Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
·
3m
Blackhawks lines appeared to be:
Saad-Toews-Nylander
Kubalik-Kampf-Kane
Caggiula-Dach-Shaw-Smith
DeBrincat-Carpenter-Strome

I know it's all about ice time, but putting DBC on the 4th line seems really, really stupid

ETA; JC has officially lost me now. This is just throwing darts at a board. Kampf centering Kane? Toews and Nylander were a mess together earlier this year (maybe Nylander's improvement will help, but...)

This seems to be a solid strategy. But you have to draft and develop well.
- jhawk59

hmmm, of course. But evaluating talent is more important. Then how that talent will be used within the team. Two of the major pickups were crucial to the cups: sharp and Oduya. One can also say Versteeg, Ladd, and Handzous on the trade front and Hossa on the FA.

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
·
3m
Blackhawks lines appeared to be:
Saad-Toews-Nylander
Kubalik-Kampf-Kane
Caggiula-Dach-Shaw-Smith
DeBrincat-Carpenter-Strome

I know it's all about ice time, but putting DBC on the 4th line seems really, really stupid

ETA; JC has officially lost me now. This is just throwing darts at a board. Kampf centering Kane? Toews and Nylander were a mess together earlier this year (maybe Nylander's improvement will help, but...)
- pdx2ord

I mean as much as I hate this game of line blender, what do you have to lose? THis team isnt playing well and hopefully this is the spark. THe issue is during the game continuing to juggle and not letting the lines just play out.

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
·
3m
Blackhawks lines appeared to be:
Saad-Toews-Nylander
Kubalik-Kampf-Kane
Caggiula-Dach-Shaw-Smith
DeBrincat-Carpenter-Strome

I know it's all about ice time, but putting DBC on the 4th line seems really, really stupid

ETA; JC has officially lost me now. This is just throwing darts at a board. Kampf centering Kane? Toews and Nylander were a mess together earlier this year (maybe Nylander's improvement will help, but...)
- pdx2ord

What if he typed them down in reverse order? Maybe you're getting yourself all riled up for nothing and the ice time will be spread out fairly evenly? Plus the crybaby Kane will likely get double shifted so who cares?

Won't be long before people who have actual seats may take that deal from Craigslist buyers.
- Return of the Roar

Real fans stick with them through thick and thin. These buzzards are just here because it’s popular.

Keith-Boqvist
de Haan-Seabrook
Koekkoek-Maatta
Gilbert-Gustafsson

Keith babysitting again. But he gets his RHD
- pdx2ord

I don’t know why you call it babysitting. He had a ‘A’ on his jersey and that means actually helping new players out and teaching them. Something Keith appears to be allergic to.

I mean as much as I hate this game of line blender, what do you have to lose? THis team isnt playing well and hopefully this is the spark. THe issue is during the game continuing to juggle and not letting the lines just play out.
- nickmo2699

I guess I just don't understand why you wouldn't at least go with the lines that won so handily against the Kings last time.

I agree with you that juggling too much is a problem, which is why this is bothering me. I'm not sure, other than with his beloved 3rd line of Saad-Kampf-Kubalik, ANY line was given any time to gel before now.

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
·
3m
Blackhawks lines appeared to be:
Saad-Toews-Nylander
Kubalik-Kampf-Kane
Caggiula-Dach-Shaw-Smith
DeBrincat-Carpenter-Strome

I know it's all about ice time, but putting DBC on the 4th line seems really, really stupid

ETA; JC has officially lost me now. This is just throwing darts at a board. Kampf centering Kane? Toews and Nylander were a mess together earlier this year (maybe Nylander's improvement will help, but...)
- pdx2ord

Maybe the demotions are because they aren’t playing 200ft of hockey? The Dach line is 🤮, I’ll give you that. Should be Dach, Kane, Kubliak.

