What is scary is that we looked bad against a bad team (5 losses in a row like us) and a bad goalie (first win of the season for Darling?).
Ouch!
#4 on Tankathon list today!
- 67hawks

Darling started the season on IR. He doesn't have that many starts this season.

Justin Lowe: Growing Pains

It wasn't the way he envisioned it, but Jeremy Colliton has his first NHL game under his belt regardless of the outcome.

As we all know, JC (Jeremy Colliton) is in a real tough spot. He's got management thinking (and I think they are serious), that the current Chicago Blackhawks team is postseason worthy.
- Justin Lowe

I don’t get the fascination with Kahun. He has played almost exclusively with Toews and Cat and has exactly 1 goal in 16 games. More troubling is he does not seem ever to have opportunities to score. Doesn’t really matter if he is “trying.” A player needs to score if he is going to play on the so-called “first” line.

Schmaltz - Toews - Saad and DeBrincat - Anisimov - Kane as 1a, 1b

What is scary is that we looked bad against a bad team (5 losses in a row like us) and a bad goalie (first win of the season for Darling?).
Ouch!
#4 on Tankathon list today!
- 67hawks

The Hurricanes have the best shot differential in the league. They have the worst shooting percentage and second worst save percentage. It's unlikely that stays the same. They're a team that could go on a run if they start burying chances.

I'd have to think whenever the other Gus is healthy, he comes up and takes some of those mins and is paired with either Seabs or Murphy (whenever he's healthy).

Forsling looked pretty good for about 20 games last year, til he didn't.
- HawkintheD

Yeah. Him and Rutta looked very very good together for a little while to start last year. I've always been high on Forsling, so hopefully he gets back up and stays up this time.

Darling started the season on IR. He doesn't have that many starts this season.
- I Am The Breadman

And for a "Bad Team" this was the first time this year that the Canes got outshot by their opponent.

They're averaging 41 shots per game and allowing only 25 shots against per game. They've been sewered by poopty goaltending and a lack of finish, but that's not on Darling who's only played 3 of 16 games.

Maybe make BD a forward too. Addition by subtraction.
- HawkintheD

Why am I playing Wing Coach C? Well you sure as heck can’t play Defence.

I don’t get the fascination with Kahun. He has played almost exclusively with Toews and Cat and has exactly 1 goal in 16 games. More troubling is he does not seem ever to have opportunities to score. Doesn’t really matter if he is “trying.” A player needs to score if he is going to play on the so-called “first” line.

Schmaltz - Toews - Saad and DeBrincat - Anisimov - Kane as 1a, 1b
- Z3Hawk

I'm okay with Kahun on a different line, but it can't be ignored that he had a good game.

In response to me being riled, I'm not. Haha. I don't care for Foley though. He's like Jim Carrey, a little bit of him goes a long way. He makes name mistakes based on numbers, I don't say it as good or bad, just saying it happens every game.

I don’t get the fascination with Kahun. He has played almost exclusively with Toews and Cat and has exactly 1 goal in 16 games. More troubling is he does not seem ever to have opportunities to score. Doesn’t really matter if he is “trying.” A player needs to score if he is going to play on the so-called “first” line.

Schmaltz - Toews - Saad and DeBrincat - Anisimov - Kane as 1a, 1b
- Z3Hawk

Agreed, Kahun is just a guy who does nothing special. And he wouldn't be on most NHL rosters except as a 3rd or 4th line winger. But it tells you something about John Hayden and where they think Dylan Sikura is in his development.

So many things, but yes, Seabrook is being dragged down by Gus. After the 1st 2 bad turnovers, Gus lost a puck battle on the boards leading to goal 3. Then Gus got caught up leading to Seabrook defending at least 3 odd man rushes in the last 40 minutes.

Seabrook is an experienced NHL defenseman, but at his age, he can’t cover up all the mistakes Gus makes.

Agreed, Kahun is just a guy who does nothing special. And he wouldn't be on most NHL rosters except as a 3rd or 4th line winger. But it tells you something about John Hayden and where they think Dylan Sikura is in his development.
- RickJ

I thought Kahun played well last night?

I thought Kahun played well last night?
- BINGO!

Not that good because Kane got 27 minutes.

Not that good because Kane got 27 minutes.
- RickJ

Yeah, I laughed about that. Kane played more minutes last night than Di Giuseppe has played all year combined.

I thought Kahun played well last night?
- BINGO!

