After working hard to get themselves in a position to even think about making the playoffs, you can see that the heavy workload to the core, as well as Debrincat and a few others has brought them to the point where they have "hit the wall". Open shots and chances that were finding the back of the net, are now being shanked, mis-handled or just missing the net. The physical and mental toll to play at the same intensity for extended stretches is catching up with all of them. After a blistering Feb. Kane has returned to being a "mortal", DeBrincat has missed chances he buried previously, Toews also. These are all signs of fatigue and the extra minutes they have all logged.

Since the turn of the year the Hawks have been a pretty good team, at least one that would be solidly in a playoff spot if they had played the same way all season. One HUGE caveat to that statement, is that a healthy Crawford is absolutely essential to the success of this team, especially as the D is currently constructed. While Ward and Delia had their moments, neither is capable of backstopping a porous D like Crawford has. A healthy Crawford all season means this club would probably be solidly in the playoffs, I would speculate that he would have been good for 7-10 more points (3-5 wins) at the minimum.
- TheTrob

I agree on the 2nd half surge and possibly being in the playoffs with a healthy Crawford, but that in itself isn't reality right now. You can't count on him for a full season given his injury history, and with this pylon D corps he's going to face more shots/more quality chances, and guys in face and likely get bumped which means he'll likely get dinged again.

Curious to see how Bowman navigates this offseason and solidifying the back end.

Total Richard play by that poster.
- mohel

Hey that's an offense to Richard's of the world!

They may have gotten "Goalied" but to the same extent Crow has won a few games they were totally outplayed (MTL, DAL, etc.)
- TheTrob

yep habs and the nucks got 3 of 4 pts..maybe "deserved 1...

Hey that's an offense to Richard's of the world!
- riozzo

Apologies, Richard.

I agree on the 2nd half surge and possibly being in the playoffs with a healthy Crawford, but that in itself isn't reality right now. You can't count on him for a full season given his injury history, and with this pylon D corps he's going to face more shots/more quality chances, and guys in face and likely get bumped which means he'll likely get dinged again.

Curious to see how Bowman navigates this off season and solidifying the back end.
- SteveRain

Especially with little no money to spend, no tradeworthy chips to trade without creating a hole elsewhere, and that the highly touted rooks in the pipe are at least another two years away.

Next season they will call up Joki and continue the I-Pass audition show for the other slots on the D. Beyond that I just don't see what other changes they can really make beyond subbing out the Krugers and Kunitzs of the world for more of the same kind of guys - either too long in the tooth or not ready to play pro hockey yet.

I'm good with that actually - I just wish the FO had the stones to fess up like the Rangers did and just be honest with the fans that the rebuild is on and it is going to take a while. At the end of the day this is my greatest frustration with the organization - lack of honesty.

Either way the season ticket runoff will continue unabated regardless of direction or messaging. Win and you fill the seats, lose and you don't.

Very disappointed in the team’s play over the last four or five games and especially the two with the Avs. Having said that, the team looked like it played as hard as they could this weekend and just came up short. I did not see any quit in this team. Keith looked like a man possessed on this OT winning goal....good to see him get it in.

There is still some hope for this year. I hope they make the playoffs but won’t be disappointed if they don’t.

I think the hawks will end the year a better team them many of up expected coming into the season. The draft and some management decisions this summer will be key for next year: they need to get a solid first round pick who can help them in a couple of years and must come up with better schemes to improve the special teams.

Dallas 82 (@Jets, @Flames, @oilers, @Van, vs Flyers, @Hawks, vs Wild)
AVS 81 (vs Knights, vs Yotes, @blues, vs oilers, vs jets, @sharks)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wild 79 (vs nash, @knights, @yotes, vs jets, bruins, @stars)
Coyotes 79 (vs hawks, @avs, vs wild, vs kings, @knights, vs jets)
Hawks 76 (@yotes, @sharks, @kings, vs jets, vs blues, vs stars, @preds)

Hawks are going to need at least 10 points out of 14 to have a shot here down the stretch.

