John Jaeckel: Signs Of Improvement At 5000 Feet

First on the 1st!

And first duplicate post of the year! (sorry)

JJ happy new year and thanks for last year and all your hard work

Gus looks really good and is looking more like the number 5d than the number 6

Skud bomb was hard to watch last night and at one point it seamed he was getting blown up every time he touched the puck

Don't want to see two rookies playing in gus and sved but they may become necessary

Long time reader, first time poster. JJ, thanks for all you do on here and Happy New Year!!

Big win last night...
great work as always John...happy new year sir!

Softie by Darls last night no question but the kid hasn't been getting much playing time at all and as you noted in response to my post game comments last night - the kid is fine.

Liking the new third line...Desi looking good as well as the other two. And we can certainly see why Stan was loathe to give away Danault in any Sharp deal (thinking Habs here).

Gus solid last night, but still thinking we need a #4 on the backend. Still can't believe that Bowman wouldn't put his little pet project down or heck resign him in the first place. We could have had Gus up all this time...

Sens Sunday keep it rolling boys...

Long time reader, first time poster. JJ, thanks for all you do on here and Happy New Year!!
- Ironhawk

Thanks for joining in and enjoy your time here talking blackhawks

Gotta be excited about Gustafsson and Denault in the SMALL sample size so far. Denault with 14:34 TOI and as mentioned 50% at the dot, winning 8 which was second most behind Toews. That Q gave the kid the 2nd most faceoffs says much.

Gustafsson had 18:26 (3:28 PP TOI), but it was when he got he minutes that needs notated. IIRC Q had him on the ice in the last minute of regulation tied at 3. Minutes don't get any more important to Q than in the last couple in a close game.

Also, IIRC, Q moved Gus up to the top 4 in the 2nd and left him there, again IIRC. Q's use of Gus last night and when says much....... But it doesn't take long to get in Q's dog house so I'm gonna watch and see but at the most optimistic look Gus may solve the #4 question, even though I think TVR is a borderline #4 and a solid #5 as he's still developing.

Long time reader, first time poster. JJ, thanks for all you do on here and Happy New Year!!
- Ironhawk

Welcome...........

Big win last night...
great work as always John...happy new year sir!

Softie by Darls last night no question but the kid hasn't been getting much playing time at all and as you noted in response to my post game comments last night - the kid is fine.

Liking the new third line...Desi looking good as well as the other two. And we can certainly see why Stan was loathe to give away Danault in any Sharp deal (thinking Habs here).

Gus solid last night, but still thinking we need a #4 on the backend. Still can't believe that Bowman wouldn't put his little pet project down or heck resign him in the first place. We could have had Gus up all this time..


Sens Sunday keep it rolling boys...
- DK002

Stan won't overpay for a rental player so I don't seem a trade till the trade deadline and its more likely to be a LW UFA and possibly a veteran 6D that is a RFA and soon to be retired

I still think if the jets are out Ladd may be the guy since I don't think he will be as sought after as the other RFA for sale. Time will tell what Stan does

"any news that comes up beforehand"

Maybe something happening at 5000 Feet???

Happy New Year all.
Looking forward to more wins.

Curious to what the next piece to the puzzle is.

Anyone think Darling needs more games to play? Seems like its hard to stay sharp playing only once or twice a month.

Nice to hang an L on Varlamov


The Bread Man/AA/Kaner line continues to be DYNAMITE.
What a pleasure to watch those 3 night in/out.

Desi's caught fire and great to see him find him his game.

Danault's continued growth is a joy to see. Nice to finally see a
tangible return on that crop. Thing Danault needs to improve on is...
staying with his center counterpart when he loses a D zone draw.
He didn't a few games back and it cost the Hawks a goal and a win.

Gustafsson is the new Hammer, but with more of an offensive edge.

Great to see Captain Clutch bury at close range in o/t. Plane ride
home should have been fun.

Happy New Year Lads

Happy New Year all.


