Can we talk about the elephant in the room please? The most important takeaway that I got out of last nights game was just how awful the Hawks announcers were.


Can they please send Stephen Nelson back to where he came from? I changed over to the Canucks announcers for the third period because I grew tired of Nelson. His focus on pop culture references, smugness and attempts at being clever were annoying. He was adequate at calling the play by play, but there were times when it sounded like he did not even want to the job. i.e. "Thanks for spending far too much time with us over the past two nights". I get that humor can be a useful tool, but he was bad. There were times where I could not tell the difference whose audience he was calling the game for. Having an absolute homer (i.e. Ken Harrelson) is terrible, but what I enjoy about Foley is that he calls them as he sees them, but one can easily tell that he is the Hawks announcer.

Couple of notes about the game:
-Cannot remember who else posted it, but one of the first things that came to my mind when Stillman got hurt was that Gus was trying to make sure he could keep playing with the Hawks by taking down one of his own guys. Of course I am joking, but it amused me nonetheless
-Kane seemed off in the first period and/or slightly disinterested
-Toews was a bit slow. I wonder if the back-to-backs are going to be tough on him and for his body to recover. I feel bad for the guy as he is an insane competitor and would love to see any of the keyboard warriors who dog him try to get through one day of hard practice to see how their flabby bodies would react.
-Looks like King has a shorter leash for the first line of the power play and is giving the second line more of a shot. Could be situational, but I would also love to see Kubalik on the first line PP since he has that wicked shot.
-McCabe scares me every time he touches the puck. His metrics may be fine, but there were a few times when I thought one of his mistakes was going to end up in the back of the net.
-I think that we are seeing the true Hawks team. They can beat mediocre/bad teams, but cannot beat the good teams. I think that it was the right move to get rid of JC, but the bigger impact may be Bowman leaving. This team does not have the secondary scoring that it needs to compete for the playoffs.
-Dach is going to be a polarizing figure due to where he was drafted. Personally, I was hoping they would grab Byram or Zegras, but was also happy they did not take Turcotte. This may be a case where it takes Dach a long time to ramp up (age 24-25) to fill into his body and become more of an impact player.

Miscellaneous fun note:
Met Jon Klemm at a DU game a couple of weeks ago. One of the nicest guys you want to meet and gave my wife and I some good stories about some of the guys on those Avs teams. He said that Sakic is one of the nicest guys on the planet and would do anything for the team. Also mentioned that Forsberg had a pretty bad temper, but was pound for the pound the best player in the league and it was a shame he got injured so much. Claude Lemieux was one of those guys who if you passed the puck to, you knew you were never getting it back - quite a shot hog. He shared a few other stories, but we had a good time chatting with him and like a lot of former pros, missing playing the game, but loves to talk about his experiences.

I think JC's biggest failing was what was supposed to be his strength, his communication skills. Seems it was his way or no way, and he couldn't communicate what his system was either. i will also blame him for keeping Brookbank as the defensive coach (I think he was just a yes man), and Mitell also. I think Crawford just decided he couldn't fight city hall with Bowman having gone all in on JC, and just stayed out of the way.

Nice article about Cookson by Pope in the Sun-Times today. What I like is his take on accountability. Hopefully Kurashev got the message last night when he sat after another offensive zone penalty.
- LAHawk

It made me smile looking at the picture they used for that story. He's standing right behind Z. Smith. Somewhere Elbows heart just warmed up.

Can we talk about the elephant in the room please? The most important takeaway that I got out of last nights game was just how awful the Hawks announcers were.


Can they please send Stephen Nelson back to where he came from? I changed over to the Canucks announcers for the third period because I grew tired of Nelson. His focus on pop culture references, smugness and attempts at being clever were annoying. He was adequate at calling the play by play, but there were times when it sounded like he did not even want to the job. i.e. "Thanks for spending far too much time with us over the past two nights". I get that humor can be a useful tool, but he was bad. There were times where I could not tell the difference whose audience he was calling the game for. Having an absolute homer (i.e. Ken Harrelson) is terrible, but what I enjoy about Foley is that he calls them as he sees them, but one can easily tell that he is the Hawks announcer.

