Who Cares!?!?!?!?!?!?!

It's all about who JC put on the ice and how dare he use that slug AA!!!!
- HawkintheD

starting to think Dallas may be vulnerable too.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. With the way this team sux at the dot, no reason to take a whistle there. It almost cost them too. Possession is everything in 3 on 3.....and why on earth is Anisimov EVER on the ice in OT ????? He's slower than Handzus ever was !!! Did Debrincat even step on the ice in OT ???? Injured ???
- Hawkytalk

DBC was out on that triple until the need for Arty to take a face-off?

Defense wins championships, in every sport.

What happened to that great LA Ram offense against the Patriots?
Good pitching still beats good hitting in the post season in MLB, every year.
As bad as defense is in the NBA, the Warriors were better on D too.

And whomever wins the Stanley Cup this year will be the better defensive team.
- scottak

You still have to be able to score. Red Sox line up rocked every playoff pitching staff. Niners had a decent defense but a great offense. The Gretzky Oilers they had a good defense but great offense. There needs to be a balance of both. Jmho

Defense wins championships, in every sport.

What happened to that great LA Ram offense against the Patriots?
Good pitching still beats good hitting in the post season in MLB, every year.
As bad as defense is in the NBA, the Warriors were better on D too.

And whomever wins the Stanley Cup this year will be the better defensive team.
- scottak

This is not a championship team.

No one thinks it is.

But it’s now an exciting team, winning games however it gets done, maybe make the tournament - fun to watch - possible positive future out there.

Considering everything, a good and positive season. Let’s enjoy it for however long it lasts.

Next year, however, we should expect more.

i will never bash oldduff again...i promise

never thought the hawks would pass 6 teams to be in wild card contention and they did it less than 20 games...

of course the 6 teams have co-operated and been bad

This is not a championship team.

No one thinks it is.

But it’s now an exciting team, winning games however it gets done, maybe make the tournament - fun to watch - possible positive future out there.

Considering everything, a good and positive season. Let’s enjoy it for however long it lasts.

Next year, however, we should expect more.
- StLBravesFan

I just hope this winning doesn't move the Hawks to do something foolish, like trade young talent/picks for aging vets.

This will kill some people, but Gus plus 4 tonight with 3 helpers.

He is now only minus 9....
- TrueGrit

Which is still the worst on the team, behind even Seabrook.

Murphy, +8
Keith +7
Dahlstrom +6
Koekkoek +1
Seabrook -7
Forsling -7
Gustafsson -9

Who Cares!?!?!?!?!?!?!

It's all about who JC put on the ice and how dare he use that slug AA!!!!
- HawkintheD

No poop. Sheesh.

Forsling had a strong game tonight. I guess that is what is frustrating about young defenseman, inconsistency.

Forsling had a strong game tonight. I guess that is what is frustrating about young defenseman, inconsistency.
- LAHawk

Interesting to note that he still only got 14 minutes of icetime. Dahlstrom had almost 13. Keith played almost 27 minutes and Gus was over 24 minutes. JC has been pretty even with the icetime but not tonight. Murphy and Koekkoek both north of 21 minutes.

I just hope this winning doesn't move the Hawks to do something foolish, like trade young talent/picks for aging vets.
- kwolf68

You don't have to worry about that this year. Maybe next year if they are really strong, but even then, I doubt it. They are finally in a pretty good position with the cap and some promising prospects coming up. I think you will only see "hockey moves".

You don't have to worry about that this year. Maybe next year if they are really strong, but even then, I doubt it. They are finally in a pretty good position with the cap and some promising prospects coming up. I think you will only see "hockey moves".
- Chunk

Hope so and Stan's 3 moves this season (Drake, Dylan, CooCoo) have been damn solid moves. Either keep that vibe or just stand pat.

Pretty impressive this team finally has as many wins as regulation losses. To me it really is considering the struggle in our own zone. Is this scoring sustainable? We'll see, ugly or not this team is beating teams they should be beating. 8-2 since the all star break

Which is still the worst on the team, behind even Seabrook.

Murphy, +8
Keith +7
Dahlstrom +6
Koekkoek +1
Seabrook -7
Forsling -7
Gustafsson -9
- scottak

Still better than Duncan Keiths -29 last year playing for Q.

Which is still the worst on the team, behind even Seabrook.

Murphy, +8
Keith +7
Dahlstrom +6
Koekkoek +1
Seabrook -7
Forsling -7
Gustafsson -9
- scottak

To be fair, Forsling has amassed his -7 in fewer than half the games. Perlini is the runaway "leader" among forwards at -17 in only 29 games.