He played fine, but at this point, all we are seeing from these young guys is bottom six talent scattered throughout our lineup. Kahun has a single goal playing on a line with two great offensive talents. That's not gunna work. They need a Top 6 forward that can play with Kane and allow Saad to go play on the wing with 19-12.

I'm okay with Kahun on a different line, but it can't be ignored that he had a good game.

In response to me being riled, I'm not. Haha. I don't care for Foley though. He's like Jim Carrey, a little bit of him goes a long way. He makes name mistakes based on numbers, I don't say it as good or bad, just saying it happens every game.
- I Am The Breadman

But did Kahun have that good a game? I don’t deny that he plays hard, plays with energy. However, for me he just isn’t generating anything off that effort. Also you simply have to evaluate him at the high end as he is playing with Toews and Cat. If he doesn’t get moved down the line-up after 1 goal in 16 what does it take 1 goal in 25?

He played fine, but at this point, all we are seeing from these young guys is bottom six talent scattered throughout our lineup. Kahun has a single goal playing on a line with two great offensive talents. That's not gunna work. They need a Top 6 forward that can play with Kane and allow Saad to go play on the wing with 19-12.
- nickmo2699

Agree. I think Kahun on a 3rd line and Saad on one of the top 2 makes more sense.

But did Kahun have that good a game? I don’t deny that he plays hard, plays with energy. However, for me he just isn’t generating anything off that effort. Also you simply have to evaluate him at the high end as he is playing with Toews and Cat. If he doesn’t get moved down the line-up after 1 goal in 16 what does it take 1 goal in 25?
- Z3Hawk

I said I was fine with him playing on a different line. 12 and 19 need a set-up style kind of player.

He played fine, but at this point, all we are seeing from these young guys is bottom six talent scattered throughout our lineup. Kahun has a single goal playing on a line with two great offensive talents. That's not gunna work. They need a Top 6 forward that can play with Kane and allow Saad to go play on the wing with 19-12.
- nickmo2699

Fair. It's not that he's bad, just overslotted?

Being at the game last night was interesting. The atmosphere was very stale. Anyone who's been a die hard Hawks fan and been to games before Rocky took over will understand that it felt VERY similar to those days.

The first period was just bad. They could not sustain an attack and the defense play was sloppy to say the least. IMO watching it live it seemed to me that they were playing VERY conservative like they were afraid to make a mistake and it would lead to them losing playing time or being benched the next game ala Coach Q.

Second period they came out with A LOT more energy and determination. They weren't afraid to make passes and shoot the puck and that's when we saw the offense start to get going. Saad's goal was a beaut. Hopefully he can anchor that 3rd line going forward so we can see DEPTH on offense for a change (Toews line, Kane line, Saad line, Checking line). Defense again was very sloppy. Seabrook had a bad game, but mostly because Gus was so out of position at times that it seemed like he was always worried about covering both zones in the D because he wasn't sure he could count on Gus. Rutta did NOT look good at all. He needs to go. Rockford, trade, release waivers, loan him back to Europe, or whatever, but he should not be one of the seven D-men on this team. Davidson didn't play too bad and I would not mind keeping him around as 6-7 the rest of the year.

All in all it was good to see that after going down 4-0 that they had FIGHT the rest of the game. I think that says a lot about how the team is taking to Colliton. Gonna take some time to get his system down and figure out what pieces are gonna stick and where they work best, but I am optimistic that they could be the bubble team we all think they are. Front Office believes SOOO hard in our Core that's why they believe this can be a Playoff team. Whether or not the depth pieces and return of Murphy and Forsling can help with that only time will tell.

BTW, picked up the new Winter Classic jersey as well. Gotta say I wasn't as impressed when I first saw them, but they're really sharp. Let's hope the team can have it's $h!t together by then and plays a good game unlike years past

Being at the game last night was interesting. The atmosphere was very stale. Anyone who's been a die hard Hawks fan and been to games before Rocky took over will understand that it felt VERY similar to those days.

The first period was just bad. They could not sustain an attack and the defense play was sloppy to say the least. IMO watching it live it seemed to me that they were playing VERY conservative like they were afraid to make a mistake and it would lead to them losing playing time or being benched the next game ala Coach Q.

Second period they came out with A LOT more energy and determination. They weren't afraid to make passes and shoot the puck and that's when we saw the offense start to get going. Saad's goal was a beaut. Hopefully he can anchor that 3rd line going forward so we can see DEPTH on offense for a change (Toews line, Kane line, Saad line, Checking line). Defense again was very sloppy. Seabrook had a bad game, but mostly because Gus was so out of position at times that it seemed like he was always worried about covering both zones in the D because he wasn't sure he could count on Gus. Rutta did NOT look good at all. He needs to go. Rockford, trade, release waivers, loan him back to Europe, or whatever, but he should not be one of the seven D-men on this team. Davidson didn't play too bad and I would not mind keeping him around as 6-7 the rest of the year.

