No, but I can talk like him. Just go into full farmer mode.
- paulr

Put a handful of marbles in your mouth too....

Oh I will, lunch is paid for for the next few days!
- paulr

So will you be visiting your buddy's desk since he won't likely be stopping by yours?

and with how this game ended...half empty is much preferred with this hawk team..
- bogiedoc

The bottle was half empty for sure.... bottle of booze...

So will you be visiting your buddy's desk since he won't likely be stopping by yours?
- HawkintheD

He will walk around like the camel on hump day.....

The bottle was half empty for sure.... bottle of booze...
- TrueGrit

Wish they'd get with the program and start tanking properly.

I have been pretty hard on Sikura for avoiding contact and pulling up instead of taking the body. But in the last two games he seems to be playing much more physical.

Manson is meh IMO. Hawks fans hear that name and have fond flashbacks, but it wouldn’t be the same.
- Ogilthorpe2

IMO.....it has nothing to do with his name or his father.

I believe that it's time our defense gets tougher by taking the body and standing up at the blue line. Our current defense continually back in to the goaltenders and give up way too many prime scoring chances. 2 young tough defenseman will tell the opponents that they can't just waltz in untouched any longer. The stick-check soft defense isn't working !! Gus may be acceptable because of his quality on the PP, but a change in personnel and philosophy is needed......so if not a player like Josh Manson, then who do you suggest ?? And I'm not looking for any 30 year old FA's. I'm hoping for a trade for a 25 year old that shows potential for top pairing next season. Suggestions ??

IMO.....it has nothing to do with his name or his father.

I believe that it's time our defense gets tougher by taking the body and standing up at the blue line. Our current defense continually back in to the goaltenders and give up way too many prime scoring chances. 2 young tough defenseman will tell the opponents that they can't just waltz in untouched any longer. The stick-check soft defense isn't working !! Gus may be acceptable because of his quality on the PP, but a change in personnel and philosophy is needed......so if not a player like Josh Manson, then who do you suggest ?? And I'm not looking for any 30 year old FA's. I'm hoping for a trade for a 25 year old that shows potential for top pairing next season. Suggestions ??
- Hawkytalk

Not many of these Dmen left anymore. Seems like if you aren't a puck moving defenceman you don't have much value in the NHL anymore. Connor Murphy is about all we have and he is average at best. Michael Kempny sort of fit the bill and you know what happened there.

You probably are looking for a Dan Girardi or Johnny Boychuk in their younger prime years. Next level down is Radko Gudas and Eric Gudbranson types.

IMO.....it has nothing to do with his name or his father.

I believe that it's time our defense gets tougher by taking the body and standing up at the blue line. Our current defense continually back in to the goaltenders and give up way too many prime scoring chances. 2 young tough defenseman will tell the opponents that they can't just waltz in untouched any longer. The stick-check soft defense isn't working !! Gus may be acceptable because of his quality on the PP, but a change in personnel and philosophy is needed......so if not a player like Josh Manson, then who do you suggest ?? And I'm not looking for any 30 year old FA's. I'm hoping for a trade for a 25 year old that shows potential for top pairing next season. Suggestions ??
- Hawkytalk

Big, slow tough defensemen are no longer valuable in todays NHL. Ideally you want a bigger guy who can be physical but more important can skate with todays faster forwards. Duncan Keith was a dominant defenseman for many years and he's hardly big and tough and he did his job without being overly physical. Other guys like Hedman, Doughty ect. have size and a physical element to their game but they are effective because they have the skills to play in today's NHL. I'd rather see the Hawks develop their prospects and possibly a guy like Gus to be better defensively than start making trades.

Put a handful of marbles in your mouth too....
- TrueGrit

Big, slow tough defensemen are no longer valuable in todays NHL. Ideally you want a bigger guy who can be physical but more important can skate with todays faster forwards. Duncan Keith was a dominant defenseman for many years and he's hardly big and tough and he did his job without being overly physical. Other guys like Hedman, Doughty ect. have size and a physical element to their game but they are effective because they have the skills to play in today's NHL. I'd rather see the Hawks develop their prospects and possibly a guy like Gus to be better defensively than start making trades.
- paulr

What do you have against Seabs?

If you took out Perlini's name and inserted Bickell's... its the exact same story. Bickell would go through stages when he looked like a deer in the headlights, and then suddenly be a force for a week or two and then settle back into being a guy who didn't seem to care.

Hopefully Perlini changes that narrative and gains some consistency.
- Hawks_49

He's got a fantastic first step, with his length, size and skating if he wants to and works on it in the off season he can be fantastic defensively.

