Pog mo thoin
- I Am The Breadman

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Take your pick. I am both.

I don't mean to be pissy and short, so please ignore me if I offended the conversation or any individual, but it's a "what if" scenario. To me, I see a shutout victory and move on to Vancouver. Like I said, ignore me if you want.
- I Am The Breadman

I agree with you it was great to see them beat a team that supposedly is better than them. I mainly lose it when someone does something really dumb, still think about the PK against the Kings where the forward got behind both Murphy and Koekkoek, smfh.

They had a nice game last night, many many of those shots were contested. That 2nd goal was a thing of beauty. Strome with great hands, Guys sacrificing their bodies to block shots, take a hit to make a play, this equals winning hockey.

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- Elbows15

Hahahaha!!!

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Baciami il culo


Take your pick. I am both.
- Elbows15

You're a lot of things.....

I agree with this analysis. While Caggiula is an effective winger for Toews and Kane, he's not exactly a top 6 talent if you think of the long term and overall depth that the team should be at. One way to think about it is Caggiula would still be effective as a 3rd or 4th liner.

Sikura in comparison is a top 6 talent with his vision, hockey sense, and passing. Not contact averse and goes to tough areas. He wouldn't be an asset on the 4th line. 3rd line, yes, if the forwards are comprised of 3 scoring lines.

If he continues his upward trend the past few games, I could see Sikura surpassing Kahun on the depth chart despite having less points this season. I do like Kahun and like him in the top 9. However, he is prone to making bad passes, especially trying to tether cross ice passes that are easily intercepted.

I'll get flamed for this but I think Sikura is the 2nd best passer on the team behind Kane. A distant 2nd to 88 but still one of the best on the team.
- AEL_Fox

I'd say Strome, Cat has the same issue as Kahun

Point percentage since Jan 1. Possible standing points. Not bad for last 30 games.

4th in Western Conference













- walleyeb1

Thanks for cleaning that up...

I agree with you it was great to see them beat a team that supposedly is better than them. I mainly lose it when someone does something really dumb, still think about the PK against the Kings where the forward got behind both Murphy and Koekkoek, smfh.

They had a nice game last night, many many of those shots were contested. That 2nd goal was a thing of beauty. Strome with great hands, Guys sacrificing their bodies to block shots, take a hit to make a play, this equals winning hockey.
- BetweenTheDots

I hear you, Dots. Agree on dumb things. I react in the moment, but then look at the whole picture. If it is something to move on from, I will. It was a great game with great goaltending. Loving the team defense improve more little by little.

I agree with this analysis. While Caggiula is an effective winger for Toews and Kane, he's not exactly a top 6 talent if you think of the long term and overall depth that the team should be at. One way to think about it is Caggiula would still be effective as a 3rd or 4th liner.

Sikura in comparison is a top 6 talent with his vision, hockey sense, and passing. Not contact averse and goes to tough areas. He wouldn't be an asset on the 4th line. 3rd line, yes, if the forwards are comprised of 3 scoring lines.

If he continues his upward trend the past few games, I could see Sikura surpassing Kahun on the depth chart despite having less points this season. I do like Kahun and like him in the top 9. However, he is prone to making bad passes, especially trying to tether cross ice passes that are easily intercepted.

I'll get flamed for this but I think Sikura is the 2nd best passer on the team behind Kane. A distant 2nd to 88 but still one of the best on the team.
- AEL_Fox

No fire from here, but Toews is pretty good, Strome....

I think the Sikura is a very good passer, that what he does better the Strome (but not as good as Toews) is make good passes out of trouble.

You're a lot of things.....
- mohel

In a lot of other languages.

You're a lot of things.....
- mohel

List them

List them
- Elbows15

This is a family site.....

So, we'll just go with hockey savant.

No fire from here, but Toews is pretty good, Strome....

I think the Sikura is a very good passer, that what he does better the Strome (but not as good as Toews) is make good passes out of trouble.
- StLBravesFan

No argument here with what you and Dots state with Strome being one of the top passers on the team. That is true that Toews is also a great passer especially in dangerous situations.

Of the D men, I would think Gustafsson is the best passer despite his defensive deficiencies which are thankfully improving. Slowly but surely.

