Anybody see Jonathan Drouin absolutely dominate for a shift and then feed one Stefan Fournier at the end?! Kid's got some phucking skills!
Also, excited but worried for this EDM game. Guys like Eberle are beasts and that filthy performance by Gagner last year still gives me nightmares. Hawks bet come ready and engaged or things could get ugly quick.
This is the team my young oilers are hoping to become real soon.Nice to see the comparisons with the exception of the stats where the young oilers will improve with physical development.
The hawks are showing that even after a cup run the nucleus can continue winning cups. Building thru the draft is the way to go.
Source: Bickell extension in the works, still ironing out some details. - John Jaeckel
I still say 2m is to much for Bickell. Maybe Stan lowballed him on the last deal. But one 17 goal season doesn't constitute 3 years 6million... That's what screwed us up with Versteeg, Buff etc.. when they were handing out 3m to everyone!!!
Anybody see Jonathan Drouin absolutely dominate for a shift and then feed one Stefan Fournier at the end?! Kid's got some phucking skills!
Also, excited but worried for this EDM game. Guys like Eberle are beasts and that filthy performance by Gagner last year still gives me nightmares. Hawks bet come ready and engaged or things could get ugly quick. - prd797
I still say 2m is to much for Bickell. Maybe Stan lowballed him on the last deal. But one 17 goal season doesn't constitute 3 years 6million... That's what screwed us up with Versteeg, Buff etc.. when they were handing out 3m to everyone!!! - moots
Believe me, signing him now means the $ are friendly to the Hawks versus market value.
This is the team my young oilers are hoping to become real soon.Nice to see the comparisons with the exception of the stats where the young oilers will improve with physical development.
The hawks are showing that even after a cup run the nucleus can continue winning cups. Building thru the draft is the way to go. - oil90
Have to give Bowman credit and I will have a blog on this later this week. He knew he had to find the right mix below the top 7-8 guys. Kinda failed at it in 2011, but kept working and tinkering really right through last season (adding Oduya, subtracting Scott for example) and through the summer this year. Q has set the right tone.
Have to give Bowman credit and I will have a blog on this later this week. He knew he had to find the right mix below the top 7-8 guys. Kinda failed at it in 2011, but kept working and tinkering really right through last season (adding Oduya, subtracting Scott for example) and through the summer this year. Q has set the right tone. - John Jaeckel
You could say the same for Tallon. he failed with free agents for years, and then hit it with the Versteeg trade, and the Ladd trade. Draft of Buff in the 8th.. It all worked out for him until the pink slip!!!!
I still say 2m is to much for Bickell. Maybe Stan lowballed him on the last deal. But one 17 goal season doesn't constitute 3 years 6million... That's what screwed us up with Versteeg, Buff etc.. when they were handing out 3m to everyone!!! - moots
1.8 on average is reasonable IMO. Not ideal but reasonable.
Ottawa winning with an AHL ladden roster is truly a farce yet very much a sign of the nature of howthe game is played in the big show.
Hungry players and back- to- back games on consecutive days is why the less talented team like Ottawa hangs around in the mix for even the eigth seed.
Keep in mind this scenario when looking at the willpower for all players and especially part time physical, full time employed forwards whose objective is to survive the rigors of the regular season upon their bodies.
Take Bickel, for ecample. He will be ready and willing to engage in.the playoffs yet nit as much in the regular season.
Which we basicly have to accept. Unless there are Icehog behometh to substitute occassionally hor Bickel or whomever else doesn't always wish to be sporting scars and sote muscles when theycome hime to the wife or Kane's old girlfriend.
So we hear about team toughness. So we are tough enough in the playoffd. Well, if thete is a fourth line hard working forward to be acquired......seems analagous to the notion that you always need extra dmen for the playoffs. Playoff hockey is an exercise of ongoing battkes that together makes a war. Survival of the fittest.
Great scoop JJ. If it's at a reasonable number then it's a good move for the Hawks. - dan9189
I 2nd that 1 JJ! I know I have been a critic of his in the past, but if he keeps playing with a purpose then ok. but the biggest ? mark is which Bickell will we get once he gets his $$$$??????
Let me preface this by saying I LOVE Brandon Saad... but...
Am I the only one who would much prefer Dan Carcillo on the first line with Toews and Hossa?
- KingIndig0
Ummm, no.
You're not. But you should be. 1) Carcillo is a 4th line player. 2) Always has been. 3) Always will be. - yahoodi
1) Maybe, pretty much so at present, but he did skate a few shifts both of the last two games with the top guys. 2) Not true. Actually, he has skated top 6 for parts of two seasons in Chicago, and skated there at times in Philadelphia. 3) We'll see, but no one is saying Carcillo is a potent offensive player. he can be, at times, a good complementary player for top talent. Otherwise, why would Quenneville and before him LaViollette keep putting him there?
