John Jaeckel: Loss to Flames follows a pattern

Good game guys. Unbelievable save by Moose in the dying seconds, and I thought we were toast with the 4-3 overtime. Thought it fitting that Versteeg score the shoot out winner! Until next time!

Overpaid vets? Perhaps but with success comes payment. As a Leaf fan I would take your situation any day!
BTW the Hawks totally dominated the OT. Panarin is a stud.

I hate the term "taking penalties". It only counts as a penalty when the ref calls it. Anyone catch the cross-check in the final minute of the game by Frolik on Panik? That stopped a great scoring chance. That was a penalty, yet the boys let that one go. Anyone else get a bad feeling when you see Wes McCauley's name as a ref? I don't care what a Paul Stewart says, he does not call a fair game.

I have to ask JJ, Kane and Toews seem like pretty smart guys. Did they not understand that by taking so much of their teams cap space with their huge contracts that it would hamstring the team for the remainder of their term!?! Or maybe they don't care, they are making maximum bank, so just ride it out and whatever happens happens...

I hate the term "taking penalties". It only counts as a penalty when the ref calls it. Anyone catch the cross-check in the final minute of the game by Frolik on Panik? That stopped a great scoring chance. That was a penalty, yet the boys let that one go. Anyone else get a bad feeling when you see Wes McCauley's name as a ref? I don't care what a Paul Stewart says, he does not call a fair game.
- powerenforcer

So your blaming the loss on the refs!?!

So your blaming the loss on the refs!?!
- Flamin_Irishmin

No, I just do not like the term "taking penalties". That is what I am saying. You can watch a game, and question why calls are made and calls aren't made.
But what I will say is that refs need to follow the rules of the SO.

Mornin' John...can't say I'm surprised at the result here. I'm sure the Hawks would be getting a lot more grief right now, but the Cubs have claimed the spotlight for the moment. Let's hope that lasts.

Meanwhile noticing more complaints about the Captain and his game not to mention his cap hit. You can't blame the player for a deal made by the Front Office.

And what about Anisimov (who I'm assuming you're referring to - 4 and 15 at the dot last night if I'm seeing the stats correct - yikes)...who Stan couldn't wait to extend...meanwhile Saad 7 shots the other night against us and 31 goals last season.

Two offseasons full of bad moves by the caretaker and we are where we are. We knew the cap would eventually catch up to the team, but Bowman has certainly sped up the process. No question the blow certainly would have been softened had we won a 4th cup last spring, but Stan was too busy signing Rundblad to think about a real #4 for his d-corps.

I also get the sense everyone is just assuming they're going to be able to move Crawford at a whim after the season to save the Panarin contract. We'll see.

Certainly going to be interesting to see what they do here in the short term to try to calm the masses and get the one goal campaign back on track.

A positive from last night was Brian Campbell. He looked fantastic, basically our best player for a majority of that game IMO. Nice to see he can still be an elite puck mover and his zone entries/neutral zone passes were fantastic.

Sorry don't want to focus on the negatives today

How did you guys lose to the worst team in the NHL

Good and objective blog JJ.

My favorite part: "There's no point in rekindling the veteran versus rookie debate. The bottom line is, until proven otherwise, the chemistry on this team is off—rookies are making mistakes, some veterans are repeatedly failing to deliver in key situations.

The experiment continues, and as I was told a couple of weeks ago, the 10-game mark could be where some changes will begin to happen, assuming the present pattern doesn't change."

Very valid and observant points. Changes a-coming to this roster sooner rather than later. Team is playing sub-par and is still learning about each other. Motte is better suited on the third line, further indicating Toews needs his LW. Faceoffs must improve and are rather atrocious. Changes are coming.

