Yes John - there is and should be no goalie controversy.

Antti 2.0 has less than twenty NHL games under his belt. And, the more he played last year, the more his weaknesses were exposed. He is still IMHO not fully attuned to the North American game.

He makes great athletic saves in part because he is talented, but also to compensate for being out of position - a lot more than he should. He is not yet fully comfortable with the speed of the NHL game. Hopefully, it will come as he gets more games. I'm pulling for him, but he still has a lot to learn.

What is clear is that someone needs to be able to give C2 some down time. He played 71 games last year. Playing that volume of games every year is a ticket to the DL.

I actually think Darling is the future here as long as he is committed to leaving the partying behind him. He is of the modern mold - tall (6'6"), thin, mobile and pretty unflappable. I'd be very interested in seeing him get a start or three fairly soon.
- Return of the Roar

I think we saw Raanta do a better job of going inside-post to inside-post, but I still want to see how well he goes from about a foot farther out on one side to a foot farther out on the other - whether he completely loses his net (like he did last year) or not.

Also, rebound control and knowing when / when not to come off the goal line.

Hey guys,

Been on the site for 3 yrs (mainly just reading) but haven't been a member for long or posted much at all. Have been a lifelong hawks fan (26yrs) and just wanted to say I enjoy reading everything you post JJ and love all of everyone's responses/comments. It's nice to hear different opinions and I hope to share more of mine in the future.

Still bummed I traded Huberdeau for Richards in my fantasy keeper league cuz I expected more but thank god there's a lot more season left.

Not only do we have the best team but we have the best fans!
- Hawks7

Nice! Welcome. Chime in when you want.

I think we saw Raanta do a better job of going inside-post to inside-post, but I still want to see how well he goes from about a foot farther out on one side to a foot farther out on the other - whether he completely loses his net (like he did last year) or not.

Also, rebound control and knowing when / when not to come off the goal line.
- StLBravesFan

Welcome back.

Welcome back.
- John Jaeckel

Where'd he go?

Where'd he go?
- BlazinMike

At his age? Most likely the bathroom...HHIIIYOOOOOO

At his age? Most likely the bathroom...HHIIIYOOOOOO
- Elbows15

That's gold, Jerry

I like our team.

Yes John - there is and should be no goalie controversy.

Antti 2.0 has less than twenty NHL games under his belt. And, the more he played last year, the more his weaknesses were exposed. He is still IMHO not fully attuned to the North American game.

He makes great athletic saves in part because he is talented, but also to compensate for being out of position - a lot more than he should. He is not yet fully comfortable with the speed of the NHL game. Hopefully, it will come as he gets more games. I'm pulling for him, but he still has a lot to learn.

What is clear is that someone needs to be able to give C2 some down time. He played 71 games last year. Playing that volume of games every year is a ticket to the DL.

I actually think Darling is the future here as long as he is committed to leaving the partying behind him. He is of the modern mold - tall (6'6"), thin, mobile and pretty unflappable. I'd be very interested in seeing him get a start or three fairly soon.
- Return of the Roar

Not sure where that idea comes from, or if it is even accurate. He is a 25 year old tender with <30 games at the AHL level. He had a couple of nice pre-season games, but that is about it. He had decent numbers last season, so maybe he is improving, but prior to that his numbers were just so-so, nothing to go crazy over. Lets see how he competes in Rockford before we anoint him the "future". Lets not forget, Crawford is in year one of a six year deal. Even if he plays half of it, that makes Darling 28-29 by the time he gets his chance. Yeah, he is in the new mold of Goalie at 6'6" but he needs to show a little more before he supplants Crawford or even Ranta as the "future".

I think its okay to have refs to ban people who are clearly going out of bounds with their comments.

But the problem lies in defining what "clearly out of bounds" is.

I think for a hockey fan site this site has become a tad too "anal" so to speak when trying to define what is or isnt out of bounds.

I've seen far too many warnings or references to posts that, for anyone who is truly an adult, should not be taken as seriously as they are, or in no way should be found offensive to the point that it needs to be addressed by a form of authority.

IMO, unless someone is dumb enough to do something like using the "N" word, or threatening a family member, or bringing up personal info, or if they're some sort of non stop spamming troll, then there shouldn't be any consequences or even warnings of any kind that fuel what becomes an ongoing debate. There should be nothing, just get on with the hockey conversation. The more and more you try to further restrict what can be said, the more and more controversy there will be, and all readers will see will be non hockey related BS stemming from conversations about breaking rules or what not(like this very post). And they wont return. It seems like at least every other blog now there will be a debate about a post that went out of bounds(allegedly), or someone who got banned, and then it snowballs from there, then all of a sudden the place dies down and the hockey talk stops.

