John Jaeckel: Results matter

Uno where do I collect the door prize?

As far as the game last night? That’s Chicago for you. We all knew this was a trap game coming home and playing a lot of games in a short period of time (7 in 11 days am I right?). Sleepwalk through two periods playing their pretty perimeter pass-a-lot hockey and not really generating any dangerous chances because they are being too cute. It can be really frustrating to watch but then of course when the game is on the line and down 3-1 they turn the afterburners on in the third and blitzkrieg the Lanche for 3 goals in 34 seconds. Scary what this team can do when they are fully invested. As others have said we can marvel at how much success this team has had this season but I can’t remember too many games where the effort was there for a full 60. This has been a recurring theme through the years especially during the regular season where it seems our guys often put out just enough effort to win, but rarely do they flat out dominate games from start to finish. Could always be worse I guess and there’s a lot to be said about the experience in that dressing room. You’d think these guys have it pretty much down to a science how to save enough in the tank down the stretch and be prepared for the playoffs. I just hope all the rookies are paying attention. Did anyone else feel bad for that rookie goalie Smith? He got hung out to dry on a few of those goals.

As far as the offside non-call went, did anyone else think they deemed it inconclusive because the puck wasn’t touching Panik’s blade while Toews feet were still in the zone? You can see conclusively from the video replay that the puck went into the zone before Toews skates were on the blue line……. BUT the puck wasn’t technically touching Panik’s blade until Toews skates were over the blue line. Do you think it would have been different had the puck actually been on his stick at the moment? Does that even matter? I thought for an offside to be called you have to actually touch the puck. He was stickhandling and had possession yes but at that moment the puck wasn’t on the blade of his stick, I figured that’s why they ruled it inconclusive but that’s just me.

Let’s talk about John Hayden. Played overly cautious in his first game and took extremely short shifts but didn’t hurt us at all. Second game he gets time with Toews, scores his first goal and continues to play a solid overall game. Third game? Man he laid some bone crunching hits last night. He is strong and has some great play recognition. Also he’s going to the front of the net. I love it. Seems like a responsible player and in just a few games seems to have earned himself a spot in Q’s “good books” which is not at all an easy feet, especially for these rookies. I know others have toyed with the idea already and it’s far too early to tell if this is even remotely possible, but let’s just say Hayden continues to impress and contribute playing with Toews/Panik and Schmaltz continues to produce with Kane/Panarin imagine a third line of Hartman/Anisimov/Hossa? Since Q has the blender out lately, it’s worth a look when everyone is healthy again.

Somebody questioned whether it is possible Toews has re-aggravated whatever the back injury is that was ailing him earlier this season. It’s certainly a possibility. That guy takes a lot of abuse on a regular basis. Did anyone notice Emelin repeatedly taking shots at him in the Montreal game? A few times during that game Toews had limped back to the bench. It’s bad enough he has apparently been dealing with a nagging injury most of the season and other team’s players take cheap shots at him all the time. He’s tough for playing through all of that but the poor guy gets abused out there on a regular basis, I wonder if he isn’t actively being targeted by almost every team we play?

We are lucky the way things have gone in the standings with the Wild cooling off at the right time. They stormed back to tie the game up against the Jets after being down 4-0. An impressive comeback only to come up one goal short and lose again….. You have to imagine there’s a little bit of frustration setting in there. They are human after all. However, we need to hope Chicago keeps it humble because they will still be an awful match up to draw in the postseason. Gotta love the idea of Chicago finishing first and having home ice advantage through the playoffs however.

The window is still open for this team, maybe even more so than last season and Stan’s looking brilliant for standing pat at the deadline. Would we really have wanted to see Hartman or Schmaltz go? It’s been an extremely fun and refreshing season to watch with all these young guys going through the growing pains and developing into their roles.

Thankfully the Hawks made that ridiculous "inconclusive" offsides call moot. If the NHL can't get replay calls right, then they should just get rid of the system and let the players play.

