Sure, you can talk about playing without your #1 goaltender and two best defensemen last night. But the evidence is mounting that this just might not be the Blackhawks' year—no first repeat in the salary cap era.
Something doesn't feel right with this team. You can point to bad statistical trends like subpar (for the Hawks anyway) possession, shot differentials that now typically tilt toward the opposition, pretty anemic 5-on-5 scoring.
I am willing to go glass half full on the penalty kill. I think it's going to be fine, with Marcus Kruger back, for the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs. The power play's been pretty strong all year.
It's everything else that just seems out of kilter—and too much to get it all aligned for a long Cup run. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong.
Is it the players? Is it the coaching?
I don't know. Take last night. Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk got all gushy about Andrew Shaw squaring off with Matt Dumba in retaliation for a clean hit on Patrick Kane the last time the teams played.
Now, I am all for sending a message. But that was not how to do it. Someone should have just lined Dumba up and flattened him. But the Hawks, at least this year's version of the Hawks (because the teams that won Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015 were a little different in this regard), don't do that.
A couple of pops to Dumba's jaw from the likes of Shaw is not going stop anyone from running Kane. And it isn't going to make anyone think twice or pull up and lose pucks or make bad plays fearing contact (like a couple of young Hawks do).
In last years playoffs, say what you will about the player involved, Bryan Bickell destroyed Dumba with big (clean) hits game after game, to the point where Dumba was worthless by the end of that series. This team doesn't seem to have that capability.
I know, I know: "yeah, but teams that hit a lot have low possession numbers, blah blah, blah." Sure, hit counts mean chasing the puck a lot. We all get it, but . . . here's another "factoid": teams that don't punish opponents physically in the playoffs don't win Stanley Cups.
Wait, no, that's just a fact.
But it's not the only problem. This team doesn't do a lot of business in front of or around the net—hence the bad 5-on-5 numbers—relying way too much on pretty passing plays and looking for the one-timer or the open side. It's great when it happens, but a lot of goals in hockey are scored off rebounds, in high traffic, yes, with the adjective "greasy" attached to them.
The defense is what it is, a lot of new faces and auditions going on. You kind of can't blame anyone, including the coaching staff. You just hope they settle on their best 6 ASAP and get them paired and playing on their best sides.
Anyone thinking the Hawks can beat the Wild in a playoff series? I'm sure some are. But what's maybe more important is that this year, the Wild themselves don't.
Like I said, I hope the Hawks get it turned around and pulled together. It just doesn't look terribly promising when you take off the rose-colored glasses (with branded "One Goal" frames).
5 games left.
All for now,
JJ
FOB (good peeps, good reads)
Chris Block Al Cimaglia http://www.thethirdmanin.com
Frank Nova http://www.hockeenight.com
Greg Boysen http://www.letsgohawks.net
Puckin’ Hostile Crew http://www.puckinhostile.com