D'zone play will be under the microscope.

I've been preaching this for some time: at some point, players with contracts will look at the escrow situation and will not want to subsidize unsigned players any more by agreeing to the escalator.

It's nice to think of Kane and Toews being team-first guys (even considering their high cap contracts), but how team-first will they be if the 16% hit mentioned in that article takes (16%x13,800,000) over $2,200,000 away from each of them?

Would you vote for the escalator?
- StLBravesFan

I have been wondering about this too and thinking about it like this:

Where is the tipping point? For example, does the 1.5mm aav guy in a non-escalator environment get 2mm aav if the escalator is approved, so he actually gets 1.68mm. There is a level of pay where the scale tips and the escalator vote changes based on your own math and situation. Part of it depends on where you are on the salary spectrum, the other part depends on where you are in your contract term, along with some other things.

Where is the tipping point? How many votes are on either side of it? How many players even understand the complexity of this?

Blues employ a fitness guru Nelson A. Sometimes I wonder if his fitness focuses too much on testing rather than performance. Maybe this is in a way like certain advanced metrics?
- stljam

Have this 'guru' and Hitch ever met ?

Panarin vs McDavid for the Calder ?
- philco28

I hope Panarin wins it, but you never know how these things go. Panarin certainly deserves the Calder and the bonus that goes along with it.