John Jaeckel: How Good (Or Bad) Will The Hawks Be?

Great read as always JJ!

First!

If there is a lack of confidence in C2 I feel Stan should be aggressive, but some of your past posts make him sound like he asks for the moon and if the deal comes close he gets scared and backs out. Should make for some stressful reading by fans.

This team will go as far as their goaltending. With the kids in the minors pushing for playing time, this deep, talented and amazingly fun team to watch just needs to get over believing that Crawford is a NHL starting goalie and go get a Bernier or Bobby Lou and be done.
I am a Wings fan but have admired the job that Stan Bowman has done putting this team back together after the post cup purge of a few years ago. Smart signings, an amazing farm system and good trades have you guys positioned for the long run. Good luck this year. I picked a Rangers/Black Hawks cup this year, would love to see an original six battle to breath some life into this shortened season.

Just promise me one thing JJ, you will not mention injuries or the fact that we are all healthy and we are one hit away from disaster. You jinxed the hell out of us last year.

Looks nice on paper, i think Crawford is still your guy.

It's really hard to overlook the fact that Crawford let in so many bad goals last season. He talked about how he was playing really well right before the playoffs and he will need to play like at all season long if he wants to keep his job. IMO as soon as he looks shaky a couple games in the row the Hawks brass will be scrambling to find a replacement. Emery was okay as a backup but his lateral movement always looked slow and that was usually how he got scored on.

I like the new look of the forward lines, it will be really interesting to see how that plays out. Also looking forward to the slightly upgraded D pairings

With 10 of the first 12 on the road a good start,7-5 or even 8-4 could go a long way to defining how this short season will play out. A 4-8 first 12 and this board will be nuts. JMHO

It's really hard to overlook the fact that Crawford let in so many bad goals last season. He talked about how he was playing really well right before the playoffs and he will need to play like at all season long if he wants to keep his job. IMO as soon as he looks shaky a couple games in the row the Hawks brass will be scrambling to find a replacement. Emery was okay as a backup but his lateral movement always looked slow and that was usually how he got scored on.

I like the new look of the forward lines, it will be really interesting to see how that plays out. Also looking forward to the slightly upgraded D pairings
- Ballam

Some of those goals he let in, especially the two in the playoffs, were Steve Mason bad goals.

Some of those goals he let in, especially the two in the playoffs, were Steve Mason bad goals.
- John Jaeckel

The two in the playoffs were just the tip of the iceberg, there were similar goals being scored on Crawford periodically throughout the season. I also think the short stint where they were starting Emery hurt his confidence as well. Heres to hoping he has matured a lot mentally and he will be ready for the job this season

With 10 of the first 12 on the road a good start,7-5 or even 8-4 could go a long way to defining how this short season will play out. A 4-8 first 12 and this board will be nuts. JMHO
- 47 & counting

After 12 games with the tough start you probably can consider the Hawks a good team if they win 7+ games thru the 1st 12. We'll see. I cant wait. Im really excited about the condensed schedule , Im really excited about the conference only match ups, the Stanley Cup will be like the World Series of old.

Some of those goals he let in, especially the two in the playoffs, were Steve Mason bad goals.
- John Jaeckel

OMFG. Yup.

2nd in division
6th in Conference

Beat Minnesota in the 1st round
Beat St Louis in the 2nd
Beat LA in the 3 rd Round
Lose to Pittsburgh in the SC Final

The two in the playoffs were just the tip of the iceberg, there were similar goals being scored on Crawford periodically throughout the season. I also think the short stint where they were starting Emery hurt his confidence as well. Heres to hoping he has matured a lot mentally and he will be ready for the job this season
- Ballam

+1

2nd in division
6th in Conference

Beat Minnesota in the 1st round
Beat St Louis in the 2nd
Beat LA in the 3 rd Round
Lose to Pittsburgh in the SC Final
- scoot174

Nooooo NOt again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcJmjxklcw4

The two in the playoffs were just the tip of the iceberg, there were similar goals being scored on Crawford periodically throughout the season. I also think the short stint where they were starting Emery hurt his confidence as well. Heres to hoping he has matured a lot mentally and he will be ready for the job this season
- Ballam

I have a better idea. Bowman takes off his sissy pants, makes the deal with Ottawa for one of their 3 goalies, who are better than Crawford, and Zach Smith and makes the team a true Cup contender

Deeper on defense yes and if everything breaks the right way for the Hawks they can contend BUT if they have to rely on Bowman to upgrade the roster via a trade to contend that worries me. Even if Bowman is ready to pull off a deal at the TDL how many teams will be sellers? If it works out like last year not to many.

