Justin Lowe: Hawks at It Again Another strong performance last night by the Blackhawks as they took down the Rangers 4-1.

It was reminiscent of those old Blackhawks again. A 37-19 shot difference as they got outhit 20-9 (because of their strong possession game).

There are some interesting trends happening with this team; some I can see with my eyeballs and others the stat sheets are telling me.

First

Z3Hawk
Today @ 8:59 AM ET
Debrincat never scores on a one timer either. I don't get why everyone Thinks he gonna do the Panarin thing.
- GPHawksfan


In Junior Cat scored all kinds of ways. Cat can score on one timers but his line just doesn’t work that way yet. Watch him on the ice - he sets himself up in open ice for one-timers - even gets his stick ready - but he still needs the passes. If he played with Kane you’d see it more. When Panarin played away from Kane same thing.

GPHAWKSFAN - read about your TV issues. Even with Centre Ice can get blackouts. We run things off Apple TV and buy Sportsnet and TSN as stand alones too. When you do this the blackout games become available - at least where we are. Hope this helps.

Justin Lowe: Hawks at It Again
Another strong performance last night by the Blackhawks as they took down the Rangers 4-1.

It was reminiscent of those old Blackhawks again. A 37-19 shot difference as they got outhit 20-9 (because of their strong possession game).

There are some interesting trends happening with this team; some I can see with my eyeballs and others the stat sheets are telling me.
- Justin Lowe

Great blog as usual.

John Hayden warming up on you yet, haha? I think he's had a good 2 past games.

I went to Jan Levine's blog to read about the Rangers and what they had to say. Woofs galore. Good quotes. Talked about how the hawks are a completely different team than any other team they have played so far, hawks like having the puck, chasing the whole game, and doing everything they can to get at Lundqvist. Been a while since I've heard other teams say something good about us.

This team seems to be clicking, I agree. I'm excite for Murph and Fors to come back. Three lines rolling is better than one, but the fourth line needs a little bit of work.

I'm glad I was right about Fortin (so far.) I'm never right about anything. Saad looks to be working on all cylinders. Crow, not that tested, still looks awesome.

Justin Lowe: Hawks at It Again
Another strong performance last night by the Blackhawks as they took down the Rangers 4-1.

It was reminiscent of those old Blackhawks again. A 37-19 shot difference as they got outhit 20-9 (because of their strong possession game).

There are some interesting trends happening with this team; some I can see with my eyeballs and others the stat sheets are telling me.
- Justin Lowe

I have said a few times after Fortin got called up that I hoped he was one of those unique players that performs better the higher the competition gets. He seems to be. You see it in baseball sometimes where a hitter gets more locked in and hits better at the MLB level, in part because the opposing pitchers are less wild, more consistent. In the same way at the NHL level opposing players play with more predictability, more consistency - less scrambly play than the AHL or Junior. Fortin seems in sync at the NHL level. His 2 NHL goals this year are 50% of the 4 he scored all last year in the AHL.

Z3Hawk
Today @ 8:59 AM ET
Debrincat never scores on a one timer either. I don't get why everyone Thinks he gonna do the Panarin thing.
- GPHawksfan


In Junior Cat scored all kinds of ways. Cat can score on one timers but his line just doesn’t work that way yet. Watch him on the ice - he sets himself up in open ice for one-timers - even gets his stick ready - but he still needs the passes. If he played with Kane you’d see it more. When Panarin played away from Kane same thing.
- Z3Hawk

100% agreed! Toews line are more of speed rush especially in transition and nothing against Toews but he does not quite Kane is the patience decision and play making in the O zone but very few are. Kane holds entire defenses both captivated and captive; thus allowing for others ie Panarin to open up for one-timers

100% agreed! Toews line are more of speed rush especially in transition and nothing against Toews but he does not quite Kane is the patience decision and play making in the O zone but very few are. Kane holds entire defenses both captivated and captive; thus allowing for others ie Panarin to open up for one-timers
- D2D

Just wondering, is this a futuristic quote?

One of the nicest things to see is, while Schmaltz and Kane are handling the puck in the o zone, where are the other 2 forwards? In front of the net, not along the boards, not behind the net, with all that speed Fortin standing, not skating by, in front of the net and gets rewarded by a beautiful play by Schmaltz

One of the nicest things to see is, while Schmaltz and Kane are handling the puck in the o zone, where are the other 2 forwards? In front of the net, not along the boards, not behind the net, with all that speed Fortin standing, not skating by, in front of the net and gets rewarded by a beautiful play by Schmaltz
- BetweenTheDots

Net front presence is a very welcome sight.

