Justin Lowe: Hawks Dust Sens / Hawks v. Wild Teaser Preview: Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild

Season Matchup:

Chicago ✓✓
Minnesota ✓

22-17-4 = 48 points
6th in Central Division (Tied w/ Chicago)
Last game: LOST vs. Calgary (3-2 in OT) last night
GF: 121 / GA: 122
PP% = 19.5% (16th in NHL)
PK% = 82.8% (8th in NHL)
Sniper: Eric Staal – 19 goals
Producer: Eric Staal – 37 points
Tough Guys: – Marcus Folingo - 39 PIMs & 108 hits
Expected Starter: Devan Dubnyk

Nice write up Justin. Nice to see every line contributing. Oesterle, Vinny and Kampf drawing in with more consistent play (minus the 1st period vanishing act in Vegas) have all been good. A win vs Minny tonight would be great. Cheers!

Thanks Justin!

Nice write up.

I hope we saved at least one more goal from last night than the Wild score tonight so we win.

Winning always makes late night feedings easier. I know this to be true. My older daughter had this habit of crying for her late night bottle just as the White Sox started scoring runs in their 2005 White Sox win. Go Hawks!

He only does what bean counters do - play the value proposition. TT, Saad, Cat - all were best talent left on the board.

Only with FAs he plays the same sort of losing cards over and over...
- busmaster

Teams in the Central have played them so often that they have figured out how to beat the Hawks.
- Good goaltending (a given)
- Aggressive 2 man forecheck, get on our Dmen quickly
- Keep track of where Kane is in the offensive zone at all times and take away his time and space
- Prevent the stretch pass
- Block shots
- Be physical with the smaller Hawks in the corners and behind both nets
- Camp out in front of our net for screens, tip ins, and greasy goals

The Hawks have not been able to counter this strategy this year and most of last year (and the playoffs) in divisional games.

Maybe the Hawks, with their roster as it is currently configured, can put up some wins in their own division in the 2nd half. It is time to put up or shut up.

Nice column, Justin.

I find that you enjoy the season way more if you just roll with it--don't rack your brain too much about inconsistent play, potential trades, etc., etc...

Enjoy the big win form last night and gear up for tonight

It's nice the Hawks are on a winning streak vs bottom of the barrel opponents.

Maybe just maybe the Seabrook scratch did away with the unspoken double standard rule all the kids felt when watching the game from the press box.

And just maybe the injury to Corey is a season ender and if it's true then in Jim Mora's voice, PLAYOFFS....

So maybe just maybe the Corey injury is more severe and it gives this coaching staff a chance to develop this season to build for next year and be sellers at the TDL

A great win last night, but the REAL test is tonight. If hawks can somehow grab 2 points tonight it will go a long way in instilling the belief that this group is indeed a playoff team. I really like the recent play of Oesterle, schmaltz, Toews and Hino. Those 4 have really played well during this 4-1-1 six game stretch.

Kane was incredible last night as well (5 points...sweet). BUT, let's see how they fare against a defensively sound system team like Minny. Sens are a mess now. I want to see results against a team playing for something. Tonights game is BIG!!!

Go Hawks!!!

I was at the last home game vs MIN (well, I'm at all of them), but it was just a war zone in the neutral ice. Suffocating and tight checking with no space to maneuver.

Hawks better be ready to change up the game plan and simplify their approach and get pucks deep, forecheck, and traffic to the net. They arent going to have the razzle dazzle time and space plays tonight that they did last night against Ottawa

Going to take some greasy goals and 60 min of 200ft play

I was at the last home game vs MIN (well, I'm at all of them), but it was just a war zone in the neutral ice. Suffocating and tight checking with no space to maneuver.

Hawks better be ready to change up the game plan and simplify their approach and get pucks deep, forecheck, and traffic to the net. They arent going to have the razzle dazzle time and space plays tonight that they did last night against Ottawa

Going to take some greasy goals and 60 min of 200ft play
- Stan_Bowman

Agree

A few notes about last nite:

-How did this awful looking Ottawa team beat TB and San Jose in their prior 2 games before us? The only player who looks like he cares is Stone.

-Bad contracts? How would you like Ryan and Duchene on your side right now? And to top that, potentially start to pay more for Karlson and Duchene. Ottawa has some serious decisions to make and they have a tight wad owner who is probably not liking any of this.