I hate the term "taking penalties". It only counts as a penalty when the ref calls it. Anyone catch the cross-check in the final minute of the game by Frolik on Panik? That stopped a great scoring chance. That was a penalty, yet the boys let that one go. Anyone else get a bad feeling when you see Wes McCauley's name as a ref? I don't care what a Paul Stewart says, he does not call a fair game.
- powerenforcer

they all blow and mcauley is the so called "best" of that sorry lot...

q is self controlled and patient he has no choice..nothing is going to change much with this roster...despite the 10 game limit imposed by management...

they have no options...the rockford has nothing worth while to offer...the only big money vets tradeable are anisimov or crawford...

going to be along frustrating winter with this bunch..

7 games and 19/81 = 1 goal....

10.5 mildo #19 looks to off to another low output year

Faceoff are not important right Tammer&Friends #KeepQuiet

I was amazed last night when they showed each squad last in the league PP/PK going against each other ....

So your blaming the loss on the refs!?!

Yes he is. That's all he has.

My view is Calgary deserved to win the game. The Hawks have been badly outplayed in nearly every game this session, have a historically bad PK, no chemistry, 1 line, a few Dmen, a good goalie...but LETS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE REFS...

Notice this powerenforcer guy had no complaint when the Hawks got a 3x poweplay advantage against Toronto.

How did you guys lose to the worst team in the NHL
- lucille

Have you seen this team play?

A positive from last night was Brian Campbell. He looked fantastic, basically our best player for a majority of that game IMO. Nice to see he can still be an elite puck mover and his zone entries/neutral zone passes were fantastic.

Sorry don't want to focus on the negatives today
- Ballam

You noticed the same player as I did, and agreed he was our best. The penalty kill will never improve until we start winning faceoffs, and that typically is not on the shoulders of Schmaltz and Anisimov. See: Toews and Krueger!

Ok JJ, takin your word here, Hmmmm, what could they possibly change?
I am sure Mark Kelly and his guys ( No Stan, just stay out of the way till you have to sign something) are already looking waaaaaaayy ahead to next June getting their ducks in a row for a potentially high pick, that is......after we become sellers at the deadline and another GM fleeces Bowman out of someone likeCrawford orSeabrooke.
Sorry John, gotta call it like I see it, hope it changes soon !
Case and point briefly on SB, Columbus got Saad, they were loaded with young pieces, you want Saad, Jenner is part of the deal coming back this way or no deal! That's just 1instance John! Not enough time to go into the others! Have a great day All! Go Cubbies!

Blackhawks first star was engallend for that sick pass on their first goal wow

You noticed the same player as I did, and agreed he was our best. The penalty kill will never improve until we start winning faceoffs, and that typically is not on the shoulders of Schmaltz and Anisimov. See: Toews and Krueger!
- Gasboy

Also thought Schmaltz had some nice moments as well, obviously I am not talking about his faceoff prowess. But he seems to be giving more of an all around effort and he had some strong shifts.

Overall though I feel one of this teams biggest issues historically and especially bad right now is the pass first, shoot never mentality. I wanted to throw my remote at the TV last night watching the power play try to go all globetrotter and waiting for the perfect opportunity instead of shooting and crashing the crease for the garbage. Come on guys....... just shoot the damn biscuit more. Toews needs to shoot more, stop looking to pass first always.

This is a team, to my eyes, that is swimming in mediocrity. JJ and others have nailed it. The cap crunch and baggage of too many hefty contracts to too few players is an anchor, especially considering that the Hawks only NHL "pseudo-ready" prospects are being thrust into more important roles than they should be thrust into.

Stan needs to pull up the anchor so that this ship can sail.

Goodbye Crawford, love you but you're our most tradable player and you can fetch us cap relief, a role player, and a nice prospect or two. Give Darling the reigns and let Lars Johansson back him up. I'd also look to move Anisimov, if possible, pending any impacts on Panarin resigning.

My view is this team was NEVER about "the core". It was about "the core" and then some really good players around them, MANY of these players now playing more prominent roles for their current team...guys like

Leddy goes from 3rd pair to top pair
Buff from checking winger to D
Brouwer from 4th line to top line
Ladd from 3rd line to captain of his next team

Toss in losses of very good (even great) players like Saad, Sharp, Oduya, Bolland, victims of the cap....further combined by trading young players like TT, Johns for no other reason than to "sweeten the pot" just to take said players adds another layer of dynamics that should further explain why this team is now a shell of its former self.