Couple of notes about the game:
-Cannot remember who else posted it, but one of the first things that came to my mind when Stillman got hurt was that Gus was trying to make sure he could keep playing with the Hawks by taking down one of his own guys. Of course I am joking, but it amused me nonetheless
-Kane seemed off in the first period and/or slightly disinterested
-Toews was a bit slow. I wonder if the back-to-backs are going to be tough on him and for his body to recover. I feel bad for the guy as he is an insane competitor and would love to see any of the keyboard warriors who dog him try to get through one day of hard practice to see how their flabby bodies would react.
-Looks like King has a shorter leash for the first line of the power play and is giving the second line more of a shot. Could be situational, but I would also love to see Kubalik on the first line PP since he has that wicked shot.
-McCabe scares me every time he touches the puck. His metrics may be fine, but there were a few times when I thought one of his mistakes was going to end up in the back of the net.
-I think that we are seeing the true Hawks team. They can beat mediocre/bad teams, but cannot beat the good teams. I think that it was the right move to get rid of JC, but the bigger impact may be Bowman leaving. This team does not have the secondary scoring that it needs to compete for the playoffs.
-Dach is going to be a polarizing figure due to where he was drafted. Personally, I was hoping they would grab Byram or Zegras, but was also happy they did not take Turcotte. This may be a case where it takes Dach a long time to ramp up (age 24-25) to fill into his body and become more of an impact player.

Miscellaneous fun note:
Met Jon Klemm at a DU game a couple of weeks ago. One of the nicest guys you want to meet and gave my wife and I some good stories about some of the guys on those Avs teams. He said that Sakic is one of the nicest guys on the planet and would do anything for the team. Also mentioned that Forsberg had a pretty bad temper, but was pound for the pound the best player in the league and it was a shame he got injured so much. Claude Lemieux was one of those guys who if you passed the puck to, you knew you were never getting it back - quite a shot hog. He shared a few other stories, but we had a good time chatting with him and like a lot of former pros, missing playing the game, but loves to talk about his experiences.
- MileHighHawks

I kind of liked Stephen Nelson. The play by play is good. Some of the awkward stuff may weed its way out after some more experience points. It would be cool to see if Len Kasper could do it. As a Sox fan he made watching the Cubs bearable when my old roommate was watching the games and hes a big hockey fan. Hawk was great until he was unbearable.

The bolded is what it is.

After this year's start, no way in Hades will I not be happy with a 1-0 goalie win road victory.

He'll be coaching a Euro beer league team soon.
- mohel

Talk about beating a dead horse.

Starting Lineup

DeBrincat - Dach - Kane
Hagel - Toews - Strome
Hardman - Borgstrom - Kubalik
Khaira - Carpenter - Kurashev

de Haan - S Jones
McCabe - Murphy
Stillman - Gustafsson

Fleury
Lankinen

Scratches:
Gaudette, R Johnson, C Jones

Where he belongs...

To be fair, Kane and Cat have been pretty darn good during the King Era.
- mohel

Add Fluery.

Dach had the best face-off percentage he had all year 38.5%. That was his highlight. He had no hits, no shots, and looked like a puppy flopping around the first time it walked on ice. He needs to either be put in a 3C role and figure it out, or sent to the A. He has certainly regressed from that playoff bubble performance.

Toews looks gassed. I understand back-to-back, and 33 years old, but with him missing the year, too much is being asked of him. However, putting Strome with players with some offensive acumen like Hagel and Toews, that was the Hawks best line 5 x 5 by far. Way more dangerous than when Kubalik was playing with Hagel and Toews.

Kurashev got benched as this was 2 games in a row with a O zone penalty. Not to pick on him, but finally some accountability for stupid mistakes.

Upside is that Dach, Strome and Kubalik's contract negotiations should result in minimal raises. Same with Lankinen. deHaan and Fleury are off the books. Hopefully Reichel next year can make the jump, and see if Davidson or another GM can put lipstick on this pig.
- LAHawk

anybody not named debricant dach Jones because his contract is immovable Hagel should be considered tradeable assets. Doubt Kane and towes are traded most likely finish their careers as Blackhawks. Last night was like watching two ahl teams playing.

...I agree...too many Hawks players a re losing pucks or passing to a completely covered player when skating a bit would open up opportunities...if you can't do either of those 2 then dump it high and short

anybody not named debricant dach Jones because his contract is immovable Hagel should be considered tradeable assets. Doubt Kane and towes are traded most likely finish their careers as Blackhawks. Last night was like watching two ahl teams playing.
- Scott1977

What makes Hagel so untouchable?