-Kane, languishing way down around 25th in the scoring race, jumps about a dozen spots in one nite after his 5 point game.

I know many really dislike Kempny (saying he's got all the tools and 2 cent brain).
I disagree.

By no means do I think he is perfect, but I watched him pretty closely last night and didn't see anything egregious in his line of duty, certainly nothing more so than what #2 was doing all night.

What I do see is a guy unafraid of contact, is a + skater with excellent mobility and has a + shot along with being a pretty accurate passer as well. I also see a guy somewhat skating on eggshells either thinking he's going to get the rug pulled out from under him by Q or already told that so he knows no matter what he does, he'll soon be in the pressbox.

I'd like to see Q let Seabrook sit another game, keep Kempny with Murphy and sit Forsling so Gustafsson can play. IMO, the worst pair last night was Ruuta and Forsling - IMO both have really regressed and in particular it looks like 42 might be nursing some sort of injury. Not skating as well as earlier in the season, avoiding contact and just doesn't look as sharp.

Up front, would like to see Panik stay in the lineup and I'd sit Debrincat. Sharp may finally be recovering from that hip surgery (same issue as Daley, but of course, Daley couldn't ever get out of Q's doghouse and Sharp has always been a Q favorite). Sure appears as if Sharp is close to 100% and we can see he's starting to heat up with the offense. I'd keep him in the lineup and give Jurco a shot.

(as I cover myself with fireproof/bulletproof material . . . .)

Hawks are on great run seems they finding thier game 2 solid wins against edmonton and ottawa those games they should considering those teams are not making the playoffs i ll hold my excitement and want to see the hawks beat top teams like vegas st louis nashville etc.. Until they can play and win with the top tier teams i m not sure this is a playoff team yet. Justin anything brewing after last nights game with trade talks with ottawa or pitt seeing all the moves were made over the last couple of days, i would rather the hawks make a move now instead of waiting for the TDL.

Everything was on point last night. Hopefully they come out with the same game tonight.

I'd say sit Seabs again.

Spot on Justin!

And in all honesty, I just want to create pressure in front of the opponents goalie, vs teams in our division. We can't even talk about beating them until we are constantly playing in that space.

Been saying it for years. A dangerous PP is a great equalizer. If the hawks PP intimidates the opposition then they will be less inclined to lean on the hawks players. Hawks, like any team, are better with more space to work with. That's the ticket to making life easier for the hawks. Last night the Sens were brutal so I take that one game with a grain of salt. But if the hawks can enter a game with the mindset that they are up 1-0 because they will get one PP goal it would help greatly in my opinion.

I know OTT is a bit of a disaster to say the least . I was watching the sports Net feed last night ,and they were quiet confident about OTT chance coming off win over SJ and TB . So it was good the HAWKS could cool them off some . This team is facing some real adversity and still pushing through .I know they have to beat teams in their own Div. consistently before anything is proven . I think they are getting closer to that point now .The season is not a sprint but a marathon right Q . And Toews standing up in front of the team and challenging them, is just Toews being Toews .. ..GO HAWKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What was up with sending Big John down to recall Jurco, then not play him?

I'm a big Bouma and Wingels fan. They do the job a lot of guys can't/won't. Nice to hear Eddie give them props--especially last night when Bouma was working his butt off to break up a pass and then block a shot in the same play

I know many really dislike Kempny (saying he's got all the tools and 2 cent brain).
I disagree.

By no means do I think he is perfect, but I watched him pretty closely last night and didn't see anything egregious in his line of duty, certainly nothing more so than what #2 was doing all night.

What I do see is a guy unafraid of contact, is a + skater with excellent mobility and has a + shot along with being a pretty accurate passer as well. I also see a guy somewhat skating on eggshells either thinking he's going to get the rug pulled out from under him by Q or already told that so he knows no matter what he does, he'll soon be in the pressbox.

I'd like to see Q let Seabrook sit another game, keep Kempny with Murphy and sit Forsling so Gustafsson can play. IMO, the worst pair last night was Ruuta and Forsling - IMO both have really regressed and in particular it looks like 42 might be nursing some sort of injury. Not skating as well as earlier in the season, avoiding contact and just doesn't look as sharp.

