That Kubalik... so hot right now.

Does everyone still think he's a LW?

That shot from the right-side is lethal.
- Tyler Cameron

I think he’s comfortable on either wing and that’s a good thing!

That Kubalik... so hot right now.

Does everyone still think he's a LW?

That shot from the right-side is lethal.
- Tyler Cameron

Nope......... you're spot on. He's a RW and hopefully will be slotted on Line 2
with Cat and Strome instead of Shaw. Kubalik is a sniper, Shaw's more of a grinder that will be fantastic on L3 with Saad and Dach ( Hopefully )

If Nylander can be the player we all want on L1 and Kubalik on L2, we're in for a fun season.

As for the D............ let's start bringing the shots against down, yes, even in the preseason. Where's the emphasis on it or is there one ??
We can't continue to give up 40 a game. The D will be different tonight so we'll get another look at what's coming.

I'm hoping the D stays healthy through the preseason and we can have them start the year ready to go. Not having Murphy day 1 last year really hurt the Hawks D depth and it was no wonder they made some improvement once he got back in the lineup. It helps now that they have a couple more defensively responsible guys.

I don't think any young D are gonna crack the blueline if it is healthy.

Keith - Gus
DeHaan - Murphy
Maata - Seabrook

KK or Dahlstrom

I would expect DeHaan and Murphy to get the first defensive assigment, followed by Maata and Seabrook. Keith and Gus get deployed offensively again.

Dalstrom and koekkoek and murphy have had enough time already to learn and understand and execute JC system .

Maybe I put to much into winning and executing in pre season compared to other people , but we all don't have the luxury of a team coming into the season with a past history of dominance , it's a Crap shoot so coming out of preseason with a winning track record and executing his system for this group of players could be the difference of making the playoffs competing for the top 3 or 4 spots in the conference or a dog fight just to even make a wild card spot.

They have 6 games only to figure out personnel and quite frankly they have 1 spot on the defense and 3 maybe 4 to fill in their forward group.
- Taylorst1[/quote

Watch the last interview with Seabs. He claims to be still learning the JC system

That Kubalik... so hot right now.

Does everyone still think he's a LW?

That shot from the right-side is lethal.
- Tyler Cameron

Will we be seeing Patrick Kane moved to left wing?

That Kubalik... so hot right now.

Does everyone still think he's a LW?

That shot from the right-side is lethal.
- Tyler Cameron

I think after last nights game he pretty much put a stamp on one of the RW spots next to Strome and Cat or Saad and whoever plays C for the 3rd line (Dach, Shaw, Kampf). Him and Nylander I think have made an impression that likely bought them spots on the opening night roster IMO

Biggest question marks remaining IMO are whether Dach is healthy enough to make the opening roster and will de Haan be ready or not for opening night and if not who gets a shot to start the year? Because I don't think any of us wanna see Dahlstrom or Double K out there for any prolonged period of time

That Kubalik... so hot right now.

Does everyone still think he's a LW?

That shot from the right-side is lethal.
- Tyler Cameron

Don't you want your "snipers" one-timing from the "inside" - like Kubalik last nite on the right wing?

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
Blackhawks morning skate lineup
Nylander-Toews-Kane
Saad-Kampf-Kubalik
D. Sikura-Highmore-Saarela
Hakkarainen-T. Sikura-Hagel

Keith-Boqvist
Maatta-Seabrook
Gilbert-Holm

Crawford
Gravel

Dalstrom and koekkoek and murphy have had enough time already to learn and understand and execute JC system .

Maybe I put to much into winning and executing in pre season compared to other people , but we all don't have the luxury of a team coming into the season with a past history of dominance , it's a Crap shoot so coming out of preseason with a winning track record and executing his system for this group of players could be the difference of making the playoffs competing for the top 3 or 4 spots in the conference or a dog fight just to even make a wild card spot.

They have 6 games only to figure out personnel and quite frankly they have 1 spot on the defense and 3 maybe 4 to fill in their forward group.
- Taylorst1

Colliton's system, like every other system, requires all components to be working together as a unit. The system requires more than the 2 d-men on the ice to execute their role in the system in order for the system to work as designed.

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
Blackhawks morning skate lineup
Nylander-Toews-Kane
Saad-Kampf-Kubalik
D. Sikura-Highmore-Saarela
Hakkarainen-T. Sikura-Hagel

Keith-Boqvist
Maatta-Seabrook
Gilbert-Holm

Crawford
Gravel
- pdx2ord

Wow tempted to go to the game tonight to see the Nylander Toews Kane line in action for the first time.

I'm hoping the D stays healthy through the preseason and we can have them start the year ready to go. Not having Murphy day 1 last year really hurt the Hawks D depth and it was no wonder they made some improvement once he got back in the lineup. It helps now that they have a couple more defensively responsible guys.

I don't think any young D are gonna crack the blueline if it is healthy.

Keith - Gus
DeHaan - Murphy
Maata - Seabrook

KK or Dahlstrom

I would expect DeHaan and Murphy to get the first defensive assigment, followed by Maata and Seabrook. Keith and Gus get deployed offensively again.
- breadbag

I’m not ruling Holm out yet as the 7th Dman.

That Kubalik... so hot right now.

Does everyone still think he's a LW?

That shot from the right-side is lethal.
- Tyler Cameron

I stopped thinking his best position was LW as soon as I watched his highlight video - regardless if it says "LW" next to his name.