The end of the season will hopefully give youngsters valuable experience yet point to the front office that the team put together still wasn't a playoff team and that can't be ignored.

I don't think Toews was showing signs of fatigue last night. He was a beast and had some serious jump.

He was frustrated b/c the officiating was piss poor. Aside from the blatant missed tripping call in the crease and the Barrie embellishment (Toews hooked him a bit but Barrie just threw his stick to the ice), Toews was getting held and interfered with all night. No calls in key situations gave a Avs a free point at a point in the season where every point matters.

MacKinnon got away with more of a hook on Keith during the 5 on 3 then what Toews did to Barrie. Guess Keith should've thrown his stick to the ice and fallen over....

It led to Keith being unable to clear the puck and 10 secs later puck in back of the Hawks' net.

Sikura has looked good but it is evident he needs to add strength or learn how to play more effectively at his size. He misses out a prime scoring chances b/c he gets out muscled rather easily. Kind of reminds me of TT (not as much skill though).

Good post, Trobber. Perhaps lack of depth has contributed a bit to the fatigue of the big boys? Couple solid additions in the summer could help a ton, imo.
- mohel

You're right, so long as the additions aren't "lavender sniffers"!

I don't think Toews was showing signs of fatigue last night. He was a beast and had some serious jump.

He was frustrated b/c the officiating was piss poor. Aside from the blatant missed tripping call in the crease and the Barrie embellishment (Toews hooked him a bit but Barrie just threw his stick to the ice), Toews was getting held and interfered with all night. No calls in key situations gave a Avs a free point at a point in the season where every point matters.

MacKinnon got away with more of a hook on Keith during the 5 on 3 then what Toews did to Barrie. Guess Keith should've thrown his stick to the ice and fallen over....

It led to Keith being unable to clear the puck and 10 secs later puck in back of the Hawks' net.

Sikura has looked good but it is evident he needs to add strength or learn how to play more effectively at his size. He misses out a prime scoring chances b/c he gets out muscled rather easily. Kind of reminds me of TT (not as much skill though).
- bhawks2241

There were several penalties that could / should have been called on the Hawks, too - was it Perlini who ran into Grubauer on a drive? Keith's tripping MacKinnon at the end. Others.

The problem with the officiating is not that it purposefully favors one team or the other; it's that it's incompetent both ways, inconsistent - and through it's inconsistency, will necessarily favor one team or the other on any given night.

Especially with little no money to spend, no tradeworthy chips to trade without creating a hole elsewhere, and that the highly touted rooks in the pipe are at least another two years away.

Next season they will call up Joki and continue the I-Pass audition show for the other slots on the D. Beyond that I just don't see what other changes they can really make beyond subbing out the Krugers and Kunitzs of the world for more of the same kind of guys - either too long in the tooth or not ready to play pro hockey yet.

I'm good with that actually - I just wish the FO had the stones to fess up like the Rangers did and just be honest with the fans that the rebuild is on and it is going to take a while. At the end of the day this is my greatest frustration with the organization - lack of honesty.

Either way the season ticket runoff will continue unabated regardless of direction or messaging. Win and you fill the seats, lose and you don't.
- Return of the Roar

Same page....I lost my fandom apparently back in 2016 according to a poster, so be careful.

Your frustration is exactly as mine.....this wasn't a playoff team, nor was last year's. Yeah, if EVERYTHING went right (cc 100% healthy, etc etc) maybe they squeak in but you can say the same thing about the Wild, Avs, Oilers, etc.

The season ticket runoff will continue as the prices increase, and the core gets older. Seabrook is at best a 4, and Keith is getting beaten in 1 on 1 battles far more this year then probably the previous 10 years combined. It happens.....age, but Bowman's reliance on his aging core and expecting a rebirth is asinine. 1000 minutes played over x number of years for 2/7. that's insane. No wonder both can barely move.

IF it were I'd lock in these F lines now and next year

20-19-88
12-17-11
24-15-95
x-64-x

The back end is where the trouble lies......You have CC and Deilia for next year, but they need to find a way to get the load off of 2 and go from there...…..2,5,7,56 are 4 d men....throw in 28, and then you have others scrambling...….