Shout out to Strome, he's trying defensively, on that 2nd goal he tried to cover 2 guys in front of the net and tried to do everything he could to stop the puck from going in. Also his willingness to block shots has impressed me, he's bought in

I have been pretty hard on Sikura for avoiding contact and pulling up instead of taking the body. But in the last two games he seems to be playing much more physical.
- -Doh-

Worry when he starts pulling up like Schmaltz

Last night was a perfect example of not having top 4 dmen, imho top 4 dman makes a pass out of the zone for an empty netter when they have that one chance to do it

What do you have against Seabs?
- Beaver-Warrior

Was interesting on Zawaski’s latest Hawks podcast to hear him talking about how Seabs is most definitely the “general” out there on the ice, constantly barking orders and telling people where to be and who to guard etc. He said after seeing and hearing that, he has little doubt that Seabs would make an amazing coach someday. Maybe that is part of the value the Hawks saw and didn’t want to give up.

Worry when he starts pulling up like Schmaltz
- BetweenTheDots

Totally agree and have never seen that from Sikura. He may not be the biggest guy but he’s had no problem getting his nose dirty.

Great article by LeBrun on Keith in ‘The Athletic’ today. Worth the subscription price by itself.

Synopsis? He’s all in on the current group. He feels fine. Management believes he’s their best defenseman.

Additionally, Stan respects the Cup core enough to keep them apprised of his plans going forward, as well as letting them know where they fit in those plans.

Big, slow tough defensemen are no longer valuable in todays NHL. Ideally you want a bigger guy who can be physical but more important can skate with todays faster forwards. Duncan Keith was a dominant defenseman for many years and he's hardly big and tough and he did his job without being overly physical. Other guys like Hedman, Doughty ect. have size and a physical element to their game but they are effective because they have the skills to play in today's NHL. I'd rather see the Hawks develop their prospects and possibly a guy like Gus to be better defensively than start making trades.
- paulr

If a team wants to win the Stanley Cup, defensemen who cannot defend are, at best, 6th defensemen that are used in niche situations and kept as sheltered as possible. The Hawks will not be playoff relevant if they have three Gustafsson's among their six defensemen, and probably also not two. Agreed on the importance of skating, but until hockey becomes non-contact, the playoffs are a different animal. If the objective is simply to make the playoffs, there is more leeway.

It is imperative that Bovquist and Joker be able to defend better than Gustafsson, or that Gustafsson either makes a 180 in his own zone or is moved when those two are in the rotation.

And it is not just about being physical. Seabrook blocked seven shots last night.

If you took out Perlini's name and inserted Bickell's... its the exact same story. Bickell would go through stages when he looked like a deer in the headlights, and then suddenly be a force for a week or two and then settle back into being a guy who didn't seem to care.

Hopefully Perlini changes that narrative and gains some consistency.
- Hawks_49

There’s no comparison two entirely different players, Bickle didn’t have anywhere near the skill and speed Perlini has. Besides, Perlini is only
22 years old. I think there’s lots of things to work on or fix in Perlini’s game, makes me wonder about the Yotes development/training.

From today’s LeBrun article

“I’ve been in Chicago my whole career,” said Keith. “I was drafted there. We got great ownership in Rocky Wirtz and the way our president runs the team, John McDonough, the way we get treated as players, we get pretty spoiled. I like it in Chicago. I do want to win and that’s what I think all hockey players want to do. It’s been frustrating last year and at times throughout this year. Right now we’re in some meaningful games.”

You might have noticed Keith didn’t insert the word “but” between saying how much he likes it in Chicago and also how much winning is a giant priority. Perhaps he has seen enough of late with his team to think those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

“I feel we’ve made some good strides this year,” said Keith. “I still feel like there’s a lot of good things going on in Chicago. At the end of the day, there’s not a lot of teams that you really look at and think, ‘OK, they’re that much better than this team.’ So, I like it in Chicago, I like the group, I know we have to be better, but I’d like to be part of that.”

At 35, Keith has the skating ability and hockey IQ to age well. He’s got four more seasons left on his deal at a $5.538-million cap hit. And no question like some of the veterans on the team, the adjustment wasn’t easy after 10 years under Joel Quenneville to play a totally different style under young coach Jeremy Colliton. But Keith did eventually do just that, adjust.

“He’s been our best player, certainly our best defenceman, in the last month or so,” Bowman said. “That’s no surprise. He’s a future Hall of Famer. But he’s still got game left. That’s the thing, it’s not like he’s diminished in his capacities. He can still play a fast game.”

