Chip McCleary: 4/13, Blues at Blue Jackets - Recap: A(nother) Ugly Night Hopefully, we're flushing this stuff out of our system before the playoffs hit.

Nice Read

Just a minor correction: Johansen was actually drafted 4th overall in 2010. Otherwise I agree with most of what you say.

You are pretty much right but wrong about Allen over committing when he first came up. He has a tendency to do so from time to time and has at least three times the past two games that helped lead to goals.

Every goal except the Atikinson goal and you could even make the case for it happened because the Blues fell back to poor defensive coverage especially because of forwards not picking up the open man in front of the net. The night before that chance is smothered.

I think you find out how Elliott does, give Allen some more games to help him along and also in case you need him down the line. But at this point Elliott is the hot hand. I know Hitch tends to play the hot hand and leans towards veterans.

Tarasenko will be fine and he's creating chances. There's not a lack of respect for his shot it's good coverage and not giving him that time and space that was there when players were a little more rusty. He's less than a half of a second to slow on his release. He needs to find more moves that outside inside. Maybe he needs to fake that move go outside then get position going to the net. Learning curves sometimes suck. Playing on a line much of the time with what McDOnald has become is not very helpful either.

There's an imbalance on the lines. Berglund looks just like he tends to a third line center. Sobotka is maybe guilty of being to pretty sometimes. I prefer Sobotka and Perron with the give gos and tell Perron every once in a while to take the shot and not pass.

Stewart playing with Berglund isn't working the way Berglund has been playing.

The power play went from puck possession to net presence with shots and continuous movement as a five men unit. Not too often anymore. Too many times they are trying for a back door play that isn't there instead of taking the open shot with a screen. WORST of all they fail to get the rebound on such shots even on the power play.

But as long as we don't see the same pattern of now a big losing streak and things get tightened up it will all turn out fine.

How are you guys liking Jay Boumeester so far?

How are you guys liking Jay Boumeester so far?
- MattWM

There's a lot to like. Some holes but much better than what was there before. I never noticed his speed before. I may have been thinking of Phanuf instead.

Glad to get him.

Chip it's back on:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=420683

Deleting all the hawks post! Funny stuff....

First time coming here.
And last.

Here is the link to my top 210 NHL prospects in my 2013 Mock Draft.
Click on the player and you will see the profile.
Click on the team and you will see who the present slottings have falling to them.
Click on T to see the way picks were acquired.

http://www.draftsite.com/nhl/mock-draft/2013/

I know you might have questions, but it is clear that the St. Louis blogsite person Chip McCleary, clearly doesn't understand the difference between comments that are honest discussion points (even if he disagrees with them) and straight outright fans coming here and posting imflmmatory or nasty stuff.

Today many of the posters on this site came to this blog, stated opinions and because they ran contrary to the opinions of the "fan" McCleary, he took them down.

I read those fan posts and am saddened that your America decided that since they were well composed opinions you didn't like, you HAD to censor them.

Imagine if I decided to delete any and all opinions that ran contrary to mine on the youngsters about to get drafted. That I decided they didn't belong on DraftSite????
Would that be right and just?

I suggest you use you censoring power on the fans who don't actaully state opinions and just flame, rant, or curse...because very post you deleted today was one that didn't deserve your deletion.
If you don't understand the game, can't back your board with solid fact & opinion, I suggest you get out of hockey fan service, because you are saving no one by censoring opinion as opposed to garbage.

Deleting all the hawks post! Funny stuff....
- moots

Wait a second, you mean you guys were in here whining about the Hawks getting pushed around, and then Chip deleted comment's he didn't agree with?

shocking

I concur with Chip's action. They were mostly troll quips from cub fans

Wait a second, you mean you guys were in here whining about the Hawks getting pushed around, and then Chip deleted comment's he didn't agree with?

shocking
- fattyboubatty

I was wondering what happened to the thread. Thin skinned Hawks fans I guess stormed the thread trolling, and Chip deleted it? He really should have let it stand as a monument to their stupidity. Blackhawks fans are almost as bad of front runners as Cowboys fans. Times get remotely tough and they'll bail.

I concur with Chip's action. They were mostly troll quips from cub fans
- twistagain

I looked in a couple of times yesterday and didn't see anything that I haven't seen before.