And that was actually Perlini's fault because he put the return pass in Sikura's skates. Sikura played it well and under normal circumstances Perlini buries it but you know Perlini didn't take the correct play because he tried to get Sikura that first one.
- EbonyRaptor

Perlini's pass back to Sikura was very questionable. But, it also showed heart and unselfishness. He won't make that move again, prolly. Gaining the impression (real or imagined), that the entire team senses that Sikura is just one goal away from putting up some timely and sustained goal scoring.

Perlini's pass back to Sikura was very questionable. But, it also showed heart and unselfishness. He won't make that move again, prolly. Gaining the impression (real or imagined), that the entire team senses that Sikura is just one goal away from putting up some timely and sustained goal scoring.
- gabriel

I suppose you could make a case that Sikura should have anticipated Perlini would pass it back to get him his first goal (no matter what) and therefore should have given it to Perlini sooner, but there again it's a case of a player being unselfish and making the play that's best for the team. Sikura is more of a pass first player - not to the Schmaltz-like exclusion of shooting - but as a first instinct, which is why he held Price to the last moment to give Perlini a tap in.

Did anyone else see Forsling make that goal saving block late in the game . Or was It my imagination .he has quietly improved of late .

I suppose you could make a case that Sikura should have anticipated Perlini would pass it back to get him his first goal (no matter what) and therefore should have given it to Perlini sooner, but there again it's a case of a player being unselfish and making the play that's best for the team. Sikura is more of a pass first player - not to the Schmaltz-like exclusion of shooting - but as a first instinct, which is why he held Price to the last moment to give Perlini a tap in.
- EbonyRaptor

Great observation. The point is that what we're seeing is guys playing for each other as a team. To send Sikura back to Rockford now would not be a fair move. Even though he remains on the schneid.

OK ... back to my theme of the day - Anisimov.

What if the Hawks could acquire a player that would play a solid 3C, be younger, faster and more dynamic than Anisimov, be better than 50% on faceoffs, and not cost more than Anisimov?

As you will recall, I have already spent oodles of keystrokes lately scheming a way to use Toronto's pending cap crunch to wrestle a player away from them. It usually involved some trade package where the Hawks would get Kapanen and take on the last year of Horton's contract. So, how about a similar trade but instead of Kapanen we target Kadri? Something along the lines we send Anisimov to Toronto for Kadri and Horton's contract. Kadri has an extra year remaining on his contract than Anisimov does (3 years vs 2 years) but the AAV are about the same ($4.5M vs $4.55M). Essentially the Hawks would get the better player in the swap for taking on Horton's contract which helps Toronto with their cap situation. Other minor details could be added to make the trade work.

Thoughts?

There seems to be a consensus among Hawks fans that it would be a good idea to trade Anisimov - not all fans, but certainly a goodly groundswell of sentiment in that direction.

Why? Why is it a good idea to trade Anisimov? I'm not against trading him but I'm curious what the objective is in trading Anisimov. He's not without value - he does some things pretty well and he seems like a good club house guy. Is it simply his $4.5M cap hit? I don't think that's out of line for a 3C and since the Hawks don't have a prospect ready to step into the 3C role I doubt there would be much of a net difference in AAV between Anisimov and whoever would replace him.

Thoughts?
- EbonyRaptor

I'd be fine with AA as 3C, but if they want 3 scoring lines, I think they could use his cap hit to sign a better offensive player. AA doesn't seem to score much away from Kane.

How much would it take to sign Nelson? He's currently making 4.25, and I'm sure he'll want (and get) a raise.
Dzingle, OTOH, only makes 1.8. Would he sign for 3.5? Also, is he a true C, capfriendly has him listed at all 3 forward positions.
Off the wall idea... would Jumbo Joe consider signing a 1 or 2 year deal with us? He's 38, so not a long term solution, but he is still a solid player. My guess is that he retires as a Shark, but who knows.

Did anyone else see Forsling make that goal saving block late in the game . Or was It my imagination .he has quietly improved of late .
- oldduffman

Missed the particular play you referred to. But, yes, I have to agree with your general observation. Am no longer cussing him with regularity. A step in the right direction? We can only hope.

There seems to be a consensus among Hawks fans that it would be a good idea to trade Anisimov - not all fans, but certainly a goodly groundswell of sentiment in that direction.

