The title of this blog makes me feel like writing with a quill and wearing a stovepipe hat whilst drinking spiced cider and enjoying a hasty pudding. Or some Dickensian nonsense (some might say "crap") like that.
But with a day off work, and Springer and Maury not yet on the local Fox affiliate, I thought I'd "pen" a blog about the current state of things with the Blackhawks.
And it needed a title, so . . . anyway . . .
HOW GOOD ARE THESE GUYS?
A fan of another team posted something on the thread the other day about the Hawks at even strength that caused me to investigate some trends and tendencies, the results of which provide a mixed picture of where the Blackhawks are today and what can be expected unless Stan Bowman can make some roster changes.
At even strength, the Blackhawks have not been very good through 36 games (nearly half the season).
5-on-5 GF 53 5-on-5 GA 61
By comparison, the numbers for last year's full season:
5-on-5 GF 150 5-on-5 GA 129
And just because some will point to "post-Cup" adjustments—the "they'll work it out" philosophy, here are the numbers for 2010-11, when the Hawks barely squeaked into the playoffs, and were eliminated in the first round:
5-on-5 GF 169 5-on-5 GA 146
The 2015-16 Hawks, however, are 1-0 in the shootout and have 5 OT wins, second in the league in 3-on-3 goals.
They're 4th in the league on the power play and first in the league in 4-on-3 goals.
Number one goalie Corey Crawford, at the same time, is having, at least in terms of broad statistical categories, a career year.
This year, Crawford has a GAA of 2.22, .925 save% and 5 shutouts.
For his career, Crawford's numbers are 2.33 GAA, .917 save% and an average of slightly over 2 shutouts per season.
All those broad tendencies combined tell you the following:
The Hawks do well with a lot of open ice and a man advantage, not so well (in fact, pretty crappy) 5-on-5, when there's more traffic around and in front of the opponent's net. Their record probably has been helped a bit by the advent of 3-on-3. And they're relying heavily on goaltending. In the playoffs, the goaltending could get them to par, as they have a proven winner in the playoffs—and a backup (Scott Darling) who's shown he can come in and produce in high pressure situations.
But the other stats do not bode well for extended playoff performance, where there's no 3-on-3 in OT.
If you're a good power play team (which this version of the Hawks is—good news), but not a good 5-on-5 team, you're probably not going to draw that many penalties, especially in the playoffs, when the refs tend to swallow the whistles a bit.
All this taken together perhaps explains why there are persistent whispers (that I'm hearing at least) that the Hawks would like to get bigger and better up front, at forward, before the trade deadline.
"DANAULT VERSUS KRUGER"
A nice, but not entirely unexpected secondary story of late has been the play of Philip Danault, recalled recently from Rockford to "replace" Marcus Kruger after he took an injury that will keep him out likely until the playoffs.
Inevitably, there have been comparisons. Danault appears to have a bit more dynamism and creativity to his game. Kruger is stronger on face-offs.
But the reality is, there doesn't necessarily need to be a comparison or a projected trade-off unless the salary cap forces it after this season.
Getting a 100% healthy and rested Kruger back for the playoffs—as a complement to Danault, Andrew Shaw and Andrew Desjardins—could be a huge boost to the Hawks' lower lines, and center/forward depth, especially on the penalty kill. Not dissimilar to the late-season addition of Antoine Vermette last year.
IT'S ABOUT BALANCE AND DEPTH
Before Kruger got hurt, the Hawks' fourth line, which was so good last season and especially in the playoffs after the late-season addition of Desjardins was starting to round into form. Kruger goes down, Danault comes in, and that line is still strong. Which is great.
The Hawks' top line, before Marian Hossa took an injury recently, was also starting to click. Also good news.
But in addition to the fourth line, which was pretty bad to start the season, the Hawks' third line has not been great. Bryan Bickell has two assists in 17 games. The rest of the motley crew manning that line is not a lot better.
That line for much of the playoffs last year was Vermette, Teuvo Teravainen and Patrick Sharp.
Vermette and Sharp are gone, and Teravainen has been asked to fill in for Saad at LW on the first line, big shoes to fill, and it's not his best forward position.
The promise of Danault, and to an extent Dennis Rasmussen, who appears to be a useful player, is encouraging.
But those are lower line players. Take a look at the "first" line. At this time last season—and really all season and throughout he playoffs—Toews/Hossa/Saad was an offensive zone possession machine, and arguably the toughest line to defend in the NHL.
Today, the conventional wisdom is Toews isn't earning his money and Hossa is "done" as a top 6 player.
How did this "suddenly" happen?
Well that assumes you buy those explanations, and I don't. Sure, Toews might be marginally tired after playing a lot of hockey the last few years and Hossa might be a bit longer in the tooth, but the issue to me seems to be the team has not replaced what Saad was on that line: a fast, strong, creative player playing his natural wing position, who could do his share of the heavy lifting necessary to make that line the possession machine it was.
The ongoing, and projectable, problem with the Hawks seems to be players being asked to fill roles they either aren't ready for, or don't play to their strengths.
Like, Teravainen (a finesse player and a natural right wing or center) being asked to play the left side and replace more of a power player. Like Trevor van Riemsdyk being asked to play his off side in a top 4 role. The problem is, these kinds of patches put added pressure not just on the players' themselves, but on their linemates.
You can't blame the coaching staff for being "dumb." They have no other choices.
Again, the front office would like to address these issues, almost certainly. It remains to be seen whether they can.
All I have for now. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all readers.