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Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger

Mark Fistric (DAL) has settled: 1 year.

Brookbank is not that bad....
.....
But we need more
- southernhawk

Replacing O'D and Lepisto with Oduya and Brookbank is a solid improvement, IMO. Of course, that's provided Brookbank is allowed to play physical and not turned into yet another stick waving observer in front of the crease.

Uh-oh:


Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger

Mark Fistric (DAL) has settled: 1 year.
- InvisibleOrange

GI !!!

Replacing O'D and Lepisto with Oduya and Brookbank is a solid improvement, IMO. Of course, that's provided Brookbank is allowed to play physical and not turned into yet another stick waving observer in front of the crease.
- NewToHockey

Where do you guys get this whole stick waving defense from? Guys like keith and leddy are not physical and never were. That is the way they have always played. Leddy is not going to light up people like some of you want. Seabrook hits people, look at his number of hits over the years. Where is his stick waving???? Olsen when he came up hit people, he didn't "wave" his stick. Your asking puckmoving guys like oduya, keith and leddy to all of a sudden become heavy hitters? Brookbank was a nice subtle addition, he should be able do clear the crease. Just don't expect guys like leddy to overpower men like lucic and franzen who park themselves near the net

Where do you guys get this whole stick waving defense from? Guys like keith and leddy are not physical and never were. That is the way they have always played. Leddy is not going to light up people like some of you want. Seabrook hits people, look at his number of hits over the years. Where is his stick waving???? Olsen when he came up hit people, he didn't "wave" his stick. Your asking puckmoving guys like oduya, keith and leddy to all of a sudden become heavy hitters? Brookbank was a nice subtle addition, he should be able do clear the crease. Just don't expect guys like leddy to overpower men like lucic and franzen who park themselves near the net
- Wowo2282

Olsen....didnt hit poop look agin.....Hammer has took a step back Monty is playing out of his comfort zone I think that is coaching....monty was far from a stick waiver in buffalo but here you can see his assimilation starting

As for Kane, he looks to be in good shape. and you'd think if he has 1/10th the heart of Hossa or Toews then he's serious about his re-dedication and is out to prove the doubters wrong.
- John Jaeckel

Didn't Kane say the same thing last summer, how he was rededicated and out to prove doubters wrong? He followed that up with one of his worst offesnive seasons to date followed by the Madison espisode after the offseason.

Uh-oh:


Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger

Mark Fistric (DAL) has settled: 1 year.
- InvisibleOrange

1 year, no problem. Pick him up at the deadline....oh wait, forgot who our GM is

1 year, no problem. Pick him up at the deadline....oh wait, forgot who our GM is
- Ogilthorpe2

Maybe you should explain the difference between Olsen and Fistric to Wowo....

Didn't Kane say the same thing last summer, how he was rededicated and out to prove doubters wrong? He followed that up with one of his worst offesnive seasons to date followed by the Madison espisode after the offseason.
- ikeane

Kane's numbers were down, that's fact. But he played the best two way hockey of his career and carried the team into the playoffs as number 1C while Toews was out of commission.

Maybe you should explain the difference between Olsen and Fistric to Wowo....
- southernhawk

Fistric is now what we all hope Osen will be in 3-4 years...and he hits, a lot.

Fistric is now what we all hope Osen will be in 3-4 years...and he hits, a lot.
- Ogilthorpe2

Olesn had what ...43 hits....fistric had like 246,567,758,001......or something close to that

2 thoughts from yesterday's opening ceremony

1) I hope that John Marks stays in Chicago. I would love to see this guy somewhere in the Org. He has done nothing but win at every level he has coached.

2) Understand why Rocky, Stan, and McD were not there, but I still think that they should have been there. I think there was a bit of arrogance in them not showing for the opening.

3) I would hate to see Ediie O's passion for the Blackhawks walk away in the future. I could see him and Savvy someday behind the bench.

4) Have all the players spend 1 week with Stash and Savvy to learn how to take a draw. I bet Stash would have a better FO% than all our centers (except JT) right now if Stash dressed for the games.

5) Just thinking about Kane's summer issues and thought why doesn't JT have the same issues since they are both equally successful. Could it be an American vs. Canadian thing, where maybe Canadian kids have to earn success, and Amaerican kids think they deserve it? Just a thought.

He'd look awfully nice in the Indian Head


Though, to be fair, do the Hawks really need a guy with a confirmed drinking problem?




- InvisibleOrange

And thats a bad one too

Didn't Kane say the same thing last summer, how he was rededicated and out to prove doubters wrong? He followed that up with one of his worst offesnive seasons to date followed by the Madison espisode after the offseason.
- ikeane

JR posted several pictures of Kane last off-season and the guy looked like he had put on 20+ lbs of muscle. Working out hard doesn't always translate on the ice unfortunately... Plus it doesn't help when you have guys like Brunette on your line that can't finish - that cost him around 20 points right there.

The Madison thing is a joke. The guy is 23 years old.... Old enough to party. Nothing illegal happened - He didn't get behind the wheel. He didn't assault anyone. People need to lay off the kid.

Olesn had what ...43 hits....fistric had like 246,567,758,001......or something close to that
- southernhawk

When did i ever compare olsen to fistric? All i said is he does indeed hit people and help clear the crease. He isn't one of those stick wavers thats all.

Olsen had more hits in 28 games then hjalmarsson did playing 80 games last year. He may not be a bruiser like fistric but he does put a body on somebody every often

He'd look awfully nice in the Indian Head


Though, to be fair, do the Hawks really need a guy with a confirmed drinking problem?