Starting Lineup

DeBrincat - Dach - Kane
Hagel - Toews - Strome
Hardman - Borgstrom - Kubalik
Khaira - Carpenter - Kurashev

de Haan - S Jones
McCabe - Murphy
Stillman - Gustafsson

Fleury
Lankinen

Scratches:
Gaudette, R Johnson, C Jones

Where he belongs...
- rpeters01

Swap Dach & Borgstrom, Gaudette & Hardman, C Jones and Stillman (IR)

What makes Hagel so untouchable?
- rpeters01

Type glue player teams need but if a team comes calling with a good offer then trade him

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving (assuming one is still allowed to wish said happiness to others in today's climate) to my USA posters.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Sutter was named Hawks coach.
- mohel

Pretty sure they tried this route....twice

Once post Keenan before Hartsburg

Second...well.....was it the brief playoff appearance that we remember before Brent Johnson stoned them OR is it the following year when Fleury is jacked at Columbus strip club?

Either way....no thanks.

Type glue player teams need but if a team comes calling with a good offer then trade him
- Scott1977

Why in world would anybody be looking to move Hagel.

I swear, this place can be strange some times

Why in world would anybody be looking to move Hagel.

I swear, this place can be strange some times
- vabeachbear

Exactly! RFA with a value contract. Third (?) on the team in goals. Gives it everything he has every shift, every game. Yeah, let's get rid of him!

Type glue player teams need but if a team comes calling with a good offer then trade him
- Scott1977

What would you consider to be a good offer for a player like Hagel with 2 more years left on a $1.5M/yr deal?

After this year's start, no way in Hades will I not be happy with a 1-0 goalie win road victory.
- 35Tony0

To me it's way way way more impressive shutting a team out. They were fortunate in that 2nd period but hey if they can't bury their golden opportunities that's on them. Fleury made some great saves but there was a lot of good plays in front of him, even the slow poke Strome coming back 185 feet and tying up a forward stick so he couldn't get a premium shot off. He's not the only one either.

King is 5-1 so far and everyone is pissed off? I don't get it

I really hope when they play the Flames they just keep playing their own game. Defense first it's their only chance to win any game.

Glad to see Kalynuk being called up.

What would you consider to be a good offer for a player like Hagel with 2 more years left on a $1.5M/yr deal?
- RickJ

Good question imo I think it would be better to keep Hagel instead of trading him. Like mentioned before he one of those glue type players that every team needs. So build around dach debricant Jones and Hagel and go from there. See what young players fit going forward and ones that dont.

To me it's way way way more impressive shutting a team out. They were fortunate in that 2nd period but hey if they can't bury their golden opportunities that's on them. Fleury made some great saves but there was a lot of good plays in front of him, even the slow poke Strome coming back 185 feet and tying up a forward stick so he couldn't get a premium shot off. He's not the only one either.

King is 5-1 so far and everyone is pissed off? I don't get it
- BetweenTheDots

Do you read your own posts?

What would you consider to be a good offer for a player like Hagel with 2 more years left on a $1.5M/yr deal?
- RickJ

Agreeing to take Seth Jones contract off the Hawks' hands.

To me it's way way way more impressive shutting a team out. They were fortunate in that 2nd period but hey if they can't bury their golden opportunities that's on them. Fleury made some great saves but there was a lot of good plays in front of him, even the slow poke Strome coming back 185 feet and tying up a forward stick so he couldn't get a premium shot off. He's not the only one either.

King is 5-1 so far and everyone is pissed off? I don't get it
- BetweenTheDots

Because they are still running the same asinine system that has them chasing the opposing team around their own zone for days at a time.
Defense first isn't giving up 35 shots a game.

Their PDO is regressing to the mean is all that is happening. That will end shortly and we will see another 8-10 game winless streak. I wanted JC gone but to continue to run this clown system makes it pretty pointless.

King is still playing Carpenter and Juju beans far too much.

I really hope when they play the Flames they just keep playing their own game. Defense first it's their only chance to win any game.

Glad to see Kalynuk being called up.
- BetweenTheDots

IDK. He looked pretty bad this weekend against the Wolves.

IDK. He looked pretty bad this weekend against the Wolves.
- Elbows15

"Bad" is a relative term.