Be interesting to know if they'd have taken him at #'s 1 or 2.

If not, they did luck out getting the 3rd and not 1 or 2.
- vabeachbear

Elliotte Friedman said this AM that at the draft last year, although there were all these names that the Hawks were going to draft (Byram, Turcotte), there was no question in Chicago's mind that Dach was their guy.

Any word on Ennis? The way he was laboring in obvious pain - something is broken or a few ligaments aren’t attached.

Dach did that - then took a hard (but clean) low hip check - and kept on playing.

Kid is a gamer.
- Chief4Feathers

It was a knee on knee, not intentional by Dach.

Ennis likely torn ACL/MCL.

All i know is the team with 1 starting goalie is up 2-1 compared to the team with 2 starting goalies. The only play i thought was a bad play by him was when he whiffed on the puck behind the net.

Our defense if they clean up more of the rebounds Coreys numbers would be way better
- BetweenTheDots

That's the truth

Crow played better last night, but I'm with you thinking that something is off. How many of Edmonton's goal have been scored with Crow laying on the ice?
- tvetter

Thanks for agreeing that something is off with crow. I know he started to get better right before the shutdown, but this season he hasn't been or found his elite level he once played with. Maybe those injuries with all that time off is affecting his confidence or skill.

It's been frustrating to watch at times because his rebound controls and his shakiness leads me to think something deeper going on. Everyone can acknowledge our defense isn't the best but crows play hasn't risen to the level that one could then say the blame is all on the defense.

When he fell behind the net last night he looked so shakey. Crows been known to be strong with his puck handling.

Elliotte Friedman said this AM that at the draft last year, although there were all these names that the Hawks were going to draft (Byram, Turcotte), there was no question in Chicago's mind that Dach was their guy.
- LAHawk

I believe that looking at how this kid with no training camp was hoisted in, and now seeing how he has truly started to get stronger , confident and better.

Interviewer: What does Eddie Curry need to do to rebound better?

Scott Skiles: Jump.

Interviewer: What do the Hawks have to do to have a more dangerous PP?

Me: MOVE.
- StLBravesFan

The problem there is you have all lefty shots, Kubalik in a position that negates his cannon and Toews in a spot he hasn't had much success in and if Kane is on the left wall there isn't a lot of threat to shoot.

Maybe flipping where Toews and Kubalik are so the right guy is banging away at one timers.

Puck luck off crazy bounces ... that isn't skill. Game one was more domination. That was more of what I meant.
- I Am The Breadman

Ah, gotcha. Sometimes the obvious escapes me.

For the griefnMaata takes and all his deficiencies...hes had some clutch points

While I think the cancer he had took a toll on him and he lacks speed, he takes hits to make plays/does a lot of little things right - just lacks speed

If hes only a Hawk for 1 year...good on him for some pretty clutch points in these last few games
- PatShart

Was on the ice \ contributed to all 3 goals against last night sooooooooooo kind of a wash?

There's a lot to be said for consistency, such as the consistent "whack a mole" commentary found here. Nylander sux. Strome sux. Maatta sux, KK sux. Boqvist sux. DeBrincat sux. deHaan sux. Kampf sux. Highmore sux. Colliton REALLY sux.

Once some fans put a player is put into the "sux" category, they see the player through a rigid confirmation bias making it near impossible for the player to do anything right in their eyes - they will always suck, no matter what.

Eh, I enjoyed the game, regardless of all that suckage by the usual suspects.
- EbonyRaptor

Nylander and JC are very bad, Maatta and KK are not very good but with the cap and 32 teams it is kind of a thing, Boqvist has had a poor showing and Highmore is a body.

De Haan has played well especially considering he had a major shoulder operation again this year. Debrincat has been good since they got him away from Nylander and Kampf is fine as a 4th liner.

The game last night was hilarious. The good chances they had they either hit iron or flat out biffed and Toews gets 2 fluke ass goals.

Its fun to see them win in spite of some of the other nonsense and hopefully they at least make it entertaining and don't get completely embarrassed in the next round.

I had to look it up too. That's correct among Hawk forwards. Included were PP and SH time too.

Our little boy is quickly growing into a man.
- Rota's Rooter

Should extend Toews's productive years significantly provided Dach learns how to pace himself during the regular season.

Actually Strome and Nylander stand as "very little to no value added" all on their own this series. Or maybe Stan is now building his roster without the playoffs in mind.

As for Debrincat, yep, he is having a hard time scoring as well. It happens in the playoffs. Small players and players who play small have a really hard time when the opponent is giving little space and finishing checks with purpose everywhere they can. And if they are a defensive liability, well that is the icing on the cake.

So the more of those kind of players the team has, the less likely they are going to make it let alone go very far.

It can take Kane time to hit his stride in the playoffs. This year he may not have much more time.
- jrsamu

They're leading the series sooooo probs gonna have at least a few more games.

The point totals for your top two centers 3 out of the 4 wings leading the team is kind of what you want to see here. Complaining about players who are being productive seems kind of silly at this point.