Real fans stick with them through thick and thin. These buzzards are just here because it’s popular.
- gifman

Lord knows I have since the 90s when I was just wee lil lad lol idk how or why I stuck with the Hawks after seeing them trade away Roenick, Belfour, Chelios, etc. and then get stuck with those horrible teams from the late 90s to the mid 00s but I did. That's why I'm grateful for the cup wins we got and will always remember those years for the rest of my life. Those were the golden years of the Hawks for most of our lifetimes, but unfortunately it brought in a lot of fair weather fans who have become entitled to believe that the Hawks should as dominate as they were during that seven year stretch. Teams and situations like that come together once in a lifetime if your lucky (and it's going to become even harder now with the way kids are being paid bufu bucks off the ELC's).

I'm not expecting greatness from this team again. All I want is to be able to sit down and watch a game and not cringe at the level of play that they are displaying. That last game against Nashville reminded me of the early 00s years. Just ugly and not watchable. Sad to see.

Maybe the demotions are because they aren’t playing 200ft of hockey? The Dach line is 🤮, I’ll give you that. Should be Dach, Kane, Kubliak.
- gifman

Maybe (it's what I was assuming before), but at what point do you stop trying to teach everyone a lesson / develop their skillset to your liking and start worrying about winning games. Again, why would you not at least use the lines that did well against Kings last time?

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
·
3m
Blackhawks lines appeared to be:
Saad-Toews-Nylander
Kubalik-Kampf-Kane
Caggiula-Dach-Shaw-Smith
DeBrincat-Carpenter-Strome

I know it's all about ice time, but putting DBC on the 4th line seems really, really stupid

ETA; JC has officially lost me now. This is just throwing darts at a board. Kampf centering Kane? Toews and Nylander were a mess together earlier this year (maybe Nylander's improvement will help, but...)
- pdx2ord

At this point it's worth a shot. I don't think at this point you can say that Saad-Toews-Nylander is our 1st line or that even Cat-Carpenter-Strome is out 4th line either. This is about trying to get the most outta of every guy without catering to them.

You wanna be the top line? Go f#%k!n prove it.

At this point it's worth a shot. I don't think at this point you can say that Saad-Toews-Nylander is our 1st line or that even Cat-Carpenter-Strome is out 4th line either. This is about trying to get the most outta of every guy without catering to them.

You wanna be the top line? Go f#%k!n prove it.
- Savetheembers33

It's a chicken-egg question to a degree. If Kampf can catch just TWO of Kane's passes at speed tonight and actually turn them into something good, I will eat my words. But how do the better players "earn it" if they are paired with people who are square pegs to their round holes?

Yes, making the effort is a big part of it, but...

At this point it's worth a shot. I don't think at this point you can say that Saad-Toews-Nylander is our 1st line or that even Cat-Carpenter-Strome is out 4th line either. This is about trying to get the most outta of every guy without catering to them.

You wanna be the top line? Go f#%k!n prove it.
- Savetheembers33

TOI will show who is the top line
Note that Dach was hovering around 4th line minutes
Also picked up that Toews has not been on the ice to open up as much as usual

Perlini starting tonight for the winged wheel in Carolina. Be somewhat interesting to see how much icetime he gets. Hope he performs well, since Detroit is no longer in our division.

With the industrial sized mixer that JC is wielding, I cannot believe that I am actually missing Q's cute little blender.

Keith-Boqvist
de Haan-Seabrook
Koekkoek-Maatta
Gilbert-Gustafsson

Keith babysitting again. But he gets his RHD
- pdx2ord

I like it. Keith gets the RHD he's been asking for since the end of the last game.

Seabrook draws in to prove what he's got left and gets a new partner who's defensively sound. Hopefully they can play well together.

Koekkoek and Maatta draw the bottom pairing role which I think can be effective enough. Both have played very solidly so far this year. Maatta's one knock has been his lack of speed, but Double K has good speed which he could use to help cover for him.

