Not a good showing last night....they looked sloppy from the start and couldn't connect on a pass more then 8 ft away to save their life...

--Way too many unforced turnovers with blind passes that Tampa ate up with a forecheck

--Didn't win many, if any, 50/50 battles

--1-5-1 when they dress 7 d men....a recipe for disaster....taxes Kane by the 3rd and the 3rd goal he had zero jump to track down the set up man when Maata left his feet, which was stupid. D men are supposed to take the pass away and Tampa patiently went around him and 50 had ZERO chance

--Toews may be the weakest guy on his skates I have seen. I lost count after 9 times he fell down. Not getting hit, but just flat out falling down with minimal contact and he's on pace for 41 points. 41. You can rip Seabrook all day, but 19's regression outside of a fluke last year, is VERY alarming.

--Fringe playoff team....they'll have games like Vegas or Nashville where you get overly excited and then you get the dumpster fire last night where they outworked and looked sloppy from minute 1 until the end. Losing at home to Tampa without 86, and 91 not playing 2/3 of the game is truly sad.

TB has changed their style of play. Instead of the wide open style that was a disaster last spring they are playing to win in the playoffs.
- paulr

Agreed its interesting to watch teams that play, playoff style hockey and slow the game down and forecheck, etc and see if its sustainable over a larger sample size.

Very well could help explain their slow start...….

I think Babcock would take any job that he wants. Nobody would think Q would go to Miami as they aren't a contender...….As much as I rip Babcock, Id take him in a second over JC.

It could boil down to that. And where would this team be without either of them?
- 6628

They would be buried.....with the amount of GRADE A chances this team gives up nightly...…Each of these goalies is making 4-6 GREAT saves on point blank chances because of massive defensive zone breakdowns. So either.....the talent on the back end isn't there, JC's system sucks, the forwards aren't doing there part.....OR, its combination of all 3.

Not sure a team can run pairings with 7 D men, unless a coach shortens the bench.....so to his point above, could explain why 44 was being moved all over.....and they also decided to save the 1 day of cap savings by not calling up a F.

Or overall, they are mad about being asked to play a system and with partners that they are not familiar with and, fundamentally, do not want to change. IIRC, during the last months/year + of Q's reign, they stopped giving 100% consistently when it was clear it was no longer as easy to win and that the team was nowhere near SC contention.

The remaining core got lucky in having a coach who introduced an innovative system that tapped into their individual skills to the greatest effect for a number of years. Then, the team lost many key role players they could not replace, the remaining players got older and slower, and the NHL figured out how to counteract the system very effectively. (see: CAR game the other night).

Unfortunately for them and the fans, I'm not sure there is a single right answer given the players we have and the skills they bring. Much smarter hockey minds will have to figure that out...
- pdx2ord

I'd say it's extremely likely there's some of this going on.

--Toews may be the weakest guy on his skates I have seen. I lost count after 9 times he fell down. Not getting hit, but just flat out falling down with minimal contact and he's on pace for 41 points. 41. You can rip Seabrook all day, but 19's regression outside of a fluke last year
- SteveRain

Want to get ripped next hawk game? Take a shot every time Toews falls down

Great drinking game

More rationalizing the decisions made last night. Clearly, he has gotten message that people thought it was a horrible decision.

On 7D/11F: "It's always an option, probably not the first option, of course. But it's a thing that teams do in the league & have success. It's not preventing you from having success. To me, it's an issue that shouldn't be one."

On Kane: "I wouldn't want to get in the habit of playing him that way, but we went with 11
- pdx2ord[forwards] to try and get him a little more ice, because he is playing well and we were chasing the game."

On not wanting Koekkoek to sit for too many consecutive games: "The longer it goes, it’s harder for that guy to go in and play... I can’t remember what game it was but it had been a few games. You don’t want that to stretch on too long."

Kubalik on what he was told:
"The Carolina game, I think was tough for everybody, for me, too. Made some bad plays. We talked about it with the coach. All I can do is be positive. Sometimes you just got to be more reactive, skate more, get the pressure going. Because when I'm doing that, I think I can get a lot more pucks back. That's what I need to work on."

Side note: Lehner on Isles:

"It's a great system and everyone's bought in..."

That line is total bullpoop. He was double shifting from the start of the game. It is asinine to think Kane can play almost 30 minutes in a game and be effective late in a game.

As for Special K, scratching anyone to play that bum is the wrong decision. He is terrible. He makes Gus look like a hockey savant with the decisions he makes on the ice.

Anthony Duclair on fire for Ottawa

That line is total bullpoop. He was double shifting from the start of the game. It is asinine to think Kane can play almost 30 minutes in a game and be effective late in a game.

As for Special K, scratching anyone to play that bum is the wrong decision. He is terrible. He makes Gus look like a hockey savant with the decisions he makes on the ice.
- Elbows15

Maybe instead of double shifting Kane, he should try putting Kane on the ice when Hednan wasnt? You know...the kind of advantage a home team should have after last line change?

Also...maybe to get more production out of Kubilak, put him at RW with Dach (who is playing well) instead of Kampf. Maybe Shaw-Dach-Kubilak (instead of Smith there)?

Love him or hate him. GB is a big reason we are here chatting about hockey and twinkies as opposed to some chat room on dial up AOL.

Just food for thought.
- TrueGrit

Agree as much as i do not like GB he has done a lot to make hockey relevant and parity is working to a certain extent. One problem i do have with GB it would be nice if he would advertise and market the game better start by promoting the young players in the league etc..

I am just going to put this out there- I don't think they've ever done anything when they dress 7 defensemen.