As far as the game last night? That’s Chicago for you. We all knew this was a trap game coming home and playing a lot of games in a short period of time (7 in 11 days am I right?). Sleepwalk through two periods playing their pretty perimeter pass-a-lot hockey and not really generating any dangerous chances because they are being too cute. It can be really frustrating to watch but then of course when the game is on the line and down 3-1 they turn the afterburners on in the third and blitzkrieg the Lanche for 3 goals in 34 seconds. Scary what this team can do when they are fully invested. As others have said we can marvel at how much success this team has had this season but I can’t remember too many games where the effort was there for a full 60. This has been a recurring theme through the years especially during the regular season where it seems our guys often put out just enough effort to win, but rarely do they flat out dominate games from start to finish. Could always be worse I guess and there’s a lot to be said about the experience in that dressing room. You’d think these guys have it pretty much down to a science how to save enough in the tank down the stretch and be prepared for the playoffs. I just hope all the rookies are paying attention. Did anyone else feel bad for that rookie goalie Smith? He got hung out to dry on a few of those goals.

As far as the offside non-call went, did anyone else think they deemed it inconclusive because the puck wasn’t touching Panik’s blade while Toews feet were still in the zone? You can see conclusively from the video replay that the puck went into the zone before Toews skates were on the blue line……. BUT the puck wasn’t technically touching Panik’s blade until Toews skates were over the blue line. Do you think it would have been different had the puck actually been on his stick at the moment? Does that even matter? I thought for an offside to be called you have to actually touch the puck. He was stickhandling and had possession yes but at that moment the puck wasn’t on the blade of his stick, I figured that’s why they ruled it inconclusive but that’s just me.

Let’s talk about John Hayden. Played overly cautious in his first game and took extremely short shifts but didn’t hurt us at all. Second game he gets time with Toews, scores his first goal and continues to play a solid overall game. Third game? Man he laid some bone crunching hits last night. He is strong and has some great play recognition. Also he’s going to the front of the net. I love it. Seems like a responsible player and in just a few games seems to have earned himself a spot in Q’s “good books” which is not at all an easy feet, especially for these rookies. I know others have toyed with the idea already and it’s far too early to tell if this is even remotely possible, but let’s just say Hayden continues to impress and contribute playing with Toews/Panik and Schmaltz continues to produce with Kane/Panarin imagine a third line of Hartman/Anisimov/Hossa? Since Q has the blender out lately, it’s worth a look when everyone is healthy again.

Somebody questioned whether it is possible Toews has re-aggravated whatever the back injury is that was ailing him earlier this season. It’s certainly a possibility. That guy takes a lot of abuse on a regular basis. Did anyone notice Emelin repeatedly taking shots at him in the Montreal game? A few times during that game Toews had limped back to the bench. It’s bad enough he has apparently been dealing with a nagging injury most of the season and other team’s players take cheap shots at him all the time. He’s tough for playing through all of that but the poor guy gets abused out there on a regular basis, I wonder if he isn’t actively being targeted by almost every team we play?

We are lucky the way things have gone in the standings with the Wild cooling off at the right time. They stormed back to tie the game up against the Jets after being down 4-0. An impressive comeback only to come up one goal short and lose again….. You have to imagine there’s a little bit of frustration setting in there. They are human after all. However, we need to hope Chicago keeps it humble because they will still be an awful match up to draw in the postseason. Gotta love the idea of Chicago finishing first and having home ice advantage through the playoffs however.

The window is still open for this team, maybe even more so than last season and Stan’s looking brilliant for standing pat at the deadline. Would we really have wanted to see Hartman or Schmaltz go? It’s been an extremely fun and refreshing season to watch with all these young guys going through the growing pains and developing into their roles.
- Ballam

If Toews gets hurt, or is hurt, again for any appreciable time, bad news for this team. Getting scoring on more than just PAK is a big part of what's going on. Anyone thinking you can do it with Kero and Hartman and Panik—and no Toews—you're dreaming.