I'd be curious to know what warranted removal of the thread.

Super duper job by the refs. Tarasenkoe gets tripped and the Hawks score. Happens pretty regularly to the Blues. A bit of a gap in coverage. Some of the calls and non calls changed the complexion of the game i.e. Steen being called for goalie interference after being shoved into Crawford. Okay.

But still the Blues were in the game and starte finally getting some calls their way when a soft goal goes in on the power play crushing the momentum the Blues were finally building up.

That Steen call and some other mystifying calls, off sides, face off position choices all went to taking away from the momentum the Blues would build and let slide away.


What I take away from the game is suddenly the Blues Dmen are playing way too conservatively most of the game giving time and space for an opposition break out far too often. Which is somewhat understandable giving Kane's tendency to cherry pick like he's playing a pick up game.

I don't know why when you are destroying a team physically why you lay off it when it is effective.

I don't understand constantly changing lines and giving free break outs. Too much focus on line changes is a momentum killer. It's one of those things that is important but not as important as it is being used.


Something is terribly wrong with Hitch's style now. He has shifted from a much more aggressive game to a conservative game and as a consequence the scoring has gone way down. I don't know if there is a problem with the personnel or what that they seem to fall short in one style or the other.

Soft goals kill this team. Elliott was mostly good but again is showing rebound control issues and the soft goal.

Maybe just maybe having a power play unit with Steen out high is good.

What happened to Andy McDonald? Is he playing ti safe for another contract from some team? He bails out on the physical play which even though he is small he never used to do. He isn;t winning puck battle anywhere on the ice and is easily pushed to and plays on the perimeter never attacking the net. He hurts the Tarasenko/SObotka line.

At least Berglund is playing much more physical than in years past but his production going down, the ease at which he lets the competition get under his skin and the less play is killing him.

While I don't mind the cycle it is worthless when you fail to create off of it.

Stewart is the most offensive player on the ice the only one consistently creating plays going wide but always trying to come back to attack the net with the puck. Perron is picking it up but these lines just are not meshing well. Which to me speaks to the lack of creative centermen. I think Sobotka is getting better but McDOnald kills a lot of their creativity losing to many puck battles. Tarasenko was quicker with the puck and got a number of decent chances.

The fourth line is killer. Reaves looks quicker and his hands are improving. He's able to hold the puck and make a play. Adding that to Cracknell and Porter makes that line pretty potent. When Reaves out plays most of your other players creating some space with the puck that is a knock on the rest of you players.


Some concerns but I think the remedy is there when Oshie comes back and you add in Jaskin. I would like to see Schwartz center Tarasenko and Stewart or Perron. I would like to see Sobotka center Perron with Jaskin. Backes with Oshie and Steen. And the fourth line the same.

Super duper job by the refs. Tarasenkoe gets tripped and the Hawks score. Happens pretty regularly to the Blues. A bit of a gap in coverage. Some of the calls and non calls changed the complexion of the game i.e. Steen being called for goalie interference after being shoved into Crawford. Okay.

But still the Blues were in the game and starte finally getting some calls their way when a soft goal goes in on the power play crushing the momentum the Blues were finally building up.

That Steen call and some other mystifying calls, off sides, face off position choices all went to taking away from the momentum the Blues would build and let slide away.

- BluemanGuruu

Let's be fair - there was a lot of stuff on both sides that was let go. Multiple plays were tripping or interference calls could have gone against the Blues, not to mention a variety of crosschecking/roughing/unsportsmanlike stuff that the refs let go on both sides. Or when Jackman punched Kane in the face with a gloved hand along the sideboards that somehow was magically missed.

I've seen that goalie interference call made in countless games, against the 'Hawks on several occassions. I get that it's frustrating, but it has been called pretty consistently. Don't really get what you're complaining about with faceoff locations. Any specific play? The powerplay faceoff that went all the way down is a rule. Playing the puck with a high stick while on the PP in the offensive zone sends the draw all the way down. Pretty black and white there.

What I thought changed the game was the Blues' abandonment of the physical play after the first period. Not sure if was fatigue or scheme change, but had they kept up that initial pace for 60 minutes, the outcome might have been different.

