It is Hard to Stomach.
On the bright side, the Hawks picked up 4 of a possible 6 points in the last 3 games. Less pleasing was the 6 of a possible 12 that they grabbed over the road trip, and they gave 2 teams ahead of them 2 points each in overtime. Are the Hawks just a .500 team?
Maybe, for the first time in a while, the Hawks showed a sense of urgency. However, they still couldn’t get the 2 points. Just like they have been doing, they came out strong in the first. What was less consistent with their pattern was how hard they came out for the second half of the game. You could see the Hawks getting stronger as the game went on. Down 2-0, they fought back to force overtime thanks to Brouwer in large part and the power-play. Crawford also found his A game late, and made some big saves to give the Hawks a chance.
It was a surprise to see Hossa in the lineup tonight. A last second add for reasons we probably all know, Hossa was a factor in this game. I question having him go in the shootout, and it would still be nice to see him contribute more on the scoreboard, but the Hawks lose in regulation if he had not been added. I really have not seen a reason to use Hossa in the shootout, although his percentage is not all that bad. He is fairly predictable as far as I am concerned. Someone that I would throw into the shootout is Bolland who seems to score on every breakaway he has.
I watched the game from the Phoenix feed and I found it pretty interesting to listen to. All night, the topic of conversation was how badly the Hawks have been playing. They mentioned that only 4 teams in the history of the sport have won the cup and did not made it to the playoffs the following year. Their big fan-poll question was, “Why do you think the Hawks are having such a rough year?” The reason people voted on wouldn’t surprise anyone, but I am really tired of hearing nonetheless. Of course, it was losing the amount of players that they did over the summer. I will say it over and over that the issue is not talent. There is talent up and down this roster. What did intrigue me was that one commentator spoke about how important it was for hockey that the Hawks fix what is broken and make it to the playoffs. He added that with all of the fans across the country, having the Hawks win is a win for the NHL.
Still, the question is what is wrong, why is it wrong, and how will they fix it, or will they even fix it? Toews had no comment after last night’s game. Q makes angry faces and says his players don’t want it enough. Some players have pointed to chemistry.
Chemistry is probably a huge part. Hunger for the win seems to be the larger part.
There is an obvious issue with the hunger to win on this club. In the final seconds of regulation, Seabrook took his time getting to a puck for icing. He might have blown a second or two, and that is the kind of stuff that gets a team in this position. Not having that hunger to win is a possible explanation for the inconsistency. Kane had a 2 on 0 breakaway near the end of overtime that should have resulted in a goal. Instead, he took a weak shot right at the goalie. A simple move might have in the least made it look like he tried, but a drop pass to the trailing player would have more than likely led to a goal. Not converting on chances is another big part.
I just keep coming back to coaching though. The Hawks are making too many mistakes with the puck, making bad passes, bad decisions, and taking weak shots . Keith made a bunch of mistakes tonight. Leddy looks like the veteran on the club. They have come out strong in one period and then blown it in another. They are weak physically, frustrated mentally, and careless as a result. This why they are where they are, and all of it points to coaching. No trade will make an impact here. Are the Hawks willing to part with a core player? Will moving that player even make the difference? I have said my piece about Hossa, but moving him is highly unlikely. Campbell would open up the salary cap, but no one is taking him. The quickest way to make a change in the team is to change the atmosphere and that means coaching staff. Or take the risk and see how things play out until next year.
With the talent there is a big chance that things start clicking in time, but I am not betting on it. Trading Skille will not be the change necessary to get that puck rolling. It is way beyond moving 4th liners around.
Hostile Hawk
Deuces Wild
Duncan McLOUD
vegashawksfan
I just read Vegas’ comment on the last post. I guess I briefly mentioned it above, but did not get really specific. “Will the Hawks consider trading a core player.” Like Vegas said, you would be the biggest moron to trade Toews. He is a Hawk for life, period. Who will take Hossa and Campbell? That leaves Kane, Sharp, Keith, and Seabrook. Kane is too much of a marketing guy. I also think he is far from having his best year (if he gets his shit together). Sharp is a steal at his salary and is still the leading scorer on the team. My guess is that Seabrook is already being shopped, but is it worth it? He should be much better than this, and his size is needed. I could see a team taking him, but how bad would it hurt the Hawks down the road? Keith has more talent than any other defenseman in the league. He is having a bad year, trading him would bite hard down the road.
I would say that there is a huge chance Seabrook gets moved. Rather than loose him in a deal next year, they can get something for him now. Leddy is playing great, Hendry can step up if needed. The move makes some sense.
Campbell would open up so many options. It is such a shame.
My advice is still the same. Change the coaching dynamic.