I'm not counting when playing a defenseman on wing like they did with Brookbank...

Not to mention that double shifting Kane -- has that ever actually worked well? Has it ever resulted in any comebacks? I don't remember any - if just ends up showing the other side that there is demonstrable desperation.

Agree as much as i do not like GB he has done a lot to make hockey relevant and parity is working to a certain extent. One problem i do have with GB it would be nice if he would advertise and market the game better start by promoting the young players in the league etc..
- Scott1977

Excuse me, but how is hockey relevant when I cannot watch a national game any night on TV? I can watch Professional Bull fighting on ESPN before any hockey game is shown. That my friend is a failure by the commish.

Excuse me, but how is hockey relevant when I cannot watch a national game any night on TV? I can watch Professional Bull fighting on ESPN before any hockey game is shown. That my friend is a failure by the commish.
- powerenforcer

Baby steps my friend. Growing the game will take 2 or 3 generations, from grassroots where kids play the game to the time when 2nd and 3rd gererations of that family are playing and only fully understand and appreciate the game but grow up loving it. Non traditional markets are doing better and better in terms of attendance but more importantly you're seeing those markets produce NHL talent. Yes GB has helped make hockey relevant and one day it will be so relevant that you will be able to see a game or two a week on Network TV. And to get that contract it's important that all regions in the U.S be represented with an NHL club. So next time you complain that GB is keeping a team in Arizona, remember if you want the NHL to get a network contract so you can see more games Arizona, among other U.S cities is vital to acquiring that contract.

Excuse me, but how is hockey relevant when I cannot watch a national game any night on TV? I can watch Professional Bull fighting on ESPN before any hockey game is shown. That my friend is a failure by the commish.
- powerenforcer

My point was its more popular now and better to watch than say 15 years ago. Yes agree on watching hockey, they have bad contract with nbc and not enough exposure over different networks that all people have and can watch.

Excuse me, but how is hockey relevant when I cannot watch a national game any night on TV? I can watch Professional Bull fighting on ESPN before any hockey game is shown. That my friend is a failure by the commish.
- powerenforcer

hmmm...thats true of most ML sports...they are all tied to subscription based services: cable, dish etc.

MLB, NBA are not on everynight unless you by a package
NHL has games on NHL network, NBC, NBCSN, and occasionally ESPN
plus you get most games via reddit streaming...no charge..

no question hockey has grown over the last 20 years but it still has a steep climb in terms of TV revenue and US interest...

Headscratcher here, Buffalo is looking to trade a defenseman for a forward. They must of really thought little of Nylander, if they were short on forward depth.
- LAHawk

They could have had Perlini.

They could have had Perlini.
- rpeters01

Wayne Pirri is available

Hoss on his potential HHoF nomination. https://theathletic.com/1...on/?source=shared-article

And, looks like we have 12 FWD and 7D in Dallas. They didn't call anyone up after putting Caggiula on IR.

Agree as much as i do not like GB he has done a lot to make hockey relevant and parity is working to a certain extent. One problem i do have with GB it would be nice if he would advertise and market the game better start by promoting the young players in the league etc..
- Scott1977

Speaking to parity...8 teams in the west are above NHL 500, 4 teams are at NHL 500, and only 3 teams are below.

Hoss on his potential HHoF nomination. https://theathletic.com/1...on/?source=shared-article

And, looks like we have 12 FWD and 7D in Dallas. They didn't call anyone up after putting Caggiula on IR.
- pdx2ord

IIRC, Rockford is in Texas, so I guess they could still call someone up, but I would think that they are going to go with the 12 forwards they have, and 4K will sit.

Excuse me, but how is hockey relevant when I cannot watch a national game any night on TV? I can watch Professional Bull fighting on ESPN before any hockey game is shown. That my friend is a failure by the commish.
- powerenforcer

Dip in that portfolio then.

Wayne Pirri is available
- paulr

Joki for Toews.

Maybe instead of double shifting Kane, he should try putting Kane on the ice when Hednan wasnt? You know...the kind of advantage a home team should have after last line change?

Also...maybe to get more production out of Kubilak, put him at RW with Dach (who is playing well) instead of Kampf. Maybe Shaw-Dach-Kubilak (instead of Smith there)?
- PatShart

Maybe instead of changing the (frank)ing lines just about every game, leave the combinations together for more than 10 shifts.

Smith should only be used in one role. If at all. Smith has an ability to make Carpenter useless whenever those two are together.

IIRC, Rockford is in Texas, so I guess they could still call someone up, but I would think that they are going to go with the 12 forwards they have, and 4K will sit.
- tvetter

Don't understand why a forward from Rockford hasn't been called by now. Hawks have had a 22 man roster for some time. Maybe they plan to use the accumulated cap space savings for ELC bonuses? Give Wedin, Sikura or whoever the top Rockford forward a look see.

Hoss on his potential HHoF nomination. https://theathletic.com/1...on/?source=shared-article

And, looks like we have 12 FWD and 7D in Dallas. They didn't call anyone up after putting Caggiula on IR.
- pdx2ord

Guessing a call up or a trade is about to happen.
Someone earlier commented the IceHogs are in Austin, TX today.

For those hoping that Hawks will give Babcock a call, a respectful, but pointed thread about how the players around the league view him (including in the replies some feelings from Chelios):

https://twitter.com/MarkF.../1198270969380581376?s=20

If our players in any way quit on JC b/c they didn't like how he was handling things, bringing in a guy like this might be a bigger disaster. I'd say particularly so for our developing players.