Anyone think Darling needs more games to play? Seems like its hard to stay sharp playing only once or twice a month.
- Yikes726

Yes, and yes........ Not only does he need to play more to keep him sharp more importantly Crawford needs a break to keep him sharp, and healthy, as well.

Right now Crow is tied for 2nd in the league with 31 starts, 1 behind league work horse Holtby who started a freakish 73 games last year. IMO Darling proved last year on the biggest stage he's to be trusted with 17-20 starts.

JJ,
To reiterate what others have said, Thank you for what you do here! I do not post here very much, But read almost everything, Along with a lot of other teams bloggers. And you are hands down the best of them all! Happy new year to you and the rest of the posters here.

Ps. Jack Skille with 4 minutes 52 seconds of ice time. Wondering if his new years resolution will be to "work hard and have a good attitude"?

Good win and didn't like Darling's performance but will take two points. Really like how the Hawks finally won the shot battle too, 43-30. Need to continue to tip that balance moving forward.

Happy new year to JJ, Mexico, Eli, and the rest of the hawk posters on hockeybuzz!

Darling was rusty. Did not look sharp. He needs NHL game work, not just practice. Keith did not look great last night. Everybody has a meh game. Got the 2 points.

Tallon signs a 3 year extension.. Good for Dale and the Cats.

Tallon signs a 3 year extension.. Good for Dale and the Cats.
- Mr Ricochet

Nice for Dale, good thing they got it going a bit this year and some of those high draft picks are starting to pay off.

Now that he's secure again, maybe he can do us some more favors

Darling was rusty. Did not look sharp. He needs NHL game work, not just practice. Keith did not look great last night. Everybody has a meh game. Got the 2 points.
- DGSC2

Agree, its got to be tough when you never play, that said, every back up needs to be able to perform and produce. Even if you only get out there once a month, you can't let in those goals and keep your job very long.

I would give him games with more frequency and see how he does. Want Crow ready for the post season.

Caps will rue the day that let Holtby start 75 games.

The Hawks have to smart and pick the right games to use him. We need to see if he is still an NHL quality backup. Not much choice. Not a lot in the system.

Tallon signs a 3 year extension.. Good for Dale and the Cats.
- Mr Ricochet

Well that's good news hopefully Uncle Dale would like to make a trade for Bickell!

Posted this on the last thread in Quotes to Hawks49:

"Toews is on pace for around 25-30 goals(Which is where he has been most of his career)

14.4% Shooting percentage
6 GWG
2 SHG
59.3% Faceoffs
33 Takeaways/16 Giveaways
Of the starting forwards on this team, Toews and Hossa still drive possession better than anyone.

Toews is not playing as poorly as some posters here would like everyone to believe. He is still playing like the elite two-way forward he is."
- Hawks_49


This is great. He also has 3 PPG and 1 PPA, whereas last year, he had 6 PPG and 11 PPA for the whole year, so his points aren't coming solely on the PP. People will argue that he is not scoring 5-on-5, and that's true, but the key thing is his assists.

Toews is not on pace for the same number of PPA as last year, but if he was, he'd have 13 G and 15 A at this point in the season...projecting out to a 60-point season. Hossa is not burying the glorious chances, and no 1LW is burying the chances either. That's probably 5 more assists at this point in the season, too. That projects out to a 70-point season. That's normal Toews.

Agree, its got to be tough when you never play, that said, every back up needs to be able to perform and produce. Even if you only get out there once a month, you can't let in those goals and keep your job very long.

I would give him games with more frequency and see how he does. Want Crow ready for the post season.

Caps will rue the day that let Holtby start 75 games.
- vabeachbear

Agree completely.

When I actually try to compose a post and not just agree it takes me an inordinate amount of time. I could never have a blog and post every day or two. So it's with great respect for the efforts of especially JJ but all of the people who take the time to contribute to this site. Agree or not with the content, I can't go more than a few hours without checking the latest posts. I really enjoy this site. Happy new year to da whole bunch of yuz.