You win this time, Justin Lowe.
- Streit2ThePoint

Hey, those Flyers are on the up and up. I'm loving the way they're building that team.

The things I would do if I were Stan to pry a couple of those young D away from Ronny H.

Spot on Justin, and welcome to the real "Madhouse on Hockeybuzz"

The potential with Forsling is obviously there, but he more than anyone else in the D-corps needs more seasoning in Rockford. I'm not exactly sure where the love from Q comes from based on his showing in games so far. In some games you can see the opposition "picking" on him, repeatedly playing it in to his side and pressuring him. Almost like a QB picking on the weakest CB. I'm sure that Q/Ulf see the offensive upside to Forsling, but at this point in time this team needs more guys with Defensive upside.
- TheTrob

Love it.

Hey, those Flyers are on the up and up. I'm loving the way their building that team.

The things I would do if I were Stan to pry a couple of those young D away from Ronny H.
- Justin Lowe

This isn't over.

A few observations from the 100 level last night.

- Ice surface is still horrible at the UC. puck bouncing all over.
- Officials are still inconsistent and brutal. So much blatant obstruction and
interference allowed all over the ice and seemingly ticky-tack infractions called. No penalty replays at the UC, so tough to really tell what was warranted and what wasn't some times. Also, why no instigator penalty on the Murphy/Laughton fight? Clean hard hit by Murphy. I have no problem with Laughton sticking up for a teammate, nor with Murphy answering the bell, but that is truly the essence of what the instigator penalty is about.
- Debrincat is fine, and at times very effective. Yes he makes mistakes, yes he still has to learn, but at this point no-one in Rockford is a better option, especially in a top 6 role.
- I don't have advanced stats in front of me, but the eye test tells me that so far this season Seabrook is your biggest liability on defense. He has never had the best footwork, or been very quick, but he has always had an ability to make a good first pass and to hit the open man up ice. I have seen him mishandle, turnover or just whiff on so many passes and clearing attempts that it makes you just wonder what is going on. Yeah, he has gotten older, has a lot of miles on the legs and has slowed a step or more, but he really looks bad. Maybe its time to stop some of the blaming his poor play on him having to "baby sit" newcomers/youngsters and focus the lens on the fact that he himself has just not been good.
- still too much "flash" in their game. It's really time to simplify, then their talent can take over. Too many times the play dies on the extra pass or the fancy play attempt. Get the puck out, get it up ice, get it on net, and crash for the rebounds (same applies to the PP). Establish a flow and the fancy stuff will open back up.
- TheTrob

Numbers wise, Forsling is the biggest liability. Horrible puck possession, gives up the highest High Danger shot rate. Murphy is bad too, but trending up. Rutta started strong but struggled the last couple games which has dragged his numbers down. Franson is excellent and so is Keith. Seabs is middle of the pack. This is all based on possession and high danger attempts, not they eye test or +/-. the eye test puts Rutta above Seabs in my book. Muprh and Kempny give up a lot of shots, but not a ton of high danger ones, so they are keeping guys to the outside. Same with Seabs, but they are all still underwater in attempts for vs against.

Hey Justin. Are you a Blackhawks fan or are you just covering for HB?

Keith and Franson had a Corsi in the mid 60s. Seabs and Rutta had one in the upper 30s. Kempny and Murphy in the upper 20s. Yikes. I'd like to see Seabs-kempny and Murphy-Rutta next game.
- JRoenick97

Welcome JL....and great observation on Rutta on the off wing. I totally forgot about that. I like the d-lines listed above by JRoenick97. Maybe alternate Kempny and Forsling for a bit to find who plays better with Seabs.

We need to get this started the right way....


....(frank) you, Justin.

Welcome JL....and great observation on Rutta on the off wing. I totally forgot about that. I like the d-lines listed above by JRoenick97. Maybe alternate Kempny and Forsling for a bit to find who plays better with Seabs.
- onehundredlevel

Maybe drop Seabs to the 3rd pairing and limit his exposure until he gets his head out of his butt. Time to maybe stop pointing the finger at his partner and point it at him. He is not going to be benched/press-boxed and he is not going to all of a sudden get faster, but he can definitely play better than he has. Biggest issue with him so far IMO is his turnovers and unforced errors.

Welcome to Blackhawks Nation!

I was at the game last night. Crawford was lights out! The D was well positioned for the most part but some of the D-men are just too slow and they get beat. I hate to say it because I love his past contributions and all of his heart, but Seabrook has lost a couple of steps. The line adjustments were a significant improvement. D-Cat played much better on the Toews line and Toews' breakaway goal was a thing of beauty. I'm a huge Saad fan and am glad he's back, but he needs to hit the net much more frequently because that is when he's most effective. That was lacking last night.

Welcome JL. Look forward to reading your posts.

Agree Murphy looked shaky but that hit he dished out made up for all of it lol. Keep those opposing forwards’ heads up!

yep..i think it was kevin weeks who was highly praise worthy of CC. After that 2012 meltdown he...he showed what he is made of coming back incredibly strong mentally and physically...nothing bothers him. He is the not the most athletic nor will will he give you a seasons worth of highlight reel saves but that's because his positioning and technique and goalie smarts keep him out of those situations..

but when called upon he can deliver the WOW save(s) how about this quadruple beauty vs habs a few years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTPH9yZju7Y
- bogiedoc

Crawford has also seemingly worked hard to eliminate his weaknesses, to wit:

He used to be chancy in digging in and going from (in particular) right to left, hesitating often and having a hard time digging in on his push-off skate, getting there late. He never would have been able to make that save on the rap around (I forget the Flyer) several seasons ago.