Some of those goals he let in, especially the two in the playoffs, were Steve Mason bad goals.
- John Jaeckel

The biggest problem I have with Crawford, outside of those two wretched OT goals against Phoenix, is that the timing of the goals he seems to allow are always back-breaking. So many times last year the Hawks battled back to tie a game or cut into a lead and Crawford would let in some softy that completely gave away any momentum the Hawks had just built in the game. No goalie is going to go without giving up some bad goals, but Crawford always seems to give up the back-breaking type goal that just deflates the team.

This team will go as far as their goaltending. With the kids in the minors pushing for playing time, this deep, talented and amazingly fun team to watch just needs to get over believing that Crawford is a NHL starting goalie and go get a Bernier or Bobby Lou and be done.
I am a Wings fan but have admired the job that Stan Bowman has done putting this team back together after the post cup purge of a few years ago. Smart signings, an amazing farm system and good trades have you guys positioned for the long run. Good luck this year. I picked a Rangers/Black Hawks cup this year, would love to see an original six battle to breath some life into this shortened season.
- yave1964

Really? I think you'll find a lot of disagreement from Hawks fans. Hit a home run getting Leddy for Cam Barker, but that's it in terms of trades.

It remains to be seen if Brookbank and Rozsival can add some stability and depth to their blue line, but you can go down the list of his free agent acquisitions the last two years, from John Scott to Fernando Pisani, Andrew Brunette, Sean O'Donnell, and others, and all I see is the ability to go dumpster diving in the NHL scrap heap.

Some of those goals he let in, especially the two in the playoffs, were Steve Mason bad goals.
- John Jaeckel

Bad goals aside, even if the Crawford doesnt have a drastic improvement, the Hawks can make great strides if they just improve their pylon penalty kill system and the perimeter half board dance PP scheme

Carter Hutton is on waivers per Tim sassone. Why?

I think if the A) Goaltending and B) Overall Team Defense improve from last year, the Hawks will be in great shape.

We all know Crawford was not very good last year and I still think that is the key as to how far this team will go. If he gets back to his 2010/2011 form then the Hawks have a real chance to make a deep run.

Second thing is the overall team defense (this includes the PK). The defensive corps had some bad stretches last year but what I thought went unnoticed was that the forwards had just as many if not more lapses that resulted with the puck going in the Hawks net. Too many times last year the forwards played lazy, uninspiring defense in the Hawks zone. Add in some bad decisions and not being able to clear the puck and it lead to disaster quite a bit. Both the forwards and defense need to play tougher, smarter and better when the puck is in the Hawks end of the ice. Too many times last year it was like a fire drill back in their zone. Guys not covering the right guys, out of position, not blocking shots/passes, etc.

It has kind of felt like Ole Stan was told to position himself for the lockout. I know a lot of people here rip him, but who knows what his directives are? That being said I hope he starts to get more aggressive now that they know what the next 10 years will look like cap wise. I hope Stan realizes you have to pay to get what you need, and this team has needs. I also hope Stan finally realizes you draft a lot of people just to trade them, not everyone will make their way through your system.

The fact that the Hawks still have Bickell and Frolik is more than enough indication of where the team is headed--another first round playoff ouster. StanBo, get those clowns out and bring back /anybody/ who can win faceoffs and kill penalties.
And a real goaltender.

Superb blog JJ

I really like the 10-36-88 line. Any Hawk fan worth his salt knows that the 88-10 are like brothers. Throw in the defensively responsible Bolland, who is the perfect foil for those 2 and you've got the most intriguing line on the team...to me at least. But only for as long as the Grand Tinkerer allows. But those 3 should be fun to watch.

As for Crawford ? Two points. First, i've been impressed by his public comments to this point in camp. He doesn't need any of us, or anyone else to tell him he PHUCKED UP. He knows he PHUCKED UP. My hope is that this introspection helps motivate him to have a solid, bounce back season.

Secondly, i hope the goalie coach or someone has worked with him on his post to post agility. His lateral stiffness, in addition to his untimely lack of focus, are in my view, his two biggest weaknesses. Let's hope he's improved in both areas beginning on Saturday.

Carter Hutton is on waivers per Tim sassone. Why?
- furso27

Whaaaaaa ? The kid is a real talent ? WTF ?