Up front, would like to see Panik stay in the lineup and I'd sit Debrincat. Sharp may finally be recovering from that hip surgery (same issue as Daley, but of course, Daley couldn't ever get out of Q's doghouse and Sharp has always been a Q favorite). Sure appears as if Sharp is close to 100% and we can see he's starting to heat up with the offense. I'd keep him in the lineup and give Jurco a shot.

(as I cover myself with fireproof/bulletproof material . . . .)
- savvyone-1

I'll take the first shot. Kempny is all you say, but the guys that say he has a 2 cent head aren't exactly wrong. I'd like to see him get paired with Seabrook. Tell Seabrook to just work with him, stay at home, back him up, try to teach him and help him make better decisions. Historically 7 has been a good babysitter and I think he could be like a playing coach for guys who need a tuneup in the head dept. We all know (except Wiz) that Seabrook is not a strong skater and not the player he was. But I think he has a lot of value in all other areas.

I'll take the first shot. Kempny is all you say, but the guys that say he has a 2 cent head aren't exactly wrong. I'd like to see him get paired with Seabrook. Tell Seabrook to just work with him, stay at home, back him up, try to teach him and help him make better decisions. Historically 7 has been a good babysitter and I think he could be like a playing coach for guys who need a tuneup in the head dept. We all know (except Wiz) that Seabrook is not a strong skater and not the player he was. But I think he has a lot of value in all other areas.
- 6628

Can't disagree with you 66 - to me, it's all about "playing within yourself."

You know as well as I do, when guys try to be something they are not (RIP Steve Montador), it's a mess. When Kempny plays within his talents, he's fine. It's when he attempts to do more, it's a mess. While he's got good speed, he's no burner. Thus, when he "gambles" and gets caught, it's almost always going to be a bad result.

I would not mind Seabs doing some on-ice training -- just as long as Seabs has come to the realization that he's slowed considerably and has to play a more conservative game. Again, it's always the thing of "in my head, I know I can do this" versus in reality, guys are going to eat your lunch and you don't have a chance of defending.

in all honesty I thought the D looked better without Seabs. Kempny and Murph looked very good. Maybe I'm wrong but in my eye's Seabs is not a good babysitter. He has had to do it and IMO has not done it well. Keith and Hammer were both good babysitters IMO. IE there games were still solid no matter who you paired them with. Seabs started looking AVG when he was not longer paired with keith.

Mostly I'm just happy that the Team played well without Seabs and the PP played well without Keith so not to validate Q's belief you should never sit the older guys. if the D bombed and PP struggled Q would be right back with both those guys. I'm not saying Seabs is not a NHL D man but if he ever wants to be top 4 again he either needs to get in better shape or play with more effort. Keith has always struggled with his shot and it only seems to be getting worse. Let him rest on the PP and play the PK and the heavy 5X5 mins.

Be curious if Jurco plays tonight. Not sure who you sit if he does. I suppose bouma, Wingels or maybe sharp just to give him a off day on a back to back.

I know many really dislike Kempny (saying he's got all the tools and 2 cent brain).
I disagree.

By no means do I think he is perfect, but I watched him pretty closely last night and didn't see anything egregious in his line of duty, certainly nothing more so than what #2 was doing all night.

What I do see is a guy unafraid of contact, is a + skater with excellent mobility and has a + shot along with being a pretty accurate passer as well. I also see a guy somewhat skating on eggshells either thinking he's going to get the rug pulled out from under him by Q or already told that so he knows no matter what he does, he'll soon be in the pressbox.

I'd like to see Q let Seabrook sit another game, keep Kempny with Murphy and sit Forsling so Gustafsson can play. IMO, the worst pair last night was Ruuta and Forsling - IMO both have really regressed and in particular it looks like 42 might be nursing some sort of injury. Not skating as well as earlier in the season, avoiding contact and just doesn't look as sharp.

Up front, would like to see Panik stay in the lineup and I'd sit Debrincat. Sharp may finally be recovering from that hip surgery (same issue as Daley, but of course, Daley couldn't ever get out of Q's doghouse and Sharp has always been a Q favorite). Sure appears as if Sharp is close to 100% and we can see he's starting to heat up with the offense. I'd keep him in the lineup and give Jurco a shot.

(as I cover myself with fireproof/bulletproof material . . . .)
- savvyone-1

I don't agree with you that often. But I agree with your assessment of Kempny. He makes some bonehead plays, but he does a lot of positive things also.