Same story different day, the Hawks dropped another game, this time to the Minnesota Wild 4-1. From the little bit I saw of this game, for me it was the glass shattering moment in realizing how bad this team really is. I watched them on a power play give up three odd man rushes and if it wasn’t for a lucky bounce would have given up a short handed goal on one of them. The fall from grace Mrazek has taken in his career is just something you don’t want to see. However, given the goal of this team, it is exactly what we need. After this one he is now 2-7-1 with a 4.24 GAA and a .872 SV%.
Looking at the team as a whole, they have now lost 6 in a row and are 1-13-1 in their last 15 games. In that span they have only 29 goals for and have given up 65 goals against. If you want a positive stat, in that time frame, they have the 2nd best face-off percentage in the league but looking at the rest of the team stats that is proven to be the most useless stat out there. If anything it might just help add a tiny bit of trade value to Toews and Domi.
Now, the Hawks are home for a mini three game home stand leading into the holiday break and first up is the New York Rangers. I can almost guarantee the Rangers are coming in to this one with a chip on their shoulder after losing to this team earlier this month 5-2. This was a Rangers team that was struggling to get things going and since losing to the Hawks they have won 6 in a row. They will be coming in to down on the back end of a double header after beating the Flyers 6-3.
Players to Watch
Artemi Panarin 7 goals 30 assists 37 points
Mika Zibanejad 15 goals 20 assists 35 points
Adam Fox 7 goals 24 assists 31 points
Projected Starter
Igor Shesterkin 15-4-4 2.45 GAA .917 SV% 1 Shutout
Sundays game will also mark a special milestone for Hawks Legends Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. They will be playing there 1,000 NHL games together, becoming only the 11th pair to do so in NHL History and the 2 to do it with the Hawks. This is one of those bitter sweet moments as it is a reminder of how lucky we have been to experience these two amazing players over the last 15 years and now having to watch the era quickly come to an end. The memories these two have created for us as a fan base will never be replaced and it has set the bar extremely high for future super star duos that might come through this city. They currently are not projected to play together based on morning skate lines, but hopefully Coach Richardson will toss them out there together at some point just for the symbolic jester.
Hawks Projected Line Up
Quick Notes
~Tyler Johnson is not out at the morning skate fully expect him out of the line up as he continues to deal with that injured ankle
~Soderblom gets the call in net as he looks to end his personal 9 game losing streak.
~I mentioned it in the comment section of the last blog but prospect Alex Vlasic will be out 6 weeks after suffering a broken right fibula
~More World Junior rosters have been announced and the Hawks will be sending zero prospects to Team USA and the only other prospect so far besides the Canadian four is Swedish Forward Victor Stjernborg. Only sending 5 players to Worlds just shows that Kyle Davidson has a lot of work in front of him to rebuild our prospect pool.
~The NHL Roster Freeze takes place tomorrow, once this gets lifted its time to start taking rumors a little bit more seriously. Almost time for actually news to talk about everyone!
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