But you didn't...so just take your L from that series and the one tatoo'd on your forehead
and kindly FUG OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

- philco28

Word. LMAO

But you didn't...so just take your L from that series and the one tatoo'd on your forehead
and kindly FUG OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

- philco28

Hey, wait a minute...

You're not using the word "phuck" any longer?


I feel a deep disturbance in the Force...

For me, IMHO, a repeat is contingent on two things:

1) Staying injury free. Give credit to Paul Goodman. He has our guys in good shape and they have strong locker room leaders who follow and set good examples. To me, Paul Goodman doesn't get enough credit. However, we're one leg-on-leg hit away on a Kane or Sharp, or a concussion away for Toews or Hossa, from having a tougher season. Hopefully we can avoid the injury bug. Having depth helps, but as long as we play our depth and rest our team, we should be good.

2) We have to start clicking on our Power Play. Kompon is a lucky SOB. Maybe Yanic Perrault will be able to help on the face-off skills and help us win more pucks.

Which, on a side note, and maybe I've missed this in the summer reading, but there hasn't been much made of Perrault coming in this season. That might be some interesting research for a future story!

For me, IMHO, a repeat is contingent on two things:

1) Staying injury free. Give credit to Paul Goodman. He has our guys in good shape and they have strong locker room leaders who follow and set good examples. To me, Paul Goodman doesn't get enough credit. However, we're one leg-on-leg hit away on a Kane or Sharp, or a concussion away for Toews or Hossa, from having a tougher season. Hopefully we can avoid the injury bug. Having depth helps, but as long as we play our depth and rest our team, we should be good.

2) We have to start clicking on our Power Play. Kompon is a lucky SOB. Maybe Yanic Perrault will be able to help on the face-off skills and help us win more pucks.
good call. i still cant believe we won the cup 2 times in the last few years. i cant believe it. too awesome.
Which, on a side note, and maybe I've missed this in the summer reading, but there hasn't been much made of Perrault coming in this season. That might be some interesting research for a future story!
- resqmed99

Hey, wait a minute...

You're not using the word "phuck" any longer?


I feel a deep disturbance in the Force...
- EKolb13

Forget it, he's rolling

Fixed.

Lalonde signed in Germany. Also, where's Kruger?
- EKolb13

That is something JJ failed to address....who replaces Lalonde?

You're not including Detroit? The Wings had a hell of a run last season, and have added to their roster over the summer. I'd have to think they have to be in that discussion too.
- EKolb13

If Detroit could add another solid D-man, they could clean up in the East.

That is something JJ failed to address....who replaces Lalonde?
- Ogilthorpe2

Good morning, Ogie!

Actually, this is something you need to address. Who replaces Lalonde as the throw in on all trade proposals?

It's hard to win a cup, let alone repeat. I'm not going to act like an entitled @ss and debate the possibilities.

The new realignment stacks up well for the Hawks...Go through that division...who scares you? St. Louis...and that's just about it.

Yeah, I guess they could face a wild card team from the Pacific in round 1, but that shouldn't keep anyone up at night.

Point is, the Hawks really should be able to get to the conference finals regularly, unless they get injured. From there....Vancouver, LA, San Jose, and maybe Edmonton down the road could stand in their way.

The NHL coverage from ESPN/TSN/CBC will be all eastern conference...all the time. The Capitals-Penguins divisional games, will compare to the annoyance of the Red Sox-Yankees. Now add in Detroit, and all you'll hear about is how great the East is....

I don't think this is an unreasonable point of view. Could all be true. Thanks
- John Jaeckel

It probably IS all true - but was certainly true last year, too, especially after the Hawks terrific start.

If Detroit could add another solid D-man, they could clean up in the East.
- Ogilthorpe2

Brookbank and a prospect for Drew Miller?

Hey, wait a minute...

You're not using the word "phuck" any longer?


I feel a deep disturbance in the Force...
- EKolb13

No phuck'n worries EK...it's all good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUKGTkiWik

No phuck'n worries EK...it's all good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUKGTkiWik
- philco28

You had me going there for a minute.

Health of Toews, Hossa, and Sharp are major concerns for me. If Toews has another concussion I think that is a cause for real concern.

You had me going there for a minute.
- EKolb13

...that word will always have a place in my diction

It's hard to win a cup, let alone repeat. I'm not going to act like an entitled @ss and debate the possibilities.

The new realignment stacks up well for the Hawks...Go through that division...who scares you? St. Louis...and that's just about it.

Yeah, I guess they could face a wild card team from the Pacific in round 1, but that shouldn't keep anyone up at night.

Point is, the Hawks really should be able to get to the conference finals regularly, unless they get injured. From there....Vancouver, LA, San Jose, and maybe Edmonton down the road could stand in their way.

The NHL coverage from ESPN/TSN/CBC will be all eastern conference...all the time. The Capitals-Penguins divisional games, will compare to the annoyance of the Red Sox-Yankees. Now add in Detroit, and all you'll hear about is how great the East is....
- SteveRain

I'm still not buying St. Louis as a legit contender. Maybe it all comes together for them this year, but for some reason I'm just not impressed with the Blues. They've got plenty of individual talent, but can they pull together to make the team better than the the sum if it's parts? I have my doubts.