Backcheck was great last night, for all the credit Cat gets offensively, several times last night, his recognition of the dman pinching and rotating defensively was outstanding. Q even having him play some PK minutes and he still makes an offensive impact, his hockey IQ is incredible

I have said a few times after Fortin got called up that I hoped he was one of those unique players that performs better the higher the competition gets. He seems to be. You see it in baseball sometimes where a hitter gets more locked in and hits better at the MLB level, in part because the opposing pitchers are less wild, more consistent. In the same way at the NHL level opposing players play with more predictability, more consistency - less scrambly play than the AHL or Junior. Fortin seems in sync at the NHL level. His 2 NHL goals this year are 50% of the 4 he scored all last year in the AHL.
- Z3Hawk

For me the jury is still out on Fortin but no question he has had a positive impact on the speed with his youth and speed! It is my contention that he is not as comfortable in "controlled play" whereas his assets are more odd man and open ice advantages. With that, he is now more suited and thriving on the third line!

Great blog as usual.

John Hayden warming up on you yet, haha? I think he's had a good 2 past games.

I went to Jan Levine's blog to read about the Rangers and what they had to say. Woofs galore. Good quotes. Talked about how the hawks are a completely different team than any other team they have played so far, hawks like having the puck, chasing the whole game, and doing everything they can to get at Lundqvist. Been a while since I've heard other teams say something good about us.

This team seems to be clicking, I agree. I'm excite for Murph and Fors to come back. Three lines rolling is better than one, but the fourth line needs a little bit of work.

I'm glad I was right about Fortin (so far.) I'm never right about anything. Saad looks to be working on all cylinders. Crow, not that tested, still looks awesome.
- I Am The Breadman

Lukewarm on Hayden as I have stated before. Big body with average skating, hands, and decision-making! Right now he loses the puck too easily! However, he does serve a purpose for the Hawks in the protection, net front presence, forecheck banger. His game should always be North / South. If you want to compare him with Martinsen as they are the two that are playing that role and shuttling in and out of the lineup for each other is that Hayden is more offensively-talented with a nice shot that can score. He was a proven goal scorer at Yale.

Blues game is going to be interesting, they’re in free fall mode. Not really sure what their problem is besides Allen, but something’s amiss.

Unbelievable start to the season. Not one 'expert' saw the Hawks doing this well. The season is young but as time passes the lads will only gel more and more. And CC has been a HUGE part since his return. Wow. Wow. And wow again.
Big decision - Cam Ward in game 1 or in game 2 this weekend on the back to back? Very important. I say CC against the Oilers?

Unbelievable start to the season. Not one 'expert' saw the Hawks doing this well. The season is young but as time passes the lads will only gel more and more. And CC has been a HUGE part since his return. Wow. Wow. And wow again.
Big decision - Cam Ward in game 1 or in game 2 this weekend on the back to back? Very important. I say CC against the Oilers?
- Garn.

It's a long season, but experts are so last year, if they did their research and tracked the teams who lost their starting goalies, aka Quick, Price, and so on they would be better at their jobs.

Blues game is going to be interesting, they’re in free fall mode. Not really sure what their problem is besides Allen, but something’s amiss.
- walleyeb1

Never been a big fan of Yeo

Loving the hot start.

Putting so many of the glass-half-empty guys at ease for now.

“They’re (speaking about Chicago) a different team, they play different than any other team we play against,” said Zibanejad, whose top line with Kreider and Mats Zuccarello was practically invisible. “They really like just having the puck. I feel like it looks prettier than it actually is. It doesn’t result in anything, but it’s this chasing game all the time. - from NY Post

The Pacific looks to be bad, other than SJ. Hawks will need to play well against the other Central teams to qualify for the post season. Another chance against STL on Saturday to take care of business.

BTW-- they let us wear sports memorabilia on Fridays at work.

Unreal sighting today in the office...this lady is rocking a Skille jersey.

I went to Jan Levine's blog to read about the Rangers and what they had to say. Woofs galore. Good quotes. Talked about how the hawks are a completely different team than any other team they have played so far, hawks like having the puck, chasing the whole game, and doing everything they can to get at Lundqvist. Been a while since I've heard other teams say something good about us.

- I Am The Breadman

I read a good post game comment from a Ranger's fan - "Hank's tombstone will read 'He kept them in the game'". The Ranger tears were flowing freely.

I read a good post game comment from a Ranger's fan - "Hank's tombstone will read 'He kept them in the game'". The Ranger tears were flowing freely.
- EbonyRaptor

Hahaha, good old Lundq-head.

Scottak has one of the quotes above.

I am becoming a huge Alexandre Fortin fan. I love watching him and Schmaltz together. Those two can absolutely FLY.

I really like the play of Manning. He's not going to blow you away in terms of skillset, but he's had some steady play and I liked the little scrap with Vesey. Haha.

I am becoming a huge Alexandre Fortin fan. I love watching him and Schmaltz together. Those two can absolutely FLY.
- frafra

Fortin with the speed

Johnson with quite a bit of speed, too.