This game is a lot better than last night's Hawk game.
- boilermaker100

I somehow doubt that.

This game is a lot better than last night's Hawk game.
- boilermaker100

If you can deal with the Hawks having zero offense most games are entertaining as we watch bedard and the kid Dmen play but last night was no fun. As hard as I am on Bedard I felt for the kid and thought he's entering a period where he can, and will, develop bad habits......... Floating high in his zone having no clue who to cover as his man, Toews, walks past him to score might just be the norm to close out this yr,.

Yea man, there is so much excellent CHL and NCAA hockey you don't have to watch the Hawks.

Switched to Spokane @ Prince George to see some more of Catton and now catching the 3rd of Medicine Hat v Edmonton. .. Loads of great hockey for the fan.

Is Catton on the realm of Zach Benson? Wiz, anyone?

There is a current NHL second year player drafted very early in his draft year - like 5th or so - and he has not broke out yet with the NJ Devils

His scouting report said that he had done it all at each level and is now ready for the NHL. Alex Holtz, NJ Devils, is a player I have been watching.

I cannot recall whether Wiz told me this kid can make plays at speed. He is a goal scorer with a feel for the game but is a versatile forward, not a one dimensional scorer. Good skater I think

Now someone who has seen him might feel he is a good catch, still a top prospect

Or not. I haven’t seen him play much at all but I was just thinking if KD did trade Mrzak, NJ Devils need an experienced good goaltender

Unfortunately maybe for us we need our # 1 goaltender as he can keep us in games and keep morale from dipping quite badly. So don’t imagine a trade with those players could happen. If only we acquired a veteran netminder and one of the Rockford kids started out next season hot like a burning fire - nah still doubt trade could happen

Maybe if I played strat o matic or one of those card dice games and I had the GM title for both teams….

Scouting report also said Holtz has good hands and I was wondering how he might fare with Bedard. Yet I would need to see and hear from scouts why he hadn’t delivered with the Devils given he has some good players to skate with

If I understood the play-by-play guy right, Moore has 9 goals and 22 assists this year. He looked really good out there tonight. Rinzel played a good game. Nazar didn't stand out.

Final weekend for the B1G, but the conference tournament starts next week. Probably MI vs ND first round I think I heard.

Can Slaggert and Nazar sign PTOs to get some NHL games, or would they have to burn a year off their contract?
- totem

I’d expect both to sign at the end of their current seasons. Nazar will likely burn a year but I’m not sure about Slaggert.

I can see Nazar making the team in 24/25, Moore in 25/26 and Rinzel in 27/28. I think Rinzel take some time in Rockford before making the jump to the NHL. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

If I understood the play-by-play guy right, Moore has 9 goals and 22 assists this year. He looked really good out there tonight. Rinzel played a good game. Nazar didn't stand out.
- bjphawkfan

I've watched enough U of MI games this yr to have seen Nazar not do much in a few of them. .. I'm still where I stood early in the yr, not at all sure Frankie is close to ready for the NHL.

He'll tell us come camp and preseason but until something changes I think another yr of NCAA is best for Nazar.

Don't know who the PBP guy was for this tilt but glad to hear him say Rinzel is showing poise. Ever since the WJC I agree 100% and would add his feet are much less heavy.

And remember Ollie Moore is a true freshman which makes what hes's doing even more impressive as he goes up against 22-23-24 yr olds in NCAA hackey.

To be honest, I think Moore is ahead of Nazar.

To be honest, I think Moore is ahead of Nazar.
- bjphawkfan

It is how they turn out you know after proper development and then what lines will they be capable to play in NHL L1-L3?

They both have that skating factor

Neither figures to be another Jack Skille. But we will find out how they pan out eventually. As I have said beside these two forwards is the path Hayes takes to possible L1 NHL. He has improved in some ways so will he keep getting better? Seems he might have line one goal scoring ability but he is improving in other ways so kind of excited if he turns out to be a L1 or L2 NHL player

The other forward prospects are either pegged for lower lines or have some issues like size and contract signed to play in Russia for a couple years.

Skille's greatest contribution to the Hawks was convincing Tallon to draft Toews and not Kessel. Toews was "unflappable"

Skille's greatest contribution to the Hawks was convincing Tallon to draft Toews and not Kessel. Toews was "unflappable"
- wizardofi

I will say this again for anyone new or perhaps you can chuckle again if you recall my saying this: Skille’s name (and pedigree) is the definition of an oxymoron

Agreed. This site need up and down arrows

So Reddit has become kind of my go to for product reviews and what stuff to buy. It seems like the only place that hasn't been infiltrated by bots. Usually there's a pretty decent consensus and good enough advice in the sub Reddits outside a few of the trolls.

Anyway - the posts from around the trade deadline look identical to the threads here:
- skates lots of minutes
- skates number one minutes
- skates real good
- puts up points
- doesn't do anything good though
- is severely overrated

Super interesting.

RE the overtime goal - I kinda think you walk that in and take that shot especially with the back end guy cheating. But if I'm Bedard I 100% want that puck and say please give me the puck next time.

Basically the eye test doesn't seem to match anything statistically. Not dissimilar to Lukas Riechal, though to less of an extreme, Jones is an enigma. He puts up points and eats minutes, carries the puck up the ice and makes safe breakout passes but doesn't do a whole lot to move the needle significantly one way or the other.

The interesting comment in the last blog was that Torts loved him so obviously he's a great defender. However - over his last 3 years in C-Bus, Torts lowered his playing time against elite competition by about 10% each year.

Disclaimer - I don't think him being on the team is a huge detriment unless he is still spouting the conspiracy nonsense he was tweeting about during covid. Either the deal will be mostly run out when they're getting good and it won't matter or his playing time will be reduced, he'll throw a fit and they can probably move him at that point. So it's pretty moot but a very interesting discussion that can pertain to any player and how "elite" players should be looked at and measured.

However - as he declines physically, the things that he does poorly are going to be exacerbated, especially how it relates to his already poor gap control as well as his ability to skate out of trouble - and his value is really gonna crater.

This is a tremendous article that puts together the visual and the analytical. The summary is that in terms of outcomes Jones is slightly above average but because the physical tools make him extremely noticeable he's one of those guys that looks more productive than they actually are. Also questions his hockey IQ and decision making in the offensive zone which may explain why Bedard doesn't see the puck and why Kane yelled at him and probably on more than that one occasion.

Long but 100% worth a read: https://jfresh.substack.c...seth-jones-actually-elite

Key excerpts:

Seth Jones’ individual impact on his team’s ability to generate offensive chances and prevent scoring chances against has been average at best during his time in Columbus.
- fattybeef[/I]

So if a key component of the reason you think Jones is top-5 in the league is his tough deployment in terms of minutes and competition, you should keep all of this in mind. You should also ask yourself why you don’t consider Thomas Chabot to be elite as well[/I]

Jones’ talent on the breakout leads to eye-popping zone entries, and yet his teams consistently get fewer and lower-quality scoring chances when he’s on the ice.
[/I]

His playmaking ability was occasionally apparent, but far too often he took very low-percentage shots that were either blocked or easily saved. When he completed passes they were almost always to his defensive partner or a player on the perimeter. [/I]

It also goes into his skating and since he isn't great on his edges or going backwards his gap control is not very good so he doesn't really fit on a team looking to break up plays in the neutral zone like the 2010 Blackhawks, for example.

These two are shorter and touch on some of the same things and the leafs one is kind of funny because of how irritated the write seems to be to have to even address it.

https://thehockeywriters....-wary-trading-seth-jones/

https://theleafsnation.co...-would-be-a-terrible-idea

Man that was a long article by jfresh but can't disagree with it. What happened in 2019? I have my suspicions why he's been on the decline as well. Very informative thanks

Don't look know but the Hawks have a chance to move to 2nd worst record today. They are tied with the Sharks in points (San Jose has two games in hand though). Hawks play the Blue jackets and San Jose plays the Stars.

12 point gap between these two and the 3rd worst team. It will be hard for the Hawks to make up that many points with 22 games left. Looks like a definite top 4 pick this summer.

New thread.