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To Be Consistent, or Not To Be, That is the Question? |
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Consistency. That is a word that has been preached over the past few days as the Hawks were pressed as to how they feel about being 7th in the Central Division.
The last time the Hawks were last in their division this far into the season was in 2006-07. To save you the time in googling how bad that team was, the lead scorer was Martin Havlat with 57 points, following be Radim Vrbata (41) and Jeff Hamilton (39).
Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were also on the team and as leaders on this 17-18 team, can pass along their experience during that rough season. Then again, I don’t think it needs to be highlighted on how a last play finish and missing the playoffs is not an option for this franchise.
So, what does consistency mean? Webster’s Dictionary defines consistency as… I’m just messing with you, I’m not telling you the meaning of this word.
I will say that the Hawks will need a ton of it though to get themselves into a better spot to make the playoffs in 2018.
Coach Q and the Hawks will be looking for consistent efforts across the board:
* Everyone on board from puck drop – there can’t be any bystanders for the rest of the year. The core can’t be “saving themselves” because soon they’ll run out of racetrack (if you ask Pierre McGuire, the race is almost over 39 games into the season). I’ll add, a full 60 mins effort is needed to go along with these quick starts. I know it’s easier said than done, Toews & Co. really don’t have another option at this point as they are no longer able to coast through a couple periods and still sneak out a win.
* Special Teams – the Hawks PP has been a documented struggle this year, I’m not sure what to say about correcting it anymore. I do really like that 2nd unit right now of Saad-Hinostroza-Hartman-Oesterle-Franson though. More importantly, keep an eye on the Hawks PK; once a top 5 in the NHL this year, they’ve dropped to 17th. They need to figure it out.
* Surprise guest appearance(s) – There are already a few unlikely heroes stepping up to help this team out. Jordan Oesterle being 1 of them; is this guy as for real as the Las Vegas Knights the Hawks are about to play tonight? My answer is yes. Oesterle is building confidence with Duncan Keith and looks like a missing piece to this Hawks defence. I mentioned on an earlier thread that #82 is leading the way on the backend with the way he moves the puck with his quick ups, stretch passing, rushing the puck and creating offence in the o-zone. He looks to be a sneaky good signing by Stan.
Can Vinnie Hinostroza be another? He looked great on that line with Toews and Saad. Along with his goal, he had a game high Corsi For % = 71.9.
* Goaltending – it looks like Jeff Glass is in again tonight and might be a fixture in this lineup for a while. Coach Q said “no news on that one” when asked about Crawford’s status. Soooo, might be a while.
This is the exact type of “character move” that the Hawks were pining for this year. Coach Q would love to return to looking down and seeing #50 in the net, however, they appear to be building off of this Glass momentum:
@johndietxdh
Q on Glass: "He’s just one of those players that, especially for a goalie, is really enthusiastic to do whatever he can to help the team. ... He's just a likeable teammate. When he came up we said, ‘Hey, you’re not just here. Let’s see what happens.’"
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This Knights team the Hawks are taking on tonight have put up an incredible record this year 27-10-2 but are just 10-8-1 at home out of that.
This is a huge test for the Hawks (never thought I’d be saying that in January 2018 vs. an expansion team) and if they can take the good mojo they built up in New York on Wednesday, a game they can win.
… Let’s just see if they can
See ya out there.
JL
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ICYMI
* WJHC update – Tim Soderlund (SWE) will be the lone Blackhawk compete for the gold medal today (@ 6pm CST) and Jakub Galvas (CZE) looking for a bronze (@ 3pm CST).
* Rockford IceHogs update – the ‘Hogs are on a 3 game losing streak and have an important 3 days in 3 games coming up starting today. Rockford currently sitting at 38 points plays 3 games vs. division rivals Grand Rapids tonight (35 points), Cleveland (25) on Saturday and Milwaukee (36) on Sunday. If they can get on a roll, it would be a huge 6 points to separate themselves from the middle pack in the Central.
* Darren Dreger reported on Wednesday what I’ve been hearing for most of the year, Stan Bowman is happy with his team. He likes the make-up of the group and thinks they can get better without the help of external additions. I can’t argue that they have underperformed, but also, am not surprised. Does that make sense?
There were more question marks this season than any Hawks team in the past few years. The question marks on D are still working themselves out and the aging core has really thrown a wrench into the plan for Stan.
* With that said, Anthony Duclair has requested a trade according to Craig Custance of the Athletic. I have questions about a guy that age (22-years old) who has been traded once and requested to be moved in his young career. However, he has serious skill if put in the right situation; could the speedy LW fit in with the Hawks? If so, would you part with a younger Hawk on the roster like Hartman or Hayden for him?
* FINALLY, thanks for all the kind words. We’re blessed to add another precious daughter into our family. I’m back from the hospital (actually streamed the game on Wednesday and my buddy snuck me in some beers, so it wasn’t all that bad) and will be back to writing regularly again. Thanks for the patience, fam!
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Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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