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In the second round of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, the Blackhawks came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings and advance to face the team that now has them down 3-1 in this year’s Western Conference Finals: the L.A. Kings.
So there’s certainly precedent that the Hawks can come back in this series—the Kings themselves came back from a 3-1 series deficit this postseason.
But the way the Hawks—and especially the Kings—are playing, it doesn’t look terribly likely. My crystal ball says the Hawks take game 5 in Chicago tomorrow night, then come back to LA for a Game 6 capitulation.
But if the Hawks can find some mojo in Game 5, and some momentum to go with it, game 6 could be a different story.
Right now, if you’re head coach Darryl Sutter and his L.A. Kings you have to feel real good about your chances, though.
It’s probably too early, definitely too early, for a post-mortem on the Hawks. But the Kings are forcing the Hawks to play a game that they don’t like to play, because they’re also not well-suited to playing it. There’s a reason that Hawk Coach Joel Quenneville is using Bryan Bickell on his top line, and that line, with Joanthan Toews at center, is producing. And the only line that’s producing.
The Kings are jamming up the middle of the ice, forcing the Hawks to dump and chase, and the Kings larger blueliners are stopping the generally tiny Hawk forwards cold. Simply standing them up and allowing Jonathan Quick or another King defender to play the puck and start the break.
The Kings are also just smothering Hawk forwards when they do gain possession of the puck down low. You can’t fault Ben Smith or Marcus Kruger for their effort. They’re just not big enough or strong enough to beat this pressure consistently.
Although it was fairly obviously too late, the Hawks did look good in the third period last night with a goal and many more quality scoring chances. But they will have to play that way, with defensemen pinching and taking chances the rest of the series. They will have to throw the kitchen sink at the Kings, at least to get the series to 3-2 or 3-3, and maybe also pray for a little luck.
But what we are seeing rekindles the endless debate in the hawk fanabse: pretty, finesse hockey versus physical hockey.
Here’s the thing. Look not further than the line that’s just destroying the Hawks: Pearson, Carter and Toffoli. Big, skilled and fast.
I give Stan Bowman a lot of credit for many of the things he’s done, but one area where he is paying through the nose right now is in constantly swapping out bigger players (especially forwards) for tiny players.
Think about it: Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien, Troy Brouwer, Michal Frolik. And if you look at the return Bowman got for those guys? Not bloody much to show.
I am a big believer and proponent of smaller guys like Kruger and Peter Regin who “play big.… But at some point, you just have to have some size with some speed to go with it. That’s the way the league is going. Not just size and grind. But size and speed.
I love Brandon Saad’s wheels and hands. But he basically plays 20 pounds lighter than he is.
All those who constantly bash Brandon Bollig aren’t wrong in that he’s not a great hockey player. But they are shooting the messenger in a way. The real issue is that Joel Quenneville has so few options in terms of power forwards. Marian Hossa can and occasionally will play that style, but he is really more of a technically elite, 2-way winger who relies on positioning and his stick. Toews is a power player. Bickell is. After that?
Yes, you can point to Michal Handzus and Michal Rozsival as examples of large players Bowman has added. But you can also point to them and say they’ve stunk this postseason. And if anything, Rozsival has lost (another) step since last season.
The Kings’ size and speed together is wearing the Hawks down.
The Hawk power play is dreadful, and if they do bow out in the next game or two, the coaching staff, Quenneville and two of his hand-picked cronies, need to be held responsible.
The truth us, if the Hawks could advance in this series and eventually take the Cup, they would qualify as really the first Dynasty in the post-salary cap era.
If this series goes the way it’s looking as though it will, that dream dies. And that would be a shame.
Back with a Game 5 Preview tomorrow.
JJ