Thanks good info. I realize 60% is hardly feasible on an individual let alone team level; just using it in regards to adding 2 Pts over 82.....I guess deviation from League Avg. is the best metric to be looking at.

Would like to see some AA @ LW w/Schmaltz & Rasmussen getting time between 72 & 88. AA plain stinks at FO & shows little hope for improvement so his skills may be of more use elsewhere in the lineup.
- Cufeni606

He was over 50% last game and has 7 points in 3 games. You leave him where he is. Schmaltz is abysmal at the dot. Needs to learn.

I like the 2010 team as much as anyone, but didn't Eager kinda suck if I remember correctly? And routinely got his ass handed to him in fights?

Maybe a few times here and there he was effective, but I think overall he was pretty bad.
- BlazinMike

I was a fan of Eager. Scored a few big goals in the 2010 Playoffs.

I was a fan of Eager. Scored a few big goals in the 2010 Playoffs.
- EnzoD

Good team guy for that playoff run. On that topic, I saw John Madden coaching Cleveland this weekend. Also of note, Sheldon Brookbank was skating for Cleveland.

Hah we're so (frank)ed if we're putting Engs out there against Kane. It will happen though. The Flames will be in 30th place once the Yotes play their game tomorrow.

Kane kinda looked off by a step though against the leafs. Wonder what's going on.
- fry

Kane played 29 minutes in a regulation game the night before and then 25 minutes in an OT game against the Leafs. Q used his timeouts to give Kane a rest so he could continue playing.

Thanks good info. I realize 60% is hardly feasible on an individual let alone team level; just using it in regards to adding 2 Pts over 82.....I guess deviation from League Avg. is the best metric to be looking at.

Would like to see some AA @ LW w/Schmaltz & Rasmussen getting time between 72 & 88. AA plain stinks at FO & shows little hope for improvement so his skills may be of more use elsewhere in the lineup.
- Cufeni606

Anisimov is only about 3 faceoff wins at even strength away from an acceptable 45%. He also takes about 25% of his draws in the NZ, meaning they have little impact on the game. It's on special teams that he really shouldn't be taking draws imo.

So as an owner/GM etc.. when one of your star players keeps coming out to the media with this info and you add to that what has been a rough start, what do you do?
The talk of Q losing his locker room with his odd ball/line blender madness has been tossed around for years. Does Stan go to Q and say let the dust settle bro. Find the lines and let them gel?

One could argue that was a huge issue last year come playoff time when the lines were scatter shot the entire series. Dunno but as an owner, if my stud guy (the captain of 3 cup winners) becomes unplugged from the HC?!?

Line blender
Brutal PK
Very rough start
Captain of your team not happy



I still think the PAK needs to be spread out to balance scoring between the top two lines. Q is lucky in that Panik is playing lights out. Without Panik's play where would this team be.
- z1990z

I don't think he can. Q has a lot of juice in the organization.

My sense is from what I've heard—he and Stanley have had their ups and downs but they basically try to play nice in the sandbox at this point.

And Stanley has to take some responsibility for giving Q 5 "ready or not" rookies. Q has to blend them until he comes up with some lines that work.

I was a fan of Eager. Scored a few big goals in the 2010 Playoffs.
- EnzoD

Yes, GWG in game 2.

Since the faceoff stat was recorded, no team has ever gotten 60% on a season. The highest is 56.4%, worth about 1 win in a season, which is nothing to dismiss but it's also not exactly critical for success. It's a moot point to bring up the 60% number since it's never happened and is unlikely to happen in the future.

So if most teams hover closer to 48-52%, then the impact faceoffs overall have is negated because a majority of teams benefit from or are hurt by the same win boost. You're not wrong that every battle/facet of the game is what contributes to whether a team win/loses and the fact that there are so so many puck battle is why faceoffs alone are not as meaningful as one would expect. And because a majority of team employ the same strategy when it comes to their faceoff guys (better guys take more draw, key faceoffs, etc), the resulting impact of faceoffs evens out when comparing teams.

Again, this is not to say that faceoffs are without any importance (obvs they do), especially on special teams and in the DZ where variables are weighted towards one team or the other. Just that all research done on the subject so far, by many many people, is that the impact is minimal. And if you read any of the research, the context about deployment of specific faceoff players (the best take the most draws, where the draws are taken, etc) is completely acknowledged and factored into the findings. The face that so many different researchers, including those not directly in hockey fandom, have found the same fact to hold true suggests that the findings are accurate.