Keith says he feels terrific.

Worry when he starts pulling up like Schmaltz
- BetweenTheDots

Schmaltz and T/T.

Some little guys start out very cautious and develop the physical game a little later. Others jump right in. Sikura reminded me a lot of T/T in his aversion to contact. But recently he is playing a more physical game.

There’s no comparison two entirely different players, Bickle didn’t have anywhere near the skill and speed Perlini has. Besides, Perlini is only
22 years old. I think there’s lots of things to work on or fix in Perlini’s game, makes me wonder about the Yotes development/training.
- walleyeb1

I agree with this. Bickell was a valuable player before he got sick but he was more of stand in front of the net guy with nice tip/rebound scoring ability and he played more physical. Perlini has much better speed and is more of a prototypical power forward in today's game - like Saad.

Last night was a perfect example of not having top 4 dmen, imho top 4 dman makes a pass out of the zone for an empty netter when they have that one chance to do it
- BetweenTheDots

Saad blew the zone off the face off win. No doubt he assummed Saad would be on the wall. If Keith takes another stride or 2 and looks up, he has other options.


They will go to school on that. If that play happens, Hawks win 5-3

Winning games like that, no matter how ugly is step in the right direction. They can build off of that.

Its like the never ending blather here about top 4 dmen and can't win with this guy, and this guy is a number 7 on a good team. All nonsense. The NHL game is so fast, have to win the initial foot race and make correct play. We won some of the races and did not execute on the pass or clear. When JC said we have a few things we can clean up, that is what he refers to. Those plays at high speed, happen dozens of times each game, for the first 50 minutes, we won most of them, the last 5 minute, yes when it counted most, we had a few lapses. You can coach that, players can visualize and train themselves to react differently.

Coming on this board, thinking you are going to have 4 hall of fame defensemen shutting down the other squad every night is not realistic. Every team has too much speed and skill. The hook and hold rules make it near impossible to shut anyone down. The hawks will play a team in Montreal that plays the same way as they do, with less fire power.

Defense...

Getting to pucks first
Winning wall battle
making correct pass or play

All at 35 mph.... big slow d men are useless, no matter how tough they may be.

Schmaltz and T/T.

Some little guys start out very cautious and develop the physical game a little later. Others jump right in. Sikura reminded me a lot of T/T in his aversion to contact. But recently he is playing a more physical game.
- -Doh-

Teuvo is the guy I used as a comparison for Sikura too - they don't WOW you with skating/speed but both see and make nifty little plays that lead to nifty bigger plays. They see plays developing in a similar way and have the skills to make the play. Obviously Teuvo has expanded his to the point where he is now a 60+ point scorer and I'm not sure Sikura will get that good - but I think he's shown he has a chance to be a good player worthy of being in the lineup.

From today’s LeBrun article

“I’ve been in Chicago my whole career,” said Keith. “I was drafted there. We got great ownership in Rocky Wirtz and the way our president runs the team, John McDonough, the way we get treated as players, we get pretty spoiled. I like it in Chicago. I do want to win and that’s what I think all hockey players want to do. It’s been frustrating last year and at times throughout this year. Right now we’re in some meaningful games.”

You might have noticed Keith didn’t insert the word “but” between saying how much he likes it in Chicago and also how much winning is a giant priority. Perhaps he has seen enough of late with his team to think those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

“I feel we’ve made some good strides this year,” said Keith. “I still feel like there’s a lot of good things going on in Chicago. At the end of the day, there’s not a lot of teams that you really look at and think, ‘OK, they’re that much better than this team.’ So, I like it in Chicago, I like the group, I know we have to be better, but I’d like to be part of that.”

At 35, Keith has the skating ability and hockey IQ to age well. He’s got four more seasons left on his deal at a $5.538-million cap hit. And no question like some of the veterans on the team, the adjustment wasn’t easy after 10 years under Joel Quenneville to play a totally different style under young coach Jeremy Colliton. But Keith did eventually do just that, adjust.

“He’s been our best player, certainly our best defenceman, in the last month or so,” Bowman said. “That’s no surprise. He’s a future Hall of Famer. But he’s still got game left. That’s the thing, it’s not like he’s diminished in his capacities. He can still play a fast game.”

Keith says he feels terrific.
- scottak

yeah read this...thanks for posting; keith is a man of few words but he says alot here. to many (yes some here) try mind read and speculate based on his facial expressions and post game comments and tone. Keith detests talking to the press after games...

he is not going anywhere until he says so..