Burn Notice

Well, that pretty much sucked. I watched the game after work so I was kind of tired, but there wasn’t a whole lot that really kept me awake. Playing some of the missed opportunities back in my head when I go to sleep later might keep me up, but then again, visualizing the powerplays ought to counteract that. Well, since the game was painful enough, maybe I should just try to keep my word count down today to spare you all further agony. (Yeah, like that’s gonna happen)

First period SOG, Hawks =3, Flamers=10. That tells you a lot right there. Overall, there were some things I liked that I saw from the Hawks here, but I will lump those in together later. I don’t think the Hawks got outworked, but they just could not seem to really generate the kind of pressure needed to get shots on net. In the first two periods overall, the Defense made some really, really good open ice hits. But, with just five minutes to go. One of the Flames younger players set up Backland, who was left completely untouched in blown coverage, with a great pass that he buried pretty decisively. Give the Flames credit, this was a sweet play on their part.

Second period, SOG were dead even at 11 apiece and the Hawks finally dented the net 6 minutes in after catching the Flames in a line change. I still don’t know exactly how it happened, but Toews took a clearing pass up the left boards near center ice, had to pull it back but then manages to carry into the offensive zone. After the puck got down low behind the net, the Flames looked like they were in a four man PK box around the net and they left Kane completely open in the slot to receive a Toews pass that he then buried.

Third period, Hawks actually edged the Flames a little in SOG, but it was for naught as once again the Flames capitalized on blown coverage. My notes say Brouwer was the closest guy both times. Near the very end of the game, the Hawks seemed to be finding some momentum (kinda makes you wonder where it was earlier) but with just about a minute and a half to go, Seabrook pretty much negates what had been a good game for him by yapping at a ref and getting sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct. This set the stage for Rene Bourque to get of the schnide with an empty netter. Note from coach Rene: you still can’t go back to the second line yet.

So what, you might ask, was positive in that debacle? Not much cept for some little things. For maybe the first time this season, I saw players consistently standing up for each other. No fights, no major retaliations, but nonetheless there were guys after the whistle coming in to give some hard shoves and show a little emotion. From the defense, there were some real nice open ice hits. Up until the end, I thought Seabrook actually  had a pretty strong game. Couple of big hits, decent puck decisions and at least one really nice diving effort to interrupt a break away. Leddy looked okay and Boynton was…..Boynton. On the downside, they just could not put any sustained pressure on Kipper. Yeah, they created some goalmouth scrambles but not enough to eventually force a goal. I’m getting tired of hearing Foley or his sidekick say, “And Hossa couldn’t elevate the puck over the stacked pads. ” It’s another close game loss and they have got to find a way to start winning these. When they break open a game, everybody and their brother scores; when it’s a tight game though, they just look controlled.

Something I think the Hawks should do is watch tape of Iginila’s line to see what is possible with a three man weave. This line has gotten VERY good at this. For the most part, I thought the Hawks D handled it really well, however, the forwards on the back check frequently got pulled way out of position leaving plenty of time and space for the Flames. The Flames are not yet a good team, but with the big Sutter gone they seem a hell of a lot happier and have played much better hockey as of late. For the Hawks, I hate to say it, but they look to be in schnide mode. Not playing horribly bad, but not good enough to win games they clearly have a chance in. A win in Edmonton is not going to change their lot in the standings right now, but they need a slump buster date and need to vent some frustration. Let’s hope they don’t take this next game for granted.

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