As always, I'll end by saying that sub-40% that AA is putting up is still definitely hurting his line, just not necessarily to the degree some think it is, however counter intuitive that may seem. And that faceoffs do need to improve on special teams, especially the PK, which will be helped once Desjardins is back. It's an area the team should work on because any improvement will help, no matter how minimal it might be, because you never know how close the standings will be.
- L_B_R

I will disagree in this regard, to the original poster's point, although LBR, you touch on it. How important are d-zone and o-zone draws—depending on the time of the game, the score, and who's on the ice? It can be somewhat meaningless to very meaningful.

Power play o-zone draws, penalty kill d-zone draws. Late in one-goal games.

So the net overall FO% stat is not that meaningful, if there is a situational FO stat along the lines I suggest. Hugely meaningful

I assure you Jon Cooper's head was about to explode in the latter parts of Games 4 and 5 of the 2015 SCF, and TB could not win a draw versus Vermette, Toews and Kruger. Can't tie the score if you don't have the puck.

Didn't realize the Oilers/Jets Heritage Classic was yesterday. Seems really early in the season for an outdoor game.
- AEL_Fox

Ha, not so much up there. Even the 'Peg is pretty far north. But the coldest place I ever was was Edmonton in August. Kidding. Sort of.

I was a fan of Eager. Scored a few big goals in the 2010 Playoffs.
- EnzoD

right, yeah that would be the occasional times he was effective.

I'm saying overall, I don't know if he was very good. I don't have any stats to back it up, just going off memory.

I will disagree in this regard, to the original poster's point, although LBR, you touch on it. How important are d-zone and o-zone draws—depending on the time of the game, the score, and who's on the ice? It can be somewhat meaningless to very meaningful.

Power play o-zone draws, penalty kill d-zone draws. Late in one-goal games.

So the net overall FO% stat is not that meaningful, if there is a situational FO stat along the lines I suggest. Hugely meaningful

I assure you Jon Cooper's head was about to explode in the latter parts of Games 4 and 5 of the 2015 SCF, and TB could not win a draw versus Vermette, Toews and Kruger. Can't tie the score if you don't have the puck.
- John Jaeckel

Yes, like with any 'count' stat like a hit or block, specific individual faceoffs can have a lot of meaning, even if the quantity percentage of faceoffs have a minimal impact. Though studies have shown that situation FO are only slightly weighted as more important as well since typically the better faceoff players take those anyway for all teams. On average for success over a season/in the playoffs, teams need to have two centers who can win 50% or more faceoffs overall who will take a majority of the faceoffs and the other two need to average about 45%.

Just a note to add: Vermette's FO% is nice but not really impactful for the Hawks since he was deployed so so much in the OZS and some in the NZS. His faceoff numbers have stayed great while his individual possession numbers have sunk like a stone over the years, unless he was in the OZ a lot. Toews and Kruger, who took the meaningful draws against Tampa, I definitely agree with your point.

Ha, not so much up there. Even the 'Peg is pretty far north. But the coldest place I ever was was Edmonton in August. Kidding. Sort of.
- John Jaeckel

Yeah and even in Winnipeg it was too warm yesterday. They had to push the start time back two hours because it was too dangerous to play on. Usually Winnipeg would be between -5 and -10 Celcius at this point.

He was over 50% last game and has 7 points in 3 games. You leave him where he is. Schmaltz is abysmal at the dot. Needs to learn.
- JRoenick97

Against bad teams....Schmaltz is no better at the dot & needs to learn I agree completely. I'm looking at it more so at where each players skill fits best in the lineup. If they roll with 14/19/81 & PAK you're a player if not two short of running 4 cup quality lines. Sure that can be addressed at TDL though that may be too late.

So for now they must do their best to shuffle the deck best they can with the hand they're dealt. I like Schmaltz learning side by side two all stars better than I do him learning in a bottom 6 role. I was thinking Schmaltz would see time on the Wing w/19 & 16...think skating next to them would be a great way to learn but seems they feel moving him off his natural position at this point would hinder his development.

Against bad teams....Schmaltz is no better at the dot & needs to learn I agree completely. I'm looking at it more so at where each players skill fits best in the lineup. If they roll with 14/19/81 & PAK you're a player if not two short of running 4 cup quality lines. Sure that can be addressed at TDL though that may be too late.

So for now they must do their best to shuffle the deck best they can with the hand they're dealt. I like Schmaltz learning side by side two all stars better than I do him learning in a bottom 6 role. I was thinking Schmaltz would see time on the Wing w/19 & 16...think skating next to them would be a great way to learn but seems they feel moving him off his natural position at this point would hinder his development.
- Cufeni606

Schmaltz is currently paired with Hossa, one of the best players on the team to learn from on how to be a complete player. Kane and Panarin likely need a center that is more defensively aware / mature between them.