Guys gotta step up. Murphy is gonna be back sooner rather than later and one or two guys are going to need to be sent down. It's s#!t of get off the pot time

]Chris Kuc
@ChrisKuc
Adam Boqvist is paired with Duncan Keith during #Blackhawks' practice in El Segundo, Calif.

Boqvist is displaying some exceptional offensive moves during drills.

Too bad he's a D man


Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
Blackhawks power play units
1: Keith, Strome, Kane, DeBrincat, Shaw
2: Boqvist, Nylander, Kubalik, Toews, Dach

Good grief...is that PP clause still in effect in Keith's contract?
- pdx2ord

Flip Boqvist and Kubalik with Keith and Shaw and I like it.

It's a chicken-egg question to a degree. If Kampf can catch just TWO of Kane's passes at speed tonight and actually turn them into something good, I will eat my words. But how do the better players "earn it" if they are paired with people who are square pegs to their round holes?

Yes, making the effort is a big part of it, but...
- pdx2ord

Yeah I get what you're saying and it's a valid point. I think what Colliton's trying to avoid is complacency with his players and to show that hard work will pay off with more playing time. Kampf and Kubalik both have been playing very well so they earn a go with Kane. Now, this obviously, could pi$$ off Kaner because he'll be like idc I want to play with by boys Cat and Strome and not doing so will then cause him to not play as hard.

It's not a fun situation to be in for sure, but I give him credit for trying to take charge of the team and do something rather than just clump our best players together and then sit there befuddled as to why it won't work like it does in NHL 20 lol

Any theories on why Saad (who HAS been giving a 200' effort consistently) cannot get a bite at a PP role?

John Dietz
@johndietzdh
Here are your #Blackhawks power-play units at practice today. Brandon Saad is not on either unit.

Jonathan Toews moved down and is playing with FOUR rookies.

And are analytics as predictive of success at team and individual level in NHL as they are in baseball? Is the analytics team getting too much input into the line decisions, etc.? The chaos on the ice smacks of too many cooks. And Keith's comments on thinking too much, white boarding every single scenario, rather than trusting the instincts of players who have made it to this level, were interesting.
- pdx2ord

The line up decisions don't make any analytical sense except for 20 64 8 which if that stuff mattered you'd have Toews between those two to get him going.

Any theories on why Saad (who HAS been giving a 200' effort consistently) cannot get a bite at a PP role?

John Dietz
@johndietzdh
Here are your #Blackhawks power-play units at practice today. Brandon Saad is not on either unit.

Jonathan Toews moved down and is playing with FOUR rookies.
- pdx2ord

Nothing makes sense!!!

Kane's frustration article: https://chicago.suntimes....y-colliton-jonathan-toews

Another comment on letting instincts take over:

“The biggest thing right now is probably to be as prepared as possible going into the games,” Kane said. “Whether it’s watching your shifts, watching video, watching video on the power play, it’s feeling overly prepared so you can go into the game and just watch your instincts take over.”
- pdx2ord

These guys have been in the league long enough. They either got really poopty over night or are asked to do something stupid and they don't want to do it.

Not arguing the validity over Seabrook not heading to Rockford. Just wanna know why that can't happen. Leaving Seabrook aside for one moment........
- gabriel

No movement clause. Can't be traded can't hit waivers and be demoted unless he consents

Not according to Kelly and the other guys. He's switched it up from Kane and others carrying the puck through the neutral zone (more a possession game) to almost 100% dump and chase (which we don't have the skills to be successful doing in his opinion).
- pdx2ord

Bookmark this so as to use as a reference when Colliton's system is referenced.

Also Carolina uses a similar system and they have been successful. But they experience some issues too. The major difference between their system and Colliton's is that they have better personnel and players buy in to Brind 'Amour's system.

The line up decisions don't make any analytical sense except for 20 64 8 which if that stuff mattered you'd have Toews between those two to get him going.
- fattybeef

Not sure you meant analytical in a fancy stat stuff, but it would be interesting to hear the Hawks analytics staff's explanation for those combos.