Unless you shop a 56 or 5, but then you are essentially weakening your back end. I get the urge to trade 15, but as a 3rd line player he can chip in with depth scoring.

Very disappointed in the team’s play over the last four or five games and especially the two with the Avs. Having said that, the team looked like it played as hard as they could this weekend and just came up short. I did not see any quit in this team. Keith looked like a man possessed on this OT winning goal....good to see him get it in.

There is still some hope for this year. I hope they make the playoffs but won’t be disappointed if they don’t.

I think the hawks will end the year a better team them many of up expected coming into the season. The draft and some management decisions this summer will be key for next year: they need to get a solid first round pick who can help them in a couple of years and must come up with better schemes to improve the special teams.
- Spec41971

The losses to the Flyers and Canucks hurt as well.....I think they just ran out of steam.....they made a helluva run to crawl back into contention and then needed to dig deep and match or exceed that level for these last 10-12 games and I don't think that's possible.

Good news.....you have 2 very good lines. Keep Saad up with 19/88 and give 12/17/11 a chance to roll. The achilies heal will continue to be their D.

I don't think Toews was showing signs of fatigue last night. He was a beast and had some serious jump.

He was frustrated b/c the officiating was piss poor. Aside from the blatant missed tripping call in the crease and the Barrie embellishment (Toews hooked him a bit but Barrie just threw his stick to the ice), Toews was getting held and interfered with all night. No calls in key situations gave a Avs a free point at a point in the season where every point matters.

MacKinnon got away with more of a hook on Keith during the 5 on 3 then what Toews did to Barrie. Guess Keith should've thrown his stick to the ice and fallen over....

It led to Keith being unable to clear the puck and 10 secs later puck in back of the Hawks' net.

Sikura has looked good but it is evident he needs to add strength or learn how to play more effectively at his size. He misses out a prime scoring chances b/c he gets out muscled rather easily. Kind of reminds me of TT (not as much skill though).
- bhawks2241

Think you are being too easy on the refs. They didn’t hesitate to put the hawks into a 3-on-5 in each game; absolutely no reason the hawks shouldn’t have gotten the call when Toews was taken down in yesterday’s game. Officiating should not be this variable.

Especially with little no money to spend, no tradeworthy chips to trade without creating a hole elsewhere, and that the highly touted rooks in the pipe are at least another two years away.

Next season they will call up Joki and continue the I-Pass audition show for the other slots on the D. Beyond that I just don't see what other changes they can really make beyond subbing out the Krugers and Kunitzs of the world for more of the same kind of guys - either too long in the tooth or not ready to play pro hockey yet.

I'm good with that actually - I just wish the FO had the stones to fess up like the Rangers did and just be honest with the fans that the rebuild is on and it is going to take a while. At the end of the day this is my greatest frustration with the organization - lack of honesty.

Either way the season ticket runoff will continue unabated regardless of direction or messaging. Win and you fill the seats, lose and you don't.
- Return of the Roar

I think you see one of the high-end D-prospects moved in the next year or so. I think Gustafson is a very nice trade chip too. If Joki can play legit top 4 minutes that slots everyone else down a spot.

Cagguila back and adding a legit middle 6 forward make this teams depth a lot better.

I really don't think the Hawks are going to go for a full rebuild. The top 6 is set with Toews Kane and Strome D-cat.

Maybe Barratt or Entwistle makes the team next year and provides nice middle 6 depth.

There were several penalties that could / should have been called on the Hawks, too - was it Perlini who ran into Grubauer on a drive? Keith's tripping MacKinnon at the end. Others.

The problem with the officiating is not that it purposefully favors one team or the other; it's that it's incompetent both ways, inconsistent - and through it's inconsistency, will necessarily favor one team or the other on any given night.
- StLBravesFan

100% agreed and it gets even more inconsistent when the playoffs start.

I don't think Toews was showing signs of fatigue last night. He was a beast and had some serious jump.

