Theo Fox: Game 38: Hawks 3, Canes 4
A recap of the Blackhawks tough last-minute loss to the Hurricanes after storming back twice to tie the game.

From the last blog:

Thanks, you're welcome.

Btw, Theo, what is your take on Chalupa so far? I did not expect him to get such a chance to go overseas, but wish him best of luck. I am curious what kind of impression he makes.
- stonefire

Chalupa has been somewhat disappointing. He can play a heavy style on the forecheck and be a handful in the crease but more often than not he's just not noticeable and rendered a non factor.

Similar to Quenneville, when Chalupa is on, he's a handful as a power forward. But that's the problem, he's not on a lot of the time. Hopefully he finds a consistent groove.

Right now, though, there are other prospects in Rockford who are more worthwhile.

From the last blog:


Chalupa has been somewhat disappointing. He can play a heavy style on the forecheck and be a handful in the crease but more often than not he's just not noticeable and rendered a non factor.

Similar to Quenneville, when Chalupa is on, he's a handful as a power forward. But that's the problem, he's not on a lot of the time. Hopefully he finds a consistent groove.

Right now, though, there are other prospects in Rockford who are more worthwhile.
- Theo Fox

Thanks, that was my impression from afar too. Chalupa didn’t do much in Plzeň, it clicked for him a bit in Hradec Králové, but that seemed to be just a spark when he got on a scoring tear during deep Champions League run. I was curious if smaller ice helps him to find some consistency. There is still time, but too many horses and up to him now to make a statement for himself before he gets lost in the shuffle completely, that’s for sure.

When a wing has the puck and is bringing it up the ice along the boards the wing on the other side has to get inside position on the defender or cut to the middle. Then the puck carrier only needs to beat one defender. If the wing on the off side stays along the boards then the two defenders have inside position and the weak side defender reads the play and breaks up the play relatively easily. This is especially true with ADB and Kane.

On our breakouts the wings sit along the boards and wait for the pass. They need to start out closer to the blue line and come back for the pass. Otherwise the defender makes a stronger move to the puck then they do. It is like in football when the receiver waits for the pass and the cornerback jumps the route. They need to come to the puck.

Blackhawk Charities should have an account where they collect fines from the players. Every time someone makes a weak back hand pass in their own zone that is picked off it is $50. If it ends up in the back of the net it is $500. They would have enough for a college scholarship pretty quickly.

Boqvist continues to get better. I think the light has gone on.

Kalynuk also looks good. The question is will he make a few bonehead plays (like all rookies do) or get hammered along the boards and lose his confidence and play tentatively. I think Boqvist, Joki, Mitchell, Carlsson, Beaudin all went through this. It probably is a natural part of the process for young dmen. It will be interesting to see how each one of the younger dmen develop. It is not always a straight line trending up. Often it is more like a rollercoaster. We need to be patient.

Strome is playing with some energy. But we have seen this in spurts in the last two years. Let's see if he can keep it up over a long stretch.

I still see a few times a game where instead of stepping on the gas and engaging a defender or challenging for a loose puck he coasts into the situation. It really lessens his impact.

Boqvist continues to get better. I think the light has gone on.

Kalynuk also looks good. The question is will he make a few bonehead plays (like all rookies do) or get hammered along the boards and lose his confidence and play tentatively. I think Boqvist, Joki, Mitchell, Carlsson, Beaudin all went through this. It probably is a natural part of the process for young dmen. It will be interesting to see how each one of the younger dmen develop. It is not always a straight line trending up. Often it is more like a rollercoaster. We need to be patient.
- -Doh-

Boqvist is playing so much better. i thought he was a waste based on games last year and a few games early this year. But a happy surprise, he proved me wrong. the kid is getting more confident and playing smarter while getting use to the nhl pace and big boy hockey. He really did seem timid previously, maybe due to taking a few hits to the head

Theo, surprised you did not mention anything about Collition coaching. Two obvious mistakes, Kane's line in the last minute of the tie game. Not sure why, did he really think they were going to score? They did have momentum, but Kane playing alot of time, it has to be taking it's toll. You can include ADB in that conversation. How about giving Kane and ADB a few extra minutes of rest so they can be ready for OT. That would have been a fun OT, the 3 on 3 hockey does provide some extra wide open fun hockey.