He used to be subject to criticism for his high-glove-side efforts - most notably during the Boston series in 2013. Now, not so much (if at all).

He used to have much more trouble with the short-side save - leaving too much of a gap between himself and the post.

He may still go down to early sometimes - seems to be an issue with almost all butterfly (meaning all) goalies....

But he has worked hard at becoming a strong goalie in all areas.

Welcome JL . Wasn't able to watch game but what I've seen this year aND reading observation from this blog
The Murphy Hammer trade not looking good.
I know the reason was for cap certainty down the road. Thing is Hammer would have only been here two more years aND then we could have let him wall or trade him at the deadline next year.
Now we're stuck with Murphy for four.
Still he may turn it around but he was not getting many rave reviews for a few years now

On Murphy's hit did he leave his feet? I only saw a quick replay.

Welcome, Justin! Good first blog.

How long are we going to have to wait for one of those "surprises?"

On Murphy's hit did he leave his feet? I only saw a quick replay.
- jhawk159

Looked uber clean to me. A real good old-fashioned hit. Nice to see the kid step up like that.

Shew...Tanner is NOT the blogger, close call. welcome aboard JL, maybe the Hawks can win 10 straight and your transition to this life will be easier.
- kwolf68

As relieved as I am that Tanner didn't take over the blog, I kind of wish he had. It would have been a dumpster fire.

Welcome aboard Justin Lowe!!

The Hawks played with more energy and fire last which was encouraging, but fact of the matter and it will probably the case most of the season, the "D" is a work in progress. Totally agree with you that Crawford was "GREAT!" The odd man chances against were way too many and the Hawks if possible need to tighten things up. I thought Cody Franson had a decent game, he is definitely an asset on the power play, as he gets his shots through and it is hard and heavy. I try to be as realistic about the Hawks as much as possible when I do post around here, and I am very concerned about the Hawks defense. All I have to say is, thank the good Lord for Corey Crawford!

A few observations from the 100 level last night.

- Ice surface is still horrible at the UC. puck bouncing all over.
- Officials are still inconsistent and brutal. So much blatant obstruction and
interference allowed all over the ice and seemingly ticky-tack infractions called. No penalty replays at the UC, so tough to really tell what was warranted and what wasn't some times. Also, why no instigator penalty on the Murphy/Laughton fight? Clean hard hit by Murphy. I have no problem with Laughton sticking up for a teammate, nor with Murphy answering the bell, but that is truly the essence of what the instigator penalty is about.
- Debrincat is fine, and at times very effective. Yes he makes mistakes, yes he still has to learn, but at this point no-one in Rockford is a better option, especially in a top 6 role.
- I don't have advanced stats in front of me, but the eye test tells me that so far this season Seabrook is your biggest liability on defense. He has never had the best footwork, or been very quick, but he has always had an ability to make a good first pass and to hit the open man up ice. I have seen him mishandle, turnover or just whiff on so many passes and clearing attempts that it makes you just wonder what is going on. Yeah, he has gotten older, has a lot of miles on the legs and has slowed a step or more, but he really looks bad. Maybe its time to stop some of the blaming his poor play on him having to "baby sit" newcomers/youngsters and focus the lens on the fact that he himself has just not been good.
- still too much "flash" in their game. It's really time to simplify, then their talent can take over. Too many times the play dies on the extra pass or the fancy play attempt. Get the puck out, get it up ice, get it on net, and crash for the rebounds (same applies to the PP). Establish a flow and the fancy stuff will open back up.
- TheTrob

Gotta see how he and the team as a whole do in the next couple-few games. If they can get on track, fine, keep him up. If they're scuffling, some sort of change is needed and he seems like a good candidate. It might be good for his long term development to spend a couple of months playing against AHL competition for a while. There are some guys down there who would be worth looking at.

Welcome, Justin! Good first blog.

How long are we going to have to wait for one of those "surprises?"
- tvetter

... the timing on that will be... a surprise as well.

I'll keep you guys in the loop as much as possible. There is a lot in the works right now.

On Murphy's hit did he leave his feet? I only saw a quick replay.
- jhawk159

it looked to me like he did after impact, but i'm not sure that makes a difference.

Looked uber clean to me. A real good old-fashioned hit. Nice to see the kid step up like that.
- Justin Lowe

Does anyone have a link to the Murphy hit?? I worked late so didn't catch the first half of the game.

Does anyone have a link to the Murphy hit?? I worked late so didn't catch the first half of the game.
- EnzoD

I do not

it looked to me like he did after impact, but i'm not sure that makes a difference.
- matt_ahrens

That's what I saw. It was a great, clean hit...the Flyer player who got hit wasn't even phased, he just got up and kept going...almost 100% of time in actual CLEAN hits the player being hit is fine. Did he have the puck? Hmmm, that's open for debate. At worst it coulda been interference. But there was really no need for that dude to jump in with Murphy, although Murphy to his credit at least answered the bell. I also don't see why Murhp was so shaky last night...he did some good things (and I am NOT a guy who has seen pixie dust and unicorns concerning this player) and I saw only 1 really suspect play.

Does anyone have a link to the Murphy hit?? I worked late so didn't catch the first half of the game.
- EnzoD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZjKKsT1-9g

you can see it here before the fight.