What's cool about the whole matchup thing is BB has to chase Q's lines, not the other way around. I fully expect to see many variations of Q's blender recipes come out during this series and it will truly make BB blow a head gasket.
- blackhawk24

Exactly, he gets last change at home, but Q has way more and better options at forward. And he showed in the first two rounds that he can shelter the weaker sisters on D.

Where is the Voynov defense fund on GoFundMe.com at????
- tredbrta

I'm sure he or someone at the embassy, got it covered... I'm not too worried about it.

If you want a get a good sense of the main matchups, the waronice game tracker will show you who BB wanted to send out vs the Hawks.

For the most part(using the January game at the Honda Center):

Kesler lined up vs the Toews/Saad/Hossa line
Getzlaf lined up vs Kruger/Smith(no longer here)/Nordstom(not playing) line the most
Thompson lined up vs Richards/Kane/Sharp line the most(split with the Rakell line)
Rakell lined up vs Shaw/Bickell/Teravainen line the most

They didnt fare too well then & Hawks got deeper with Vermette & Desjardins replacing Nordstrom & Smith

Also, Rundblad & Rosival played 10 & 17 minutes, respectively.

I know, one game in January may not mean much, but if BB is reduced to pairing up those same lines again this could be a quick series.

Seabrook and Hjalmarsson can stand in there, position themselves correctly, and absorb a hit (except for Wiz on Seabrook).

Oduya and Keith avoid hits with movement.

Timonen is a wild card, but if there was ever a defenseman that can find his way through with guile and experience, KT is it.

Rundblad. Well...?

I'm not worried about hits on our D. I think they'll come out bruised but healthy.

You want facts to base an argument on? I will give you facts:

During the 1978-79 season, both Q and Boudreau played for God's team - the magnificent Toronto Maple Leafs.

Q suited up for 61 games in the regular season and scored 2 Goals and had 9 assists. His +/- was +7. He also played in the playoffs.

Boudreau suited up for only 26 games and had 4G and 3A with a +/- of -3. They parked his sorry ass in the press box to eat hot dogs for the playoffs.

This clearly proves that Gabby Boudreau knows sweet FA about defence. Q will expose his shortcomings in a short series.

And those are the facts Your Honour, I rest my case.
- RickJ

haha Rick, you are the best, man

Dude, you haven't been paying attention long enough. The Chicago bandwagon is even bigger than the King bandwagon. Just last night I was sitting in my pickup locker room after playing when a guy I've known for 15 years mentioned he was a diehard Hawk fan. Dude grew up in VT and has been a Bruins fan as long as I have known him. Everywhere you look, there are lifetime Hawks fans over the past 6 years. I don't think you have to worry about there being some at the games in Anaheim.
- yzermaneely

WARNING: Long post coming.

WARNING 2: This post contains soccer.

This whole bandwagon fan thing drives me crazy. A bandwagon fan is looked upon with disdain and is shamed for "not being there before they were good." Like sports hipsters, so-called "die-hard" fans scoff at the latching onto of people who simply aren't in the know. I have an admission to make. I am a bandwagon fan. And so are you.

In the Summer of 1998, I had the great privilege and opportunity to travel to France as a teenager. I had never left the United States before, and with cable television being limited as it was 17 years ago and the general apathy toward professional soccer in the US, I accidentally found myself smack in the middle of the largest sporting event on the planet. France was the host country for the World Cup in 1998. I knew nothing of soccer outside of the couple of years of youth soccer I played when I was around five years old, and certainly nothing of what soccer was supposed to look like when played at a world class level. But I was in Paris and I wanted to adapt. So I watched soccer.

The French team in 1998 was loaded, and considered one of a few major contenders, along with Brazil and Germany. But since I was in France, filled with French people, I hopped on the bandwagon. I wanted Les Bleus to win the first world cup in their history, while I was right here in Paris. I cheered when everyone else cheered. I had no clue what I was watching, but I understood goals, and I could cheer those. Being on the bandwagon was great.

Before that Summer, I could have named Pele, and no other soccer player who ever played the game. But there was this young Frenchman wearing number 10 named Zinedine Zidane, and the French would tell me that he was one of the best players in the world, and certainly the best at his position. I didn't know what made a midfielder a good player, but I hopped on the Zidane bandwagon and was not disappointed. He could do magic with a football (he's good for more than just headbutts) and I found a new appreciation for a game I didn't understand.