Also one other observation, Foley mentions Colliton with a late line change, thus getting the matchup that he wants. Kane comes on the ice, and then 10 seconds later, the puck is in the net. Hmmmmm?

Happy easter weekend to all of you....

I had a big problem with DeHaan giving up a ton of room on the zone entry on the winning goal. Back Peddled and if his gap coverage was better, the shot LIKELY never gets to Lankinen. Any time the Hawks want to send DeHaan elsewhere, is perfectly OK with me. He's aged a lot, and is becoming more and more noticeable in a bad way during games. Very hard 1-2 pts to give up after rallying from 2 down, and 1 down against a very good Carolina team.

Fly by, by Suter needs to be addressed as if he stays with his man, the "change up" kick out is likely not ending in the back of the net.

Just a chain of events that didn't go the Hawks way.

ADB was not on the ice, they were split up. Kane took the face off cause Suter got thrown out of the draw. If there was a mistake in personnel it might have been Da Haan and Keith on the backend, instead of Murphy and Zadorov. I don’t know who was on D before the face-off, it might of been them.

It’s all good, offensive zone, your club has the momentum, and you put your best offensive player on the ice. I bet 30 other coaches in the NHL do the same thing.

It was a fluke play, shot was partially blocked and came to Lankanin as a change up. Unfortunately he kicked it to where Carolina was.

Why don’t you point to JC splitting up Kane and ADB, which totally turned the game around? Or is that against the narrative?

On another note, Hawks showed a lot of fight against one of the best teams in the league. Hawks are still in the playoff picture one week before TDL, but our coach sucks.

Kalnyuk>Beaudin.

Dach’s future in the NHL is as a RW IMO. (See Blake Wheeler as a comparable).

Kalnyuk intrigues me.

Wish deHaan would of not done his ole move at the end there.

I might be wrong cause the reception was really bad on the ledge last night

ADB was not on the ice, they were split up. Kane took the face off cause Suter got thrown out of the draw. If there was a mistake in personnel it might have been Da Haan and Keith on the backend, instead of Murphy and Zadorov. I don’t know who was on D before the face-off, it might of been them.

It’s all good, offensive zone, your club has the momentum, and you put your best offensive player on the ice. I bet 30 other coaches in the NHL do the same thing.

It was a fluke play, shot was partially blocked and came to Lankanin as a change up. Unfortunately he kicked it to where Carolina was.

Why don’t you point to JC splitting up Kane and ADB, which totally turned the game around? Or is that against the narrative?

On another note, Hawks showed a lot of fight against one of the best teams in the league. Hawks are still in the playoff picture one week before TDL, but our coach sucks.

Kalnyuk>Beaudin.

Dach’s future in the NHL is as a RW IMO. (See Blake Wheeler as a comparable).
- LAHawk

Yes, good point. That was a good move by JC on splitting them up.

Wait - I think there was another stoppage in play and yet another Hurricane face-off win.

As JJ always says, faceoffs matter and this team was absolutely brutal at the dot last night. It killed PP momentum - or getting started. It is hard to tell if we have set plays off a faceoff win, like Carolina displayed last night, because the occurrence is so rate. Also, it seems that Coach C is having a hard time figuring out the right line combinations since Dach's return. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy watching this team play as opposed to the last few years, but the mental mistakes being made this late in the season has got to stop

Kalnyuk intrigues me.

Wish deHaan would of not done his ole move at the end there.
- BetweenTheDots

Kalynuk is a pretty good example for patience in player development time, especially for a Dman - 196th pick overall just 3 drafts ago. He may never become a star but after a few NHL games it looks like he is capable of playing in the best league in the world.

Meanwhile, the team that drafted him is looking for defensive help on the trade market and waiving a Dman with a $4M contract

I would love to see Z introduce himself to Trocheck like he did to Hornqvist, what a whiny little female dog

"Blackhawk Charities should have an account where they collect fines from the players. Every time someone makes a weak back hand pass in their own zone that is picked off it is $50. If it ends up in the back of the net it is $500. They would have enough for a college scholarship pretty quickly."