Against bad teams....Schmaltz is no better at the dot & needs to learn I agree completely. I'm looking at it more so at where each players skill fits best in the lineup. If they roll with 14/19/81 & PAK you're a player if not two short of running 4 cup quality lines. Sure that can be addressed at TDL though that may be too late.

So for now they must do their best to shuffle the deck best they can with the hand they're dealt. I like Schmaltz learning side by side two all stars better than I do him learning in a bottom 6 role. I was thinking Schmaltz would see time on the Wing w/19 & 16...think skating next to them would be a great way to learn but seems they feel moving him off his natural position at this point would hinder his development.
- Cufeni606

Your against bad teams argument isn't really a good one as that Leafs team has been playing very well, even in losses, and Kane and Panarin have had the same struggles as Anisimov in the first couple games. Plus it's been 6 games. Hard to tell who is "bad" and who is good. Both the Flyers and Leafs could do well. Schamltz isn't "just as bad" at the dot, he's horrid. I think he was 10% last game. Anisimov has shown improvement at least.

right, yeah that would be the occasional times he was effective.

I'm saying overall, I don't know if he was very good. I don't have any stats to back it up, just going off memory.
- BlazinMike

Lets just say he was more effective than Bollig and Mashinter lol

Your against bad teams argument isn't really a good one as that Leafs team has been playing very well, even in losses, and Kane and Panarin have had the same struggles as Anisimov in the first couple games. Plus it's been 6 games. Hard to tell who is "bad" and who is good. Both the Flyers and Leafs could do well. Schamltz isn't "just as bad" at the dot, he's horrid. I think he was 10% last game. Anisimov has shown improvement at least.
- JRoenick97

Agreed. The Oilers are in first right now out West. Does that last? Probably not. Schmaltz just appears too weak more than anything. Having a winger who could take draws for him would be a nice luxury. I do think he has shown improvement in the rest of his game. He has also flat out admitted he needs to add strength. A kid acknowledging his weakness and admitting he needs to improve in the area is a good sign.

Yeah and even in Winnipeg it was too warm yesterday. They had to push the start time back two hours because it was too dangerous to play on. Usually Winnipeg would be between -5 and -10 Celcius at this point.
- Hawks_49

Hence why I have dubbed it "Winterpeg" as it relates to my travels over there - which always seem to fall in the January - March timeframe. Never seen blowing snow like that place, it's a blizzard when it's not even actually snowing, simply from the drifting.

Another public plea from our Captain for some consistency on his line in order to build chemistry.

http://chicago.suntimes.c...-ever-changing-linemates/
- pdx2ord

sorry toews will continue to be a 10.5 mildo center with entry level wingers on try out..don't see how that changes unless panerin or kane take turns with toews...

Your against bad teams argument isn't really a good one as that Leafs team has been playing very well, even in losses, and Kane and Panarin have had the same struggles as Anisimov in the first couple games. Plus it's been 6 games. Hard to tell who is "bad" and who is good. Both the Flyers and Leafs could do well. Schamltz isn't "just as bad" at the dot, he's horrid. I think he was 10% last game. Anisimov has shown improvement at least.
- JRoenick97

Just spitballing not arguing. Way too early to say which teams or new players are definitively "good" vs. "bad"....that being said none of the last 3 opponents would have much chance of finishing top 3 in the Central & that's what Hawks are up against. It's more of a hypothesis - could Schmaltz replicate AA production w/72-88 & would that in turn strengthen the lineup top to bottom? At this point isn't Schmaltz biggest (only?) strength his passing...I reckon might play well on that line.

Love all the Panik talk. Good, lucky, skilled....whatever. Whatever he is, he's touched right now. The puck is finding him and he's putting it in the net. Got to keep sending him out there and ride his mojo/witchcraft/voodooism until it runs out. Obviously he's not going to keep this up. But he's helping keep us in games until we figure out how to right the ship. Praise be Panik!!!

sorry toews will continue to be a 10.5 mildo center with entry level wingers on try out..don't see how that changes unless panerin or kane take turns with toews...
- bogiedoc

Actually sounded like he's good with that as long as they are given time to learn each others' tendencies and gel.

any official lines yet for tonight?

my guess is..

64-19-14
72-15-88
38-16-81
70-8-22

32-7
2-4
51-42

I wonder if Roszival gets paired with Seabs or Campbell

any official lines yet for tonight?

my guess is..

64-19-14
72-15-88
38-16-81
70-8-22

32-7
2-4
51-42

I wonder if Roszival gets paired with Seabs or Campbell
- chitownfan92

Swap 16 and 8

Swap 16 and 8
- DarthKane

thank you, something looked off. lol