France did win that World Cup (and the date July 12th, 1998 will be etched in my brain as indelibly as June 9, 2010) and several days after I returned home to the Uninterested States of America, where soccer players live in anonymity. But with four years until another World Cup, I could strut around in my blue jersey with red and white stripes and gold embroidered rooster with pride that I was supporting a champion. But I didn't stop there. France wasn't playing anymore, but the Zidane bandwagon rolled on. I started following the Italian side Juventus however I could, since TV coverage was sparse. When Zidane joined Real Madrid, I tossed my allegiance to the side and started looking for a white number 5 shirt.

English football was more readily available, and so I was able to watch some of their actual games live on Saturday mornings. It was then that I discovered Arsenal, a team with a French coach and several French stars that I knew from that 1998 team. I hopped on the bandwagon. No matter that Arsenal was league champion in 2001-02 and literally went the entire season undefeated in 03-04, they were my team. I latched onto a winner, because they played the style of soccer I learned to appreciate, and they did it well. And they made it look fantastically entertaining, and their stars had cachet and swagger and they were my team.

But here's the interesting thing. In 2002, a heavily-favored French National Team was knocked out of the World Cup in the opening round, and hasn't been a contender since. After 2005, Arsenal failed to win any type of competition for a decade. Real Madrid became the Yankees of the soccer world, throwing astronomical piles of money at every big name player they could find. Zidane retired, in spectacular headbutt fashion. But I stayed. Indeed, this bandwagon fan graduated from win-loving leech to full on suffering fanatic, who can tell you team histories and legendary players who, though he never saw, impact him and his understanding of how these teams came to be the way that they are.

We've all done it. Whether it's a song we hear for the first time on the radio and latch onto a particular artist, an actor we see in a film for the first time and decide we want to keep following, or a hockey team that exposes us to a rich history and proud culture, we join because it draws us. That song on the radio is certainly not the first from that artist, nor is that film that actor's first role. The key is that we develop an affinity for these people and we want to see them succeed, and we experience joy and pride as a result. We may not have followed them before they were big, but we sure as hell do now, and we all hope for their continued success.

Everyone starts out green. You will always walk in somewhere and be a fish out of water, looking for where your place is. Winning is contagious though, and when you have a team that does something that you find enjoyable to watch, a team that has marketable stars and a strong message, and a team that wins, you will attract those people who have never had that game be a part of their lives, but they want it to be. Will they all stay? No, that's the nature of the beast, and people will always jump from team to team for various reasons. But if even 10% of those people stick around, learn and enjoy the game, and become respectful, honorable fans, isn't it worth embracing them all?

Seabrook and Hjalmarsson can stand in there, position themselves correctly, and absorb a hit (except for Wiz on Seabrook).

Oduya and Keith avoid hits with movement.

Timonen is a wild card, but if there was ever a defenseman that can find his way through with guile and experience, KT is it.

Rundblad. Well...?

I'm not worried about hits on our D. I think they'll come out bruised but healthy.
- CanOCorn

Hits on the top 4 d ARE my biggest concern along with the officiating. The Ducks have the forwards to bring it on almost every line and the loss of any of our top D will hurt the Hawks significantly. Maroon, Perry, Getzlaf, Etem, Jackman, even Cogliano laid out Oduya earlier this year.... They all know they have to be physical and can be. If the officiating looks like the last WCF then this will look like WWF on ice again.

If you want a get a good sense of the main matchups, the waronice game tracker will show you who BB wanted to send out vs the Hawks.

For the most part(using the January game at the Honda Center):

Kesler lined up vs the Toews/Saad/Hossa line
Getzlaf lined up vs Kruger/Smith(no longer here)/Nordstom(not playing) line the most
Thompson lined up vs Richards/Kane/Sharp line the most(split with the Rakell line)
Rakell lined up vs Shaw/Bickell/Teravainen line the most

They didnt fare too well then & Hawks got deeper with Vermette & Desjardins replacing Nordstrom & Smith

Also, Rundblad & Rosival played 10 & 17 minutes, respectively.