Dominik Kubalik
5
Jonathan Toews
5
Kirby Dach
4
Patrick Kane
4
Alex Debrincat
3

Another Great team win and the %s say you win 2/3 in a 5 game your chances are 75% to win it, balah, blah, blah....

It is not over yet!

Totally agree on the "once a fan deems a mid range player six, they have real trouble changing."

The fan cannot see the things those guys do well enough to get them there in the bigs.
And the playoffs are jut the place were guys like that add their most.

Dach IS a beast. The Ennis crush rated up there for me with my NHL greatest hits, but more importantly, when he came over the blue line into the attack zone and got that hard sandwiched upper thigh body hit from 2 Oilers, he shook it off and came back and didn't change his style. He is just so big, so fluid, and so smart.

His game in junior wasn't very different than what we are seeing now, that is why the comparisons were Ryan Getzlaf. (Aside:I liked Cozens a lot but NEVER saw him as a comparable to Getzlaf I have also seen in print.)

IF you go back and look at the junior goals Dach scored you will see ones from outside, but his bread and butter is scoring from in closer, and setting teams ages up from everywhere, not necessarily scoring from everywhere. I dont doubt there will be work on his shot, but his strength is puck handling diganosing quickly and hadn't teammates the puck for apples.

My other favorite moment last night (besides the success of the lesser lights and high more getting a reward and result to his hard work, was a play where both Boqvist and Keith were both very close to Boqvist's side near the wall and the puck was moving towards there and Keith just simply reacted and blew by Boqvist to handle it and start the transition.
My eyes widened. The hackney News in a comparison of Quint Hughes vs. Adam Boqvist called Boqvist a beautiful effortless skater and better. I still think that hold up, but my point is Duncan Keith has been a gift to the hawks in the 2nd round and anyone who things he needs processing time when he is on the ice is delusional. He just reacts.
It is my hope that Boqvist develops that too. And that every defender they bring in gets to learn from him, so he just bursts as Keith did on a routine transition puck reception that closed down any though of an Oiler entry.

And Kampf is a solid hockey player and Drake Caggulia is a hockey player, and I can go down the list...inbcluding the rest of this "slow" defensive corps that is doing an admirable job.

Win or lose this series, the positives are outweighing the negatives.
- wiz1901

My concern is that they've ruined a bit of Boqvists confidence and isn't playing the game naturally. Also, Keith wasn't pretty to watch when he first came into the league (and that was after time in the minors) so it could be just different opportunities to flesh out growing pains.

You called Dach being a monster on The (dash) Rink podcast after they drafted him and said once he figured out the NHL he'd be a monster. Maybe not as good as Getzlaf but in that mold of a big, grindy, passy and dominating bigger center. Hopefully he's not going this balls to the wall over an 82 game season and learns how to pace himself but high five on calling that one.

Thanks for agreeing that something is off with crow. I know he started to get better right before the shutdown, but this season he hasn't been or found his elite level he once played with. Maybe those injuries with all that time off is affecting his confidence or skill.

It's been frustrating to watch at times because his rebound controls and his shakiness leads me to think something deeper going on. Everyone can acknowledge our defense isn't the best but crows play hasn't risen to the level that one could then say the blame is all on the defense.

When he fell behind the net last night he looked so shakey. Crows been known to be strong with his puck handling.
- Taylorst1

Lol, He's been playing hockey a week, almost literally, and just got over a sickness that can do some pretty goofy stuff to your body.

All things considered he's made some huge saves and done pretty pretty pretty well.

you guys enjoying my boy Dach yet?

told you he was the guy you wanted.

Oilers complaining about the non-call on Dach’s hit on Ennis - comparing it to Yamamoto’s hit on Murphy from behind.

I don’t see the comparison - Yamamoto had plenty of time to avoid the cross-check - Murphy’s back was to him - Ennius ducked at the end of Dach’s check attempt.

So now: who do the Hawks start in net in game 4?

They have a back-to-back Friday (game 4) and Saturday (game 5).

Do you start Crawford in game 4, hoping to close it out - but then - do you B-to-B him on Saturday? Or go with Subban / Delia in a game 5?

Or do you start Subban (or Delia) in game 4, hoping for a decent effort, keeping Crawford ready for a possible game 5?

Keeping in mind the Crawford is coming off of an “unfit to play” stint - and may not be in his best shape.

So now: who do the Hawks start in net in game 4?

They have a back-to-back Friday (game 4) and Saturday (game 5).

Do you start Crawford in game 4, hoping to close it out - but then - do you B-to-B him on Saturday? Or go with Subban / Delia in a game 5?

Or do you start Subban (or Delia) in game 4, hoping for a decent effort, keeping Crawford ready for a possible game 5?

Keeping in mind the Crawford is coming off of an “unfit to play” stint - and may not be in his best shape.
- StLBravesFan

I don't think there is any doubt you will see Crow, as long as the Hawks are playing and Crow is fit to play.

you guys enjoying my boy Dach yet?

told you he was the guy you wanted.
- BINGO!

but...you also told us former Hurrican centre Victor Rask was the real deal...

So now: who do the Hawks start in net in game 4?

They have a back-to-back Friday (game 4) and Saturday (game 5).