- InvisibleOrange

Is that our new coach behind Brown? Did he caoch him how to use the waterbottle? It's going to be a long season

Is that our new coach behind Brown? Did he caoch him how to use the waterbottle? It's going to be a long season
- powerenforcer

Psycological warfare brought to you by Coach Tampon

When did i ever compare olsen to fistric? All i said is he does indeed hit people and help clear the crease. He isn't one of those stick wavers thats all.
- Wowo2282

I wouldn't call 43 hits in 28 games "hitting people" ....but....with his size he should hit at will ....IMHO I think its a coaching thing the play the puck not the body kinda thing and he will clear the crease and push a little in the scrums ....but him and hammer could both be menacing if they were coached to hit and not play such a finesse style

Where do you guys get this whole stick waving defense from?
- Wowo2282

How many players did the hawks of 11-12 have in the top 200 in hits?
the answer should tell you that the hawks do not play the body.

I don't think that anyone is saying that Duncan Keith is going to be Cal Clutterbuck, but when the stick check fails you arent slowing the opposition down, when you put a body on a puck carrier at least the momentum is slowed. Body checking does not mean blowing some dude up.
Everyone on this team, regardless of size, can use their body to help out defensively. The Hawks don't. They stick check. It DOES NOT WORK.
The last two years have been a concrete example that the "scheme" is failing.

I'm sure everyone saw Eklunds new blog where he talks about Luongo end game. So far he claims Chicago is one of the teams so I have not been too worried about the contract coming here. Today he posts "Other teams(like Chicago) aren't series options..they are just keeping their fingers on the pulse as far as I can tell..." which I translate away from the grammatical error to mean Chicago is a true threat to land him. Since Eklund says he is not going to Chicago, maybe I need to get a #31 jersey made....

How many players did the hawks of 11-12 have in the top 200 in hits?
the answer should tell you that the hawks do not play the body.

I don't think that anyone is saying that Duncan Keith is going to be Cal Clutterbuck, but when the stick check fails you arent slowing the opposition down, when you put a body on a puck carrier at least the momentum is slowed. Body checking does not mean blowing some dude up.
Everyone on this team, regardless of size, can use their body to help out defensively. The Hawks don't. They stick check. It DOES NOT WORK.
The last two years have been a concrete example that the "scheme" is failing.
- InvisibleOrange

Duncan Keith
Cup year - 46 hits
Last year - 45 hits Woah huge drop off!

Niklas Hjalmarsson
Cup year - 59 hits
Last year - 42 (8 less games played)

Brent Sopel
Cup year - 50 hits (olsen had nearly as many hits in far less games)

Brent Seabrook
Cup year - 208 hits
2010 - 227 hits (increase here? wheres the stick waving?)


Brian Campbell
Cup year - 37 hits


So what I am getting at here is our defense going back to when the hawks won the cup, was NEVER really that physical other than seabrook. The numbes don't lie. What is lacking is hitting/forecheck from the forwards especially in the top 6 from guys like buff and ladd. They created a lot of turnovers and played a lot more minutes then a bottom 6 guy like bollig. They put on the big hits, not guys like brian campbell or niklas hjalmarsson.

This is why i would like to see shane doan as a hawk, would fill a huge void. Sorry but a huge pylon on defense who hits people and nothing else, isn't going to be the end all solution to helping the hawks win again

Duncan Keith
Cup year - 46 hits
Last year - 45 hits Woah huge drop off!

Niklas Hjalmarsson
Cup year - 59 hits
Last year - 42 (8 less games played)

Brent Sopel
Cup year - 50 hits (olsen had nearly as many hits in far less games)

Brent Seabrook
Cup year - 208 hits
2010 - 227 hits


Brian Campbell
Cup year - 37 hits


So what I am getting at here is our defense going back to when the hawks won the cup, was NEVER really that physical other than seabrook. The numbes don't lie. What is lacking is hitting/forecheck in the top 6 from guys like buff and ladd. They created a lot of turnovers and played a lot more minutes then a guy like bollig. They put on the big hits, not guys like brian campbell or niklas hjalmarsson.
- Wowo2282

I agree with that, but the 3 missing pieces from cup year are: depth (rolled 4 deep lines in cup year, not throwing Kruger, Saad, Shaw, etc who are inexperienced), #1 goalie who can steal games (no confidence in Crawford), dedication of forwards to backcheck. Skating through an entire shift, not gliding around and leaving a 4 on 2 down low because the forwards glide back towards the defensive zone.

I agree with that, but the 3 missing pieces from cup year are: depth (rolled 4 deep lines in cup year, not throwing Kruger, Saad, Shaw, etc who are inexperienced), #1 goalie who can steal games (no confidence in Crawford), dedication of forwards to backcheck. Skating through an entire shift, not gliding around and leaving a 4 on 2 down low because the forwards glide back towards the defensive zone.
- ikeane

Yes, these are the real problems. The lack of physicallity on defense is really overblown imo.

Duncan Keith
Cup year - 46 hits
Last year - 45 hits Woah huge drop off!

Niklas Hjalmarsson
Cup year - 59 hits
Last year - 42 (8 less games played)

Brent Sopel
Cup year - 50 hits (olsen had nearly as many hits in far less games)

Brent Seabrook
Cup year - 208 hits
2010 - 227 hits (increase here? wheres the stick waving?)


Brian Campbell
Cup year - 37 hits


So what I am getting at here is our defense going back to when the hawks won the cup, was NEVER really that physical other than seabrook. The numbes don't lie. What is lacking is hitting/forecheck from the forwards especially in the top 6 from guys like buff and ladd. They created a lot of turnovers and played a lot more minutes then a bottom 6 guy like bollig. They put on the big hits, not guys like brian campbell or niklas hjalmarsson.
- Wowo2282

So true. Add Brouwer to that list too. Biggest mistake so far from Stan was the Ladd trade if you ask me.