I know, one game in January may not mean much, but if BB is reduced to pairing up those same lines again this could be a quick series.
- mschutz2

Sharp, Vermette, TT could eat Rakell's line alive. Vermette will go 70% in the dot.

I like the match ups for Chicago, but you knew that.

WARNING: Long post coming.

WARNING 2: This post contains soccer.

This whole bandwagon fan thing drives me crazy. A bandwagon fan is looked upon with disdain and is shamed for "not being there before they were good." Like sports hipsters, so-called "die-hard" fans scoff at the latching onto of people who simply aren't in the know. I have an admission to make. I am a bandwagon fan. And so are you.

In the Summer of 1998, I had the great privilege and opportunity to travel to France as a teenager. I had never left the United States before, and with cable television being limited as it was 17 years ago and the general apathy toward professional soccer in the US, I accidentally found myself smack in the middle of the largest sporting event on the planet. France was the host country for the World Cup in 1998. I knew nothing of soccer outside of the couple of years of youth soccer I played when I was around five years old, and certainly nothing of what soccer was supposed to look like when played at a world class level. But I was in Paris and I wanted to adapt. So I watched soccer.

The French team in 1998 was loaded, and considered one of a few major contenders, along with Brazil and Germany. But since I was in France, filled with French people, I hopped on the bandwagon. I wanted Les Bleus to win the first world cup in their history, while I was right here in Paris. I cheered when everyone else cheered. I had no clue what I was watching, but I understood goals, and I could cheer those. Being on the bandwagon was great.

Before that Summer, I could have named Pele, and no other soccer player who ever played the game. But there was this young Frenchman wearing number 10 named Zinedine Zidane, and the French would tell me that he was one of the best players in the world, and certainly the best at his position. I didn't know what made a midfielder a good player, but I hopped on the Zidane bandwagon and was not disappointed. He could do magic with a football (he's good for more than just headbutts) and I found a new appreciation for a game I didn't understand.

France did win that World Cup (and the date July 12th, 1998 will be etched in my brain as indelibly as June 9, 2010) and several days after I returned home to the Uninterested States of America, where soccer players live in anonymity. But with four years until another World Cup, I could strut around in my blue jersey with red and white stripes and gold embroidered rooster with pride that I was supporting a champion. But I didn't stop there. France wasn't playing anymore, but the Zidane bandwagon rolled on. I started following the Italian side Juventus however I could, since TV coverage was sparse. When Zidane joined Real Madrid, I tossed my allegiance to the side and started looking for a white number 5 shirt.

English football was more readily available, and so I was able to watch some of their actual games live on Saturday mornings. It was then that I discovered Arsenal, a team with a French coach and several French stars that I knew from that 1998 team. I hopped on the bandwagon. No matter that Arsenal was league champion in 2001-02 and literally went the entire season undefeated in 03-04, they were my team. I latched onto a winner, because they played the style of soccer I learned to appreciate, and they did it well. And they made it look fantastically entertaining, and their stars had cachet and swagger and they were my team.

But here's the interesting thing. In 2002, a heavily-favored French National Team was knocked out of the World Cup in the opening round, and hasn't been a contender since. After 2005, Arsenal failed to win any type of competition for a decade. Real Madrid became the Yankees of the soccer world, throwing astronomical piles of money at every big name player they could find. Zidane retired, in spectacular headbutt fashion. But I stayed. Indeed, this bandwagon fan graduated from win-loving leech to full on suffering fanatic, who can tell you team histories and legendary players who, though he never saw, impact him and his understanding of how these teams came to be the way that they are.

We've all done it. Whether it's a song we hear for the first time on the radio and latch onto a particular artist, an actor we see in a film for the first time and decide we want to keep following, or a hockey team that exposes us to a rich history and proud culture, we join because it draws us. That song on the radio is certainly not the first from that artist, nor is that film that actor's first role. The key is that we develop an affinity for these people and we want to see them succeed, and we experience joy and pride as a result. We may not have followed them before they were big, but we sure as hell do now, and we all hope for their continued success.

