With the likes of Backes, Jackman, Reeves and some of the other douchenozzles gone they are much easier to root for, though Edmundson shows he still has some ingrained stupid in him.
- TheTrob

Edmundson is an idiot. Hilarious he clips Backes blatantly, then loses his mind because Backes goes down and then gives him a shot to the head from behind.....

Yes...agreed......I like that Thomas kid a lot.....had a little Shaw in him but hasn't done much this series.

I travel a TON to STL. Have a lot of accounts/customers down there and that is a very loyal fan base. I'd like to see them win for their fan base.

And watching last night.....its so easy to take for granted what this team accomplished the last 10 years. Its set expectations for me to want the impossible but that's what winning does.....you want it every year so that's why these last 3+ years have sucked. Feel like they are wasting what small amount of time Kane/Toews/Keith have left....Seabrook is done.

I predict ... Seabrook comes into camp a rejuvenated lean mean fighting machine and has his best season in years ... now excuse me - I have to go chug more koolaid.

Yes, it was correct. I said they could easily be dealt, waived or sent to Rockford. Dahlstrom doesn't require going through waivers so he falls into the "sent to Rockford" category. Forsling and Koekkoek would go through waivers. All three could be dealt.
- DarthKane

Agree. And if you get a better defender and have to waive any one of those guys it is a not a great loss if someone else claims them. If you are waiving them you probably have already tried to trade them for a late round pick.

I predict ... Seabrook comes into camp a rejuvenated lean mean fighting machine and has his best season in years ... now excuse me - I have to go chug more koolaid.
- EbonyRaptor

I hope he does. I don't think it's a lack of effort on his part. His training regime videos looked pretty good.....

Plus 22 in the playoffs......I guess he just doesn't play....

Careful about name calling, you may be the leader and need to go back to unnamed source and rub one out to Joakim Nordstrom.
- SteveRain

hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahah
oh man i am peeing in my pants right now Rain man!

Andrei Markov? Really? He's 40 and will be 41 before the end of the year. I can't imagine he's moving any better than Seabrook.

If Stan does make a play to sign Markov - I hope it's because Colliton wants it to happen. We don't need Stan to acquire players that don't mesh well with the system Colliton wants to install.
- EbonyRaptor

Not sure there is truth to it, but I am NOT for spending Cap dollars for UFAs out there...

Who the F is Bertram?
- TheTrob

Sorry. I meant Bowen Byram, defensemen, from the Vancouver junior team.

So what do you say about my points trying to develop another dman

I hope he does. I don't think it's a lack of effort on his part. His training regime videos looked pretty good.....
- SteveRain

He's "only 33" so he's not THAT old. As far as I know he doesn't have any chronic or debilitating or lingering injuries - so why shouldn't he still have some gas in the tank?

hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahah
oh man i am peeing in my pants right now Rain man!
- savvyone-1

I guess you should be called Rainman then huh?

You kill me...….

I thought the same thing watching the game......well done. Chara was bad.....sad to see. Great player who needs to hang them up. Game and speed has passed him by. All he can do now is stand there and chop the living hell out of people. Tarasenko out muscled him for the 1st goal......
- SteveRain

Which is a lot of what he could do before - maybe a very good player, but too often a brutal goon. Ask Paccuireti, ask Toews...,

The Hawks at one time had a draft pick by the name of Dan Bertram. I believe he played at Boston College and also played on WJC teams (can't remember if he's U.S. or Canada born).

Guessing jhawk meant Byram. Poor guy has been called by a lot of different names on these boards already: Byram, Bynam, Bowen, Bowens, Burnam, etc.. He's the new Sikura aka Sinkula, Sikula, Sakura, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, etc.
- AEL_Fox

And all of them by jhawk.

I hope he does. I don't think it's a lack of effort on his part. His training regime videos looked pretty good.....
- SteveRain

Seabrook has never been a great skater. When the miles start to pile up, the legs are the first thing to go. The fact that his technique was never great to start with makes it harder for him to compensate. It's not a matter of heart or effort, the mind is more than willing, the body just can't do it anymore. Mix that with a little complacency maybe from being a dad of 3 little kids and you wind up with what you see lately.

I think last year he was in better shape than the year before but it didn't really make a ton of difference. The speed of the game is becoming too much for him. He needs protected and limited minutes. Having him on the ice against top lines is a recipe for disaster, and while he may block shots his inability to get to pucks on the PK were a large contributor to the poor PK.

I guess you should be called Rainman then huh?
- paulr

Charlie: Hey, Ray, you take a shower right?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: Well the rain is a lot like the shower, you get a little wet. What do you say, Ray? What do you say?

And all of them by jhawk.
- HawkintheD

Maybe some of the Sikura aliases.

Maybe some of the Sikura aliases.
- I Am The Breadman

Red font Bread...red font.

Red font Bread...red font.
- HawkintheD

There's truth within the lies.

