And dumb as a box of rocks. Reading the prompter over old footage, she told ys how great Peter CLIMB-a was. She generally smiles and nods like she has a clue while the analysts talk.
- Q...argh

I like dumb.

I think there is another angle to the line juggling we have to consider...


...getting a player "going"

The Hawks have 4 top end scorers/players in the NHL.....I don't believe any other team has this type of depth.

So when a player like Bickel......Saad...etc........is slumping Q has the ability to line juggle and try to jumpstart a specific player....not a reason for all of the line juggling but could be a reason for some of it.
- UnnamedSource

The only thing I really noticed tonight was double shifting Kane a lot. Morin seemed to get skipped a lot but I'm not sure if it was by anyone in particular.

I think there is another angle to the line juggling we have to consider...


...getting a player "going"

The Hawks have 4 top end scorers/players in the NHL.....I don't believe any other team has this type of depth.

So when a player like Bickel......Saad...etc........is slumping Q has the ability to line juggle and try to jumpstart a specific player....not a reason for all of the line juggling but could be a reason for some of it.
- UnnamedSource

Or he just like juggling lines and needs an intervention.

The only thing I really noticed tonight was double shifting Kane a lot. Morin seemed to get skipped a lot but I'm not sure if it was by anyone in particular.
- Walky

He does that a lot with Kane. Poor guy is gonna be a bag of bones by the end of the year.

New setup. Playoffs are divisional until the CF. The wild cards are the swing teams.
I think the Hawks proved they can handle the physical play and can hit just as hard. Ask Bergeron.
- Elbows15

I thought 2 and 3 from same division play each other and 1st seeds play the wild card who Can be from the other division. They can handle the physical play, but it can wear you down over the long haul, especially having a rough 1st round. Injuries are always key

Or he just like juggling lines and needs an intervention.
- Elbows15

He could be on that show on A & E!

Or he just like juggling lines and needs an intervention.
- Elbows15

I am of this school of thought.

I thought 2 and 3 from same division play each other and 1st seeds play the wild card who Can be from the other division. They can handle the physical play, but it can wear you down over the long haul, especially having a rough 1st round. Injuries are always key
- tomcat24

The wild card can be from the other division. However, once the wild card is established, that wild card plays within the division it started the playoffs in. If that makes sense.

This seems to have been their MO for the past few years, play to the level of the competition, lose games they should win, grind out a win or point over tough competition.
- Walky

I have seen this also, keep the game close and play a little more defensive minded. Last year, lots of 1 goal game victories. But playing this way does leave you open to unlucky bounces or a mistake coming back to haunt you or a good play by the opposing team or special teams.

He could be on that show on A & E!
- UnnamedSource

Its more the in game stuff that drives me bonkers. Where it seems to really affect the play is in their own zone. I can see it some this year, trying to find line combos given all the new faces.

He could be on that show on A & E!
- UnnamedSource

That show is depressing.

Also, I wanna do thing to Tappen that may be illegal is most states.

I'm trying to come up with a bad joke that relates the Hawks play tonight with the Walking Dead...

...I got nothin'.

The Hawks have a better road record than at home.

The Hawks have a better road record than at home.
- faustus1500

With the circus trip coming up, this is a good thing. I expect after that trip, their home record will start to improve.

With the circus trip coming up, this is a good thing. I expect after that trip, their home record will start to improve.
- Elbows15

I agree, I think a long road trip is what this team needs.

I have a question not from tonight's game but I wanted to ask after the Jets game:

Why were the Jets fans booing Patrick Kane whenever he had the puck?

The Hawks have a better road record than at home.
- faustus1500

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Hawks troubles with production are worse at home.

6 opening night, 1 an empty net. Needed 'em all.

6 against Sens, needed 'em all.

3 in a lose to the Wild and no more than 3 in any other game.

