As we inch closer to that 8th spot, my big worry is Stan do something stupid to make a "Push". Like a prospect for a vet. We have Cap space, so that scares me even more. Hopefully he can avoid anything harmful long term. I could care less what he wastes $$$$ for an expiring contract, as long as he doesn't part with any quality youth or high picks. But, please....don't put us backward by going for a long-shot this year!

This is why Stanbo hired him. He wanted a submissive HC that wouldn't fight back.
- catrisc

"Mitch is our quarterback."

For those expecting a great return if we trade Crow or Lehner, the Campbell trade might serve to lower expectations.
- -Doh-

I wouldn't use him as much of a comparison. The only thing Campbell has in his favor is more years left at lower Cap hit. But as far as QUALITY. Campbell can't hold a candle to either Craw or Lehner!!!

I disagree. If you finish a check on a defensemen at the point and your team gets possession of the puck there is a decent chance you get a 2 on 1 going the other way. It happens against the Hawks all of the time.
- -Doh-

Whether it was a penalty or not also has to be in the context of the game. The refs lost control of the game because they were inconsistent. They let a hell of a lot worse things go during the game, and then to call that I thought as odd. If the ref's were calling that hit all game a penalty, then i would definitely criticize Smith, but in context to how the rest of the game was called, as a player I would be pissed too if I was called for that.

It was like the refs internal score-keeping was on, lets see, I called a penalty on Boston 3 minutes before, I need to give the next one to Chicago first chance I get. The ref really lost control on Carpenters misconduct after missing the Bergeron call. think if Bergeron's name was Smith that stick to the face would of been called? I think the reason Carpenter was only given a 10, instead of the Hawks being 2 man short., was I am sure what was said had to be way over the line, but the ref knew what he was saying was true.

The real standings

_____________ GP PTS PTS/G
Blues_________54 72 1.333 1st Cen
Av's__________51 64 1.255 2nd Cen
Stars_________ 53 65 1.226 3rd Cen
Canucks______54 65 1.204 1st Pac
Oilers________ 53 62 1.170 2nd Pac
Flames_______54 60 1.111 3rd Pac
Knights_______55 61 1.109 WC
Yotes________ 55 61 1.109 WC
Preds________ 52 57 1.096
Hawks_______ 54 58 1.074
Jets __________54 57 1.056
Wild _________52 54 1.038
Sharks________54 50 0.926
Ducks________53 49 0.925
Kings_________54 43 0.796

I think the Preds will be one WC team. We should be hoping two of the top 5 Pacific teams slump and miss the playoffs. The problem is the Pacific top 5 play a ton of games against the weak Ducks, Kings, and Sharks.
- -Doh-

People have been "Giving" the Preds one of the wild cards all year. I have seen several of their games. They are not what they were. The Preds, to me, have no more chance than the Hawks, Jets, Yotes or Flames for those last couple spots.
They are good, but not great.

Another note:
Why do Hawks finish season vs Islanders, Habs, Rangers????
We always ended with Blues, Preds or somebody in our division.
I don't like the fact we are not playing the teams we have to hunt down. Takes the control somewhat out of our hands. Isn't it strange we finish the year that way???

Whether it was a penalty or not also has to be in the context of the game. The refs lost control of the game because they were inconsistent. They let a hell of a lot worse things go during the game, and then to call that I thought as odd. If the ref's were calling that hit all game a penalty, then i would definitely criticize Smith, but in context to how the rest of the game was called, as a player I would be pissed too if I was called for that.

It was like the refs internal score-keeping was on, lets see, I called a penalty on Boston 3 minutes before, I need to give the next one to Chicago first chance I get. The ref really lost control on Carpenters misconduct after missing the Bergeron call. think if Bergeron's name was Smith that stick to the face would of been called? I think the reason Carpenter was only given a 10, instead of the Hawks being 2 man short., was I am sure what was said had to be way over the line, but the ref knew what he was saying was true.
- LAHawk

I reffed up till Midgets. Nothing worse than knowing you effed up, and trying to make up for effing it up, only makes it worse.

