Probably just a rest day for Kruger in all likelihood.
- John Jaeckel

Not a good sign to need a rest day now....

On Twitter@AlCimaglia

Sorry to disagree with you Ogie, but how has Bolland "earned" the opportunity to be the 2C?

Has the guy improved on faceoffs?
Other than his cup yr playoff performance, has he wowed anyone with his post-seasons?
Does he really show up to play during the regular season?
Unless I've missed something, he still has a bad back, one subject to flaring up at almost any time.

I give the 10-36-88 line combination no more than 2 periods in LA. Then I think you will either see 16 moved up to 2C or Kane shifted over.

And . . . who in this crowd thinks Kane on the half-boards with an undersized set of linemates (neither Sharp nor Bolland nor Krueger qualify as a road-grader) is going to have much success? I think you will see Kane move back to 2C with Hossa and either Stalhberg or Carcillo manning up alongside.
- savvyone-1

Not an excuse but he typically plays against the other teams best players. Makes a difference. Should be better though I don't disagree.

He had a pretty amazing series coming back from concussion to just about lead the Hawks back from 3 zip against Vancouver. He had 12 points in 08-09 out of 17 games and had 3 assists last year good for tied for 3rd.

He shows up. The fact that he scored 19 goals starting just under 70% of the time in his own zone is pretty amazing.

Played 76 games last year and that was more of a foot injury if I remember. Herniated disks are usually fixed or chronic. His appears to be fixed.

Not a good sign to need a rest day now....

On Twitter@AlCimaglia
- Al

Saw a report that he has the flu

Minor trade: Fistric to EDM for a 3rd rd. pick
- TyCamScore

I know somebody who's going to be upset that Stan didn't get in on this action....

Minor trade: Fistric to EDM for a 3rd rd. pick
- TyCamScore

Somewhere Ogie is crying.

Somewhere Ogie is crying.
- moylander

Especially when all it took was a 3rd rounder. He should be a great fit in EDM.

The canucks signed vandermeer to a 1yr, 600k contract. They seem to be loving former hawks d-men...

The canucks signed vandermeer to a 1yr, 600k contract. They seem to be loving former hawks d-men...
- prd797

And not even the good ones.

Saw a report that he has the flu
- golfbard

Now that makes sense...

Not a good sign to need a rest day now....

On Twitter@AlCimaglia
- Al

Who knows. I am told it's nothing significant (reason for him being out), sounded like a "personal day"

EDIT: it's the flu. OK, that makes sense.

And not even the good ones.
- Nucker101

Well, they at least got a couple of good practice cones.

Careful putting those two items in the same sentence....
- furso27

Except on a barstool

Well, they at least got a couple of good practice cones.

- John Jaeckel

And it gives the forwards some confidence heading into the season after the camp scrimmages.

Phil, agree with you here. You might (I say "MIGHT") get the chance to see some other guys step up (let's say, like my boy Leddy on 1st unit PP) IF Q's boy Tampon has a brain cell or 2 and realizes that Duncan Keith's minutes should NOT be spent on the PP hitting the glass or shins of defenders but instead, getting a breather to better go against the top lines on those brutal back-2-back games.

Then again, what makes any of us think Q's boy Tampon will be any smarter than Q? From what I've learned in my life, the sign of a really smart person is that they surround themselves with people that are smarter than they are so they look like a freaking genius!

Hmm, what does that say about Q . . .
- savvyone-1

Good points Savvy....Leddy should get a legit audition as the pp qb.....as for Q's current choice for assistant coach...jury's still out. Would hope ANYONE would be more bit'ch'n than career LOSER Mike Kitchen.

And it gives the forwards some confidence heading into the season after the camp scrimmages.
- Nucker101

I'm not kidding, my nickname for Vandermeer has always been VanderPylon

I'm not kidding, my nickname for Vandermeer has always been VanderPylon
- John Jaeckel

Club Vandersexxx

Tambellini said the deal for Fistric now was necessary since he projects trade market to die after season starts.

Tambellini gets it, I don't know why Stan can't?!!!!