All in all it was good to see that after going down 4-0 that they had FIGHT the rest of the game. I think that says a lot about how the team is taking to Colliton. Gonna take some time to get his system down and figure out what pieces are gonna stick and where they work best, but I am optimistic that they could be the bubble team we all think they are. Front Office believes SOOO hard in our Core that's why they believe this can be a Playoff team. Whether or not the depth pieces and return of Murphy and Forsling can help with that only time will tell.

BTW, picked up the new Winter Classic jersey as well. Gotta say I wasn't as impressed when I first saw them, but they're really sharp. Let's hope the team can have it's $h!t together by then and plays a good game unlike years past
- Savetheembers33

As much as its a learning experience for the guys, hopefully it's a learning experience for JC. Lines still need tweaking and d pairings ... just get rid or demote some. I'm still waiting for recalls.

On another note, I'm disappointed in what you say about the jerseys. I thought they looked cool on tv. I really wanted to get one.

Not that good because Kane got 27 minutes.
- RickJ

That didn't have anything to do with Kahun. Kahun played 14 minutes, which is what he is averaging on the season. Kane took minutes from other guys.

That didn't have anything to do with Kahun. Kahun played 14 minutes, which is what he is averaging on the season. Kane took minutes from other guys.
- Hawks_49

Plus whole pp's.

That didn't have anything to do with Kahun. Kahun played 14 minutes, which is what he is averaging on the season. Kane took minutes from other guys.
- Hawks_49

DKahun was good on the forecheck and gave a solid effort.

Credit to Carolina’s de Haan and Pesce thought both played solid

>>>Well… most of us here and those around the league wouldn't bet the farm on that happening. This team is a bubble team at best as it's currently constructed.<<<

I wouldn't bet a nickel on that...i would wager this is a 78-82 pt team and it will take a big year from kane and craw to get that..


>>>After a terrible start and eventually going down 4-0 to the Hurricanes at one point last night, the overall feel I got from the team was that they were overthinking and trying to do too much for their new coach.<<<

remember they said they couldn't change all that much...well they didn't...another 35 - 40 minute game, all goals off sloppy turnovers and passing, all with in 10 ft of the net and all craw no chance or made the initial saves...craw had to make at least 4-6 grade A saves off his mates bonehead carelessness..

they got 4 dman that might be fortunate to be 6, 7 on contending teams: rutta, manning, davidson, gust and a 19 year old kid is being force fed in the top pairing..

I don’t get the fascination with Kahun. He has played almost exclusively with Toews and Cat and has exactly 1 goal in 16 games. More troubling is he does not seem ever to have opportunities to score. Doesn’t really matter if he is “trying.” A player needs to score if he is going to play on the so-called “first” line.

Schmaltz - Toews - Saad and DeBrincat - Anisimov - Kane as 1a, 1b
- Z3Hawk

kahun is just the latest of a long list (maybe 12, i have lost count) wing and a prayer to play along toews over the last 3 years...almost all of them are gone...

once again this is a team misfits with stanbows attempts to find euro or non drafted free agent gold...but when your draft choices are busts or get traded for cap management purposes what options does he have...

that bottom six contingent might be lucky to score 20 goals combined this year...so far they got a grand total of 7...

Justin Lowe: Growing Pains

It wasn't the way he envisioned it, but Jeremy Colliton has his first NHL game under his belt regardless of the outcome.

As we all know, JC (Jeremy Colliton) is in a real tough spot. He's got management thinking (and I think they are serious), that the current Chicago Blackhawks team is postseason worthy.
- Justin Lowe

I'm thinking the Hawks will ride out this season with the guys they have (in Chicago or Rockford) but not because they believe in the team but because they have no choice. I don't think they have too many tradable assets that will provide immediate help in return. I don't see Stan trading away another 1st round pick this year.

My expectation is that the Hawks will make bigger moves this summer. Anisimov can be traded, his NTC is done after this season and after his bonus is paid he has the type of deal that cash-sensitive teams (like Ottawa) covet. Although I'm not in favour of this, I could see Saad moved as well. I would hope they blow-up the defense, keep Keith, Seabrook and Jokiharju for sure and the rest can go (maybe Murphy stays).