He was frustrated b/c the officiating was piss poor. Aside from the blatant missed tripping call in the crease and the Barrie embellishment (Toews hooked him a bit but Barrie just threw his stick to the ice), Toews was getting held and interfered with all night. No calls in key situations gave a Avs a free point at a point in the season where every point matters.

MacKinnon got away with more of a hook on Keith during the 5 on 3 then what Toews did to Barrie. Guess Keith should've thrown his stick to the ice and fallen over....

It led to Keith being unable to clear the puck and 10 secs later puck in back of the Hawks' net.

Sikura has looked good but it is evident he needs to add strength or learn how to play more effectively at his size. He misses out a prime scoring chances b/c he gets out muscled rather easily. Kind of reminds me of TT (not as much skill though).
- bhawks2241

i agree...however kieth could have easily been called for a trip on Mck which lead to his end to end dash

Think you are being too easy on the refs. They didn’t hesitate to put the hawks into a 3-on-5 in each game; absolutely no reason the hawks shouldn’t have gotten the call when Toews was taken down in yesterday’s game. Officiating should not be this variable.
- Spec41971

on the no call toews trip...the front official was looking right at it but may not have the best view; the back official has no excuse for missing that call. the stick clearly caught his skates...

Same page....I lost my fandom apparently back in 2016 according to a poster, so be careful.

Your frustration is exactly as mine.....this wasn't a playoff team, nor was last year's. Yeah, if EVERYTHING went right (cc 100% healthy, etc etc) maybe they squeak in but you can say the same thing about the Wild, Avs, Oilers, etc.

The season ticket runoff will continue as the prices increase, and the core gets older. Seabrook is at best a 4, and Keith is getting beaten in 1 on 1 battles far more this year then probably the previous 10 years combined. It happens.....age, but Bowman's reliance on his aging core and expecting a rebirth is asinine. 1000 minutes played over x number of years for 2/7. that's insane. No wonder both can barely move.

IF it were I'd lock in these F lines now and next year

20-19-88
12-17-11
24-15-95
x-64-x

The back end is where the trouble lies......You have CC and Deilia for next year, but they need to find a way to get the load off of 2 and go from there...…..2,5,7,56 are 4 d men....throw in 28, and then you have others scrambling...….

Unless you shop a 56 or 5, but then you are essentially weakening your back end. I get the urge to trade 15, but as a 3rd line player he can chip in with depth scoring.
- SteveRain

No you read it wrong I didn't say you or anyone wasn't a fan. I said that when the Hawks were winning and had the best years in the history of the franchise some posts, by some posters (I didn't named names) during 2008 to 2016 were nothing but negative. And the bizarre part was all those negative posts had little to do with the on ice product but instead these posters had their jockeys in a knot about stuff that had little bearing on the team. And the complaints were even more bizarre, ranging from the telecasts, (who cares), to the post goal song (Who cares), to McD the meddler, Stan who got his job because of his Dad, lamenting the loss of Uncle Dale and yadda, yadda, yadda.

If you thought this was directed at you it wasn't meant that way. Unless of course you posted all the nonsense and missed the best years of Blackhawk hockey in misdirected angst.

There were several penalties that could / should have been called on the Hawks, too - was it Perlini who ran into Grubauer on a drive? Keith's tripping MacKinnon at the end. Others.

The problem with the officiating is not that it purposefully favors one team or the other; it's that it's incompetent both ways, inconsistent - and through it's inconsistency, will necessarily favor one team or the other on any given night.
- StLBravesFan

Perlini was shoved in the back when he ran into Grubauer.

I agreed the officiating is horribly inconsistent. My biggest issue is they stopped calling the embellishment penalty. I don't want to watch an NHL game that looks like the NBA.

My biggest peeve is the refs seem to swallow the whistle if they think making a call is going to have a huge impact on the game. No call on the Keith trip (don't think is was that bad), no call on the Toews trip b/c they don't want to give a 5 on 3, but then they call the Toews hooking penalty to give the Avs the 5 on 3, or the referee tossing Soderberg from the dot after icing (after he already warned him) and then realizing that would result in a penalty so he gave Soderberg as second warning.