JJ, I was at the game tonite, this should have been 2 in the bag, not sugarcoating , we're umm 8-6, we'll see how we do against some good teams coming up, but I am thinking, some of these experiments will come to a head come dec.1st if we are 500 or below. for 1 start looking for a serious #2 center so you can go back to 2&2 on the top 2 lines, you pile 19,81& 10 on 1 line, now you leave 88 hanging. Saad's a nice player but Kaner needs a true set up guy for a serious 2nd half run.
Morin & Smith won't figure by March. Liking what I am hearing about Mark McNeill though.
Missed your comments on Ray Emery but my take JJ, I Like the Flyers, feel for them during their hard times , hopefully they get it together but what Ray Emery did was totally unexcusable & bull sh it! I like fighting in the game & want the instigator rule out but when 1 guy wants no part of it , where is "the code" here?, or 2 goalies 200 feet away from each other fighting! what I hope happens next time JJ, when the Cap's play the Flyers, is that either Wilson, Brouwer or Erskine run Emery big time then Kick his Ass all over the ice while "telling him, protect yourself !", hopefully the refs let it go & turn a blind eye, give him a dose of his own medicine & move on! that was totally bull crap, & if Craig Berube or Paul Holmgren condoned it then shame on them! both of those guys were tough & played within the lines, Emery didn't here! JMO , that is all.

I think there is another angle to the line juggling we have to consider...


...getting a player "going"

The Hawks have 4 top end scorers/players in the NHL.....I don't believe any other team has this type of depth.

So when a player like Bickel......Saad...etc........is slumping Q has the ability to line juggle and try to jumpstart a specific player....not a reason for all of the line juggling but could be a reason for some of it.
- UnnamedSource

You have now broached the issue and point I have with Q. It is philosophical. That is this whole jump start feel thing.

I said this last year, when Q started in 2010, he had young guys. To keep their attention and focus, he was able to juggle and shuffle things effectively to prevent his team from becoming a day care center we spoke about earlier.

However, that tactic, like most parenting tactics will grow stale. More importantly, what occurs/has/should occur is that your team and its players mature. This is what you want and hope for. It is a goal. When this occurs, we want to encourage our players to "work thru" their issues, not rely on or expect or fear mommy and daddy coming and taking a guy out of an uncomfortable situation to make it easier. There is HUGE value in this.

The season is 82 games and nobody...I mean nobody is going to be balls out A game dominant every game or shift. IF I were a player, and especially one on this team, I would believe I/we have earned the opportunity to work through our issues to get back on track.

No other team in the league sees this sort of fire wagon/chinese fire drill shift to shift. You want guys to play on pins and needles and tentative, play for Q. Hey, if he were coaching edmonton, the tactic could definitely be useful. But not here anymore to this level.

Imagine your wife everyday or afternoon, as you sit to enjoy a game on TV, compulsively re arranging her chochkies on the living room tables and shelves...to just get it right. I would go insane.

You have now broached the issue and point I have with Q. It is philosophical. That is this whole jump start feel thing.

I said this last year, when Q started in 2010, he had young guys. To keep their attention and focus, he was able to juggle and shuffle things effectively to prevent his team from becoming a day care center we spoke about earlier.

However, that tactic, like most parenting tactics will grow stale. More importantly, what occurs/has/should occur is that your team and its players mature. This is what you want and hope for. It is a goal. When this occurs, we want to encourage our players to "work thru" their issues, not rely on or expect or fear mommy and daddy coming and taking a guy out of an uncomfortable situation to make it easier. There is HUGE value in this.

The season is 82 games and nobody...I mean nobody is going to be balls out A game dominant every game or shift. IF I were a player, and especially one on this team, I would believe I/we have earned the opportunity to work through our issues to get back on track.

No other team in the league sees this sort of fire wagon/chinese fire drill shift to shift. You want guys to play on pins and needles and tentative, play for Q. Hey, if he were coaching edmonton, the tactic could definitely be useful. But not here anymore to this level.

Imagine your wife everyday or afternoon, as you sit to enjoy a game on TV, compulsively re arranging her chochkies on the living room tables and shelves...to just get it right. I would go insane.
- TrueGrit

No other team in the league has won 2 Stanley Cups in the last 4 years. Quenneville's MO has always included line juggling, and like it or not it has been successful. The real reason the Hawks have started sluggishly has far more to do with the inability of new players to fill the shoes of departed ones, a brutal job so far by the backup goalie and veteran players not willing to pay the price as they did last season.

Quenneville wasn't and isn't the issue at this time, yes he will be tuned out eventually as all coaches are, but there is no proof this is the case right now.