This is not a championship team.

No one thinks it is.

But it’s now an exciting team, winning games however it gets done, maybe make the tournament - fun to watch - possible positive future out there.

Considering everything, a good and positive season. Let’s enjoy it for however long it lasts.

Next year, however, we should expect more.
- StLBravesFan

I think everyone does expect more but people need to temper their expectations. Not again will we reach the level of hockey we saw from 09-15, but this can still be a good team that battles in the Playoffs.

Good point about making the Playoffs is that it does help make them a more attractive team in Free Agency. Dunno how much they'll be players in FA but if the team is playing well guys will be more willing to be apart of it without having to grossly overpay for them

Forsling had a strong game tonight. I guess that is what is frustrating about young defenseman, inconsistency.
- LAHawk

Correct.

I still think we may see Forsling moved.

The Hawks can't bring back the same defencemen and think next year will be different.

I think if anything he could get moved to free up room for Jokiharju to come back up. He would be help significantly right now in the defensive end IMO.

Interesting to note that he still only got 14 minutes of icetime. Dahlstrom had almost 13. Keith played almost 27 minutes and Gus was over 24 minutes. JC has been pretty even with the icetime but not tonight. Murphy and Koekkoek both north of 21 minutes.
- breadbag

Is it just me or does Koekkoek get absolutely abused almost every game with no calls? He covers for Murphy on Larkin streaking in only to get elbowed in the face and nothing.

I know Hockey is a contact sport, but it seems like he gets one or two of those almost every game.

Interesting to note that he still only got 14 minutes of icetime. Dahlstrom had almost 13. Keith played almost 27 minutes and Gus was over 24 minutes. JC has been pretty even with the icetime but not tonight. Murphy and Koekkoek both north of 21 minutes.
- breadbag

Dahlstrom seems to have hit a wall. Koekkoek started to get his minutes tonight and might be a trend moving forward.

I think Dahlstrom is a guy you keep, but is more a 6-7 on a real good team.

Dahlstrom seems to have hit a wall. Koekkoek started to get his minutes tonight and might be a trend moving forward.

I think Dahlstrom is a guy you keep, but is more a 6-7 on a real good team.
- Justin Lowe

Agree with this. Dahlstrom is bottom pairing fodder at this point. CooCoo continues to develop, I'd like to stay the course with him.

Correct.

I still think we may see Forsling moved.

The Hawks can't bring back the same defencemen and think next year will be different.

I think if anything he could get moved to free up room for Jokiharju to come back up. He would be help significantly right now in the defensive end IMO.
- Justin Lowe

I was thinking the exact same thing. Assuming that they are going to play Seabrook, I wouldn't mind a steady diet of:

Keith-Seabrook
Murphy- Koekkoek
Gustaffson - Joki.

I've lost interest in Dahlstrom. He's decent defensively, but he gets caught out of position and is late covering too often for me.

Dahlstrom seems to have hit a wall. Koekkoek started to get his minutes tonight and might be a trend moving forward.

I think Dahlstrom is a guy you keep, but is more a 6-7 on a real good team.
- Justin Lowe

Part of the learning curve. He is smart has good size and will figure it out.

Totally agree on hitting the wall. Like Delia.

Pretty impressive this team finally has as many wins as regulation losses. To me it really is considering the struggle in our own zone. Is this scoring sustainable? We'll see, ugly or not this team is beating teams they should be beating. 8-2 since the all star break
- BetweenTheDots

It's been fun as hell to watch. It's remarkable how this team can score at will. The way the Hawks top 9 is shaping up is really promising moving forward.

If it were my, I would look to move AA in the summer after his NTC is up and his bonus is payed. If you can get out from his contract, I would spend it on a top 6 forward, grab some depth at Centre and then search the trade market for a top 4 LHD.

Caggiula-Toews-Kane
DeBrincat-Strome-??
Saad-??-Kahun

DBC passed up a couple grade A chances tonight trying to set-up Strom ,may have been able to put the game out of reach early if that is even possible with this club . Kahun is really starting to grow on me also KookKook has been good .Stan needs to make another deal he is on a roll . Maybe call up Holland ,who knows may help the PK

Part of the learning curve. He is smart has good size and will figure it out.

Totally agree on hitting the wall. Like Delia.
- TrueGrit

Taking the contracts out of it, and basing it strictly on play, how many of our young D (excluding Jokiharju) would you play in front of Seabrook? I personally don't hink he has played terribly this year, and has been quite good in the last 10 games he played.