Really like the new guy hayden I hope he stays in lineup

With Panik and Hayden on his wings for the time being I'd like to see Toews be more of a play maker and not always go down to the dirty areas. He has two big wingers that can do that for him. I know thats not his style though.

Seeing him take a few less repeated cross checks to the back the last 10 games or so would be nice.

Uno where do I collect the door prize?
- riozzo

Under there.

Hayden, Toews, Panik
Panarin, Anisimov, Kane
Hartman, Schmaltz, Hossa
Not too shabby.

Q can pick his 4th line from Kruger, Tootoo, Desjardins, Jurco, Kero, Moose, Hino, and Motte depending on matchups. My guess is Kero, Moose, Hino, Motte will see little if any time in the playoffs if everyone else is healthy.

Let's get healthy and stay healthy until then.

On D it looks like Kempny and Rosi may be the odd men out come playoff time. That is too bad for Kempny. I would like to see more of him these last 10 games. But if we do not see him much the rest of the way, he had a pretty good first year. He is still likely to be retained because he is an RFA and Campbell and Oduya may not be able to be resigned for cap reasons. Of course another team could make an offer he cannot refuse and the Hawks cannot match. They have to sign Panik too. I am thinking the Hawks could go up as high as $1.88mil for Kempny so if someone signs him for more the Hawks get a 2nd round pick. That sounds like way too much. But if other teams see him as a 2nd pair defender with some potential that is about right.

17 wins in a 20 game stretch cannot be taken lightly ANYTIME!

This team is for real, and has a good a chance as any to get out of the West.

Sorry no link but a solid article on the Hockey News site on why both the TOR OT play and the play last night were both on-side.

Rules matter, and by the definition of the rules, both plays were on-side.

If Toews gets hurt, or is hurt, again for any appreciable time, bad news for this team. Getting scoring on more than just PAK is a big part of what's going on. Anyone thinking you can do it with Kero and Hartman and Panik—and no Toews—you're dreaming.
- John Jaeckel

No doubt we have little to no chance of accomplishing anything without a healthy Toews. I think as others have alluded to he needs to let his new big shiny wingers take more responsibility retrieving pucks in the tough areas. He takes so much abuse in and around the net and on the cycle, I know that's his game but the guy seems to have a giant "cross check here" sign on his back every single game. It's disturbing to watch him getting whacked constantly and you know the refs don't have much sympathy for him.

hartman kruger hayden could be hell to play against in the bottom six. still early to say anything definite about Hayden...but he's been really good so far IMO.

Often, the best trades are the ones you don't make. Handzal is a loser. So is Duchene. So glad we didn't waste cost-controlled, talented young players on either of them.

A few random observations.

For the most part, all teams go thru ups and downs during the season. The goal is to get hot and remain so at the right time. CLB had an unbelievable run, then cooled for a time and is now hot again. WSH is the same. A slight downturn, but seems to be back on their game. A combination of factors go into those streaks, but factors are things like strength/ease of schedule, travel, off days, team health, etc. PIT has stayed surprisingly consistent thru a bunch of injuries. They are able to compensate for deficiencies on D by having a surplus of offensive weapons, but come playoff time games are tighter and they will have to go thru some combination of WSH, CLB, NYR which will be tough.

MIN has hit a tough spot in their schedule at the same time as a downturn in their play, 2-8 in their last 10 and seem to be struggling to find a way out of it. Dubnyk looks average at this point. Maybe Boudreau rode him too hard and it is showing now. The style and Pace they need to play at for success is difficult to maintain, and they seem to have collectively hit a wall. It will be interesting to see if they can right the ship soon or if the free-fall continues.

In terms of Hawks potential playoff opponents, both STL and NSH are weaker on the road, so home ice bodes well in those matchups.

Kruger is on a hot streak! Seriously, who are the Hawks going to have to add as a sweetener to move him and his $3M cap hit this summer?

Kruger's goal was glorious

JJ, you are absolutely right on all your points. One thing I will say in addition to results matter is...experience matters.