No other team in the league has won 2 Stanley Cups in the last 4 years. Quenneville's MO has always included line juggling, and like it or not it has been successful. The real reason the Hawks have started sluggishly has far more to do with the inability of new players to fill the shoes of departed ones, a brutal job so far by the backup goalie and veteran players not willing to pay the price as they did last season.

Quenneville wasn't and isn't the issue at this time, yes he will be tuned out eventually as all coaches are, but there is no proof this is the case right now.
- paulr

Paul Quenville, I should have figured it out. Paul you are a smart man, did you read what I said? Do you understand the context of what I am saying?

How was it successful last season? Same lines for 48 games. Ex a few injuries and subs here and there.

Say what you want, but this logic that because Hawks won 2 cups in 4 years vindicates Q as a genius. Well I drank carrot juice before each game they won last year...Does Carrot juice make the team better?

My point was about the difference in philosophy. I acknowledged it. I point out how annoying it is. YOu throw out the red herring that is works...that new guys are not doing their jobs...That is the best straw man I have heard. Point to game/situation where new guys are letting people down? Q must not be happy with the league high 12 or so olympians he has on his team.

How do we explain the 3 years he coached where we did not win the cup? IF he gets full marks for winning the cup, then does he not accept responsibility when they fall short? if it is his genius that got the guys to play their best, then he must have failed the other years.

Here is fact, and we can disagree, but lets deal with firm reality. That is you come off arguably your best game Saturday. You role out in the first period dominating the opposition, an average at best team, with a rookie goalie making a debut.

With 8 mins left in first, we get the line matchup churn and shuffle. That is your guys way...I get it, So I say, why in Gods green earth would you not, with all the talent/matchup advantages, get behind your guys and let the other coach worry? This is what he did last year when the team was so successful all year.

You would never see Babcock scrambling shift to shift all game trying to get Zetterberg "going", he knows his guy will get it going on his own, because he has proved it his entire career.

Nowhere do I say Q should be fired etc...I simply point out difference in philosophy. Remember last year in the finals when the genius was so sneaky splitting Kane and Toews to make it harder on the Bruins to defend, then in the end, when that failed, put them back together and allowed his boys to go out and out play the other teams stars? I think the ends of your moustache, which is nice by the way is obstructing your viewing reality.

Paul Quenville, I should have figured it out. Paul you are a smart man, did you read what I said? Do you understand the context of what I am saying?

How was it successful last season? Same lines for 48 games. Ex a few injuries and subs here and there.

Say what you want, but this logic that because Hawks won 2 cups in 4 years vindicates Q as a genius. Well I drank carrot juice before each game they won last year...Does Carrot juice make the team better?

My point was about the difference in philosophy. I acknowledged it. I point out how annoying it is. YOu throw out the red herring that is works...that new guys are not doing their jobs...That is the best straw man I have heard. Point to game/situation where new guys are letting people down? Q must not be happy with the league high 12 or so olympians he has on his team.

How do we explain the 3 years he coached where we did not win the cup? IF he gets full marks for winning the cup, then does he not accept responsibility when they fall short? if it is his genius that got the guys to play their best, then he must have failed the other years.

Here is fact, and we can disagree, but lets deal with firm reality. That is you come off arguably your best game Saturday. You role out in the first period dominating the opposition, an average at best team, with a rookie goalie making a debut.

With 8 mins left in first, we get the line matchup churn and shuffle. That is your guys way...I get it, So I say, why in Gods green earth would you not, with all the talent/matchup advantages, get behind your guys and let the other coach worry? This is what he did last year when the team was so successful all year.

You would never see Babcock scrambling shift to shift all game trying to get Zetterberg "going", he knows his guy will get it going on his own, because he has proved it his entire career.

Nowhere do I say Q should be fired etc...I simply point out difference in philosophy. Remember last year in the finals when the genius was so sneaky splitting Kane and Toews to make it harder on the Bruins to defend, then in the end, when that failed, put them back together and allowed his boys to go out and out play the other teams stars? I think the ends of your moustache, which is nice by the way is obstructing your viewing reality.


- TrueGrit

Come on TG, Quennevile has NEVER kept the same lines intact in a single game let alone for 48 in a row. Quennville is a more hands on coach than Babcock and it has proven successful for him.