The "core guys" have gotten paid like they are the ONLY reason the Hawks ever won. That has never been true. The prominent roles played in winning those Cups by a plethora of the names aforementioned (that's not to even mention Bickell who was instrumental in 2013) has always been understated. Instead of making hard choices with the cap and maybe subtracting "one" of the core to "save" 3 of those "role players" is a major reason we are now seeing what is possibly (POSSIBLY) the fast decline of this team.

And what changes are there to be made? Someone enlightened me as to WHO we can trade and for what? NO ONE is going to be lining up for ANYTHING this team has unless it's someone like Hammer, Panarin...players in their prime with ostensibly good deals. The remaining real talented players the Hawks have carry price tags that simply won't work for nearly every other NHL team. And the farm system is so depleted there is nothing there to help either. I see ZERO chance of a major deal to do anything to improve the team. Hell, the Hawks tried "small deals" for Yakupov and Hudler and still couldn't get either of those done, because NO MONEY...now those two players are playing in the Central division against the Hawks (though Hudler has been injured). The math is simple.

The ONLY hope is that the team as current can coalesce into a viable force. Players like Motte, Schmaltz, Hartman, Forsling must develop into those same type players we lost and lets hope the core guys are not too run down or have simply not been bypassed by other team's top players (which happens all the time in every sport). That's the wait and see game there, but early returns (yes still EARLY) are dreadful.

I've been saying this for a while (not here though), and it might not be a popular opinion, but Duncan needs to be removed from the PP.

He single-handidly killed the PP in OT. I'm not even going to talk about his drop passes. It's like he can't think the game in the offensive zone. Everything I'm about to say was clearly on display during that last PP last night. When he gets the puck he just freezes. He stops skating and looks for a pass. Go back and watch Panarin on that PP and how he was always skating, trying to get the defense out of position. Keith just stops. He is never in a position to shoot (his shot is weak and inaccurate BTW), so players are able to cheat to the pass. Because he is in pass only mode, he telegraphs every pass. By the time his teammate receives it, he already has a guy bearing down on him.

I've had enough. I don't know what Q sees, but I thought Campbell should have been out there in OT.

This passive PK format needs to be laid to rest. Need to be more aggressive and not give up so much time and space.

This is a team, to my eyes, that is swimming in mediocrity. JJ and others have nailed it. The cap crunch and baggage of too many hefty contracts to too few players is an anchor, especially considering that the Hawks only NHL "pseudo-ready" prospects are being thrust into more important roles than they should be thrust into.

Stan needs to pull up the anchor so that this ship can sail.

Goodbye Crawford, love you but you're our most tradable player and you can fetch us cap relief, a role player, and a nice prospect or two. Give Darling the reigns and let Lars Johansson back him up. I'd also look to move Anisimov, if possible, pending any impacts on Panarin resigning.
- Bjm84

Who is going to give us a player, cap relief and 2 prospects for Crawford? Seemingly every player the Hawks have moved out of "cap necessity" was moved at a very costly price TO THE HAWKS.

While I am not a huge Anisimov fan, he is playing quite well (his faceoff incompetence notwithstanding) and is a key part of maybe the best line in hockey. If you move him it should be part of a rebuild or you run the risk of now having NO LINES.

The ONLY two players you can get anything for would be Hammer or Panarin. Not sure about Keith. His salary is very low for what he gives, but term may scare people off. But after those 3 no one else is remotely marketable. Kane would be the next choice, but who can adsorb a 10.5 million cap hit. Plus moving Kane would be a huge signal of a total rebuild.

This team is stuck dude. I hate to say it, plain stuck. Unless there are options I don't see and no one has been able to give me any possibly legitimate options.