Do you start Crawford in game 4, hoping to close it out - but then - do you B-to-B him on Saturday? Or go with Subban / Delia in a game 5?

Or do you start Subban (or Delia) in game 4, hoping for a decent effort, keeping Crawford ready for a possible game 5?

Keeping in mind the Crawford is coming off of an “unfit to play” stint - and may not be in his best shape.
- StLBravesFan

They can really only start Crawford, but a loss makes him plenty tired for the Saturday game.
btw tomorrow the game is at 5:45 pm Central If the other game ends if you are watching a network feed...

My concern is that they've ruined a bit of Boqvists confidence and isn't playing the game naturally. Also, Keith wasn't pretty to watch when he first came into the league (and that was after time in the minors) so it could be just different opportunities to flesh out growing pains.

You called Dach being a monster on The (dash) Rink podcast after they drafted him and said once he figured out the NHL he'd be a monster. Maybe not as good as Getzlaf but in that mold of a big, grindy, passy and dominating bigger center. Hopefully he's not going this balls to the wall over an 82 game season and learns how to pace himself but high five on calling that one.
- fattybeef

I think that Boqvist is still figuring out so many aspects of this level.
Fortunately he has some good examples with the Hawks.
He's eventual style will have to be a lot like Keith's but with quite a lot of expertise as an attack rover with a super good release and shot.
Time is what he needs, and to keep him confident...

It was a knee on knee, not intentional by Dach.

Ennis likely torn ACL/MCL.
- TrueGrit

I didn’t see it as a knee-on-knee collision - but I’ll try to watch a replay again and look for that.

Another Great team win and the %s say you win 2/3 in a 5 game your chances are 75% to win it, balah, blah, blah....

It is not over yet!

Totally agree on the "once a fan deems a mid range player six, they have real trouble changing."

The fan cannot see the things those guys do well enough to get them there in the bigs.
And the playoffs are jut the place were guys like that add their most.

Dach IS a beast. The Ennis crush rated up there for me with my NHL greatest hits, but more importantly, when he came over the blue line into the attack zone and got that hard sandwiched upper thigh body hit from 2 Oilers, he shook it off and came back and didn't change his style. He is just so big, so fluid, and so smart.

His game in junior wasn't very different than what we are seeing now, that is why the comparisons were Ryan Getzlaf. (Aside:I liked Cozens a lot but NEVER saw him as a comparable to Getzlaf I have also seen in print.)

IF you go back and look at the junior goals Dach scored you will see ones from outside, but his bread and butter is scoring from in closer, and setting teams ages up from everywhere, not necessarily scoring from everywhere. I dont doubt there will be work on his shot, but his strength is puck handling diganosing quickly and hadn't teammates the puck for apples.

My other favorite moment last night (besides the success of the lesser lights and high more getting a reward and result to his hard work, was a play where both Boqvist and Keith were both very close to Boqvist's side near the wall and the puck was moving towards there and Keith just simply reacted and blew by Boqvist to handle it and start the transition.
My eyes widened. The hackney News in a comparison of Quint Hughes vs. Adam Boqvist called Boqvist a beautiful effortless skater and better. I still think that hold up, but my point is Duncan Keith has been a gift to the hawks in the 2nd round and anyone who things he needs processing time when he is on the ice is delusional. He just reacts.
It is my hope that Boqvist develops that too. And that every defender they bring in gets to learn from him, so he just bursts as Keith did on a routine transition puck reception that closed down any though of an Oiler entry.

And Kampf is a solid hockey player and Drake Caggulia is a hockey player, and I can go down the list...inbcluding the rest of this "slow" defensive corps that is doing an admirable job.

Win or lose this series, the positives are outweighing the negatives.
- wiz1901

On Dach, I never saw him play in the Juniors I don’t watch any of that stuff. To me, it looks like his intuition in close is to try to deke and score. At the NHL level the deke doesn’t seem to be as effective as the quick shot, in lower levels I feel that the goalies are more dekeable and these high skill players always want to try to make a deke for a gaurenteed goal.

In my opinion, Dach should try to focus on taking quick accurate shots in close instead of trying to deke around the goalie, I think he would pot a lot more goals that way.

but...you also told us former Hurrican centre Victor Rask was the real deal...
- wiz1901

The worst thing Jeff Skinner ever did was make Victor Rask look like a viable NHL player.

you guys enjoying my boy Dach yet?

told you he was the guy you wanted.
- BINGO!

still can't figure out how the canes win with the goalie tandem they have...riemer in G3?

Last night whenever a hawks player was going to receive a pass there was one or two and sometimes three white tarps in the picture waiting for it. Reminded me of what Trotz used to do to Q (and still is). Sutter as well. Now Tip is doing it to JC. I always try to be a wait and see kind of guy with anyone new. But I'm leaning the other way from JC. And I don't even want to think about Crawford as the next coach.
- 6628

The Blackhawks are still bad at clearing the zone, making extra moves rather than making a quick pass out.

This allows the Oilers to close passing lanes and create unforced errors in their O zone.

And it tends to mean the forwards in the neutral zone are having a tough time getting open.