I think after last nights game he pretty much put a stamp on one of the RW spots next to Strome and Cat or Saad and whoever plays C for the 3rd line (Dach, Shaw, Kampf). Him and Nylander I think have made an impression that likely bought them spots on the opening night roster IMO

Biggest question marks remaining IMO are whether Dach is healthy enough to make the opening roster and will de Haan be ready or not for opening night and if not who gets a shot to start the year? Because I don't think any of us wanna see Dahlstrom or Double K out there for any prolonged period of time
- Savetheembers33

MIGHT be interesting to see how much ice time Holm gets tonight in a back-to-back. Gun to my head response sees Double K over Dahlstrom as the 7th D, thus far. Waaay to early though, for anything definitive. Just having fun.

I’m not ruling Holm out yet as the 7th Dman.
- walleyeb1[/quote

Agree with you, for what it's worth. Ha!

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
Blackhawks morning skate lineup
Nylander-Toews-Kane
Saad-Kampf-Kubalik
D. Sikura-Highmore-Saarela
Hakkarainen-T. Sikura-Hagel

Keith-Boqvist
Maatta-Seabrook
Gilbert-Holm

Crawford
Gravel
- pdx2ord

Kampf! Moving up the depth chart. Should be the Hawks 1C by mid-season.

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
Blackhawks morning skate lineup
Nylander-Toews-Kane
Saad-Kampf-Kubalik
D. Sikura-Highmore-Saarela
Hakkarainen-T. Sikura-Hagel

Keith-Boqvist
Maatta-Seabrook
Gilbert-Holm

Crawford
Gravel
- pdx2ord

Wayne Gretzky Kamph gets decent line mates again, shocker!! I am also starting to think if Dach is not ready, how about Sikura centers Saad and Shaw for the 3rd line? That line encourages me a whole lot more than Kamph, who is more suited for 4th line duties.

MEDICAL UPDATE: Forward John Quenneville (right hip) is out for tonight’s game against Detroit.

Kampf! Moving up the depth chart. Should be the Hawks 1C by mid-season.
- Rota's Rooter

Getting sick of seeing that poop!! Maybe Q can convince Jeremy that nobody has signed Roszival yet this offseason!!

That Kubalik... so hot right now.

Does everyone still think he's a LW?

That shot from the right-side is lethal.
- Tyler Cameron

That is something I have mentioned a few times. We really are not sure what wings Nylander, Kubalik, Sikurara, Smith, Perlini, Shaw, etc. will play on. Maybe some of them will be flip flopped form shift to shift and game to game. I would prefer to having them designated to one wing or the other and have them play with consistent linemates for long stretches once the season begins. With so many new faces on the roster the earlier they can gain familiarity the better. Especially because you do not want to waste the initial stretch of home games playing musical chairs.

I think a new blog listing the "locks" at the forward position and then ranking the remaining forwards fighting for a position would be interesting. You could change the ranking game to game on each blog.

Right now the 7 locks are Kane, Toews, Saad, ADB, Strome, Shaw, Caggiula. The 2 near locks are Smith (because of salary) and Carpenter.

For the last 4 spots after that I would rank them:
Kampf
Kubalik
Nylander
Wedin, Perlini, Sikura, Kurashev
Highmore, Saarlela, Soderlund
Quenneville

Dach is a wild card. I could see them keeping him on the roster, letting him get healthy and then practicing with the team. when healthy playing 9 games at 3C, and then making a decision.

Wow tempted to go to the game tonight to see the Nylander Toews Kane line in action for the first time.
- Popsghostly

Who's going to do the dirty work in corners?

I'm hoping the D stays healthy through the preseason and we can have them start the year ready to go. Not having Murphy day 1 last year really hurt the Hawks D depth and it was no wonder they made some improvement once he got back in the lineup. It helps now that they have a couple more defensively responsible guys.

I don't think any young D are gonna crack the blueline if it is healthy.

Keith - Gus
DeHaan - Murphy
Maata - Seabrook

KK or Dahlstrom

I would expect DeHaan and Murphy to get the first defensive assigment, followed by Maata and Seabrook. Keith and Gus get deployed offensively again.
- breadbag

Yep. If Gus is on first team unit on PP, who is the Dman on the 2nd PP unit? Keith? Maatta? Seabs?
I imagine the 1st PK unit is Murphy and Dehaan. Is the 2nd unit Keith and Seabs? I can't see Keith not on one of the two PK units. It might be hard to play Keith with Maatta together because they are both LD's. So Seabs is the default.

Scott Powers
@ByScottPowers
Blackhawks morning skate lineup
Nylander-Toews-Kane
Saad-Kampf-Kubalik
D. Sikura-Highmore-Saarela
Hakkarainen-T. Sikura-Hagel

Keith-Boqvist
Maatta-Seabrook
Gilbert-Holm

Crawford
Gravel
- pdx2ord

Keep seeing this combo. Wonder if this is becoming more and more likely to be our 3rd line to start the season with Shaw and Nylander filling out those spots on the top two lines

Who's going to do the dirty work in corners?
- Beaver-Warrior

Heavy lifting for the Captain!!

Who's going to do the dirty work in corners?
- Beaver-Warrior

They are not going to win many corner battles. But on the other hand, when they have possession in the offensive zone the opposition may not win the puck back very easily. So maybe a push (neutralization).

They are not going to win many corner battles. But on the other hand, when they have possession in the offensive zone the opposition may not win the puck back very easily. So maybe a push (neutralization).
- -Doh-

As long as it's not a return to the Kane/Bread line where they were scary good with the puck on their blades and equally scary bad in their own zone.