So, do u really wanna work that hard to nail down every little thing that could possibly be considered offensive ? Good luck. Thats hard enough to do in person, let alone online reading text. Or would you rather let the adults handle themselves, police what is only TRULY offensive and out of bounds, and thus allow for far more readers and fans?

I still like it here, and im not blaming this recent downspell on anyone in particular, but it really isn't the right way you should run the place. The standards for the code of conduct on the message boards of a hockey fan site should not be that strict. This site should be a source of entertainment and information for fans above all else, and with the recent times i fear its a bit too dull, and as a result there isn't nearly as much information. Wish everyone would just loosen up, make up, get along, and remember that we're all here for the same reason in the first place. GO HAWKS!

At his age? Most likely the bathroom...HHIIIYOOOOOO
- Elbows15

Never pass a urinal....

Great post simplejack!

Never pass a urinal....
- StLBravesFan

Kinda messy, No?

Welcome back.
- John Jaeckel

I just went to the bathroom.

Kinda messy, No?
- Elbows15

It is if you pass it....

It is if you pass it....
- StLBravesFan

They frown on you tearing them off the walls. Go figure.

Again, I can't comment on bans handed down for movies, music, etc.,

But where I will disagree with you is your assertion that a mod wasn’t necessary.
You are conflating—perhaps deliberately shifting—the movies. tv, etc issue with the fact that some guys got themselves banned because they decided to go on a character assassination crusade, that had nothing to do with movies, tv, Obama or first dates—got several warnings and finally got themselves banned.

I plan to work on the movies, tv, etc issue, because, I have no problem with it.

It’s regrettable that you feel that whatever it is, it’s worth leaving over. But if your feelings are not about movies, tv, etc., and really the other stuff and not being able to let that go, it’s probably better that you go.



Too bad. You're always welcome back.
- John Jaeckel

My problem is the moderator was one of the biggest violators of the coed of conduct
the criminals are now running the asylum

Never pass a urinal....
- StLBravesFan

never trust a fart

My problem is the moderator was one of the biggest violators of the coed of conduct
the criminals are now running the asylum
- molly2522

Haha thats true Eli used to be right in the middle of debates and ribbing of other teams fans and such.

It seems like the "writers" get shuffled of to other sports every few years anyway.
Were there any writers besides Tim Sassone that covered the Hawks for more than a few years?
- Bustov22

Going back a few years Bob Verdi covered the Hawks for quite a while the and I think Brian Hanley now with the Score covered them too.

Verdi covered the hawks for more than just a couple of years in the late 60's and 70's, but nobody ever came close to Sassone.
- 6628

Agreed. But damn, could that man (Verdi) write engrossing cerebral columns. Probably the last true professional sports journalist in Chicago.

Compare him to the Pullitzer Prize sports columnists of today (marriotti, Rosenberg, morrissey).

I do miss Sassones daily beat. Especially when the Herald was a non pay site.

I think its okay to have refs to ban people who are clearly going out of bounds with their comments.

But the problem lies in defining what "clearly out of bounds" is.

I think for a hockey fan site this site has become a tad too "anal" so to speak when trying to define what is or isnt out of bounds.

I've seen far too many warnings or references to posts that, for anyone who is truly an adult, should not be taken as seriously as they are, or in no way should be found offensive to the point that it needs to be addressed by a form of authority.

IMO, unless someone is dumb enough to do something like using the "N" word, or threatening a family member, or bringing up personal info, or if they're some sort of non stop spamming troll, then there shouldn't be any consequences or even warnings of any kind that fuel what becomes an ongoing debate. There should be nothing, just get on with the hockey conversation.
- SimpleJack

You can stop right there. My rule of thumb for post deletions and banning only happen when the arguments start being about the posters and not the points being made about the game/players. And keep in mind that refs delete posts AND any posts that quote the post that gets deleted, so that's why sometimes there are big gashes made in post count.

never trust a fart
- molly2522

Lol

You can stop right there. My rule of thumb for post deletions and banning only happen when the arguments start being about the posters and not the points being made about the game/players. And keep in mind that refs delete posts AND any posts that quote the post that gets deleted, so that's why sometimes there are big gashes made in post count.
- stashu

Uh. I think he did.

Uh. I think he did.
- Elbows15

eh?

eh?
- stashu

You quoted his post and bold his last sentence. Then said stop right there.