The other thing is, the post had nothing to do with Carcillo. Rather whether that is the best spot for Saad right now. Seems kind of narrow or diversionary to make it about Carcillo. Carcillo is not the only other option at LW on that line.
Corey Crawford returns in top form, blanks Blue Jackets -FOX 32:http://bit.ly/V14Mgf. - Al
Dunno, Al, Crawford got better as the game went on but he was Floppin' like a Flounder early on. Also got very lucky on a couple of Jacket misses. Overall, I would give him a B for that performance, even though he got the shutout against an AHL offense.
could be monday morning caffeine JJ, Bickell gets his, what about stalberg? hunch is& it could be wrong...AGAIN, if Sen's are in our wheelhouse, Stalberg & Bollig that way for Neil &??? Yes/no/ maybe??.
gotta think that SB knows we're gonna play the East eventually so we better switch a couple of pieces & get ready for the tough stuff. I'd like Neil & Zach Smith to come this way. piece that in with Jammer & Danny Boy, think that adds some good sized Ass to the line up to combat the East! Pipe dream or could be doable boys?
1) Maybe, pretty much so at present, but he did skate a few shifts both of the last two games with the top guys. 2) Not true. Actually, he has skated top 6 for parts of two seasons in Chicago, and skated there at times in Philadelphia. 3) We'll see, but no one is saying Carcillo is a potent offensive player. he can be, at times, a good complementary player for top talent. Otherwise, why would Quenneville and before him LaViollette keep putting him there?
The other thing is, the post had nothing to do with Carcillo. Rather whether that is the best spot for Saad right now. Seems kind of narrow or diversionary to make it about Carcillo. Carcillo is not the only other option at LW on that line. - John Jaeckel
And while we're on the topic, in spite of the now relentless tire pumping, Saad was not all that great last night, believe it was his TO that led to an amazing chance for Brassard, also made some not quite ideal decisions on the power play. Did he do some good things? Absolutely. Unfortunately, the pr apparatus and those who buy it hook, line and sinker, make it sound as though everything he does is AMAZING. That's not the case. He's still a work in progress with three points in 17 games. He's made the case that he can play in the NHL right now and has a good future. Beyond that, it's all hype at this point.
Was at the game last night and here are a few of my thoughts
-I have to give credit where credit is due, Andrew Shaw is becoming a damn fine NHL player. I had my doubts about him and thought after the first few weeks this year that he might be heading back to Rock Vegas but he's really turned it up since and has proved that last year wasn't a fluke.
-Defense and CC both had a spectacular game.
-Hawks have to start finishing some of these prime goal scoring chances. Hossa (twice), Saad and Kane all had some 1 on 1 moments with Mason and couldn't put the puck in the net.
-I still like Saad on the Hossa/Toews line but if Stalberg ever gets moved and the Hawks acquire another top 6 guy for the playoff run (which they should be trying to do), Saad would fit perfectly in Stalberg's spot on the 3rd line. He's pretty much Vik with much more offensive upside at this point. You'd like to see him hit harder but he's a hell of a forechecker plus he's big, strong and fast.
-Tough game tonight even thought EDM has struggled. They are without Hall but they are a dangerous team. However they will let the Hawks skate which could prove costly in the end. 5-3 Hawks.
I thought yesterday was an interesting middle period, because on one of those Hawk Power plays, I thought thiose refs just swallowed the whistles on two calls you probably should not ignore.
Was it their way of feeling sorry, for the plight of the Bluejackets, or to make the game a closer one ?
1) Maybe, pretty much so at present, but he did skate a few shifts both of the last two games with the top guys. 2) Not true. Actually, he has skated top 6 for parts of two seasons in Chicago, and skated there at times in Philadelphia. 3) We'll see, but no one is saying Carcillo is a potent offensive player. he can be, at times, a good complementary player for top talent. Otherwise, why would Quenneville and before him LaViollette keep putting him there?
The other thing is, the post had nothing to do with Carcillo. Rather whether that is the best spot for Saad right now. Seems kind of narrow or diversionary to make it about Carcillo. Carcillo is not the only other option at LW on that line. - John Jaeckel
Well it does have something to do with Carcillo. He says "Am I the only one who would rather see Carcillo on the line with Toews and Hossa.?" That's Carcillo specific....
I'm not being derogatory when I call Carcillo a fourth liner. I think he's a damn good fourth liner. And damn good fourth liner can play on a top line for a game or two. But they eventually wind up on the fourth line. Which is what happened under Laviolette. Which is what happened under Tippett. And what's happening under Q.