I like this idea. Not sure they can do it, but it would help stuff sink in faster.

ADB was not on the ice, they were split up. Kane took the face off cause Suter got thrown out of the draw. If there was a mistake in personnel it might have been Da Haan and Keith on the backend, instead of Murphy and Zadorov. I don’t know who was on D before the face-off, it might of been them.

It’s all good, offensive zone, your club has the momentum, and you put your best offensive player on the ice. I bet 30 other coaches in the NHL do the same thing.

It was a fluke play, shot was partially blocked and came to Lankanin as a change up. Unfortunately he kicked it to where Carolina was.

Why don’t you point to JC splitting up Kane and ADB, which totally turned the game around? Or is that against the narrative?

On another note, Hawks showed a lot of fight against one of the best teams in the league. Hawks are still in the playoff picture one week before TDL, but our coach sucks.

Kalnyuk>Beaudin.

Dach’s future in the NHL is as a RW IMO. (See Blake Wheeler as a comparable).
- LAHawk

So far I agree on the bolded statement above. It is only 3 games for Kalynuk. Beaudin had some better games early on. Let's see if Kalynuk keeps improving or regresses. Also Beaudin is a left hander and was mainly playing on the right side. I would like to see if he can right the ship. I also would like to see him play the left side. I think it is difficult and a little unfair for young defenders to have to play their off side as they start out in the NHL.

Strome is playing with some energy. But we have seen this in spurts in the last two years. Let's see if he can keep it up over a long stretch.

I still see a few times a game where instead of stepping on the gas and engaging a defender or challenging for a loose puck he coasts into the situation. It really lessens his impact.
- -Doh-

I know he'll never be a burner but if he can play the way he has been, he'd be useful. Still needs to add some strength to his giraffe frame but with no guarantees on when the Capt returns, we might need a 2C...though technically I know Toews is a bottom 6 C at best these days.

Hawks were more our less ok on FOs last nite - overall, 34-38=47% (there were a lot of in-game stoppages).

But some strange breakdowns:

EV - 49%
PP - 0-5 (one would think better on ozone draws)
SH - 3-4 (one would think worse)
Off- 35%
Neu - 52%
Def - 55%

http://www.nhl.com/scores...rts/20202021/FS020576.HTM

I might be wrong cause the reception was really bad on the ledge last night
- BetweenTheDots

I’m happy to see you Dots, I thought after last night’s game you jumped.

I know he'll never be a burner but if he can play the way he has been, he'd be useful. Still needs to add some strength to his giraffe frame but with no guarantees on when the Capt returns, we might need a 2C...though technically I know Toews is a bottom 6 C at best these days.
- HawkintheD

Bottom 6? He’s been trade bait for a few years now.

I’m happy to see you Dots, I thought after last night’s game you jumped.
- paulr

I had to get my tattoo first, i understand there is a process to this.

I had to get my tattoo first, i understand there is a process to this.
- BetweenTheDots

I’m happy you’re a process guy. It’s important.

ADB was not on the ice, they were split up. Kane took the face off cause Suter got thrown out of the draw. If there was a mistake in personnel it might have been Da Haan and Keith on the backend, instead of Murphy and Zadorov. I don’t know who was on D before the face-off, it might of been them.

It’s all good, offensive zone, your club has the momentum, and you put your best offensive player on the ice. I bet 30 other coaches in the NHL do the same thing.

It was a fluke play, shot was partially blocked and came to Lankanin as a change up. Unfortunately he kicked it to where Carolina was.

Why don’t you point to JC splitting up Kane and ADB, which totally turned the game around? Or is that against the narrative?

On another note, Hawks showed a lot of fight against one of the best teams in the league. Hawks are still in the playoff picture one week before TDL, but our coach sucks.

Kalnyuk>Beaudin.

Dach’s future in the NHL is as a RW IMO. (See Blake Wheeler as a comparable).
- LAHawk

Dach is still 20 and has the skill set to play center. I would like to see him play center for another year or two. I also would like to see him play with the same linemates for a long stretch of time 7 to 10 games minimum. Linemates of Kubalik/Hagel? Kubalik/Janmark? Strome/Janmark?