The Hawks lost 3-1 to the Flyers last night that was a huge wasted opportunity to keep this Cinderella story continuing.
Arizona lost in regulation earlier in the night and with a win, the Hawks could have jumped within 2 points of the last Wild Card spot.
This makes the weekend back-to-back the biggest 2 games of the year… or pick up games for the Hawks, depending on how you look at it. Chicago isn’t officially out of the playoffs, however, their odds of making the postseason now sit at 7.5% (source: Hockey Reference).
Here is what the standings look like as of this morning:
how to roll a six on a dice
Looking ahead to the Colorado this weekend, this is a team that has been in an epic nosedive and frankly, that’s been a real surprise to me. If you would have asked me at the start of the year, I thought they would be cruising into the playoffs by now.
The Avs are hurting up front as they are without Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Nieto right now which should have the Hawks licking their chops to exploit this Colorado team.
The Hawks, on the other hand are very healthy (minus Drake Caggiula) and if they can just get back to finding their offensive groove like they have had for a good chunk of the year or take a cold PP to a lukewarm one, then there’s a good chance they walk away with a couple weekend wins.
What would that do for them in the standings? Well, there would be uncertainty based on what Arizona and others around them do, but one thing is for certain, the Hawks would be tied with the Avalanche with 78 points.
Some other tidbits leading into this weekend:
Jeremy Colliton is eluding to Corey Crawford starting both games this weekend. I assumed they would ride him to the very end and that appears to be happening.
The game against the Flyers got me thinking; watching Crawford play as well as he did and watching Carter Hart battle just as hard at the other end, I’m fearful as to what’s the come for the future of the Blackhawks goaltending. I will have a upcoming blog on this exact topic but wanted to tease it now.
I, by no means have soured on Colin Delia. I, however, do not think Colin Delia is going to be Carter Hart. Hart to me, is a franchise cornerstone for the next decade in Philadelphia. He’s proven his worth this year and is maybe even a year or 2 ahead of his planned arrival to the NHL.
With Corey Crawford’s murky future and Colin Delia being the only true potential starting goalie right now for the near future, I wonder if the Hawks draft a goalie higher than we’re accustomed to seeing at the entry draft to really take a chance on a premier goaltending prospect.
Typically, the Hawks take a flyer on a goalie in the 6th or 7th round. Although, they did take a chance on Wouter Peeters in the 3rd round in 2016 which looks like it’s going to backfire on them.
I’m really interested to see their strategy on this on June 21-22. Mark Kelley has led them to draft just 8 goalies in the last 10 years of drafting. The highest being Kent Simpson in the 2nd round / 58th overall in 2010.
Sticking with goalies but moving on to Rockford, they have signed Matt Tomkins to a 1-year extension. He’s been playing well for the Hawks ECHL affiliate, Indy Fuel.
The IceHogs also signed Fredrik Olofsson to a ATO to get a look at him. How many games he actually gets in will be up to Derek King, but if he does get an opportunity, he better make the most of it. The Hawks will have to make a decision on his rights this summer.
Rockford plays tonight vs. the Milwaukee Admirals as they continue to push for the playoffs.
See ya out there!
JL
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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