They're goin to have to....Show Me

You're not including Detroit? The Wings had a hell of a run last season, and have added to their roster over the summer. I'd have to think they have to be in that discussion too.
- EKolb13

Detroit has also lost players like a lot of other top teams because of the reduced cap. This is why I am not too concerned about the players we won't be returning to our lineup. There are several UFA's, when signed, will increase the already long list of teams at or near the cap ceiling. Some key leftover RFA signings will do the same.
If we can maintain and pro-rate our $2M cap space this season, an extra piece or two can create a deep roster again for a long cup run.

"Balance" is a funny word.

The Hawks didn't lose a game for the 1st 50% of the season


The Hawks dismantled the defending Champions

The Hawks made Chara look terrible .

The Hawks biggest rival is now in the East.

Jonathan Toews.

In the West the LAK are the only team that has a shot against the Hawks.

I think the Ducks are good but that top line will be less effective now minus Bobby

I'm excited to see how Dallas' roster changes make them more competitive .

The Canucks are spiraling out of control and Lu plus Torts is a terrible combination.

Minnesota roster is still the same and the Hawks slept walked thru that series.

The Sharks suck.

Phoenix sucks.



If anyone in the league now has a chance at repeating its this Hawks team.
- mrpaulish

well that is kind of obvious since they are the team that actually won it last year ...

Good morning, Ogie!

Actually, this is something you need to address. Who replaces Lalonde as the throw in on all trade proposals?
- EKolb13

Good hockey morning

I thought we were just going with the rights to Lalonde in all future proposals?

(1) Injuries: are the "playing wounded" from June going to be relatively healthy next year? Hossa, Handzus, Bickell, Toews, others. Hawks were very lucky with injuries last year - except for Bolland and Sharp, didnt miss many games.

(2) Olympics: a lot of Hawks will be playing in Sochi during the 3-week break, and will be going to pre-season camps in about two weeks.

(3) another somewhat compressed season given the 3-week break in February.

(4) Given the of the above, can Q avoid the "Thibodeau Method" and not go all-out to win every regular season game? Hossa, Handzys, Roszival, even Toews are going to need to be healthy-scratched every once in a while.

Given some breaks, yes, a Cup-run is certainly repeatable.
- StLBravesFan

Pulling a Jsabey here and responding to my own message:

They don't need to have absolute replacements for the dear departed souls, or a fourth line that approaches last year's (really, in the play-offs, a 3B line). It would be nice to have a fourth line that can score a Cup-clinching goal in 17 seconds on the ice, but:

They need a fourth line that can give them 10 minutes of quality hockey a game, contributing in whatever way they can without being a detriment, so that you don't have to double-shift your top-6 guys. Keep the top-6 at 20 minutes or less.

Same with the PK: Kruger and Saad/Smith/whoever have to be able to take effective minutes away from Toews/Hossa on the PK.

Pulling a Jsabey here and responding to my own message:

They don't need to have absolute replacements for the dear departed souls, or a fourth line that approaches last year's (really, in the play-offs, a 3B line). It would be nice to have a fourth line that can score a Cup-clinching goal in 17 seconds on the ice, but:

They need a fourth line that can give them 10 minutes of quality hockey a game, contributing in whatever way they can without being a detriment, so that you don't have to double-shift your top-6 guys. Keep the top-6 at 20 minutes or less.

Same with the PK: Kruger and Saad/Smith/whoever have to be able to take effective minutes away from Toews/Hossa on the PK.
- StLBravesFan

- Ogilthorpe2

I will have to say its pretty impressive to win a cup with Niemi and Crawford, but hey, we came pretty close to beating you guys in 2010 with Leighton. I know that would have stung if we won.
- GOA88

You guys didnt have a chance in 2010. Simple as that, most confident ive ever been about a team i root for.

Stacked isnt having 1 great line, a good 2nd line, and 1 great D Pairing, an average goalie, and the rest of the team as depth players. You my friend are delusional. Chicago won this cup with great team work and coaching and clutch plays by their star players. A stacked team is the Colorado teams that won the cup, the Detroit repeat cup winners in the 90's. Thats a stacked team, its almost impossible to have a stacked team in the salary cap era.
- GOA88

But you didn't win...and every year the Flyers suck.

Oh, and congrats on having Eklund as an insider for your team....really nice.

I'm still not buying St. Louis as a legit contender. Maybe it all comes together for them this year, but for some reason I'm just not impressed with the Blues. They've got plenty of individual talent, but can they pull together to make the team better than the the sum if it's parts? I have my doubts.

They're goin to have to....Show Me
- Ogilthorpe2

Very well done....

Blues are the only team I think could beat the Hawks in a 7 game series before they'd get a western conference team. Unless the wild card out of the Pacific was that good...which I can't see how it would be. It would take the Hawks having a Phoenix type series...Halak or Elliott stoning them, the stars not showing up, and CC imploding.

Blues are an enigma. Should be a lot better, but aren't. Hitchcock's philosophies may be wearing thin...First year, everyone bought in and they still imploded vs LA. Last year, see the 1st year, but not so much trusting the Hitchcock 1999 Dallas Stars manual.

For some reason, I think Winnipeg could make a move this year. I don't know, just a feeling.

I personally think Halak is at the table for most overrated player in the NHL.

IMO for the new division you have the following tiers:

Hawks
St Louis
Minnesota, Winnipeg
Nashville
Dallas, and Colorado