Even though they got robbed of an extra point last night, they were lucky to get 2 points out of these two games. In both games they were outplayed in at least 2/3rd's of each game. The first 3-4 games of this road trip will tell of their direction for this season. If they cannot come up with some wins early in the trip then it is time to be sellers.

I reffed up till Midgets. Nothing worse than knowing you effed up, and trying to make up for effing it up, only makes it worse.
- LAHawk

Politically correct???...Are they not "Little People" now???....just sayin'...

The things that pisses me off about the blown call was they just put a rule in before the season for this specific thing. Hand passes can now be reviewed. So if the official isn't 100% sure, he should know he has replay to bail him out if it was indeed a hand pass. Also, if you watch the play, the linesman is giving the safe signal to indicate the play is good. He has the best view, he is directly in front of the play looking right at it.

Either way, they held there own against one of the top teams in the league, got 2 out of 4 points which is what I expected (just not the way I expected). These next 5 games are going to tell us a lot about where this team is at.
- spudrock512

Are you sure the linesman wasn't giving the safe sign to show it was an onside play? I think they can only help on certain penalties but I'm not totally sure which ones

Politically correct???...Are they not "Little People" now???....just sayin'...
- hawk35

I Ref several games a week and ya we make mistakes sometimes, it happens at our level and yes the boys in the NHL are still human but were was the review that is approved by the league? that's what i don't understand.

Politically correct???...Are they not "Little People" now???....just sayin'...
- hawk35

Is that any worse than calling an 18 year old a "juvenile"?

I Ref several games a week and ya we make mistakes sometimes, it happens at our level and yes the boys in the NHL are still human but were was the review that is approved by the league? that's what i don't understand.
- SaskHawkFan

Ref said he blew the whistle, play was dead.

Ref said he blew the whistle, play was dead.
- LAHawk

i was watching and i didn't hear a whistle? i know i listen to alot of heavy metal but ......did he actually blow it?

Are you sure the linesman wasn't giving the safe sign to show it was an onside play? I think they can only help on certain penalties but I'm not totally sure which ones
- GPHawksfan

Ref in over his head, inexperienced

.The goal immediately was waved off, with referee Peter MacDougall — who had only 83 games of NHL experience before this week — ruling defenseman Olli Maatta, who was lying on the ice after drawing a tripping penalty, hand-passed the puck to Caggiula.

i was watching and i didn't hear a whistle? i know i listen to alot of heavy metal but ......did he actually blow it?
- SaskHawkFan

No one did, but only reason why I can think the play was not reviewed. Colliton and Crawford were having a discussion looking at the replay on the scoreboard. i thought all goals were reviewed by Toronto to make sure it was legal. only reason I can see it not being reviewed was for a play that was deemed over by the official.

Good point by Taser:

‘If it’s a hit to the head, why is [Krug] not going to the quiet room?’’ Toews asked. ‘‘He’s out there on the power play right away. . . . You get hit in the head, that’s tough; you don’t want to see that. But there’s a way you’re supposed to deal with that.’’

Are you sure the linesman wasn't giving the safe sign to show it was an onside play? I think they can only help on certain penalties but I'm not totally sure which ones
- GPHawksfan

I don't think he was calling offside. He was giving the safe signal before Caggiula even reached the blue line. Plus, Drake was the only offensive player in the zone so there would be no reason for him to alert if the play was onside or not since there is not reason to believe the play was in question. The linesman only need to give the safe signal if the play is close to being offside.

A linesman can call a hand pass, but they can also signal to help the other officials. The official admitted his mistake. Once he blows the play dead, it is dead. But things like that just costed the Hawks a very important point in a very tight playoff race.