Swallow the whistle or call a penalty when its a penalty. Don't do both randomly.

There were several penalties that could / should have been called on the Hawks, too - was it Perlini who ran into Grubauer on a drive? Keith's tripping MacKinnon at the end. Others.

The problem with the officiating is not that it purposefully favors one team or the other; it's that it's incompetent both ways, inconsistent - and through it's inconsistency, will necessarily favor one team or the other on any given night.
- StLBravesFan

yep and playoff officiating turns into let the boys play and it becomes crosscheck, slash and hold open season but then touch the hands a stick automatic hook...

I have not had a chance to read all the fine print on the board, but are we really going to pull out the fatigue violins? Are we all signing a card and sending flowers?

Toews body language was that of desperation, not frustration. He is showing, as he often has over his career the determination to fight and compete for what he wants. That is to win. That is the level many others must reach...it is where survival becomes a bigger force than the fear of losing. These are not words for platitudes, this is what lives in the core of winners.

What is the difference between the games and minutes the hawks play vs any other team in the NHL. Especially those 8 to 10 bubble teams? The determination displayed by Toews and Keith was legendary. They have not played with that fire and netted those results in a few years. That will not be lost on the younger players.

Perlini was shoved in the back when he ran into Grubauer.

I agreed the officiating is horribly inconsistent. My biggest issue is they stopped calling the embellishment penalty. I don't want to watch an NHL game that looks like the NBA.

My biggest peeve is the refs seem to swallow the whistle if they think making a call is going to have a huge impact on the game. No call on the Keith trip (don't think is was that bad), no call on the Toews trip b/c they don't want to give a 5 on 3, but then they call the Toews hooking penalty to give the Avs the 5 on 3, or the referee tossing Soderberg from the dot after icing (after he already warned him) and then realizing that would result in a penalty so he gave Soderberg as second warning.

Swallow the whistle or call a penalty when its a penalty. Don't do both randomly.
- bhawks2241

yeah...like WTF...i thought was tossed 2x also...but hey we can't have that...

No you read it wrong I didn't say you or anyone wasn't a fan. I said that when the Hawks were winning and had the best years in the history of the franchise some posts, by some posters (I didn't named names) during 2008 to 2016 were nothing but negative. And the bizarre part was all those negative posts had little to do with the on ice product but instead these posters had their jockeys in a knot about stuff that had little bearing on the team. And the complaints were even more bizarre, ranging from the telecasts, (who cares), to the post goal song (Who cares), to McD the meddler, Stan who got his job because of his Dad, lamenting the loss of Uncle Dale and yadda, yadda, yadda.

If you thought this was directed at you it wasn't meant that way. Unless of course you posted all the nonsense and missed the best years of Blackhawk hockey in misdirected angst.
- paulr

Totally correct. I'd add that there were many barking about the players and coach, too. Too many lavender sniffers to win in 2013-2015. People only posting after a loss. We all have the right to be the fan we want to be, but when one posts about how bad the team is during a dynasty, it's hard to take other stuff seriously.

Rain man, my post is NOT directed at you.

There were several penalties that could / should have been called on the Hawks, too - was it Perlini who ran into Grubauer on a drive? Keith's tripping MacKinnon at the end. Others.

The problem with the officiating is not that it purposefully favors one team or the other; it's that it's incompetent both ways, inconsistent - and through it's inconsistency, will necessarily favor one team or the other on any given night.
- StLBravesFan

Why is it in general that refs are allowing so much contact with goalies? You are seeing this in every game now. Players are driving to the net with no regard for the goalie. I am especially concerned about this because of Crawford's concussions history. Is it going to take more goalies sustaining concussions to enforce contact rules? It wasn't that long ago when you could not even have a toe in the blue paint for a goal to be disallowed. We have gone from one extreme to another.
BTW I love the way Kampf is playing now. To me he looked more effective than Strome last night. This guy is a keeper.

Apologies, Richard.
- mohel