Seabrook has never been a great skater. When the miles start to pile up, the legs are the first thing to go. The fact that his technique was never great to start with makes it harder for him to compensate. It's not a matter of heart or effort, the mind is more than willing, the body just can't do it anymore. Mix that with a little complacency maybe from being a dad of 3 little kids and you wind up with what you see lately.

I think last year he was in better shape than the year before but it didn't really make a ton of difference. The speed of the game is becoming too much for him. He needs protected and limited minutes. Having him on the ice against top lines is a recipe for disaster, and while he may block shots his inability to get to pucks on the PK were a large contributor to the poor PK.
- TheTrob

Can't argue with any of that but I will say if there is one thing he can improve on is complacency - if there was any of that. Maybe if the fire in the belly can be re-ignited, it can make a difference and maybe he doesn't make so many poor plays because he gets to the puck a split second earlier and has time to make a better play. Maybe. Hopefully.

You forgot Byram
- EbonyRaptor

I would have included him if the Hawks weren't drafting Cole Caufield.

The D isn't as crowded as we think. Keith, Seabrook and Murphy and there for sure. Jokiharju is likely there but it's not a guarantee. Forsling, 4K and Dahlstrom are not locks and could easily be dealt, waived or send to Rockford.
- DarthKane

So you acknowledge all of this...and yet you still would prefer us to draft another forward(when we already have plenty of top 6 scoring options) instead of Byram??

100% agree. I think a stay at home D man who could baby sit Gus, could take the pain out his mistakes less noticeable....a Hammer type clone who baby sat Campbell for 2 years.

Like saad I don't hate Seabrook, but view his deal as a horrible ROI. That was a MASSIVE blunder by Bowman. massive, and here's the other thing....to acquire a top pair D man, keep Keith, murphy and Seabrook, you are paying probably close to 23+ million alone for those 4 guys...figuring top pair guy is making at least 7 aav.

So can Bowman find a Seabrook taker without taking a massive crap Rusty Olesz deal back or have to throw in some prospect alla Bickell trade, to walk away from it?

Looking at it, who truly cares who 5-7 are if 1-2 aren't even on the team currently? Game is getting faster, a little bigger, and 2/7 are wearing down at an alarming pace. great hawks....great careers, but Seabrook...…yikes. I feel embarrassed for him at times watching this shell of a former great D man out there.
- SteveRain

JC really can’t bring that Keith Gus pair back, can he?

Keith has done his best work with a strong, stay at home defenseman. Most of the time it was Seabrook. But I don’t think Seabs is up to that many minutes any more.

And Gus, if he’s still here, needs a strong defensive partner.

I’d pair Murphy with Keith and figure out who goes with Gus once they know who’s on the final roster.

So you acknowledge all of this...and yet you still would prefer us to draft another forward(when we already have plenty of top 6 scoring options) instead of Byram??
- SimpleJack

Plenty of top 6 options? Kane, Toews, who are both on borrowed time, esp Toews, and Cat, Strome, one of whom we think is a number 2 center but has almost zero track record of success.

Saad can't produce enough to be a really good top 6 player. No one else can produce as much as Saad.

Not plenty of options, and look 3 years down the road, much worse.

We are a team that needs help on the blueline AND at forward. There are holes everywhere.

There's truth within the lies.
- I Am The Breadman

Plenty of top 6 options? Kane, Toews, who are both on borrowed time, esp Toews, and Cat, Strome, one of whom we think is a number 2 center but has almost zero track record of success.

Saad can't produce enough to be a really good top 6 player. No one else can produce as much as Saad.

Not plenty of options, and look 3 years down the road, much worse.

We are a team that needs help on the blueline AND at forward. There are holes everywhere.
- hereismike1

Lol....dude....there is without question more top end talent at forward on our roster than there is on defense. Like it’s not even close...

Edmundson is an idiot. Hilarious he clips Backes blatantly, then loses his mind because Backes goes down and then gives him a shot to the head from behind.....

Yes...agreed......I like that Thomas kid a lot.....had a little Shaw in him but hasn't done much this series.

I travel a TON to STL. Have a lot of accounts/customers down there and that is a very loyal fan base. I'd like to see them win for their fan base.

And watching last night.....its so easy to take for granted what this team accomplished the last 10 years. Its set expectations for me to want the impossible but that's what winning does.....you want it every year so that's why these last 3+ years have sucked. Feel like they are wasting what small amount of time Kane/Toews/Keith have left....Seabrook is done.
- SteveRain

Steve, Thomas got hurt a couple of weeks ago, i believe in the May 13th game. He became a smart player managing the game rather than the more dynamic player we had been seeing. I'm guessing shoulder/arm which is why the Krug hit knocked him out i think.

Lol....dude....there is without question more top end talent at forward on our roster than there is on defense. Like it’s not even close...
- SimpleJack

I agree but the problem is getting the forwards to use that talent. Watching these playoffs has made me more aware than ever that to succeed as a team you have to have forwards that are committed to playing D.

How many of our forwards were committed to playing 200 feet every shift last season? How often did they hem the opponent in their end vs letting them advance out of their end without even remotely contesting their exit?