I JUST NOW heard that the Hawks did indeed talk to NYR about Hjalmarsson, Hawks asked for Boyle and/or Krieder (which made sense). No deal.

Lots of conversations going on by the way. Hawks are actively trying to upgrade G especially with an eye to the future, in spite of the expected "we like our team" crap.

I am inclined to give Bowman a little bit of slack on this until they drop the puck. He has time to get a deal done and I think he might.

That said, when you have an area as deficient as the Hawk goaltending, and you identify a guy you think can anchor the position for the next 5-10 years, you don't quibble about throwing in a 2nd round pick.
- John Jaeckel

Supposedly Krieder was untouchable in the Nash deal. There's no harm in asking, but I can't see anything the Hawks would part with would make him available.

Glad the Goalie talk persists. The Hawks goaltending situation is pretty close to a disaster. A very small part of me would like to see if Crawford can bounce back, but realistically- that's too big of a gamble at this point. Unload him and let someone else place that wager.

I don't like to bring up 2010, but you mention a long term goalie solution and at the time- I really thought Niemi was just that. Certainly not perfect and probably not even a top 10 goaler in the league, but he's athletic and has the right mental make up.

I'm not kidding, my nickname for Vandermeer has always been VanderPylon
- John Jaeckel

Good to know...Good to know, JJ.

My fantasy league (ESPN) needs one more person in it. Anyone interested?
Head to head, 11 categories:

Forwards and Defense: G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, PPP, SHP.
Goaltenders: W, SO, GAA, SV%.

message me if interested and i'll send an invite.

Sorry to disagree with you Ogie, but how has Bolland "earned" the opportunity to be the 2C?

Has the guy improved on faceoffs?
Other than his cup yr playoff performance, has he wowed anyone with his post-seasons?
Does he really show up to play during the regular season?
Unless I've missed something, he still has a bad back, one subject to flaring up at almost any time.

I give the 10-36-88 line combination no more than 2 periods in LA. Then I think you will either see 16 moved up to 2C or Kane shifted over.

And . . . who in this crowd thinks Kane on the half-boards with an undersized set of linemates (neither Sharp nor Bolland nor Krueger qualify as a road-grader) is going to have much success? I think you will see Kane move back to 2C with Hossa and either Stalhberg or Carcillo manning up alongside.
- savvyone-1

Completely agree with you on the smurf second line
The change I want tosee is Bickell with kane and hossa. Stalberg with toews and sharp.
Lets see if these guys can perform to their ceiling in a contract year

Trotz is a good coach but is overrated by many...

Not in the top group of mine. He helped the Hawks win the Cup in 2010 more than anything else. Players who were on the ice on that power play in Game 5 should not have been out there....And that is all on him.

He escapes a lot of criticism because Nash is a budget club that until recently, and couldn't spend.

But let's call it like it is ....He has one of the top 5 goalies in the game plus he had the top d-pairing in the NHL but could not make a long playoff run.

I like him but he hasn't done enough to say he is in the top group of NHL HC's imo.
- Al

Trotz will do a very nice job with an average/middling team with no chance to go all the way. His players play his system well and as you point out, his goaltending has been above average most of his career. I was a little shocked by how easily Phoenix handled his team last year and it wasn't all to do with the Radulov matter.

Jury still out for me on whether he could take a legitimate contender all the way. (But the same could have been said about Claude Julien and a few others too).

Completely agree with you on the smurf second line
The change I want tosee is Bickell with kane and hossa. Stalberg with toews and sharp.
Lets see if these guys can perform to their ceiling in a contract year
- molly2522

Have to disagree here big-time. Bickell has in no way shown he deserves to be on the top 2 lines..he only steps up when he feels like it which is rarely. I actually like the new line combos, now if we could just get a decent goalie

And not even the good ones.
- Nucker101

Not at all. You guys picked up two pylons. Actually, to be fair they're more like those stickhandling practice models/contraptions.

I'm not kidding, my nickname for Vandermeer has always been VanderPylon
- John Jaeckel

Whoa - Vandemeer, Barker, Andrew Alberts, Ballard, Tanev on the backend in Vancouver. AV better get that resume of his updated real soon.