Everyone starts out green. You will always walk in somewhere and be a fish out of water, looking for where your place is. Winning is contagious though, and when you see a team that does something that you find enjoyable to watch, a team that has marketable stars and a strong message, and a team that wins, you will attract those people who have never had that game be a part of their lives, but they want it to be. Will they all stay? No, that's the nature of the beast, and people will always jump from team to team for various reasons. But if even 10% of those people stick around, learn and enjoy the game, and become respectful, honorable fans, isn't it worth embracing them all?
- Sandus

Soccer? Wait, isn't that what that Dave Beckman guy plays?

"Generally speaking, you have to place greater weight on regular season records and head-to-head matchups."



So by your statistical analysis. How did the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 record vs the Los Angeles Kings in the 2013-14 regular season help with your prediction for last years WCF?

Soccer? Wait, isn't that what that Dave Beckman guy plays?
- John Jaeckel

I thought that was the name of Keira Knightley's character in that movie about teenage girls who run around the grass for some reason.

As the Olympic torch neared Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1980, signaling the opening of the Winter Olympics, the press throughout the world offered predictions on who would win medals. Not a single publication gave the American men's hockey team a chance.


The future is like a corridor into which we can see only by the light coming from behind.
I have no idea who wins this series

Sharp, Vermette, TT could eat Rakell's line alive. Vermette will go 70% in the dot.

I like the match ups for Chicago, but you knew that.
- John Jaeckel

lets revisit this after the series. also, stats are what they are, stats, not necessarily facts. you can make them say whatever you want them to. full regular season numbers matter, but the most recent smaller sample sizes matter as well, since this is ultimately a shorter series. its convenient (again) that you decide to use regular season stats since those favor the hawks, and again allow you to use stats however you want to. perry injury and depth should be big in the series, but anything can happen. i dont care that you picked hawks in 6, but using stats to supplement your argument because you pick the ones you want to use is funny.

Soccer? Wait, isn't that what that Dave Beckman guy plays?
- John Jaeckel

Not anymore. But Pirlo still does. lol. Juventus has a Buffon, too. lol

He's the dirtiest "Star" player in the league. Seabs will deal with him if necessary.
- Ogilthorpe2

WARNING: Long post coming.

WARNING 2: This post contains soccer.

This whole bandwagon fan thing drives me crazy. A bandwagon fan is looked upon with disdain and is shamed for "not being there before they were good." Like sports hipsters, so-called "die-hard" fans scoff at the latching onto of people who simply aren't in the know. I have an admission to make. I am a bandwagon fan. And so are you.

In the Summer of 1998, I had the great privilege and opportunity to travel to France as a teenager. I had never left the United States before, and with cable television being limited as it was 17 years ago and the general apathy toward professional soccer in the US, I accidentally found myself smack in the middle of the largest sporting event on the planet. France was the host country for the World Cup in 1998. I knew nothing of soccer outside of the couple of years of youth soccer I played when I was around five years old, and certainly nothing of what soccer was supposed to look like when played at a world class level. But I was in Paris and I wanted to adapt. So I watched soccer.

The French team in 1998 was loaded, and considered one of a few major contenders, along with Brazil and Germany. But since I was in France, filled with French people, I hopped on the bandwagon. I wanted Les Bleus to win the first world cup in their history, while I was right here in Paris. I cheered when everyone else cheered. I had no clue what I was watching, but I understood goals, and I could cheer those. Being on the bandwagon was great.

Before that Summer, I could have named Pele, and no other soccer player who ever played the game. But there was this young Frenchman wearing number 10 named Zinedine Zidane, and the French would tell me that he was one of the best players in the world, and certainly the best at his position. I didn't know what made a midfielder a good player, but I hopped on the Zidane bandwagon and was not disappointed. He could do magic with a football (he's good for more than just headbutts) and I found a new appreciation for a game I didn't understand.

France did win that World Cup (and the date July 12th, 1998 will be etched in my brain as indelibly as June 9, 2010) and several days after I returned home to the Uninterested States of America, where soccer players live in anonymity. But with four years until another World Cup, I could strut around in my blue jersey with red and white stripes and gold embroidered rooster with pride that I was supporting a champion. But I didn't stop there. France wasn't playing anymore, but the Zidane bandwagon rolled on. I started following the Italian side Juventus however I could, since TV coverage was sparse. When Zidane joined Real Madrid, I tossed my allegiance to the side and started looking for a white number 5 shirt.