I’ve been thinking along the same lines for a while about who’s being shopped around if and when the Hawks pull the the plug on this season. Color Seabrook gone, but for what? Hopefully for a #1 and prospect.
BW
Was anyone else as happy as I was to see the Hawks enter the third period WITHOUT the lead!??!
Good post here Hostile. I would’ve opted for Bolland over Hossa in the shootout too. I was even wondering if we might see Frolik take a shot – just for the pure surprise factor. These goalies in the west haven’t seen much of him. Toews is really the only consistent SO player we have, so why not mix it up? Kane is becoming pretty much pathetic in the SO. I never expect to see him score.
No excuse for Kane to miss the 2-on-0 breakaway in the OT either. We’ve said it a million times: you gotta bury those chances or you’re not gonna win. He missed… they lost.
I honestly think the players don’t care all that much right now. All I hear from the players are hollow words. After every loss they say they need to play with more intensity and urgency, but nothing’s changed all season. Maybe someone needs to threaten to bring in Mike Keenan to replace Q.
Good wrap HH, we all feel the frustration and the seeming lack of clear answers. Watching the Yotes tonight was kind of like watching the Flames the other night. When they had the chance to pressure the Hawks, they did it. Shit on multiple occasions, one freaking guy forechecking his ass off was enough to choke two Hawks D men from moving the puck. That is simply not acceptable. Despite Q’s line juggling, and I do give him credit for matchups, the teams that play the Hawks look like they have a plan for beating the Hawks. Any variation of a trap, strong forecheck and collapsing back to the house is enough to do it. It’s not like teams don’t have to work their ass to beat the Hawks; in fact it’s quite the opposite. Still, once other teams commit to the plan and put the effort in, the Hawks are frequently unable to deal with it.
To some degree, I think Q is in the same boat as the players. He got to the show and won, but doesn’t have that experience yet of knowing what it takes to live at the top of the hill. I blame him for a lot, but not the entire enchilada. These guys established a lot of bad habits last year and won anyway. I don’t want to say they have given up yet, but I’m thinking there is probably already a player or two who is not going to be too upset when this season finally ends regardless of short term embarrassment for not making the playoffs. I’m for changing the coach too, but it’s probably too late. Is Hitchcock an option?
As far as coaching is concern, you have to wonder how much of last season success was due to John Torchetti.
Well, does anyone here think that man for man Phoenix is a better team than the ‘hawks? I suppose the key word is team. As I watched last night, I wondered why they are (not by much) better so far. The only thing I could think of was they are more of a “team” and they play a system which is suited to their ability, Not unlike Nashville and Minnesota.
So, that led me down the coaching path again, and although I realize this is circuitous, I wondered why this team can’t play its system, or why it is broken more often than fine-tuned. Discipline kept rattling ’round my brain. No discipline. To a certain extent this falls on the players but I think the coaching plays a larger role in keeping the lads in line. As Vegas says, this team got away with too much last year, and won in spite of it. Not the case this year. If anything, the argument could be made that Q and staff really needed to”coach” this year, whereas last year anyone could have won with that team. One of the things I have repeatedly noticed is how often the ‘hawks dominate the early parts of the games and as soon as intermission comes ’round, adjustments are made by the opposition and the game tilts in their favor. Like football, the ability to make strategy adjustments needs to be made. The ‘hawks did that in the playoffs last year and succeeded. This year Q is more like a bull in a china shop. Straight ahead with our style of game and be damned with changing up the strategy. About the only thing we get is mix and match with the lines. Puck possession is one-way to play the game, but what do you do when you can’t possess the biscuit all day, when you can’t carry it into the zone and refuse to get it deep and work to get it back? Don’t get me wrong I like the attack oriented game but teams are wiser this year as to how and stop it. Do the ‘hawks adjust, no! Coaching, I dunno?
That said, 2-2-2 on the road trip. (Only in the NHL can you go 2-4 and get 6 pts.) Not near good enough. They beat Columbus and Edmonton and lost ground to everybody above them in the standings and dropped three places overall. By my simplistic math that leaves only 18 pts available to squander the rest of the way. There’s two huge games coming up with Minnie which, IMO will determine the last playoff spot and, as I said yesterday, I’m not sure I relish the thought of facing a healthy Vancouver in the playoffs this year.
Kudos to the ‘hawks for gutting out a hard earned point last night. I look back on this trip and see that with a bit of (video) luck and better defensive play it could have easily been a 5-1 trip.
Sorry for the long-winded ramble.
Always welcomed.
I see you have come over to the Darkside (disdain for coaching) of the force.
Yep. Most of the Hawk’s issues stem from coaching related elements. That, and things just aren’t falling in the Hawk’s favor. Like you said, could have easily been a 5-1 trip. A wrongfully called goals would kept it from being a 4-2 trip.