Why? Why is it a good idea to trade Anisimov? I'm not against trading him but I'm curious what the objective is in trading Anisimov. He's not without value - he does some things pretty well and he seems like a good club house guy. Is it simply his $4.5M cap hit? I don't think that's out of line for a 3C and since the Hawks don't have a prospect ready to step into the 3C role I doubt there would be much of a net difference in AAV between Anisimov and whoever would replace him.

Thoughts?
- EbonyRaptor

I think that the slowest guy on the ice usually ends up being the whipping boy when things go South like it did for this team early in the season. Other than that horrible shot AA took from the goal line that ended up back in the Hawk's zone late in a game that I can't remember right now, I think that he's been good, and when I saw him live in San Jose, I appreciated the space he makes with his size and his decisions with the puck. I don't see the point in trading him this offseason, unless of course he wants to go to a contender

OK ... back to my theme of the day - Anisimov.

What if the Hawks could acquire a player that would play a solid 3C, be younger, faster and more dynamic than Anisimov, be better than 50% on faceoffs, and not cost more than Anisimov?

As you will recall, I have already spent oodles of keystrokes lately scheming a way to use Toronto's pending cap crunch to wrestle a player away from them. It usually involved some trade package where the Hawks would get Kapanen and take on the last year of Horton's contract. So, how about a similar trade but instead of Kapanen we target Kadri? Something along the lines we send Anisimov to Toronto for Kadri and Horton's contract. Kadri has an extra year remaining on his contract than Anisimov does (3 years vs 2 years) but the AAV are about the same ($4.5M vs $4.55M). Essentially the Hawks would get the better player in the swap for taking on Horton's contract which helps Toronto with their cap situation. Other minor details could be added to make the trade work.

Thoughts?
- EbonyRaptor

I think Toronto would like to take a player with a lower salary. Trade AA to anyone for a pick, and send Gus to Toronto for Kadri and Horton. Toronto gets an offensive dman with a low hit, and more importantly, cap space to sign Kapanen and Marner. We get a solid 3C with a reasonable cap hit for 3 more years. Might work.

Did anyone else see Forsling make that goal saving block late in the game . Or was It my imagination .he has quietly improved of late .
- oldduffman

I know Murphy had a goal saving block. Forsling could have too. Maybe we're just talking about two different plays. I've always been a Forsling supporter. He's young, growing, and still developing his game, but I've always liked what he did bring in his game.

OK ... back to my theme of the day - Anisimov.

What if the Hawks could acquire a player that would play a solid 3C, be younger, faster and more dynamic than Anisimov, be better than 50% on faceoffs, and not cost more than Anisimov?

As you will recall, I have already spent oodles of keystrokes lately scheming a way to use Toronto's pending cap crunch to wrestle a player away from them. It usually involved some trade package where the Hawks would get Kapanen and take on the last year of Horton's contract. So, how about a similar trade but instead of Kapanen we target Kadri? Something along the lines we send Anisimov to Toronto for Kadri and Horton's contract. Kadri has an extra year remaining on his contract than Anisimov does (3 years vs 2 years) but the AAV are about the same ($4.5M vs $4.55M). Essentially the Hawks would get the better player in the swap for taking on Horton's contract which helps Toronto with their cap situation. Other minor details could be added to make the trade work.

Thoughts?
- EbonyRaptor

My other thought is that I love the idea of taking on a salary for next year in order to get a high pick/prospect and a serviceable player, but if we're taking Horton (or Callahan), I'd like more than just Kadri.

I know Murphy had a goal saving block. Forsling could have too. Maybe we're just talking about two different plays. I've always been a Forsling supporter. He's young, growing, and still developing his game, but I've always liked what he did bring in his game.
- I Am The Breadman

Me too, but I think that we fans tend to overrate our players. Think about what we've read on here. We have ardent supporters of Murphy and Gus, and a lot of posts about how we should resign Dahlstrom and Koekkoek, and now Forsling is solid. Plus we have Joki coming in, and the other 3 high draft picks.
We're all in agreement we need a top 4 dman this off season, but we already have 8 dmen when you add in 2 and 7. We have one of the worst defenses in the league, but all of our dmen have support on this board. It really doesn't make sense.

I know Murphy had a goal saving block. Forsling could have too. Maybe we're just talking about two different plays. I've always been a Forsling supporter. He's young, growing, and still developing his game, but I've always liked what he did bring in his game.
- I Am The Breadman

Forsling went down right in the crease on a point plank shot .Ya hope he continues to progress think he will be a good one