English football was more readily available, and so I was able to watch some of their actual games live on Saturday mornings. It was then that I discovered Arsenal, a team with a French coach and several French stars that I knew from that 1998 team. I hopped on the bandwagon. No matter that Arsenal was league champion in 2001-02 and literally went the entire season undefeated in 03-04, they were my team. I latched onto a winner, because they played the style of soccer I learned to appreciate, and they did it well. And they made it look fantastically entertaining, and their stars had cachet and swagger and they were my team.

But here's the interesting thing. In 2002, a heavily-favored French National Team was knocked out of the World Cup in the opening round, and hasn't been a contender since. After 2005, Arsenal failed to win any type of competition for a decade. Real Madrid became the Yankees of the soccer world, throwing astronomical piles of money at every big name player they could find. Zidane retired, in spectacular headbutt fashion. But I stayed. Indeed, this bandwagon fan graduated from win-loving leech to full on suffering fanatic, who can tell you team histories and legendary players who, though he never saw, impact him and his understanding of how these teams came to be the way that they are.

We've all done it. Whether it's a song we hear for the first time on the radio and latch onto a particular artist, an actor we see in a film for the first time and decide we want to keep following, or a hockey team that exposes us to a rich history and proud culture, we join because it draws us. That song on the radio is certainly not the first from that artist, nor is that film that actor's first role. The key is that we develop an affinity for these people and we want to see them succeed, and we experience joy and pride as a result. We may not have followed them before they were big, but we sure as hell do now, and we all hope for their continued success.

Everyone starts out green. You will always walk in somewhere and be a fish out of water, looking for where your place is. Winning is contagious though, and when you have a team that does something that you find enjoyable to watch, a team that has marketable stars and a strong message, and a team that wins, you will attract those people who have never had that game be a part of their lives, but they want it to be. Will they all stay? No, that's the nature of the beast, and people will always jump from team to team for various reasons. But if even 10% of those people stick around, learn and enjoy the game, and become respectful, honorable fans, isn't it worth embracing them all?
- Sandus

/csb

"for the love of God, please defeat the Ducks. I'd love nothing more than to see Perry cry a river after yet another failed attempt at a Stanley Cup. and one more thing, I'm hoping that there are ample hawk fans located in southern CA to help invade Honda Center. I'm sure there aren't as many as say Red Wing fans that live here, but hopefully there are decent enough numbers to make a difference for the games in Anaheim. Anyways, Go Hawks. Sincerely, a Kings fan " - Woody

Dude, you haven't been paying attention long enough. The Chicago bandwagon is even bigger than the King bandwagon. Just last night I was sitting in my pickup locker room after playing when a guy I've known for 15 years mentioned he was a diehard Hawk fan. Dude grew up in VT and has been a Bruins fan as long as I have known him. Everywhere you look, there are lifetime Hawks fans over the past 6 years. I don't think you have to worry about there being some at the games in Anaheim.
- yzermaneely

You need to stop your bandwagon talk it's getting old.

You constantly start arguing about teams fanbase.

PS go check out kings blog so I can show you what a real bandwagon fan looks like lol (sarcasm)
Edit. My bad Shaw Gates blog

lets revisit this after the series. also, stats are what they are, stats, not necessarily facts. you can make them say whatever you want them to. full regular season numbers matter, but the most recent smaller sample sizes matter as well, since this is ultimately a shorter series. its convenient (again) that you decide to use regular season stats since those favor the hawks, and again allow you to use stats however you want to. perry injury and depth should be big in the series, but anything can happen. i dont care that you picked hawks in 6, but using stats to supplement your argument because you pick the ones you want to use is funny.
- flyershockey

Maybe you are right. But the only way to shed light on the future is to look at the past. No one thought the Blackhawks would sweep the Wild...but they did. Of course anything can happen, but this wasn't a guarantee, it was a prediction. Which, y'know, can be wrong.

lets revisit this after the series. also, stats are what they are, stats, not necessarily facts. you can make them say whatever you want them to. full regular season numbers matter, but the most recent smaller sample sizes matter as well, since this is ultimately a shorter series. its convenient (again) that you decide to use regular season stats since those favor the hawks, and again allow you to use stats however you want to. perry injury and depth should be big in the series, but anything can happen. i dont care that you picked hawks in 6, but using stats to supplement your argument because you pick the ones you want to use is funny.
- flyershockey