There are a lot of rookies and 2nd years on this team, BUT...there are also a lot of vets that have gone through the grind.

My point is: I'd put my money on the 'hawks vets carrying this team to the cup before any of the Eastern conference teams minus the Penguins BECAUSE they've done it before.

Is this the year we get the Kid vs Captain matchup? If I were in Vegas, that's where my money would go.

Yes, JJ....gotta get your digs in at those who were critical of Jonathan Toews 40 point pace through the 2016 Calendar year. It's your blog, do what you want. I find it counterproductive as NOBODY called him a "bum", but simply an under-performer. He is and will continue to be the Co-Highest Paid Player in the NHL. Nobody is happier than I that he has been playing at a high level the last 2 months. However, he was playing below the standards that his contract dictates for 1.5 seasons. So, you are entitled to throw shade or mock those of us that criticized 19's play, but it does not negate the facts of the matter that while he wasn't playing like a "Bum", he was also far from playing like a $10.5million dollar man. Whatever, he's been great as have Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane. Hawks, barring another injury and even without their 2C, are the team to beat in the West.

"Sorry no link but a solid article on the Hockey News site on why both the TOR OT play and the play last night were both on-side.

Rules matter, and by the definition of the rules, both plays were on-side."


http://www.thehockeynews....ls-over-the-weekend-stood

Kruger's goal was glorious
- PatShart

Hey got to give him credit he put it on net still think he may be very important in the playoffs

Not liking what is being said about Toews maybe a few games off should be given to him
Keith too
Health is # 1 priority now

Kruger is on a hot streak! Seriously, who are the Hawks going to have to add as a sweetener to move him and his $3M cap hit this summer?
- BMWChiFan

IMHO:
1) Kruger is not a total liability like Bickell was last summer. He has some value, though his contract is about $1m too much for his level of play.
2) Expansion draft. Will Vegas value a veteran experienced, shut down, 3rd/4th line center that is normally strong at the dot and on the pk with a $3mil price tag for the next 2 years to mentor and instill a winning culture on a brand new team?
3) What is the going prices in free agency for a 3rd /4th line center with traits mentioned above.
4) My guess is that if you just trade him you get a 6th or 7th. If you add in a "B" level prospect (Dahlstrom, Svedburg) maybe a 4th or 5th. If you add a better prospect (Hino, Motte) you could get a 2nd or 3rd.

Often, the best trades are the ones you don't make. 1) Handzal is a loser. 2) So is Duchene. So glad we didn't waste cost-controlled, talented young players on either of them.
- BMWChiFan

1) debatable
2) incorrect

You almost sound like the Hawks' interest in these players were made-up fantasies (who am I kidding, that's exactly where you're going. Ehhh, no. Whatever.)

When in fact, the same GM who has accumulated all the amazing top shelf, cost-controlled young talent you speak of was highly interested in both those "losers" at this recent trade deadline.

Believe what you want. It's still definitely a free country as far as that goes.

Beyond that, glad to have the "Duchene is a loser" debate all day long, here or anywhere. Love to hear the actual scouting that draws you to that conclusion.

Yes, JJ....gotta get your digs in at those who were critical of Jonathan Toews 40 point pace through the 2016 Calendar year. It's your blog, do what you want. I find it counterproductive as NOBODY called him a "bum", but simply an under-performer. He is and will continue to be the Co-Highest Paid Player in the NHL. Nobody is happier than I that he has been playing at a high level the last 2 months. However, he was playing below the standards that his contract dictates for 1.5 seasons. So, you are entitled to throw shade or mock those of us that criticized 19's play, but it does not negate the facts of the matter that while he wasn't playing like a "Bum", he was also far from playing like a $10.5million dollar man. Whatever, he's been great as have Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane. Hawks, barring another injury and even without their 2C, are the team to beat in the West.
- EnzoD

This, also, is debatable.

Kruger's goal was glorious
- PatShart

For him anyway.