Whether it was a penalty or not also has to be in the context of the game. The refs lost control of the game because they were inconsistent. They let a hell of a lot worse things go during the game, and then to call that I thought as odd. If the ref's were calling that hit all game a penalty, then i would definitely criticize Smith, but in context to how the rest of the game was called, as a player I would be pissed too if I was called for that.

It was like the refs internal score-keeping was on, lets see, I called a penalty on Boston 3 minutes before, I need to give the next one to Chicago first chance I get. The ref really lost control on Carpenters misconduct after missing the Bergeron call. think if Bergeron's name was Smith that stick to the face would of been called? I think the reason Carpenter was only given a 10, instead of the Hawks being 2 man short., was I am sure what was said had to be way over the line, but the ref knew what he was saying was true.
- LAHawk

I agree with your assessment. The carpenter call was nutz. The back ref not seeing it I can understand but the back ref has to make that call. Bergeron jams his stick into carps face and carp ends up with a seat for 10 mins. Ok...then. Smith needs to be smarter than than that with a fly by elbow to the head at that point in the game...really dumb...could have been a major.

No one did, but only reason why I can think the play was not reviewed. Colliton and Crawford were having a discussion looking at the replay on the scoreboard. i thought all goals were reviewed by Toronto to make sure it was legal. only reason I can see it not being reviewed was for a play that was deemed over by the official.
- LAHawk

yeah...they blew the whistle...over. If no whistle and 91 scores you can bet that played is reviewed...i think this how the hand pass review works now.

Good point by Taser:

‘If it’s a hit to the head, why is
- LAHawk[Krug] not going to the quiet room?’’ Toews asked. ‘‘He’s out there on the power play right away. . . . You get hit in the head, that’s tough; you don’t want to see that. But there’s a way you’re supposed to deal with that.’’

Just like the Wild's goalie, if the NHL wants to stop players from embellishing after a hit, they need to send the player off the ice for the rest of the period, i believe you will stop seeing players, especially goalies acting like someone shot them. This goes on way too much in hockey trying for the 5 minute major

I think it's time to swap Highmore and Smith. Highmore brings too much energy to sit him. Other than his role on the PP, Smith has been very average. I'd argue you don't have much to lose by swapping the two.
- catrisc

I would swap out Nylander for Highmore and keep Smith on that 4th line. Smith/Carpenter/Highmore are 4th line type players whereas Nylander is not. Highmore's speed and forecheck would add to that line's effectiveness.

The things that pisses me off about the blown call was they just put a rule in before the season for this specific thing. Hand passes can now be reviewed. So if the official isn't 100% sure, he should know he has replay to bail him out if it was indeed a hand pass. Also, if you watch the play, the linesman is giving the safe signal to indicate the play is good. He has the best view, he is directly in front of the play looking right at it.

Either way, they held there own against one of the top teams in the league, got 2 out of 4 points which is what I expected (just not the way I expected). These next 5 games are going to tell us a lot about where this team is at.
- spudrock512

They didn't hold their own their goalies saved their asses, otherwise 0 points.

They didn't hold their own their goalies saved their asses, otherwise 0 points.
- rpeters01

Yup. No question, the last two games have been sub-par (aside from the goalies). It will be a struggle watching this team the rest of the year. Not because I expect them to play this poorly going forward, but because there is no consistency.

They will play great for a stretch (forwards work as a unit to help on D, and the D safely supports the O), then they will play like they have the last two games.

Once again dreadful officiating last night and the Bruins certainly took advantage of it.
But at the same time the Bruins outplayed the Hawks for most of the evening, Hawks at several points couldn't get out of their own end.

Losing Bodqvist was a killer hopefully he's back soon.

The make or break road trip begins...
- DK002

Why don't you try to officiate. Really...your such a tough guy.

You know for all the crap Stan takes on this board, i had to realize last night while watching our top line of toews, kubalik and caggiula that 2/3 of that line was acquired for what a 5th round pick and Brandon manning. 2 very good trades that some how always get missed.
- SaskHawkFan

You are one of the smart people