Find some stats that favor the Ducks and let's see how they look - I'm curious to see, since you bring it up.

lets revisit this after the series. also, stats are what they are, stats, not necessarily facts. you can make them say whatever you want them to. full regular season numbers matter, but the most recent smaller sample sizes matter as well, since this is ultimately a shorter series. its convenient (again) that you decide to use regular season stats since those favor the hawks, and again allow you to use stats however you want to. perry injury and depth should be big in the series, but anything can happen. i dont care that you picked hawks in 6, but using stats to supplement your argument because you pick the ones you want to use is funny.
- flyershockey

He stated reasons as to why he used those stats, either you buy it or you don't. To each his own, but you cannot dismiss them, you can also not dispute the fact that while the playoffs are an indication of how a team is playing currently, the lack of common opponents, etc. makes them harder to use as a comparison between the two surviving teams.

Otherwise.......Of course he would use the stats that fit his argument, why wouldn't he?

You need to stop your bandwagon talk it's getting old.

You constantly start arguing about teams fanbase.

PS go check out kings blog so I can show you what a real bandwagon fan looks like lol (sarcasm)
- RobitailleFAN20

A team around since 1926? OMG YOU GUYS ARE SUCH BANDWAGON FANS!!!

A team around since 1926? OMG YOU GUYS ARE SUCH BANDWAGON FANS!!!
- Elbows15

He's not a smart guy.

He harasses kings fans on Jason Lewis blogs almost everyday.

WARNING: Long post coming.

WARNING 2: This post contains soccer.

This whole bandwagon fan thing drives me crazy. A bandwagon fan is looked upon with disdain and is shamed for "not being there before they were good." Like sports hipsters, so-called "die-hard" fans scoff at the latching onto of people who simply aren't in the know. I have an admission to make. I am a bandwagon fan. And so are you.
?
- Sandus

*removed part of that for courtesy*

Zizu was a player aside from that whole headbutt incident thing. He was the engine that made Juve and Real go when those teams were winning champions leagues. Incredible skill level and he always seemed to score a big goal at the right time.

Though Eric Cantona will always stand out for me because of those Nike commercials he was in in the 90s. For reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_2lx0ZZ3I

Anyway. The Hawks are fortunate to have several players who can drive play and change\dictate the pace of a game. Kane (in a very special way), Keith and Toews. Hossa to a lesser extent now but when he wields the Power of Greyskull oh man and Seabrook is an excellent tape to tape passer with a bomb of a shot.

The Ducks have Getzlaf and Perry to drive play and Kesler to a lesser extent. Not a lot of other game changers and certainly not anyone comparable to Sharp or Saad in terms of "other" scoring or the duo of Hammer and Oduya that have engulfed forwards in black hole of frustration.

To go with that the Ducks are mediocre or average at best defensively.

Not difficult to see who should win this

He's not a smart guy.

He harasses kings fans on Jason Lewis blogs almost everyday.
- RobitailleFAN20

tbh, I wasn't going to be looking for him at a Mensa meeting.

*removed part of that for courtesy*

Zizu was a player aside from that whole headbutt incident thing. He was the engine that made Juve and Real go when those teams were winning champions leagues. Incredible skill level and he always seemed to score a big goal at the right time.

Though Eric Cantona will always stand out for me because of those Nike commercials he was in in the 90s. For reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_2lx0ZZ3I

Anyway. The Hawks are fortunate to have several players who can drive play and change\dictate the pace of a game. Kane (in a very special way), Keith and Toews. Hossa to a lesser extent now but when he wields the Power of Greyskull oh man and Seabrook is an excellent tape to tape passer with a bomb of a shot.

The Ducks have Getzlaf and Perry to drive play and Kesler to a lesser extent. Not a lot of other game changers and certainly not anyone comparable to Sharp or Saad in terms of "other" scoring or the duo of Hammer and Oduya that have engulfed forwards in black hole of frustration.

To go with that the Ducks are mediocre or average at best defensively.

Not difficult to see who should win this
- fattybeef

Cantona will always have a soft spot in my heart for that ninja kick he put on the fan.