I was wondering what happened to the thread. Thin skinned Hawks fans I guess stormed the thread trolling, and Chip deleted it? He really should have let it stand as a monument to their stupidity. Blackhawks fans are almost as bad of front runners as Cowboys fans. Times get remotely tough and they'll bail.
- BerglundsGrundle

I think your use of "bandwagon fans" is a little off. For years, Old Man Wirtz drove fans away with how he ran the team on and off the ice. It basically removed an entire generation of potential new fans in the 90's and 2000's.

Yes, there are a lot of "new" fans now. Most of them are younger people who have been brought in by Rocky Wirtz and co. through a huge effort to regrow the fan base. It took a while to bring back some of the older fans who grew up in the 60's, 70's and 80's loving the Blackhawks.

To characterize the new group of fans as "bandwagon" is a bit premature. I also think that there are plenty of people for all of the team boards on here who act like horse behinds, Blackhawk board included.

I was wondering what happened to the thread. Thin skinned Hawks fans I guess stormed the thread trolling, and Chip deleted it? He really should have let it stand as a monument to their stupidity. Blackhawks fans are almost as bad of front runners as Cowboys fans. Times get remotely tough and they'll bail.
- BerglundsGrundle

The next time fans of any team storm this thread will be the first time. There was a grand total of 10 posts, about half by Hawks fans. The entire thread was deleted by your thin skinned blogger.

As far as Hawks fans as front runners, that statement is either based in sheer ignorance, or blatant stupidity...for some reason I'm sure to regret, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

The next time fans of any team storm this thread will be the first time. There was a grand total of 10 posts, about half by Hawks fans. The entire thread was deleted by your thin skinned blogger.

As far as Hawks fans as front runners, that statement is either based in sheer ignorance, or blatant stupidity...for some reason I'm sure to regret, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
- Ogilthorpe2

I figured you would like the call back from the last game thread?

You know, it’s very strange. I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it’s over, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.

Too bad that you are deleting posts when you don't have many to start with.

If you think some of our fans are bad, you should read some of the stuff Canuck fans post on our sites.

And this guy proves he's imbecile. You don't like America you can leave it is that free of a country. But those of us who have been around the world will tell you it's a great country and great place to live even with its imperfections.

No cares about your web site because it sucks.

You are nothing more than a band wagon fan merely picking the latest team to call your own. This is my first and last response to you troll.
- BluemanGuruu

Okay - hate to nitpick -but you called a guy an imbecile and didn't even understand the "America" statement he made, which was a sarcastic knock on the censorship of yesterday's game thread by your blogger, not a knock on America.

Secondly, Wiz is about as far from a bandwagon 'Hawks fan as you could possibly imagine. He puts 99% of HB board posters (present company included) to shame in terms of game knowledge.

First time coming here.
And last.

Here is the link to my top 210 NHL prospects in my 2013 Mock Draft.
Click on the player and you will see the profile.
Click on the team and you will see who the present slottings have falling to them.
Click on T to see the way picks were acquired.

http://www.draftsite.com/nhl/mock-draft/2013/

I know you might have questions, but it is clear that the St. Louis blogsite person Chip McCleary, clearly doesn't understand the difference between comments that are honest discussion points (even if he disagrees with them) and straight outright fans coming here and posting imflmmatory or nasty stuff.

Today many of the posters on this site came to this blog, stated opinions and because they ran contrary to the opinions of the "fan" McCleary, he took them down.

I read those fan posts and am saddened that your America decided that since they were well composed opinions you didn't like, you HAD to censor them.

Imagine if I decided to delete any and all opinions that ran contrary to mine on the youngsters about to get drafted. That I decided they didn't belong on DraftSite????
Would that be right and just?

I suggest you use you censoring power on the fans who don't actaully state opinions and just flame, rant, or curse...because very post you deleted today was one that didn't deserve your deletion.
If you don't understand the game, can't back your board with solid fact & opinion, I suggest you get out of hockey fan service, because you are saving no one by censoring opinion as opposed to garbage.
- wiz1901

you lost all credibility posting that POS mock draft. There is NO WAY Edmonton is drafting a 5'10" 175lbs left winger with their first round pick.

Too bad that you are deleting posts when you don't have many to start with.

If you think some of our fans are bad, you should read some of the stuff Canuck fans post on our sites.

- 67hawks