As for the alleged 'strawman' in the form of why the Hawks are struggling I think they are more representative of the Hawks issues than that of a coach doing exactly as he has always done. So far no one has been able to fill the skates of Frolik, Bolland and Emery. Remember a coach is only as good as the team he has. Add to this star players cheating and trying to get things done taking shortcuts, not playing on the defensive side of the puck, breaking early, making ill timed pinches, not blocking shots, not taking hits to make plays etc. I really have a hard time seeing Quennevile is wrong trying to kickstart the team.

Come on TG, Quennevile has NEVER kept the same lines intact in a single game let alone for 48 in a row. Quennville is a more hands on coach than Babcock and it has proven successful for him.

As for the alleged 'strawman' in the form of why the Hawks are struggling I think they are more representative of the Hawks issues than that of a coach doing exactly as he has always done. So far no one has been able to fill the skates of Frolik, Bolland and Emery. Remember a coach is only as good as the team he has. Add to this star players cheating and trying to get things done taking shortcuts, not playing on the defensive side of the puck, breaking early, making ill timed pinches, not blocking shots, not taking hits to make plays etc. I really have a hard time seeing Quennevile is wrong trying to kickstart the team.
- paulr

Go watch a game from last year, you did not see the craziness. Just did not occur. Maybe a change cuz of injury, but there was none of this every other shift crap. Look at my posts all last year, as I tipped my hat to Q for letting the boys play.

As far as jump start, the team is not playing that bad over all this year. They did everything but score early yesterday. Stay with that. Nope.

As far as replacing Frolik or Bolland...cmon really. This Frolik thing is over blown too.

Thank you for proving my number one point, and illustrating the Blackhawkcentric view of the world. Poor Q as good as his team. yeah, with 10 to 12 potential olympians. Give me a break. The Q apologists because he is not coaching team canada and actually has to work and develop guys. Geez... Pirri and Morin have done nothing to negatively impact their team thus far. Both have been acclimating well.

Plus nobody ever considers the imcremental improvements of the players staying as a way to mitigate the loss of other players. Handzus has replaced bolland. Played a few games, got hurt, now in press box. Check that one off.

Last year, the concern was Shaw, Saad, Kruger. Unproven guys at that point stepping in.

Anyways, I am not suggesting Q sit on his hands. But get a game plan and stay with it for longer than 5 shifts. Late in the game, tight game, up a goal, do I sub Shaw or Kruger for Pirri? Sure. ease him into those situations. Anyways. onward and upward.

Go watch a game from last year, you did not see the craziness. Just did not occur. Maybe a change cuz of injury, but there was none of this every other shift crap. Look at my posts all last year, as I tipped my hat to Q for letting the boys play.

As far as jump start, the team is not playing that bad over all this year. They did everything but score early yesterday. Stay with that. Nope.

As far as replacing Frolik or Bolland...cmon really. This Frolik thing is over blown too.

Thank you for proving my number one point, and illustrating the Blackhawkcentric view of the world. Poor Q as good as his team. yeah, with 10 to 12 potential olympians. Give me a break. The Q apologists because he is not coaching team canada and actually has to work and develop guys. Geez... Pirri and Morin have done nothing to negatively impact their team thus far. Both have been acclimating well.

Plus nobody ever considers the imcremental improvements of the players staying as a way to mitigate the loss of other players. Handzus has replaced bolland. Played a few games, got hurt, now in press box. Check that one off.

Last year, the concern was Shaw, Saad, Kruger. Unproven guys at that point stepping in.

Anyways, I am not suggesting Q sit on his hands. But get a game plan and stay with it for longer than 5 shifts. Late in the game, tight game, up a goal, do I sub Shaw or Kruger for Pirri? Sure. ease him into those situations. Anyways. onward and upward.
- TrueGrit

Further on your point about Shaw, Kruger and Saad. Those guys have really picked up their games this year. I don't know what possessed Kruger to change his faceoff approach but he needs to keep it up. It almost might be time to bump Kruger up a line.

But I'll disagree about the Frolik situation being overblown. Having a player of the calibre on the 4th line gives Q a lot more options and he can manage the ice time more effectively. Although I have to point out that Q's done a much better job of that lately.

Classic Chicago...

Many may have seen this, but just ran across it again today...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqrtoFWglMY