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Forums :: Blog World :: Justin Lowe: Blackhawks Begin – Opening Night vs. Sens
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Tyler Cameron
Season Ticket Holder
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Toronto, ON
Joined: 10.31.2017

Oct 4 @ 9:02 AM ET
Justin Lowe: Blackhawks Begin – Opening Night vs. Sens
The day is finally here.

It was a long offseason for the Blackhawks that didn't come without a little bit of scrutiny and controversy.

For now, this is your Chicago Blackhawks team hitting the ice vs. the Ottawa Senators.
67hawks
Joined: 08.30.2012

Oct 4 @ 9:06 AM ET
I don't have a good feeling about this one.
riceroni
Ottawa Senators
Location: e5, ON
Joined: 07.29.2009

Oct 4 @ 9:11 AM ET
Should be a good game this evening... Both teams want to prove their doubters wrong and will hopefully come out swinging.. Good luck to you guys...
hawk35
Season Ticket Holder
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: NF
Joined: 08.26.2009

Oct 4 @ 9:19 AM ET
I don't have a good feeling about this one.
- 67hawks


Me either!!! I know Sens should be a match looking forward to, but something doesn't sit well.

I see 5-2 Sens...and I wish I didn't.....

67hawks
Joined: 08.30.2012

Oct 4 @ 9:20 AM ET
Should be a good game this evening... Both teams want to prove their doubters wrong and will hopefully come out swinging.. Good luck to you guys...
- riceroni


Vancouver did that to Calgary last night and so did the Habs taking the Leafs to OT in their own barn.
67hawks
Joined: 08.30.2012

Oct 4 @ 9:28 AM ET
Reading the Bruins blog, John Moore's play was apparently one of the few positives for Boston. I wonder if Bowman ever approached him because Moore signed a long term contract with Boston at a reasonable cap hit (2.7M).
HamiltonHawk
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 11.13.2015

Oct 4 @ 9:40 AM ET
Let the battle for Jack Hughes begin!
Here's hoping im wrong. Will be fun to see the young players.
First two lines look good but that third line
The combination of the third and fourth would make a good fourth line .
Defence two D away from being decent. Two forwards away from having a good forward group.
And we need a healthy on top of his game Crawford
Still I think Hawks win 6- 4
I Am The Breadman
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Richton Park, IL
Joined: 09.16.2018

Oct 4 @ 9:42 AM ET
Looking forward to tonight. I share your concern, Justin, that third line ... I would have put Hayden in Kunitz spot. I'm excited for Johnson and I hope Joki makes me eat my words. Ward needs to do well, like he did the last preseason game.
ChicagoHope
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Lyndon, IL
Joined: 08.13.2007

Oct 4 @ 9:44 AM ET
The top 2 lines better score because there isn't much hope for lines 3 and 4. Kamph gets the promotion to line 3 after tallying 4 goals last year. That shows you how razor-thin the Hawks depth is. Tough to win consistently in today's NHL with that kind of depth. Excited for the season, but fully knowing that this is going to be a difficult season. Excited to see some of the young guys and also hoping Crawford can be healthy. At best in my opinion, 5th in the Central, probably looking at 6th or 7th.

Lack of speed, poor defensively, question marks in goal, and offensively limited after the top 2 lines. My prediction - 35-41-6. 76 Points, 7th Central Division.
StLBravesFan
Season Ticket Holder
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: IL
Joined: 07.03.2011

Oct 4 @ 9:47 AM ET
Justin Lowe: Blackhawks Begin – Opening Night vs. Sens

The day is finally here.

It was a long offseason for the Blackhawks that didn't come without a little bit of scrutiny and controversy.

For now, this is your Chicago Blackhawks team hitting the ice vs. the Ottawa Senators.

- Justin Lowe


As Justin posted:

Blackhawks: 33-39-10 (76 points)
* 229 GF = 22nd
* 256 GA = 22nd
* 16.0% PP = 28th
* 79.1 PK% = 20th
* 49.3 FO% = 21st

Add in that they were 27th in Shot % and 24th in Save % (both 5x5).

Those are particularly bad numbers (especially the top 2) considering that they were 4th in the league in SAT% (5x5).

Has enough changed over the summer to show improvements in those relative numbers?
powerenforcer
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Wheeling, IL
Joined: 09.24.2009

Oct 4 @ 9:51 AM ET
Let the battle for Jack Hughes begin!
Here's hoping im wrong. Will be fun to see the young players.
First two lines look good but that third line
The combination of the third and fourth would make a good fourth line .
Defence two D away from being decent. Two forwards away from having a good forward group.
And we need a healthy on top of his game Crawford
Still I think Hawks win 6- 4

- HamiltonHawk


Doesn't Colorado now own the rights to Ott 1st round pick? Maybe if that is the case, The Blackhawks should lose this game so in the end Colorado does not get J. Hughes.
tvetter
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Burkesville, KY
Joined: 12.16.2015

Oct 4 @ 9:55 AM ET
Let the battle for Jack Hughes begin!
Here's hoping im wrong. Will be fun to see the young players.
First two lines look good but that third line
The combination of the third and fourth would make a good fourth line .
Defence two D away from being decent. Two forwards away from having a good forward group.
And we need a healthy on top of his game Crawford
Still I think Hawks win 6- 4

- HamiltonHawk


Are you saying we could have a good bottom 6 as long as we skate 6 forwards and 2 D at the same time?
HamiltonHawk
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 11.13.2015

Oct 4 @ 9:57 AM ET
Doesn't Colorado now own the rights to Ott 1st round pick? Maybe if that is the case, The Blackhawks should lose this game so in the end Colorado does not get J. Hughes.
- powerenforcer

Yes you're right I forget about that horrible trade they made. Yeah Hawks should lose ...now that is a deep long term strategy
67hawks
Joined: 08.30.2012

Oct 4 @ 9:59 AM ET
Looking forward to tonight. I share your concern, Justin, that third line ... I would have put Hayden in Kunitz spot. I'm excited for Johnson and I hope Joki makes me eat my words. Ward needs to do well, like he did the last preseason game.
- I Am The Breadman


If this season starts to go south on us, any older guys not pulling their weight need to be parked. LTIR them, sit them, send them home, or whatever and play the kids.
Scott1977
Season Ticket Holder
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Yorkville, IL
Joined: 08.30.2012

Oct 4 @ 10:01 AM ET
Even if Crawford returns to elite status I don't see this Hawks team doing much. Joki should be in Rockford for a couple months refining his game so should Johnson, rushing players that are not ready. I get the argument what could they learn in Rockford and they need the nhl experience to grow and see what they have. The bottom six is going to struggle to score which puts more pressure on the top six just like last year. The defense in preseason did not look very good especially gus and rutta who both cannot defend very well in their own zone, but they had to be signed right away, a waste of 3 million dollars imo. Kunitz is taking the place of Hayden who had a really good camp. So is hayden the next player Q runs out of town. With all this being said unless bowman makes some moves this team will finish in the bottom 5 of the league. Hopefully I am wrong and the kids make big strides and have a resurgence of the core players.
HamiltonHawk
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 11.13.2015

Oct 4 @ 10:03 AM ET
Are you saying we could have a good bottom 6 as long as we skate 6 forwards and 2 D at the same time?
- tvetter

That would help. No I mean out of the six forwards on the bottom two lines there is enough talent to make a decent 4th line. Not enough talent to make up a decent third line.
Their defence is at least 2 defenceman away from being at least average.
tvetter
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Burkesville, KY
Joined: 12.16.2015

Oct 4 @ 10:04 AM ET
I was watching the DPS video on Tom Wilson's suspension, and I didn't realize that none of them were due to a hit in the regular season. 3 preseason hits, and one in the playoffs. It takes a special kind of douchebag to get suspended 3 times for hits in games that don't matter!
ChiTownHawkFan
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Northbrook, IL
Joined: 10.04.2018

Oct 4 @ 10:08 AM ET
Can not understand how Hayden is a healthy scratch on this team. Would love to see him on one wing opposite Martinsen centered by Kruger or Johnson on that fourth line. Constant complaints about grit and size, yet Q sits the one young guy that brings those attributes with some speed.
Theo Fox
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 06.18.2016

Oct 4 @ 10:18 AM ET
Justin, agree on the 3rd line. If another winger could step up to play top 6 with Toews, a better 3rd line of Anisimov, Kahun, and Sikura would have been nice. Even just replacing Kunitz with Sikura would be a step up from the current set up.
67hawks
Joined: 08.30.2012

Oct 4 @ 10:30 AM ET
Justin, agree on the 3rd line. If another winger could step up to play top 6 with Toews, a better 3rd line of Anisimov, Kahun, and Sikura would have been nice. Even just replacing Kunitz with Sikura would be a step up from the current set up.
- AEL_Fox


Not to worry.
Looking at our October schedule, we will see all of that and more by Oct 30. Q's head will be spinning.
L_B_R
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 02.23.2014

Oct 4 @ 10:55 AM ET
Even if Crawford returns to elite status I don't see this Hawks team doing much. Joki should be in Rockford for a couple months refining his game so should Johnson, rushing players that are not ready. I get the argument what could they learn in Rockford and they need the nhl experience to grow and see what they have. The bottom six is going to struggle to score which puts more pressure on the top six just like last year. The defense in preseason did not look very good especially gus and rutta who both cannot defend very well in their own zone, but they had to be signed right away, a waste of 3 million dollars imo. Kunitz is taking the place of Hayden who had a really good camp. So is hayden the next player Q runs out of town. With all this being said unless bowman makes some moves this team will finish in the bottom 5 of the league. Hopefully I am wrong and the kids make big strides and have a resurgence of the core players.
- Scott1977

Luke Johnson is already 24 and has spent two seasons in Rockford - there is no way you can apply "rushed" to that guy. He is also now 5 years removed from his draft and is one of the oldest legit prospects in the system (only Iacopelli is older by a few months), so it's do or die for Johnson at this point.

Interesting, Gus was the defender getting the most praise from the pre-season, including defensively. Rutta didn't play much but Q liked him from last season so.
HawkintheD
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Sick Bay, MI
Joined: 02.22.2012

Oct 4 @ 10:59 AM ET
Can not understand how Hayden is a healthy scratch on this team. Would love to see him on one wing opposite Martinsen centered by Kruger or Johnson on that fourth line. Constant complaints about grit and size, yet Q sits the one young guy that brings those attributes with some speed.
- ChiTownHawkFan


Agree that Hayden should be in but I would put him in over Martinsen. Kunitz is another one and hope he was mostly coasting in preseason and preserving his 39 yr old body.

I don’t think you need Hayden and Martinsen on the same line and would also rather Hayden play on the 3rd. Idk, hopefully a couple of bottom line bangers like Johnson and Hayden when he eventually plays can put the puck in the net.
DarthKane
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: 5.13.4.9
Joined: 02.23.2012

Oct 4 @ 11:01 AM ET
I don't have a good feeling about this one.
- 67hawks



Agreed.

HawkintheD
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Sick Bay, MI
Joined: 02.22.2012

Oct 4 @ 11:05 AM ET
Even if Crawford returns to elite status I don't see this Hawks team doing much. Joki should be in Rockford for a couple months refining his game so should Johnson, rushing players that are not ready. I get the argument what could they learn in Rockford and they need the nhl experience to grow and see what they have. The bottom six is going to struggle to score which puts more pressure on the top six just like last year. The defense in preseason did not look very good especially gus and rutta who both cannot defend very well in their own zone, but they had to be signed right away, a waste of 3 million dollars imo. Kunitz is taking the place of Hayden who had a really good camp. So is hayden the next player Q runs out of town. With all this being said unless bowman makes some moves this team will finish in the bottom 5 of the league. Hopefully I am wrong and the kids make big strides and have a resurgence of the core players.
- Scott1977


Afa, Joker goes, the little I saw I thought he looked pretty good. The difference with this year and year’s past is there seems to be some confidence with Colliton where if Joker stumbles out of the gate or loses some confidence, they can send him to RFD where they feel Colliton could help.

That said, I’m hoping Q doesn’t get the yips the first time Henri has a defensive miscue and pressboxes him a few games. Let him play. This is not a Q hates kids post more a Q needs a bit more patience post.
DarthKane
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: 5.13.4.9
Joined: 02.23.2012

Oct 4 @ 11:10 AM ET
Agree that Hayden should be in but I would put him in over Martinsen. Kunitz is another one and hope he was mostly coasting in preseason and preserving his 39 yr old body.

I don’t think you need Hayden and Martinsen on the same line and would also rather Hayden play on the 3rd. Idk, hopefully a couple of bottom line bangers like Johnson and Hayden when he eventually plays can put the puck in the net.

- HawkintheD



I don't mind Kunitz playing a semi-regular role as long as it's in the bottom 6. There is a lot of youth on the team and Kunitz is another experiences voice in the room which can't hurt.

Martinsen doesn't provide any value over Hayden (#freeHayden) and he should be sitting as the 13th forward on a regular basis. Once one of the kids in Rockford (likely Sikura or Highmore) are ready Martinsen can go back to Rockford and Kunitz can rotate in and out of the lineup as the 13th forward.

I am super excited to see Johnson make the team, the kid has worked hard and deserves the opportunity. If Johnson (eventually) plays on a line with Hayden it should be known as the Frolik line as both those guys were drafted with the picks acquired in the Frolik deal.
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